HBO Max's password crackdown is getting 'aggressive' — your free ride is over

HBO Max has been discussing a crackdown on password sharing for months. The streaming service first announced it was following Netflix's crackdown with a Max password-sharing crackdown of its own back in April.

Then, in May, it revealed even more details, with Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming executive JB Perrette warning that the password sharing crackdown would hit "full steam" in the next "12-18 months."

Since that announcement, Max changed its name back to HBO Max and — apparently — forgot how to count. A mere three months after giving us 12-18 months, Perrette has returned with a more dire warning, saying the crackdown is about to get "aggressive."

During WBD's second-quarter earnings call earlier today (Aug. 7), Perrette revealed that HBO Max was about to ramp up its crackdown, and that it had been working in the background for several months to determine if you're the account holder or if you're borrowing someone's account (h/t Deadline).

“The message language right now has been a fairly soft, cancelable message," Perrette said in the call. By the end of the year, that message will become more aggressive and even force you to get your own account to continue using Max.

Perrette said this shift is still a few months away. "Probably in the fourth quarter and then kick in in 2026," was the timeline he gave during the earnings call. If you're lucky, it sounds like you might be able to hold out for a Black Friday streaming deal on HBO Max.

But you might not get so lucky. I was hit with the "soft" message Perrette described just a few weeks ago, warning me that my time borrowing my parents' HBO Max account was coming to an end.

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Malcolm McMillan

Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.

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