Why Does HBO GO Crash? Will the Problem Be Fixed?

Game of Thrones season 4 premiered on Sunday to the delight of many fans, but the intensive streaming demand once again caused an HBO GO crash. This is the second such crash due to “overwhelming” demand on the networks popular streaming app in the last month, the first being for the True Detective finale in March.

HBO GO crash could be because of password sharing â€" photo courtesy of Twitter

Many fans of the show were naturally upset when they were unable to watch the season 4 premiere because of the crash.

“HBO Go did experience issues due to overwhelming demand around the premiere of Game of Thrones,” the network said in a statement after the crash.

But why are these crashes happening? Of course the demand was especially high for these two shows in particular, but a company like HBO would likely have been anticipating that.

Some have theorized that the popularity of “password sharing” may be to blame. Services like HBO GO will allow users to log in to their account from multiple devices, so if users feel so inclined, they can easily allow friends or family members to “borrow” their log in information in order to access the applications content. This, in theory, could be exponentially increasing the demand.

This practice is actually forbidden by HBO GO’s terms and conditions and could be hurting the experience for those who are actually paying for the service. HBO GO has addressed password sharing and doesn’t see it as a big concern at the moment, however, it still could be illegal.

Those who engage in password sharing are in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), which prohibits people from unauthorized access to a computer. Some have even went so far as to say that password sharing may be engaging in identity theft. But those who are sharing passwords don’t have anything to worry about right now as HBO doesn’t appear to be pursing action against those who do it.

If the password sharing truly is to blame for the HBO GO crash, it is certainly not fair to those who pay for the service, but it doesn’t look like much will be done about it, at least not anytime soon. The question still remains as to whether or not HBO GO will continue to suffer from these crashes or if they will find a way to prevent them from happening.

Why Does HBO GO Crash? Will the Problem Be Fixed?