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Charter's CEO Thinks Password Sharing is Downright Villainous

Charter CEO Tom Rutledge is giving hints he plans to lead a major cable and broadcast industry crackdown on the practice of sharing streaming video passwords. Executives at HBO and Netflix have made it clear they don't much see the harm in such behavior. These companies already impose simultaneous-stream limits on their streaming services, and view any password sharing as little more than glorified advertisements. HBO in particular has argued that password sharing often results in users getting hooked, then eventually signing up for their own accounts.

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But Rutledge has long whined about the practice, claiming that password-sharing leniency shows a "complete lack of control and understanding in the space."

"The lack of control over the content by content companies and authentication processes has reduced the demand for video because you don’t have to pay for it,” Rutledge once argued. "That’s going on in the college market."

Rutledge again doubled down on those comments this month, complaining at an industry conference that there's "lots of extra streams, there’s lots of extra passwords, there’s lots of people who could get free service." Others, like Disney exec Justin Connolly, have taken this rhetoric even further, equating password sharing with "piracy."

"It’s piracy," Connolly said. "It’s people consuming something they haven’t paid for. The more the practice is viewed with a shrug, the more it creates a dynamic where people believe it’s acceptable. And it’s not."

HBO continues to insist the fear is being overblown. Password sharing "is still relatively small and we are seeing no economic impact on our business," HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson says of the practice. Netflix has similarly stated it sees no problem with password sharing, CEO Reed Hastings saying he "loves" sharing as a way to advertise the companies services.

Again, most services have simultaneous stream limits and force users to pay more for more streams -- so it's not like these companies are giving away the farm. And again, they see it as advertising -- not piracy. Charter's Rutledge was America's highest paid executive in America last year, yet pretty clearly doesn't have a solid grasp on how his own industry is evolving.

Most recommended from 157 comments


b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

1 edit

73 recommendations

b10010011

Member

If sharing a password is piracy then...

Not being refunded for streams I pay for but not use is consumer fraud.

If the stream is already paid for, "loaning" that stream to my son is no more piracy than loaning my son a DVD I paid for.
sims
join:2013-04-06

34 recommendations

sims

Member

Piracy.

Yep we've gone so far with the piracy rhetoric that now you are a pirate even if you pay for things.

Dude set stream limits and don't worry about it the only other thing you can do is piss off the people who are paying you.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

32 recommendations

rradina

Member

Petty Cost Savings...

I've been around the block several times and whenever stupid ideas are legitimized, the corporation is looking for ways to make up lost revenue and/or cut expenses. Regardless of the old adage that you will never save your way to success, every department is asked to cut costs.

The ridiculousness typically starts with facilities. The facility department is usually tasked with maintaining the campus. What do they cut? Coffee service. Furnishings. Paint. Lighting. Grounds. Cleaning. Trash. Physical security. Plumbing. Bathrooms. OK -- you get the idea. When they "cut" expenses, here's the stupid shit they do:

- Marginally acceptable toilet paper is replaced with paper-thin sandpaper
- Coffee service is reduced to motor oil that few drink or eliminated entirely
- Cleaning is done less frequently resulting in disgusting conditions
- Trash pickup is changed so employees bus their own trash to collection areas
- Pest control is eliminated resulting in lots of spiders, gnats and mouse shit everywhere (only enhanced by trash pickup changes)
- Paper towel dispensers are useless because the new cheaper towel rolls are so thin they jam the mechanisms
- Grounds maintenance becomes optional
- Furnishings outlive their useful lives or are not maintained and become workplace hazards (broken chairs, busted door handles, lights that don't work, broken AV that's never repaired, plugged drains, etc.)
- Hand soap becomes pink slime that has a chemical stench and requires three times as much to lather
- Office supplies are never in stock or require pre-order (yes, you have to order a pad of paper)

The absolute worst is when the facilities director gets a bonus because they hit their target by reducing costs by some target percentage. Truth be told it was thousands of dollars, not the millions needed to truly make a difference. Disregarded is the fact that those savings lowered morale and ultimately increased the speed at which the company is spiraling the drain.

