Disney+
Disney CEO Bob Iger was asked recently how their new streaming service Disney+ will be handling sticky subjects like unauthorized password sharing and piracy following its launch.
Much like Netflix Chief Product Officer Greg Peters alluded to during that streaming platform’s third-quarter earnings review conference call, Iger says Disney+ will be monitoring password-sharing amongst its customers.
The difference being that, unlike Netflix who says they are “looking at the situation,” Disney has been a little more forthright in addressing the issue.
According to a recent Disney/Charter Communications press release, “Disney and Charter have also agreed to work together on piracy mitigation. The two companies will work together to implement business rules and techniques to address such issues as unauthorized access and password sharing.”
With one report claiming Netflix has been losing out on $1.62 billion in potential revenue because of password sharing, Disney knows they can’t let password-sharing get out of hand.
Disney CEO Iger recently told CNBC that the company isn’t overly concerned about password-sharing, however, believing that the fact that Disney+ will allow customers to have four concurrent live steams on their account at any time. That is perhaps some wishful thinking right there.
“I think it’ll be similar to what others are doing,” Iger told CNBC. “It’s obviously something we’ll be mindful of. We’re setting up a service that is very family friendly, we expect families to be able to consume it — four live streams at a time, for instance. We’ll watch it carefully with the various tools, technology tools, that we have available to us to monitor it. But it’s obviously something we have to watch. The fact that you can have four concurrent live streams was very popular, the personalization was also quite popular, and most importantly, the ability to download without restriction was very, very popular.”
One of those tools Disney+ could use is the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), which recently announced it will be working to reduce unauthorized access to streaming content, specifically mentioning “improper password sharing” as one of the group’s main focus, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
With the launch of Apple TV+ and Disney+, plus the forthcoming debuts of HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock, groups like Warner Bros., Disney, Netflix, Sony, Paramount, AMC, Lionsgate, MGM, Comcast, Charter and Amazon are now banding together under the ACE banner to reduce unauthorized password sharing now and in the future. Whether Disney joins them, and what the punishment will be for non-approved Disney+ password-sharing remains to be seen.
Disney+ is currently offering a 7-day free trial. The streaming service will then cost $6.99 a month. A Disney+ bundle with Hulu and ESPN+ is also available for $12.99/month.