Kodi Boxes "Threaten to Undermine" UK Copyright Infringement Efforts

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rgMekanic

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In a press release today the UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) praised Netflix and Spotify for their "innovative" streaming models keeping infringement levels "stable". While not mentioning Kodi specifically, they go on to state that the Online Copyright Infringement Tracker, commissioned by the IPO found that around 7 million Brits are pirates in some way. 13% of whom are using "illicitly adapted set top boxes" to stream premium TV content. The IPO also state that another report shows that "Stream-Ripping" is the new go-to for pirating music, with 15% of internet users being involved in the practice.

Kodi has been in the news here for a while, in April when Amazon was stopping the sales of players, May when Facebook banned them from the Marketplace, June when there were lawsuits in Texas and addons were going dark, as well as the Dutch shutting down sellers. As well as just last week when a man was found guilty of selling Kodi boxes. I am not a Kodi user, so I cannot speak for the quality of the product, but in my opinion this seems like a lot of effort and money being spent on this crack down.

Streaming giants such as Netflix and Spotify have helped keep online infringement in check with innovative new streaming models, however new threats are beginning to challenge recent progress.
 
To me pirating is like speeding. Everyone has done it at some point, what it comes down to is how much and how often.

The kodi boxes just made it easier for the masses to do it a lot more than they normally would.
 
I know several none tech-savvy family members who have bought into Kodi boxes thinking they are perfectly legal alternatives. Even after the logic test of, "How are you paying for the content?" they just don't get it through their heads or flat out don't care. The fact that even after you argue them into a corner, they fall back on, "well if x is selling them then it has to be legal." My favorite was when someone was modding Firesticks for some of them with Kodi and they argued that its Amazon. This is here in the US, and these people always told me that I was a bad person for pirating when I was in highschool (though asked me to get them certain songs and crap for them).
 
And I'm still waiting for a reasonable streaming product to replace cable, so I can finally cut the cord.

However, with new internet caps and increased internet costs, my cable company is trying to make sure that streaming will never be able to compete. :mad:

Need to make sure that the next place I move to can receive over the air TV, and has a better choice(s) for internet access.
My current place has only COX cable and Internet. I can't even get slow DSL, and I'm on the wrong side of the hill to receive broadcast TV. :cry:
 
It´s a shame that Kodi´s name is getting thrown under the bus because of pirates. It´s a great piece of software. That said, at least they openly distance themselves from these people.
 
RangerXML said:
I know several none tech-savvy family members who have bought into Kodi boxes thinking they are perfectly legal alternatives.
Click to expand...

That reminds me a friend back in the day, she paid for a copy of Limewire and she thought that because of that, downloading anything (music, mostly) was legal to her, because she paid for it.

Couldn't convince her that she was at risk.
 
azuza001 said:
To me pirating is like speeding. Everyone has done it at some point, what it comes down to is how much and how often.

The kodi boxes just made it easier for the masses to do it a lot more than they normally would.
Click to expand...

So true. I have two co-workers who are brothers. The 'smart' one has had a Kodi box set up for awhile and recently set one up for the 'dumb' one. He can't believe all the new movies he can watch before they're even out on disk. This is a guy who can't even work his phone without help. I'm not saying pirating is okay but the democratization of this tech is helping people steal who would never be able to do it on their own.
 
I swear these guys whining about Kodi boxes really have not gotten the memo.
There is nothing about Kodi boxes that better enables piracy than a simple Windows PC with a BitTorrent client, ftp client, a simple web browser or yes, Kodi itself running on Windows.

I run both Windows and an android Kodi boxes. Thing is Kodi is nothing more than a fancy media player. You have to use complex add-ins or external programs to actually get that hotly contested content.

I mean seriously if somehow they managed to get every android box running Kodi shut down, they would have absolutely 0% less piracy happening. Why? Because Kodi only plays what it is given. And it can be replaced pretty damn fast.
 
RangerXML said:
I know several none tech-savvy family members who have bought into Kodi boxes thinking they are perfectly legal alternatives. Even after the logic test of, "How are you paying for the content?" they just don't get it through their heads or flat out don't care. The fact that even after you argue them into a corner, they fall back on, "well if x is selling them then it has to be legal." My favorite was when someone was modding Firesticks for some of them with Kodi and they argued that its Amazon. This is here in the US, and these people always told me that I was a bad person for pirating when I was in highschool (though asked me to get them certain songs and crap for them).
Click to expand...

yup plebs ruining it for everyone.

