I still remember those FBI warnings on VHS tapes screaming at you in bold lettering that you'd be smacked with a $250,000 fine if you put tape over the square on the spine and copied it. Here's the digital age version of that FBI WARNING!

Sharing your password for things like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go is technically a federal crime now. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling sometime last week that makes it illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

The case they were hearing was about some dude who used a former co-worker's password to access some secret database at his company. It wasn't really about entertainment streaming services, but the way the ruling was worded makes it apply to things like Netflix, too.

Who knows if anyone will ever get prosecuted for it or what the penalty would be. HBO or Netflix would have to press charges against you. The head of HBO said he doesn't really care about password sharing so there's at least free HBO if you remember your ex-wife's password.

Unless you hear about someone who took the hit, you can probably keep using your friends' and family's passwords and not worry too much about it. BEWARE though! One of the Ninth Court justices who disagreed with the ruling said it threatens to "criminalize all sorts of innocuous conduct engaged in daily by ordinary citizens."

[via Time / Variety]

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