MultiChoice Group, seeking to end the practice of password sharing on its DStv streaming service, has begun enforcing a new rule that limits streaming to one device at a time.

Last month, the company updated its terms and conditions, telling customers that it was making the change to tackle a scourge of password sharing and piracy.

Password sharing on DStv Now had become commonplace as families and friends shared the cost of subscribing to the pay-television operator’s content bouquets.

MultiChoice said in February, when it announced the planned change, that password sharing had become a challenge for streaming providers globally. The changes took effect on Tuesday, 22 March, meaning customers are now limited to streaming DStv on one device at a time.

Users can still watch previously downloaded content on a second device. The change has been made to all DStv subscriptions in South Africa and the rest of Africa.

MultiChoice is not limiting the number of people using a login. However, it is limiting the service to one concurrent stream. Also, the number of devices users can register for streaming has not change – remaining at four.

MultiChoice’s decision to limit concurrent streams to just one comes at the same time that Netflix is testing a new feature that will allow accounts to be shared outside subscribers’ households at an extra cost.

Netflix

Reuters reported last week that Netflix is testing the feature in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, allowing subscribers in those markets on its standard and premium plans to add up to two people outside their homes.

Netflix is also studying another feature that will allow members on a basic, standard or premium plan to transfer their profile information to a new account or a sub-account, retaining data such as viewing history and personalised recommendations, Reuters reported.