Miss the old days where computers were harder to use kept all the noobs at bay.

And what the fuck was amazon thinking selling these online idiots.
 
Maybe the poor wittle 'content producers' should let go of their BS outdated business models and catch up with the times.... They see services like netflix/hulu exploding, and their solution? Lock down more, increase licensing fees to stupid levels, impose data caps, or whatever other dick move they can do to stifle competition. Because they still think people accept 15 minutes of commercials each 30 minute block of TV show, which is also filled with product placement....

We've never had cable, and even my 7 year old was like wtf when we were on vacation with only cable tv available. So they either need to get with the times, and give people a service they actually want, like other successful companies. Or they can sit there and bitch/moan about 'pirates' who will just keep finding ways to bypass whatever restrictions they come up with. I'll stick with option 2 for now.
 
I'll be glad when I don't see an ad for "streaming boxes" in a Facebook group....some guber buying android/firesticks on the cheap and modding them and then trying to sell them for 3 times what they are worth.

One of the nvidia shield groups I follow....Kodi Kodi kodi......Common really? Your no enthusiast if all you use it for is Kodi.
 
I'll stick with VPN + torrents + Kodi until there's a decent legal alternative. I only watch a few TV shows and mostly watch movies. Brick and mortar video rental stores no longer exist, red box has a limited selection, Netflix movie streaming selection sucks balls (the movies are all either ancient things everyone has seen or z-grade garbage). And I refuse to spend $20-30 per disc on blu-rays of movies I may only watch once and that may end up sucking. I'm also not a big fan of the theater experience. I'd rather watch movies at home.
 
We should ban Kodi because it can be used in a way that can cause harm!

Lets also ban water because if you drink too much it can kill you!
 
cyberguyz said:
I swear these guys whining about Kodi boxes really have not gotten the memo.
There is nothing about Kodi boxes that better enables piracy than a simple Windows PC with a BitTorrent client, ftp client, a simple web browser or yes, Kodi itself running on Windows.

I run both Windows and an android Kodi boxes. Thing is Kodi is nothing more than a fancy media player. You have to use complex add-ins or external programs to actually get that hotly contested content.

I mean seriously if somehow they managed to get every android box running Kodi shut down, they would have absolutely 0% less piracy happening. Why? Because Kodi only plays what it is given. And it can be replaced pretty damn fast.
Click to expand...
These kodi boxes are sold as boxes that get all the premium content for free (or for an insanely low price). From what I can tell, the term mostly refers to boxes with these addons preinstalled.
 
Makaveli@BETA said:
yup plebs ruining it for everyone.

Miss the old days where computers were harder to use kept all the noobs at bay.

And what the fuck was amazon thinking selling these online idiots.
Click to expand...
They weren't. It was 3rd party sellers.
 
Biznatch said:
Maybe the poor wittle 'content producers' should let go of their BS outdated business models and catch up with the times.... They see services like netflix/hulu exploding, and their solution? Lock down more, increase licensing fees to stupid levels, impose data caps, or whatever other dick move they can do to stifle competition. Because they still think people accept 15 minutes of commercials each 30 minute block of TV show, which is also filled with product placement....

We've never had cable, and even my 7 year old was like wtf when we were on vacation with only cable tv available. So they either need to get with the times, and give people a service they actually want, like other successful companies. Or they can sit there and bitch/moan about 'pirates' who will just keep finding ways to bypass whatever restrictions they come up with. I'll stick with option 2 for now.
Click to expand...
1. this has nothing to do with data caps. If it did, then these boxes would be useless, since they're streaming video.
2. there's never been 15 minutes of commercials for 30 minute network shows. There's roughly 10 minutes, give or take a minute.
3. If you're paying for netflix or amazon prime, then you can download content before your vactation (and HBO, Showtime and Hulu can be streamed using hotel wifi)...problem solved
 
