Experts: It's Unlikely ‘Pirate’ Kodi Users Will Get In Trouble

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Since the "experts" aren't the ones going to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit or jail time, I think I'm going to just go ahead and avoid using Kodi add-ons to pirate copyrighted material for now.

Unlike most other kinds of unauthorized online sharing, the way content is delivered through Kodi has exposed a whole new legal gray area. While it’s definitely illegal in Europe and the US to share copyrighted content without permission using BitTorrent, no one is really clear whether streaming content via Kodi has the same status.
 
Isn't it similar to Popcorn Time that was deemed illegal?

I dunno, I'm not an expert.
 
A friend of mine linked me to Amazon listings a couple weeks ago of pre-loaded Kodi boxes that he says work so great, he canceled his DirecTV streaming service that he had just subscribed to. Apparently you don't even need the box, you can compile it all yourself. Haven't done that, and I definitely wouldn't want Amazon to have it on their records that I bought one of the pre-loaded ones. But if it really works better than legit streaming, then you can see what kind of mess the legit providers are in. Their multi-billion dollar companies fail at a technical level to do what people can do for free out of their parent's basement. That's just sad.
 
EODetroit said:
A friend of mine linked me to Amazon listings a couple weeks ago of pre-loaded Kodi boxes that he says work so great, he canceled his DirecTV streaming service that he had just subscribed to. Apparently you don't even need the box, you can compile it all yourself. Haven't done that, and I definitely wouldn't want Amazon to have it on their records that I bought one of the pre-loaded ones. But if it really works better than legit streaming, then you can see what kind of mess the legit providers are in. Their multi-billion dollar companies fail at a technical level to do what people can do for free out of their parent's basement. That's just sad.
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If it was legitimately bought, I think he would be safe. At least, IMO. When you hook up your Xbox or Roku, you're assuming the content you're being fed is legitimate. There is no indication of it being legit. Kodi has features that allow streaming of content. Cool. Buy a device, set it up, go to town.

I wonder what a lawyer would say about, though? It's ignorance, sure. But, there's that black box that supplies entertainment. It was bought from a legitimate source. The content is coming through. The user has no idea what's in that black box (in theory). Are they responsible?
 
KODI (formerly XBMC) is just like Windows Media Center. I assume there are Popcorn Time like add-ins that aren't legal or are more of a gray area, but KODI itself is legal.
 
Up here in Canada, I've been hearing about authorities going after the individuals pre-loading boxes with the addons which making streaming pirated content possible. That there is a big no-no. Something to do with facilitating.

As for the streaming part through, nope - not illegal. There's been some court cases already that set precedent.

It goes like this... If some asshat uploads something to YouTube which he doesn't have the rights to, and you happen to stumble across it and stream it, it's not your problem. How are you to know who and who does not have the rights to broadcast content.. Some judge decided, no fucking way that would work..
 
Usually when you are sued/threatened with Bittorent, it's because you were sharing/uploading content to other users. When you are strictly streaming, it's a lot harder to prosecute and the fines are much smaller since you are not sharing the content and cutting into the profits of the media companies. The media companies will more than likely go after the app providers etc instead of the users in the case of Kodi streaming.
 
Fix Me said:
KODI (formerly XBMC) is just like Windows Media Center. I assume there are Popcorn Time like add-ins that aren't legal or are more of a gray area, but KODI itself is legal.
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Oh neat I didnt know XBMC was still around. Still have my OG xbox.
 
Last year a friend called me up asking about a Smartstream box for $350 that would let him watch "any movie" and had TV channels through some free code it provided. I had never heard of it but the more he explained it I realized it was just running pre-configured Kodi add-ons. When I looked it up it claimed that since you're not downloading anything, only streaming, that you never "possess" it so it's not illegal. Whether that's true or not, I don't know.

On another note, my wife and I were in a mall before Christmas and I was looking at the lower floor while waiting outside a store and there was a kiosk set up in the middle of the mall with a Smartstream sign and a demo set up.
 
Been out of the loop for a while (hello guys!), but are we talking about gray streaming services like One Channel (Prime TV) via Kodi or is this something else?
 
Well, it's not like you could sue the "experts" if you did get in trouble for doing this.

You:"But your honor, the experts said that it wasn't likely I would get caught."

Judge :"They were wrong."
 
name change from xbmc to kodi was to facilitate trademark issues when people would sell pirate boxes. they couldnt do anything about them under the xbox media center name.

many of the addons stream from torrents, and as such, upload to peers. this is still the illegal and traceable part.
 
