By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on X.
Former Sony employee and editor of 4 TV magazines.
TV Answer Man, I hear that Hulu is going to stop us from giving our password to a relative or friend. Is that true? I will cancel if it is true! — Marnie, Mobile, Alabama.
Marnie, Hulu recently emailed a new ‘terms of agreement’ to subscribers. And while many of you might be inclined not to read a terms of agreement, you might want to read this one. Within the new rules for subscribing to Hulu is a directive that says you will no longer be permitted to share your Hulu user name and password with people outside of your residence. That would include that cousin who lives across the country as well as your buddy who lives up the street.
Here’s the pertinent section from the new Hulu TOA:
See more news and TV tech features at TVAnswerMan.com.
“Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household. “Household” means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein. Additional usage rules may apply for certain Service Tiers. For more details on our account sharing policy, please visit our Help Center.”
The streamer continues: “We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement. If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement (including those set forth in Section 6 of this Agreement). You will be responsible for any use of your account by your household, including compliance with this section.”
Hulu says the no-sharing rule will go into effect on March 14. It does not say how it will know if you are sharing your password. However, streaming rival Netflix, and Hulu sister service, Disney Plus, have implemented similar password crackdowns so there must be a formula of some kind.
The good news here is that Hulu’s new TOA suggests you will soon get the option to pay for a plan that permits password sharing. (We think that’s good news.) The TV Answer Man will update this article when we get more information.
Marnie, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.
