Disney Plus has been threatening to crack down on password sharing for at least a year now It even declared last September (in Canada), this past February, and again in June that it would begin cracking down properly Now Disney has announced that it will begin cracking down "in earnest" in September

The news was announced by CEO Bob Iger during Disney's latest earnings call (via The Verge) This means that you may be asked not to share your Disney Plus password with your cousin or former roommate

However, in our experience, until Disney flags your account for sharing, you should probably continue as normal We do not know if this is a false start

The crackdown on password sharing is happening throughout the streaming industry as streamers are actually trying to start making a profit In addition to the seemingly endless price hikes, this has made it much harder to split subscriptions among multiple people; Netflix sparked the trend, and Max and Disney have announced their own plans in the aftermath

Disney is in an interesting position because it operates three streaming services: Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus All of these services will be cracking down on password sharing, giving users the option to pay for the privilege of adding new people to their accounts This will be launched in certain areas in February, and Iger claims that "there has been no backlash against [paid sharing] notifications"

Acceptance will obviously depend on whether people actually see the notice If the crackdown on password sharing has not yet begun "in earnest," it is unlikely to affect many people This is the biggest problem I have with Disney's crackdown on password sharing The company announces such a plan and seemingly does nothing, only to announce a reinvigorated effort a few months later

So, Disney, if you are going to do it, please go through with it and actually do it The constant timeline changes and general lack of communication is confusing at best, and it is really annoying to keep hearing about this