Like many states, Tennessee has a few laws on its books that can only be described as odd. (For an example of one of Tennessee’s weirdest laws, look no further than this: It’s illegal to sell glue to anyone under the age of 21.) In that sense, the state’s stance on password sharing very much continues in that tradition.
The law itself was the brainchild of former GOP Representative Gerald McCormick, who sponsored the password login bill back in 2011. McCormick, who spoke with the Associated Press (via The Hollywood Reporter) after the bill was passed into law, told the newspaper that the bill was not meant to target family members who share passwords with other members of their household — instead, it was meant to protect against password theft and from bad actors making money off of selling them. He also made it clear, however, that there was little leeway for Tennessee residents on the matter. “What becomes not legal is if you send your user name and password to all your friends so they can get free subscriptions,” McCormick said at the time.
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Per AP’s report, the penalty for breaking Tennessee’s streaming service login password law — for password thieves or generous friends alike — was, and still is, incurring a hefty fine of up to $2,500, along with potential felony charges. But considering that sharing user passwords to your Netflix account is legal pretty much everywhere, it seems a little extreme, no?
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