Max’s relatively laid-back stance on password sharing is about to change. JB Perette, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO of streaming, recently told investors that the company’s “very soft messaging” toward account sharing will become “more assertive” as we head into the second half of 2025 and accelerate “really into ‘26.” According to a Variety report, the tone of enforcement will shift from those gentle reminders to a more pointed approach. While Perette didn’t provide details on exactly how Max plans to enforce the rules, the message was clear: a policy shift is coming, and subscribers using shared logins may soon feel the pressure to get compliant—or get locked out.
This warning comes not long after Max rolled out its first monetization tool for shared accounts, offering an “extra member” add-on for $7.99 a month—identical to Netflix’s pricing for similar access. At the moment, Max isn’t taking any serious steps to block unauthorized access, but its terms of service suggest that it could. Language in the agreement gives Max broad authority to “modify access or disable features” if it determines that an account is being misused, such as by users outside the household. It’s unclear whether Max would actually go that far, especially since none of the big streamers have taken those measures yet. But the infrastructure is clearly in place to escalate enforcement, should the business case justify it.
What complicates things is that Max is currently on an upswing. Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-quarter earnings beat analyst expectations, and the company reported healthy subscriber growth and rising revenue. Netflix, the pioneer of the paid sharing model, posted even more impressive gains, with revenue climbing 13 percent year-over-year. These strong results may explain why enforcement hasn’t gotten harsher yet—so far, the carrot seems to be working better than the stick. Encouraging people to pay for legitimate access rather than cracking down too hard might be the more profitable strategy, at least while momentum remains positive.
Still, the broader context is shifting. As streaming growth slows and platforms prioritize profitability, revenue leakage from password sharing becomes harder to ignore. Max’s move to gradually step up its enforcement—starting with firmer messaging, then potentially feature restrictions—mirrors a trend seen across the industry. Whether Max eventually follows Netflix’s lead with regional tests, device monitoring, or hard login limits is still up in the air. But for users still taking advantage of borrowed credentials, the writing is on the wall. Streamers are tightening the screws, and the era of consequence-free sharing is rapidly drawing to a close.