Among those who do not subscribe to cable, or may not own own television sets or have their own accounts for the variety of streaming services available online, sharing password information for sites like HBO Go, Netflix, Hulu and others is increasingly common. Although data on this trend has yet to be quantified by the likes of Nielsen or comScore — conversations, articles, posts and social media chatter seem to all indicate it is on the rise.

“It also seems like a pretty serious problem,” wrote John Herrman, a senior editor at BuzzFeed, which recently posted the results of an informal office poll. “While our office is fairly young and not representative of HBO’s broader customer base, it is representative of a rising generation of people who 1) like watching HBO shows and 2) cannot fathom paying for them.”

But it doesn’t seem like the companies being used in this way care that much about it. Why? Because they can’t. “They have little ability to track and curtail their customers who are sharing account information, according to Jeff Cusson, senior vice president for corporate affairs at HBO. And, he said, the network doesn’t view the sharing ‘as a pervasive problem at this time,’” reports The New York Times.

Some of the other subscription-based streaming services are taking a stand against account-sharing. “Spotify, the music streaming service, does not allow two people to play songs simultaneously using the same account. A representative at Hulu says that the company’s paid subscription service, Hulu Plus, is designed for a single user and that the company doesn’t let people stream the same show to different screens at the same time. (Amazon and Netflix did not respond to requests for interviews, but both companies have similar mechanisms in place for their services, though different users on the same account can watch different programs at the same time),” explains NYT.

But are all of these companies missing the boat on the potential of social viewing?

“This feels like a missed opportunity for all these services,” writes the Times. “It’s the failure to grasp the future of television as a shared social experience online. Sure, we are all scattered around, watching all sorts of programs. But then there are moments, as in the days of old, when we are all huddled together — figuratively speaking — tuning into the same show or event at about the same time each night. These days, though, we are watching through some kind of connected device, whether it’s a smartphone, a laptop or a Web-connected television.”