As a result, Warner Bros. Discovery expects the account-sharing crackdown to lead to more paid subscriptions in Q4 and next year. HBO Max introduced paid account sharing in April, enabling a subscriber to share access with an “extra member” for an extra $7.99 per month. It reported adding 3.4 million subscribers to HBO Max in Q2.

For years, streaming services have put forth various stopgap measures to try to avoid users sharing accounts. While some have found a level of success, nothing has been noteworthy or efficient enough that it's been replicated across other services.

HBO Max password sharers may be forced to pay up. WBD's streaming head said they're finding moochers so they're "putting the net in the right place."