In a move that seems as backwards as possible, the WWE Network is now making access easier for Canadians, but harder for Americans. Finally, our day in the sun has arrived! Well… sort of.
Canadian media giant Rogers — the exclusive distributor for WWE content in Canada for the next 10 years — has reached an agreement allowing access via other cable providers throughout the country. The Canadian launch last August did not allow for country-wide subscriptions, or even streaming services. Only select areas of four provinces (we have 10, and three territories) had access to a special “Best of the WWE” channel.
With this new agreement, more areas are opening up. According to Rogers:
With WWE Network, fans have access to premium programming that includes every live WWE pay-per-view event – featuring next month’s highly anticipated WrestleMania on Sunday, March 29 – as well as ground-breaking original series, live in-ring action, reality shows and a video-on-demand library. Additionally, subscribers can now access all of the WWE Network’s offerings, including nearly 3,000 hours of content, online via PC or laptop.
Launch dates for the television providers are as follows:
– TELUS Satellite TV – February 25
– Videotron – February 25
– Cogeco Cable Canada – March 26
– TELUS Optik TV, Shaw and Shaw Direct to announce their March launch dates in the coming weeks – Rogers
Somehow, literally none of these apply to me, so I guess I’ll just have to keep using those other totally above board means of watching the Network. But, for those of you who have also found workarounds, there could be a whole new problem.
WWE Network has updated their terms and conditions to the following:
Although your WWE Network subscription is accessible on a number of devices, your use is limited to one (1) WWE Network stream on one (1) device at any given time. IF YOU CIRCUMVENT OR ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT ANY OF THE USE RESTRICTIONS IN THESE TERMS, YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE TERMINATION AND YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO LEGAL ACTION. SHARING OF LOGIN INFORMATION, INCLUDING PASSWORDS, IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.
Whoa, okay. That got real intense real fast. Like, I’m pretty sure the legal copywriter had to edit out the part about Brock Lesnar coming to your home and ripping your arms off so he can use them as a garnish on his Jimmy John’s if you ever share a password again.
While there have been no reports of Lesnar showing up to subscribers’s homes, people have already began reporting issues when trying to stream within the same household. Crackdowns on attempted piracy could very well lead to alienation of multi-user households, but WWE would never do anything to make people want to cancel their subscriptions, right?
