Subscribers of DStv in Africa will no longer be able to stream on multiple devices at the same time starting next month, in an effort to combat password sharing and piracy.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to counteract password sharing and piracy, while continuing to bring you the best viewing experience, we will be introducing measures to limit concurrent streaming. From 22 March 2022, customers will be limited to streaming DStv on one device at a time. They will still be able to watch previously downloaded content on a second device.” the company said.
Customers who use more than one concurrent stream will be directly affected by the change, but they will still be allowed 4 registered devices for streaming and the option to download DStv content to selected devices for offline viewing as a way to allow multiple family members to watch DStv at the same time.
“We will not limit the number of people using a login, however, we are limiting (to one) the number of people who can stream at the same time.”
This decision comes at a time when an increasing number of subscribers are selling or sharing their logins with others, resulting in a financial loss for the corporation.
Streaming service providers have struggled to deal with customers who share their log-in information with others, denying them revenue from the group of people who either watch the video for free or pay a charge to the subscribing clients.
Video-on-demand subscription service Netflix, for example, announced last year that it would take a tougher stance against people sharing account passwords, and that it was developing a feature that would push non-paying users to purchase a subscription.
DStv said the change would not affect the pricing.