But right now, the number really isn’t significant.”Ī Reuters/Ipsos poll this month found 12 percent of streaming viewers had used someone else’s password to gain access to one of the services. “We will change the number of concurrent streams that are available. “Should it become a big number, we will deal with it,” he said. Richard Plepler, the chief executive of HBO, told CNN in April 2015 that “right now password sharing is just simply not a big number.” “So there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is.”

“Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with, because there’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids,” he said. In an October 2016 earnings call, Reed Hastings, the chief executive of Netflix, said there were no plans to change the company’s practices on sharing. But in past statements, the companies have indicated they’re not too worried about the trend.

Netflix, HBO, Hulu and Amazon declined to comment for this story. “Will the federal government prosecute you for it? Probably not.” Why the companies most likely won’t come after you “As a technical matter, it is illegal,” Ms. Jamie Williams, a staff lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the organization is among those seeking clarity from the Supreme Court. “We just don’t have cases because the government doesn’t prosecute password-sharing cases, or hasn’t, and the companies have not brought lawsuits either. “A lot of times you get legal clarity when there are cases,” said Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University who represented Power Ventures.

Legal experts have said both cases leave a lot of uncertainty.

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