No parental ontrols??!!

Why would it be against the law? You don't have to subscribe to Directv Stream. Switch to a service that offers those kinds of parental control. You have a choice. 

Hello there. DIRECTV is committed to keeping improving the services and including as many options as we can for our customers. Having the option to set a spending limit for PPV and movie packages it's a great idea. We'll take this as feedback to our specialized team. Thanks for being part of the DIRECTV family. Haendel, DIRECTV Community Specialist

Technically, they do have parental controls. It’s just that they are currently limited to v-chip type restrictions (that is, content) and don’t apply to purchases or service modifications. Since they have the infrastructure for parental control already in place, it would seem that it shouldn’t be that hard for them to extend it to covering the additional items, at least on an all purchases or none basis. (That applies to the app. I think most if not all service changes require logged-in access to the website, so should be adequately protected already - people shouldn’t provide their login credentials to anyone, and since the apps on devices cache them, it shouldn’t be necessary to just allow other people to watch on already logged in devices.)

Why haven’t they added this already?  Unknown - but I have doubts about the capabilities of whatever function within DTV (and before that AT&T) is responsible for deciding on desired enhancements and priorities - they seem to have in a number of cases gone with “nice to have” over “really needed” changes.  Also, it is unlikely that they are devoting the level of resources (development and test engineers, etc.) that they should for what appears to be their core product for the future. (Certainly AT&T didn’t.)  If they did, they should be able to address both types of enhancements in a relatively timely manner. 

Will they add this feature?  Hopefully.  Soon?  No one “out here” would know, but also hopefully. 

As far as hotels/motels using streaming services - aside from the business model not currently targeting commercial use, I don’t think it scales well nearly as well as cable or satellite for that purpose. The needed internet bandwidth would grow linearly with the number of rooms, meaning a decent sized property would likely need more bandwidth than they have right now and possibly more than they could currently get. I think over time that problem will ameliorate in many places.  But as noted, the business model doesn’t currently exist for that (e.g., no commercial or bulk subscription offerings), there are missing tools, features, and restriction capabilities that would be useful in that application, and even ways to lock down the required hardware aren’t there.   Right now DTV offers commercial satellite service plans that are for that use.  They may (and eventually likely will) make a streaming offering in that arena, since the satellites have finite lifespans and it’s unclear if they would replace them. But that time apparently isn’t now. 

@Jrandomuser "I think most if not all service changes require logged-in access to the website, so should be adequately protected already" That is not true. I have access to the web site. My wife does not. She somehow managed to add a movie package (twice.) And, of course, Pay Per View doesn't need anything more than the remote.

@Jrandomuser You do not need to have access to Directv's website anymore in order to make changes to your account unless you want to downgrade.  You can add movie channels and PPV all through your remote control now which makes it really easy for anyone who is watching through a Directv Streaming device to make changes whether it be children or adults.

Interesting - I haven’t seen that, but I almost never use an Osprey and it appears some features (like PPV) are limited to it.  In any case, I personally think allowing service changes through the app is a mistake but they didn’t ask my opinion.   Regardless, the parental control framework they have in the app should be extended to allow blocking all purchases and service changes - I’d assume a single lock preventing both would be adequate. It does seem pretty irresponsible that they didn't add that when they added PPV and unexplained that they haven’t since.