View Full Version : Is Kodi legal? Fresh crackdown sees UK streamers threatened with 10 years in prison
bassethound
04-05-17, 20:29
Is Kodi legal? The EU has already weighed in on the debate surrounding so-called 'fully loaded' Android set-top boxes, and now the UK government has passed the Digital Economy Act into law, meaning illegally watching copyrighted content via Kodi and similar platforms could land users up to 10 years in prison. Here's what you should know before you get your sideload on.
http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/00003b0a5/07cb_orh370w630/kodi.jpg
Hark back to April 2016 and Kodi was still a relatively niche piece of media streaming software, beloved by HTPC (Home Theatre PC) enthusiasts and cord cutters, but still largely a mystery to a masses.
Jump to 2017 and the Platform Formerly Known as XBMC is hitting the headlines virtually every day, with the likes of Amazon, eBay and the Premier League joining the fight to stop dodgy streaming via cheap Android TV boxes.
Indeed, as of May 3 2017, the maximum prison sentence for illegally streaming copyrighted media has soared from two years to 10, after the UK government passed the controversial Digital Economy Act into law.
Many are sceptical that end users will feel the full force of the law in this regard, but at this stage, we wouldn't care to risk it – the EU is now also among the growing list of influential Kodi critics.
On Wednesday April 26, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) appears to have hammered another nail in the platform's coffin, effectively banning the sale of 'fully loaded' Kodi boxes by way of a lengthy ruling.
In a detailed statement (H/T TorrentFreak), the ECJ deemed that copyright law, "must be interpreted as covering the sale of a multimedia player, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, on which there are pre-installed add-ons, available on the internet, containing hyperlinks to websites — that are freely accessible to the public — on which copyright-protected works have been made available to the public without the consent of the right holders."
In plain English, that means that Android TV boxes shipping with with both Kodi and pre-installed third-party add-ons that provide easy acccess to pirated content fall foul of the law.
Furthermore, it adds that previous exceptions to EU copyright law covering "acts of temporary reproduction, on a multimedia player" fails to "satisfy the conditions set out in those provisions."
This is a key point, as it means that the fact streaming doesn't result in the creation of physical copies of rights protected content is no longer a legitimate defense against charges of copyright infringement.
Recently, Amazon and eBay have both announced plans to ban the sale of 'fully loaded' Android TV boxes on their marketplaces, while the Premier League has thrown is considerable financial clout behind legal efforts to thwart pirate sport streams.
However, while these so-called 'fully loaded' Kodi boxes are clearly in the dock, it's important to note that Kodi's core open-source media streaming software has yet to be indicted.
Read more at
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/is-kodi-legal#lUCoZUZHFLWmUqtv.99
And so iptv servers will get bigger and bigger
Kodi has always been legal, and it is addons that can make it illegal, and downloading certain items have always been illegal. In fact the people who write Kodi software are angry, when spivs who sell these boxes don't want to know if there are problems ,the buyers then come moaning to the Kodi forums about their boxes not working. It seems certain companies have stop selling these boxes with Kodi software to cover themselves. It seems these multi-national companies have politicians in their pockets, so they can make even more profit. Britain is becoming more like the old East Germany.
I dont see that it will make any difference to the end user. As the report says the "maximum sentence has been increased from 2 years to 10 years" but have you ever heard of anyone being jailed for 2 days let alone 2 years for using a kodi addon?
What I do think they will do is go after the websites that host the TVs and Movies + the IPTV providers and they may get a longer sentenece
Andy_Hazza
05-05-17, 12:55
I dont see that it will make any difference to the end user. As the report says the "maximum sentence has been increased from 2 years to 10 years" but have you ever heard of anyone being jailed for 2 days let alone 2 years for using a kodi addon?
What I do think they will do is go after the websites that host the TVs and Movies + the IPTV providers and they may get a longer sentenece
Yeah a guy nearby me got jailed for 2 years around chrimbo for viewing illegal content on Kodi/Fire TV. His ISP reported him.........
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Yeah a guy nearby me got jailed for 2 years around chrimbo for viewing illegal content on Kodi/Fire TV. His ISP reported him.........
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Really I would have thought that would have been all over the press
Andy_Hazza
05-05-17, 13:26
I find it hard to believe. Just what I was told. It will be creators of the Wizards like The Beast, Pulse etc and creators of Exodus, Phoenix etc that will get severe sentences like that I would have thought.
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Cant find anything about it on google and really would have thought it would be there, so maybe whoever told you was wrong.
But I do think that you are right in the fact it will be the creators and hosters that they will be after. Especially the IPTV services its the sport that drives it on
Yes but the servers will no doubt be based outside of the UK in a place where copyright isn't illegal
Andy_Hazza
05-05-17, 18:03
Yeah but the ISP will block everything after the recent court case, so VPN will become essential n then they can charge what they like.