Cmdrmonkey said:
I'll stick with VPN + torrents + Kodi until there's a decent legal alternative. I only watch a few TV shows and mostly watch movies. Brick and mortar video rental stores no longer exist, red box has a limited selection, Netflix movie streaming selection sucks balls (the movies are all either ancient things everyone has seen or z-grade garbage). And I refuse to spend $20-30 per disc on blu-rays of movies I may only watch once and that may end up sucking. I'm also not a big fan of the theater experience. I'd rather watch movies at home.
Click to expand...
Not sure when you last looked at Netflix, but they get pretty much everything from Disney owned properties (including Marvel) within a few months of release. The reason they don't get what they use to get is because it no longer makes sense for a studio to give away content now that there's a major market for their products (as well as the fact that there are competing platforms bidding on the same content)

Ultima99 said:
We should ban Kodi because it can be used in a way that can cause harm!
Lets also ban water because if you drink too much it can kill you!
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is arguing to ban Kodi. That definitely wouldn't fly in the US, given that it's essentially just a fancy media player.
 
Cmdrmonkey said:
I'll stick with VPN + torrents + Kodi until there's a decent legal alternative. I only watch a few TV shows and mostly watch movies. Brick and mortar video rental stores no longer exist, red box has a limited selection, Netflix movie streaming selection sucks balls (the movies are all either ancient things everyone has seen or z-grade garbage). And I refuse to spend $20-30 per disc on blu-rays of movies I may only watch once and that may end up sucking. I'm also not a big fan of the theater experience. I'd rather watch movies at home.
Click to expand...
Blu-ray is still my go to thing for movies and season box sets. I buy a little later so I catch sales, anything above $10 is generally a no go for me and sometimes I just wait until they're used on gohastings for a few bucks. Box sets can often be imported through Amazon UK for a fraction of the USA pricing. Please spare me further justification of your pirating.
 
RangerXML said:
I know several none tech-savvy family members who have bought into Kodi boxes thinking they are perfectly legal alternatives. Even after the logic test of, "How are you paying for the content?" they just don't get it through their heads or flat out don't care. The fact that even after you argue them into a corner, they fall back on, "well if x is selling them then it has to be legal." My favorite was when someone was modding Firesticks for some of them with Kodi and they argued that its Amazon. This is here in the US, and these people always told me that I was a bad person for pirating when I was in highschool (though asked me to get them certain songs and crap for them).
Click to expand...

i assume you live in the US.

please cite the law they are breaking.

*spoiler*

there isn't a law.

ha ha ha

some reading.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_S.978
 
Okay, what is this Kodi thing and why it is causing so much fuzz? I have not paid much attention to it because from what I have understood that thing that is just Popcorn Time renamed (or in this case running on external box) and that program is old news already.
 
MaZa said:
Okay, what is this Kodi thing and why it is causing so much fuzz? I have not paid much attention to it because from what I have understood that thing that is just Popcorn Time renamed (or in this case running on external box) and that program is old news already.
Click to expand...

Kodi used to be XBMC (xbox media center), a good piece of software for local network streaming of videos (play shit stored on your PC on your xbox). Kodi developed to be bigger, prettier etc version of it, and added the ability to use addons. Said addons have the ability to access media streaming sites (think putlocker, megaupload, gorillavid) and allow the user to watch premium cable shows and movies for free.

Sellers took little android powered boxes and loaded Kodi and the particular addons onto them, and are selling them so people can watch Game of Thrones without paying for HBO. Now the entire planet is freaking out.
 
rgMekanic said:
Kodi used to be XBMC (xbox media center), a good piece of software for local network streaming of videos (play shit stored on your PC on your xbox). Kodi developed to be bigger, prettier etc version of it, and added the ability to use addons. Said addons have the ability to access media streaming sites (think putlocker, megaupload, gorillavid) and allow the user to watch premium cable shows and movies for free.

Sellers took little android powered boxes and loaded Kodi and the particular addons onto them, and are selling them so people can watch Game of Thrones without paying for HBO. Now the entire planet is freaking out.
Click to expand...
A lot of the addons that is put on these boxes requires you to be knowledgeable enough to set them up and to go out and set up accounts to access this "free" stuff. Many of those want your credit card # to *ahem* verify your identity or access "premium" content (i.e. putlocker). You might find that 95% of those sites want money to let you access their "free" content.