Cracking down on password sharing? I'd bet a paycheck it's a result of the same bullshit shenanigans corporations play when revenue is down and they are looking for "creative" ways to contain costs or stem revenue losses.

quitaccount
DSLR sucks cocks
Premium Member
join:2000-11-13

1 edit

22 recommendations

quitaccount

Premium Member

F him. a lot.

»time.com/money/4707743/h ··· charter/

if i made this much, maybe i could upgrade my cable a tier or two.............

TuxRaiderPen
A Warm Embrace
join:2009-06-02
Outer Rim

21 recommendations

TuxRaiderPen

Member

Dumb Pipes

It'd be pretty much a non-issue if the ISP was just an ISP, they'd care nothing about a content provider's issues...

Wink wink...
Roadkill
Premium Member
join:2008-06-17
united state

20 recommendations

Roadkill

Premium Member

Really? I mean REALLY?

What comes next after stamping out all shared passwords? Will there be a push to count the number of people in the room watching? If you watch something twice; should you pay more? This article makes Tom Rutledge sound much like RIAA and MPAA. Will all IP numbers be recorded and tracked with dire consequences if two different IPs log on one customer name? My biggest question: How will you manage to keep any customers if password Natzi's run amuck in America. What used to be a 2 stream customer will become $0.00 dollars from any customer. Go drink some more koolaid Tommy Boy.
shmerl
join:2013-10-21

15 recommendations

shmerl

Member

Have they anything better to worry about?

Those who want to pirate, already do it elsewhere with ease. Password sharing doesn't change anything in the picture.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

13 recommendations

maartena

Premium Member

Hard to do.....

Only way you may be able to do it is only allow connections from the same IP as the first stream that has been started on your account. But this would screw people like me that has 5 static IP's, and where my Roku has the generic assigned broadband IP, I have configured my firewall to specifically award a static IP to my workstation (on which I watch streams all the time) which is completely different.

And I am sorry: I pay for an X amount of streams, and if my wife wants to watch one stream, and I am at work waiting for server updates to complete and want to watch a second stream while I wait.... I should be allowed.

ISPGeek
Premium Member
join:2017-04-02
Saint Petersburg, FL

10 recommendations

ISPGeek

Premium Member

Full of himself as usual....

"But Rutledge has long whined about the practice, claiming that password-sharing leniency shows a "complete lack of control and understanding in the space.""

The guy really does believe this shit, when it is he that is clueless about the space and pretty much everything else involving the customers he SERVES, yes get it through you head you dope, you are in a service industry, stop telling the customer what they want and need and start giving them what they are asking for. The only thing you are leading is the demise of big cable and the sooner you figure it out the sooner your satisfaction ratings might ease up off the floor...

davidc502
join:2002-03-06
Mount Juliet, TN

10 recommendations

davidc502

Member

Prices

If prices for the service where reasonable, you wouldn't have nearly as much piracy. People pirate because the costs are too high. I'm not saying it is right, I'm just saying that is how it is.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

10 recommendations

Corehhi

Member

What ever......same story once again

Back in the Napster days the record companies were all whipped up about pirates. What I said back then.

The fact that I downloaded some long lost song is not costing the record company any money since I would never buy it or at least not at their price.

ITunes and you tube solve that problem. Pandora etc. I simply don't have to pay for music legally and the record companies still make a lot of money. I might buy something for 99 cents on ITunes and I'm fine with that. Pretty much every thing is free now.

Same with movies or shows, down the road they end up on NetFlix, Amazon or somewhere for little money. It's to the point where even the kids are talking about shows when they come out on NetFlix because they don't have cable. Very popular in my neighborhood to be a cord cutter. Kids are expensive something got to give and cable TV service is an easy one. Okay kids, you want a cell phone or cable TV, guess which one they pick? I'm also betting that the IPhone X is going to be a poor seller because it's just to expensive for a family plan.

skipon11
Premium Member
join:2005-06-09
Pittsburgh, PA

8 recommendations

skipon11

Premium Member

Password sharing

If it was an issue,these services would be not be making money,HBO is right,it's a non issue!
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

8 recommendations

Skippy25

Member

No loss

So being that a vast majority of these people would not pay for the service anyway, it is no loss to them.