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Vpn like private Internet access is paid for in US dollars so a US company, they won't just put the price up because you are based in the UK otherwise US citizens also affected
Sorry Misread post and could not delete my reply .
Yeah a guy nearby me got jailed for 2 years around chrimbo for viewing illegal content on Kodi/Fire TV. His ISP reported him.........
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Got a link?
Think you will find it was a guy in Scotland got 2 years for selling dodgy boxes fully loaded.
redbellied
08-05-17, 09:30
Dont think they can do anything about the likes of exodus regarding legal action, all it is a scraper.
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speedygonzalez
11-05-17, 14:27
Indeed, as of May 3 2017, the maximum prison sentence for illegally streaming copyrighted media has soared from two years to 10, after the UK government passed the controversial Digital Economy Act into law.
Many are sceptical that end users will feel the full force of the law in this regard, but at this stage, we wouldn't care to risk it – the EU is now also among the growing list of influential Kodi critics.
If you had read the Digital Economy Act, you would have found that the relevant crime/penalty is specifically for "communicating the work to the public", not the "end users".
On Wednesday April 26, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) appears to have hammered another nail in the platform's coffin, effectively banning the sale of 'fully loaded' Kodi boxes by way of a lengthy ruling.
In a detailed statement (H/T TorrentFreak), the ECJ deemed that copyright law, "must be interpreted as covering the sale of a multimedia player, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, on which there are pre-installed add-ons, available on the internet, containing hyperlinks to websites — that are freely accessible to the public — on which copyright-protected works have been made available to the public without the consent of the right holders."
In plain English, that means that Android TV boxes shipping with with both Kodi and pre-installed third-party add-ons that provide easy acccess to pirated content fall foul of the law.
Furthermore, it adds that previous exceptions to EU copyright law covering "acts of temporary reproduction, on a multimedia player" fails to "satisfy the conditions set out in those provisions."
This is a key point, as it means that the fact streaming doesn't result in the creation of physical copies of rights protected content is no longer a legitimate defense against charges of copyright infringement.
If you read the recent ECJ case/ruling, you will find that it is associated with the sales of fully loaded Kodi boxes, specifically advertised for circumventing paying for copyright media. As such, unlike the previous PRCA v NLA case, the recent ECJ ruling is obiter, certainly it would be under UK law (and Brexit would have come and gone by the time any new case today ends up in the UK Supreme Court).
Because of that, I think the 2013 UK Supreme Court ruling*, which was confirmed by the ECJ, remains the relevant applicable law for streaming by end users, at the moment. As the Law Lords then indicated, streaming copyright material at home is like reading a pirated copy of a book, or viewing a fake painting - neither has ever been unlawful. It has always been the copying, or engagement in distribution to the public, in particular making financial gains from it at the expense of the copyright holder, that is unlawful.
Yeah a guy nearby me got jailed for 2 years around chrimbo for viewing illegal content on Kodi/Fire TV. His ISP reported him.........
For the above reasons, it is therefore inconceivable that any UK court would have found any person guilty, since 2013, of viewing copyright material on Kodi/Fire TV. Perhaps the guy was jailed because the "illegal content" was censored material.
* https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2011-0202-judgment.pdf and http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document_print.jsf;jsessionid=9ea7d2dc30d5306c74c2 0c5b45538245c60808b63951.e34KaxiLc3qMb40Rch0SaxuNb xr0?doclang=EN&text=&pageIndex=0&part=1&mode=DOC&docid=153302
I have a decent knowledge of the law, I wish I had as much knowledge about E2 machines.....
Proof is in the pudding, no person has or will ever be prosecuted (in the UK) for using a Kodi box to watch TV in their home, or even for the dreaded CShare... However, if you sell the service to others, you are open to prosecution.
In this country the law surrounding copyright and digital media cannot keep up and will not keep pace with improving technology. I can refer to Torrents and the latest laws to protect copyright. If you live in the UK and download say, Now 84 on MP3, how on earth can you be prosecuted? If you have purchased the media of Now 84, you have the legitimate rights to listen to that media, therefore having a copy to listen to at a later date is perfectly within the law. We all have done this for years by ""taping"" out vinyl abums, or transferring CD's to MP3 - each perfectly within the law.
The same applies to watching streamed media. If you watch something via an illegal stream, you may still have the legitiamte means to watch that media - i.e. you may have a valid sub via Sly or Virmin. Therefore you have the rights to watch that product - forget the means of the transporter.
The law is broken by sharing the the stream, you are no way permitted to share this service that is for the providers.
By watching - no law broken - supplying - law broken.
The same applies to the dreaded Cshare - if you have a valid sub, you can within the law share it with yourself, ie around your home, your caravan, any amount of TV within your home. This is 100% against the terms of service from providers, but not against the law. IT is against the law for you to share this service with people who have not got a valid subscription.
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