The fact is you can grab just about any premium content off of torrents and watch them on a PC even easier/safer than trying to jump thru streaming site hoops (which btw you can access via WEB too). I know. I have 3 of these oh-so-bad android boxes.

No, the gripe these guys have is simply that they need something to blame and these little androids boxes are easy to point fingers at. The fact of the matter is that even if it were even remotely possible for these guys to get rid of these little wonders, it would make 0% difference to the piracy of their content. As I have already posted, there are MANY ways to get access to GoT or just about any thing else and there are many knowledgeable folks out there making buttloads of money setting up these alternatives for the techno-n00bs out there. Many of us simply use them to preset content we have gotten by other means.

Don't get me started on the bazillion IPTV sites out there using MAG boxes.
 
I'm always surprised when I see kiosks at the malls here in Arizona selling these. I remember getting out of the movie Logan a few weeks after release and seeing them for sale and their display unit was playing the movie Logan and thinking, "That can't be legal". They seem to have some cajones selling them like that.
 
Last I checked you still have do download addons and then point those addons to a server that gets you the pirated content. Tell me how thats any different from going to a webpage that streams that same stuff.
 
percydaman said:
Last I checked you still have do download addons and then point those addons to a server that gets you the pirated content. Tell me how thats any different from going to a webpage that streams that same stuff.
Click to expand...
Kodi Boxes are purchased with all this stuff preconfigured. People who buy them are probably no capable of setting them up, but even if they are, they'd have to track down the addons first, because they're not in the official repository. The developers would like them to go away, because they're sick of getting people asking them why their streaming plugin doesn't work. (answer, "we don't know and we dont care. now go away).
 
nilepez said:
Kodi Boxes are purchased with all this stuff preconfigured. People who buy them are probably no capable of setting them up, but even if they are, they'd have to track down the addons first, because they're not in the official repository. The developers would like them to go away, because they're sick of getting people asking them why their streaming plugin doesn't work. (answer, "we don't know and we dont care. now go away).
Click to expand...
Not sure if you have one of these boxes, but I have 3. Not a one of them were preconfigured to connect to pirate streaming sites even though 2 of them have TVAddons preloaded on them. Most of the addons require you to buy & set a dodgy account somewhere.
 
cyberguyz said:
Not sure if you have one of these boxes, but I have 3. Not a one of them were preconfigured to connect to pirate streaming sites even though 2 of them have TVAddons preloaded on them. Most of the addons require you to buy & set a dodgy account somewhere.
Click to expand...
I don't, but that's why they were banned and it's why Kodi constantly comes out against them. People who configure them themselves, don't contact Kodi support asking why their TV add on stopped working, because they know they had to go to a 3rd party site just to get the add on (i.e. it's not in the official repository) Nobody would complain if someone sold boxes with vanilla Kodi.
 
rgMekanic said:
Kodi used to be XBMC (xbox media center), a good piece of software for local network streaming of videos (play shit stored on your PC on your xbox). Kodi developed to be bigger, prettier etc version of it, and added the ability to use addons. Said addons have the ability to access media streaming sites (think putlocker, megaupload, gorillavid) and allow the user to watch premium cable shows and movies for free.

Sellers took little android powered boxes and loaded Kodi and the particular addons onto them, and are selling them so people can watch Game of Thrones without paying for HBO. Now the entire planet is freaking out.
Click to expand...

Your timeline is WAY wrong. Add-ons have been around for YEARS before the Kodi name.

People were selling "XBMC" pirate boxes just the same as Kodi boxes today. The problem was the XBMC team did not have a trademark on the XBMC name, so they had no legal recourse to prevent people from selling illegal products with their name on it.

To further distance themselves from the pirate box sellers they created the Kodi name and trademarked it. Now they can at least go after some of the people distributing software and selling boxes with the name Kodi on it.

It has only been slightly effective. But it has allowed them to much better distance themselves from a legal standpoint.
 
JammieR said:
I think its a serious issue, Just read this article which says through kodi addons cops and hackers can spy on your acts and activities. They can intervene in your privacy easily because through the add-on you are giving them the right to invade your personal details.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/40837...et-crooks-or-cops-monitor-everything-they-do/

I am using ivacy vpn to mitigate any risk associated in this case. Check the website for more information: https://www.ivacy.com/kodi-vpn/
I prefer you all to use a vpn service if you want to stay secure and stream movies.
Click to expand...

