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Sports streaming service DAZN: The broadcaster broadcasts most of the Champions League games
Photo: INA FASSBENDER / AFP
DAZN is asking some of its users to set new passwords for their accounts.
"We have identified usage behavior that may not correspond to our terms and conditions," it says in corresponding emails from the sports streaming service.
"To protect your account, we have temporarily logged you out of all devices and are asking you to reset your password." It is not known exactly how many customers the emails were sent to.
The forced logout is likely to be a push by DAZN against so-called account sharing, the unauthorized sharing of user accounts.
DAZN's terms of use stipulate that only the account holder himself may use the streaming service.
Two streams are possible at the same time per subscription.
However, DAZN only sees the possibility that its customers can watch two important football games at the same time, for example.
Unlike Netflix or Spotify, there is currently no DAZN subscription model that is officially designed for the use of the service by several family or flatmates.
"You are entitled to use the DAZN service on a maximum of two devices at the same time," says DAZN's terms and conditions.
"According to Section 8.1.2, you agree that your login data only concerns you and may not be shared with other people." On DAZN's website it says: "Important note: The account may not be shared with other people."
Some users feel wrongly suspected
As early as February, DAZN had sent out emails in which the company pointed out to some customers "that our terms of use prohibit sharing your login data with third parties" or "again reminded them" not to share their login data with others.
In some cases, such hints and reminders have now turned into requests that are difficult to ignore: Without a new password, the users contacted this time can no longer access their accounts.
Individual DAZN customers informed both SPIEGEL and the tech site "Caschys Blog" that they had received the current email without first sharing their accounts with other people.
In one of these cases, which is known to SPIEGEL, the email went to a heavy user who uses different devices and sometimes watches two broadcasts at the same time - but according to his own statements, does not make his account available to anyone else.
DAZN has not yet responded to a request on the subject.
In the course of the request, SPIEGEL also asked the service whether the number of devices on which users can be logged in at the same time had been reduced.
Some social media users had reported the latter.
DAZN's website is still talking about six devices.
Netflix is also addressing the issue
DAZN had drastically increased its prices for new customers at the beginning of February: instead of 15 euros, a DAZN monthly subscription has since cost 30 euros.
If you already had a DAZN subscription before February, you will still have to pay the old monthly price until July 31st.
It is unclear how the price will continue for him or her afterwards.
DAZN broadcasts various sports.
In the most popular area of football, the service will soon show a large part of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
In addition to DAZN, other streaming providers are also concerned about account sharing.
In Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, Netflix is now testing the option for subscribers to have a sub-account of their account available to up to two people they don't live with.
The service charges users who accept the offer a subscription fee of the equivalent of two to three euros per month.
According to Netflix, whether this offer could also be made to users in other countries in the long term depends on the course of the experiment in the three test markets.
A detailed article about the phenomenon of account sharing can be found here.