HBO Max’s era of “gentle” nudges against password sharing is coming to an end. Warner Bros. Discovery streaming CEO JB Perette told investors this week that the company will take a “much more aggressive” stance against unauthorized account use in the coming months, according to Deadline.
While Perette has been signaling this shift for some time — first warning in May during the company’s first-quarter 2025 earnings call — his latest comments during the Q2 call suggest that the streamer’s enforcement timeline is now set. The crackdown will intensify during the final quarter of 2025.
Perette noted that HBO Max now has the capability to identify which viewers are “legitimate” subscribers versus those who are accessing the service without authorization. “We’re making sure we’re putting the net in the right place,” he said, hinting at more precise detection methods designed to limit false positives while targeting genuine violations.
Earlier this year, HBO Max (then still branded simply “Max”) introduced an “extra member” option for subscribers who want to share their accounts outside their household. Priced at $7.99 per month per slot, the feature mirrors Netflix’s similar paid-sharing model.
Up to this point, enforcement has been mild — usually limited to on-screen reminders advising users to stop sharing their passwords. HBO Max’s terms of service, however, give the company broad authority to “modify access or disable features” if misuse is detected, suggesting that more disruptive measures are available if needed.
Although Perette hasn’t specified the exact tactics HBO Max will employ, industry precedent suggests that the service could adopt device-blocking, login verification, or forced account reauthentication — all measures that Netflix has already used to curb unpaid sharing. Whether HBO Max will go that far remains to be seen, but the messaging is clear: free rides are ending.