Why would a VPN matter? As I understand it, the danger is from the python script. I'd assume that the script can gather info on your machine and send it to whomever they want over your VPN.
 
cyberguyz said:
A lot of the addons that is put on these boxes requires you to be knowledgeable enough to set them up and to go out and set up accounts to access this "free" stuff. Many of those want your credit card # to *ahem* verify your identity or access "premium" content (i.e. putlocker). You might find that 95% of those sites want money to let you access their "free" content.

The fact is you can grab just about any premium content off of torrents and watch them on a PC even easier/safer than trying to jump thru streaming site hoops (which btw you can access via WEB too). I know. I have 3 of these oh-so-bad android boxes.

No, the gripe these guys have is simply that they need something to blame and these little androids boxes are easy to point fingers at. The fact of the matter is that even if it were even remotely possible for these guys to get rid of these little wonders, it would make 0% difference to the piracy of their content. As I have already posted, there are MANY ways to get access to GoT or just about any thing else and there are many knowledgeable folks out there making buttloads of money setting up these alternatives for the techno-n00bs out there. Many of us simply use them to preset content we have gotten by other means.

Don't get me started on the bazillion IPTV sites out there using MAG boxes.
Click to expand...
I used to download everything from KAT, but once that shut down I haven't had any luck finding a new torrent site that wasn't full of traps. The streamers have trap content to but I never fall for that and just click down to the next source.
 
JammieR said:
Yes you may be right, I dont know these technical teems, but i suggested the usage of a vpn service after searching on the Internet. There are a number of articles and blogs describing, how you can save you identity with a vpn service.
A vpn service can change my ip address and in this way i can not be traced by any one. That is my logical answer .....
Click to expand...
That keeps you from being found by the anti-piracy groups, but that's about it. It definitely won't help if you're using this old add on URL. The only logical thing to do is remove the repository link from Kodi.
 
JammieR said:
Remove the link ... That is a technical think i will search the steps on youtube and google.
What i do, is open the vpn and kodi at the same time and stream what ever i want to stream.
Click to expand...
You can probably find the answer on the Kodi forums too. I've never added and depots, so i'm not sure what file it's in or where in the settings you'd remove it from, but I'm sure they talk about it, because they are constantly stressing that they do not support these addons (apparently when they stop working, people complain to the KODI team.
 
lol, ok so I got a Nv Shield Pro this weekend, as part of my Cable Cutting experience. It came with a default Android program called Live TV which is similar to TV on iOS, except better. This program like TV integrates with other apps to add live streaming channels to an simple to use interface similar to a cable box with DVR functionality. To my surpires I could load .m3u lists via another app and boom, it had every and I mean every channel in the continental US from every provider, it was easier to set up then Kodi and more reliable...So how do I feel about Kodi now? I did this as an experiement, I'm using SlingTV and OTA, but this was scary easy to set up with one add on app and one address compared to the nightmare of trouble shooting that kodi can be (I mean kodi even crashes more reliably on Windows). I mean the only advantage that kodi really has is that it is curated by people.
 
Cmdrmonkey said:
I'll stick with VPN + torrents + Kodi until there's a decent legal alternative. I only watch a few TV shows and mostly watch movies. Brick and mortar video rental stores no longer exist, red box has a limited selection, Netflix movie streaming selection sucks balls (the movies are all either ancient things everyone has seen or z-grade garbage). And I refuse to spend $20-30 per disc on blu-rays of movies I may only watch once and that may end up sucking. I'm also not a big fan of the theater experience. I'd rather watch movies at home.
Click to expand...
waa. I'm a cheap bastard and I don't feel like paying for shit I want to use. Amazon tends to have video rentals as do many other sources. But just come out of the closet and admit your a leach.
 
JammieR said:
It depends on how you see the internet world. Initially it was developed for free information and data. Then comes these things like paid accounts and netflix videos.
But the concept and idea for free information is still there. People still believe that internet is the platform for free information and its true weather you like it o not it does not matter.
Click to expand...

I'll have whatever you and those people are smoking, please
 
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