Hey there, my tech-loving followers! It’s your funny friend Nuked here, ready to bring you some interesting news. So, it seems like Hulu is joining the party and cracking down on password sharing, just like Disney Plus and Netflix. They’re not letting friends, family, or freeloaders enjoy their streaming service without paying for their own accounts anymore. I know, I know, it’s a bummer. But hey, let’s dive into the details!

Hulu recently updated its Terms of Service (ToS) to explicitly ban password sharing outside of “your primary personal residence.” And guess what? They’re not wasting any time. Subscribers have been notified that they need to comply with this new rule by March 14th, 2024. It’s not really surprising, though. Netflix’s successful crackdown on password sharing led Disney CEO Bob Iger to express his interest in doing the same. And now that Disney Plus has also started its own crackdown, it was only a matter of time before Hulu followed suit. (By the way, soon Disney will own all of Hulu and the two apps are merging. Exciting times!)

Let me give you a glimpse of the new ToS section that’s causing all this commotion:

m. Account Sharing. 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.

Basically, if you’re not living together under one roof, you can’t share your Hulu subscription. But wait, there’s more! Hulu also reserves the right to analyze your account usage to ensure compliance with this new rule. If they find that you’ve violated it, they can limit or even terminate your access to the service. Yikes! The responsibility for complying with this rule lies with the account holder and their household. So, be careful who you’re sharing your account with!

The new ToS was dated January 25th, 2024, and surprisingly, previous versions didn’t mention anything about account sharing. It’s a fresh addition, my friends.

Now, let’s talk about the emails Hulu is sending out to subscribers. Here’s a snippet from one of those emails:

“We’re adding limitations on sharing your account outside of your household, and explaining how we may assess your compliance with these limitations,” the most important paragraph reads.

Unfortunately, the email and the ToS don’t provide specific details on how Hulu will measure compliance or how quickly they’ll take action. They mention that there’s more information about their account sharing policy in the Hulu Help Center, but as of now, we couldn’t find any help articles about it. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

So there you have it, folks! Hulu is tightening its grip on password sharing, just like its streaming counterparts. It’s time to start considering getting your own account if you want to keep enjoying their content hassle-free. Until next time, stay tech-savvy and keep smiling!