We may be entering a second golden age of piracy, which is bad news for streaming services such asNetflix. Though, these services are not content to just sit on their hands and do nothing about it. As such, most major media companies in the industry have partnered to crack down on password sharing, which is the biggest threat to profits in the modern era, as file-sharing had decreased significantly in recent years.
According to a new report, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is working to restrict “unauthorized access to content.” A specific group within the organization has been formed to tackle this problem, which is a very complex one, to be sure. ACE was formed specifically to tackle antipiracy and it’s backed by Warner Bros.,Disney, Netflix, Sony, Paramount, AMC, Lionsgate and MGM, as well as internet service providers Comcast and Charter. All of this to say, virtually every major streaming service on the market now, or entering the market in the near future, will be backed by ACE.
As anyone who grew up in the early 2000s knows, the music industry faced a huge issue in tackling piracy with the rise of file-sharing sites like Napster. Unfortunately, when record companies started suing average consumers, things got ugly and it became something of a major PR problem that the industry truly never recovered from. The companies behind these streaming services can’t afford to make the same mistakes.
While there are legal precedents that could help, should legal action become necessary, such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, companies like Netflix and HBO would be wary of taking legal action, given what it could do to their image in the public eye. Instead, it’s likely ACE will attempt to technology-based measures to try and curb password sharing. Either way, using your friend’s Disney+ password to watch old episodes ofGargoylesmay not be so easy in the future. This news comes to us viaThe Hollywood Reporter.
