Is everything okay in Canada? It seems that streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ love to start implementing new and possibly unpleasant policies there. It can’t be alphabetical, or these changes would all start in Afghanistan. Is it perhaps because the population is famously polite? Either way, guess where Disney+ has chosen to begin its password-sharing limitations?
If you guessed anything other than ‘Canada’ then you might want to get some money back from your high school English teacher for failing to teach you basic reading comprehension. The new policy will launch in that country on 1 November following Netflix performing a similar operation earlier this year, apparently to great effect.
This isn’t a Disney+
Why are we concerned with this? Well, everything on that side of the ocean gets over to South Africa eventually. It may take a while but Disney+ will get around to removing the ability to share passwords with folks outside of your household. That’s exactly what Canadian users face come 1 November. Access to the Mouse’s streaming service will be restricted to the devices within a single household.
That’s defined as “…the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by individuals that reside therein,” according to a Disney FAQ. That definition offers some clues about how those restrictions will work. The Netflix model, where devices like tablets, phones, and notebooks have to check in on the primary WiFi network every so often, will probably be implemented here. Disney hasn’t said whether this is the case but unless Goofy comes around to your house himself and turns off your internet access, this is probably the most sensible option.
And if you’re of the opinion that these changes aren’t headed to South Africa, it’s worth keeping in mind that we were all on the block for the recent price increases. A wider implementation of Disney+’s account-sharing restrictions is expected to take place next year. Hopefully, that one will actually be alphabetical. South Africa’s at the bottom end of a rather long list, but Zimbabwe will probably get the best deal of all.