Bad news if you’re still mooching Hulu from your parents, or maybe your friend, or even an ex — you’re soon going to have to pay up.
Hulu is cracking down on password sharing, following similar moves by Disney+ and Netflix.
“We’re adding limitations on sharing your account outside of your household, and explaining how we may assess your compliance with these limitations,” Hulu said in an email to its streaming subscribers Wednesday. “Unless otherwise permitted by your service tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household,” which Hulu defined as a subscriber’s primary personal residence.
“We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this agreement,” Hulu added. “If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the service.”
Hulu said its new subscriber-agreement terms took effect Jan. 25 for new subscribers, and will become effective March 14 for existing subscribers.
The Walt Disney Co.
DIS,
which owns Hulu, started cracking down on password sharing on Disney+ accounts in December. Chief Executive Bob Iger warned last August that a crackdown was in the works.
Netflix Inc.
NFLX,
tightened its password-sharing rules last year, and saw immediate benefits, in the form of significant subscriber growth in the last two quarters of 2024.