You may call it Piracy if you want, which watching streams does not full under, but it is a $0 cost loss.

tim_k
Buttons, Bows, Beamer, Shadow, Kasey
Premium Member
join:2002-02-02
Stewartstown, PA

5 recommendations

tim_k

Premium Member

what?

quote:
...has reduced the demand for video because you don’t have to pay for it....
If he said that he must be on drugs or something.
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

4 recommendations

davidhoffman

Premium Member

Password sharing.

If Dan the doofus lets the girls in room 222 of the Wayward Women Dorm use three of the four streams and his roommates come back to find they cannot watch various versions of Star Trek simultaneously then that is on him. Netflix and Hulu get paid anyhow, thus the content owners get paid. Dan gets punished somehow. The password gets changed. The girls either suffer without or give up several triple shot mocha cappuccino skinny latte whatever drinks each month to pay for services.
NYC45
join:2017-02-01

4 recommendations

NYC45

Member

Disney

probably feels that paying customers are sharing watch ESPN with friends so that is the reason why their crappy sports network is losing millions.

Defiance
Computer Elite
Premium Member
join:2002-09-11
Minocqua, WI

2 recommendations

Defiance

Premium Member

hmm

In that case I consider Monopolies Piracy.. Quit buying out and trying to merge with everyone Charter. You suck!

Anon4c168
@2601:403.x

2 recommendations

Anon4c168

Anon

This is not piracy; its actually a common enterprise licensing model

In corporate software deployment like high end engineering and graphics design packages, you have different licensing models from the software vendors. This way a user enterprise can get the right cost for their usage profile and the vendor can get the right price for the features they develop and support calls they serve. Think about the difference between a small design firm of 5 partners in one office, versus a 5000 person multinational consultant. The small firm is probably best buying two node locked seats for the two guys that do that work. The multinational has 2000 employees that might do that work, but not at the same time, and buys floating 500 seats. Just a few examples here:

- Node Locked License; license key hashed to CPU/MB/HD serial numbers; MS Windows (buy once)
- Node Transferable License (pool); license key hashed but movable, often in groups, often annual sub'; MS Office 365 (service)
- Floating License Pool; license manager server, often on 1 hr min checkouts, you buy N simultaneous users
- Floating License Token; license manager server, as many users at once, you buy time-tokens, aka metered service

There is no piracy here. HBO and Netflix have a different business model, and its most like the floating license pool (N streams at once only, anyone can use them). They already paid for their content and they are happy with the revenue from selling in streams. The fact that each user is "named" or not does not make them more profit. The vertically integrated ISP want a node locked single license model, because first and foremost, it matches their current set top box model. Cultural change for big companies is the hardest. Tom Rutledge "grew up" under a certain business model with his is cronies, and they cannot see the world any other way. Obviously node lock also give vertical ISP the leverage to strong arm customers into higher prices, short term, but it is not sustainable, and again it is more about being unable to adapt.

Conclusion: this debate is just stupid on both sides. There are a wide array of successful digital rights management models. The right tool needs to be picked for the right job. Don't use a channel lock pliers for a hammer. Don't use a fine cutting blade for a screwdriver. And so on.
buddasahn
join:2000-11-27
Brecksville, OH

2 recommendations

buddasahn

Member

Villainous?

Dude...your salary, and what you charge your customers are villainous. DICK! STFU!!!

Rogue Wolf
An Easy Draw of a Sad Few
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY

2 recommendations

Rogue Wolf

Member

They Create What They Hate

Because these "crackdowns" are going to hurt paying customers, not pirates- they always do. And nobody's going to want to pay for a service that doesn't even let them use what they pay for, even if that is a CEO's wet dream.