Ur_Mom said:
If it was legitimately bought, I think he would be safe. At least, IMO. When you hook up your Xbox or Roku, you're assuming the content you're being fed is legitimate. There is no indication of it being legit. Kodi has features that allow streaming of content. Cool. Buy a device, set it up, go to town.

I wonder what a lawyer would say about, though? It's ignorance, sure. But, there's that black box that supplies entertainment. It was bought from a legitimate source. The content is coming through. The user has no idea what's in that black box (in theory). Are they responsible?
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A police officer I knew when growing up told me once "Ignorance of the law is no excuses" I was young at the time, and dumb, it was eye opening and I will never forget it.
 
Yeah, some family members bought a device called NexBox and it allows them to watch any TV shows and latest movies. I told my mom that it is probably illegal since they are able to watch movies that are still in theater. To see how current theater movie would play, I started up Arrival and of course it was shitty cam. Didn't even make it 5 seconds into the logo of whatever movie company produced or distributes it before I stopped it.
 
Very interesting. These traditional content providers keep dragging on with their own ways so long that free programs that are user sourced are doing better than multi billion dollar corporations. I had never heard of it before and just installed it on Debian. apt-get install kodi

Then I just ran it by typing kodi. Cool program. I will have to mess around with the different streaming sources later.
 
htpc_user said:
When I looked it up it claimed that since you're not downloading anything, only streaming, that you never "possess" it so it's not illegal. Whether that's true or not, I don't know.
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People think that? Talk about disconnecting from traditional concepts.

The ONLY reason people don't get in trouble is because the odds of being singled out and reprimanded are astronomically small. But yes, content owners could very easily (in a theoretical scenario) file charges against everyone who viewed the content.

If anything this could easily fall under the First Sale Doctorine. The original "purchaser" of the copyrighted material does not relinquish viewing rights when you stream something. This makes it very different then you loaning a person a movie or music or book (which is protected under First Sale Doctorine). It would also be very easy to prove that the person streaming the content was very aware of the fact that they were watching something they are unlicensed to.

This is like saying if the door on the movie theater isn't locked, it's not your fault if you accidentally walk in and accidentally sit in a theater chair and just so happen to observe an entire movie.

But again, there are 1000's or 100 of thousands of these streams happening at any given moment. The reason you do not get a ticket everytime you speed is not because it's only illegal sometimes. It's because no one was there to catch you. Automate it, and you WILL get a ticket everytime you speed.


Despite what many people think. The "arts" are not a fucking basic right. Movies, music and games are made SOLELY to make money. They don't make this stuff for the betterment of society. If you are enjoying this product knowingly without paying for it, you are stealing. There are ways to ensure you don't get caught and to be crafty about it.....but jesus, don't ever think that you are legally protected.
 
westrock2000 said:
People think that? Talk about disconnecting from traditional concepts.

The ONLY reason people don't get in trouble is because the odds of being singled out and reprimanded are astronomically small. But yes, content owners could very easily (in a theoretical scenario) file charges against everyone who viewed the content.

If anything this could easily fall under the First Sale Doctorine. The original "purchaser" of the copyrighted material does not relinquish viewing rights when you stream something. This makes it very different then you loaning a person a movie or music or book (which is protected under First Sale Doctorine). It would also be very easy to prove that the person streaming the content was very aware of the fact that they were watching something they are unlicensed to.

This is like saying if the door on the movie theater isn't locked, it's not your fault if you accidentally walk in and accidentally sit in a theater chair and just so happen to observe an entire movie.

But again, there are 1000's or 100 of thousands of these streams happening at any given moment. The reason you do not get a ticket everytime you speed is not because it's only illegal sometimes. It's because no one was there to catch you. Automate it, and you WILL get a ticket everytime you speed.


Despite what many people think. The "arts" are not a fucking basic right. Movies, music and games are made SOLELY to make money. They don't make this stuff for the betterment of society. If you are enjoying this product knowingly without paying for it, you are stealing. There are ways to ensure you don't get caught and to be crafty about it.....but jesus, don't ever think that you are legally protected.
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I think the reason people would believe the thing about streaming and possession and the legality is anyone looking at something pre-built like that isn't in the know and is trusting what a "store" or legitimate-looking website is telling them. Or even a kiosk in a mall where you wouldn't think you'd be buying a borderline-illegal product.

My friend paid $350 for the box because he didn't want to go through setting it up himself and viewed it as something complicated. Most people don't know it can be as simple as setting it up on a $40 Fire Stick. I went on Craigslist to see if I could find a cheap Fire Stick, and to my surprise all I could find were people trying to sell Fire Sticks with Kodi installed for $75 or more.
 
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