But thanks to the fine-tuning of the tech that Corporate America uses to police subscriptions, those freeloading days are over. Costco and Disney this month took a page from the Netflix playbook and announced they are cracking down on account sharers. Disney’s streaming business — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — only became profitable in the second quarter this year. Like Netflix, Costco is betting that you’re already emotionally invested in the routine and the satisfaction of getting a closet’s worth of toilet paper that can last the whole year. Last year, the store reported $4.6 billion in revenue from membership fees, and that accounts for the majority of its profit.

---

Persons: CNN Business ’, they’d, It’s Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Thought Police, Costco, Netflix, America, Disney, Wall Street, Amazon, Apple, HBO, YouTube, Hulu, ESPN, Costco there’s Locations: New York