4 ms·

IMO it is similar to pre-install a browser with bookmarks to pages listing, but not necessarily providing, such copyright infringing material. I'm not sure if t

IMO it is similar to pre-install a browser with bookmarks to pages listing, but not necessarily providing, such copyright infringing material. I'm not sure if this is really illegal - I guess it depends on the country you live in.

satysin 10y ago
It is a little more complicated than that though. A computer or web browser is general purpose. These boxes are sold specifically for copyright violation or whatever you want to call it (pirating, theft, etc). Maybe if Mozilla/Google offered a version of Firefox/Chrome that came pre-configured with links to a bunch of torrent sites and bundled in extensions to download torrents, unpack archives and play media it would be similar.
- jack-in-the-box 10y ago
  Kodi is also a general purpose media player in the first place. There are enough websites on the Internet that would conveniently offer you such content to click and stream (no need for torrent, unpack etc.) In general Kodi does the same thing - it streams that content over your device (again no torrent, unpacking etc.) At the end the only real difference is the advertising of that box - meaning if I would somewhat distribute a firefox browser with the proper links and call it the watch any media for free browser I would be in trouble.
  - satysin 10y ago
    Yup and that is why selling a generic Kodi box is fine. Loads of places sell them without issue. The issue here is that these five people have taken a normal Kodi box, modified it and then marketed it as a device designed to violate copyright. The real issue here is how these people were advertising and selling the device. It raises interesting questions though - would they get into the same amount of trouble if they sold a generic Kodi box with instructions for the user to configure it in such a way? What if they sold it with just a link to a Google search that had such instructions? What if they provided a script you could download and it would do the configuration automatically for the user but what they sold was actually a generic (legal) Kodi box?
- mod 10y ago
  That's possibly how it will be presented, but I'd argue you're wrong. The boxes are specifically marketed for copyright violation, sure. But Kodi is a general-purpose media player. It can manage your DVD tray and all that. Your home videos. Etc. It's similar to bit-torrent in that it has plenty of legal uses (torrents are great for downloading linux distros). In the example you're responding to, the computer could easily be marketed in the same way as these boxes, and then there would be little distinction beyond ease-of-use.
  - k-mcgrady 10y ago
    >> "The boxes are specifically marketed for copyright violation, sure. But Kodi is a general-purpose media player." They're not just marketed for it. They come setup so that you go to the TV shows section and see a list of every TV show and every episode that you can play with one click. So comparing to a computer marketed the same way doesn't make much sense. A more accurate comparison would be selling a laptop that is locked down to the Kodi software setup to stream any TV show or movie the user wants illegally. I'm 99% sure all of the features the fully-loaded boxes come with access to in the UI are illegal.
    - mod 10y ago
      Right. I guess if I were going to tread in those waters, I would literally sell a "fully-loaded kodi box", like I would load every plugin available. Presumably a great many of them are not related to illegal activities. Anyway, I've never thought that making it easy to commit a crime was a crime in and of itself. Selling lockpicks is maybe a similar example.
      - k-mcgrady 10y ago
        I'm not familiar with all the details but the Pirate Bay trial seems analogous.
        mod 10y ago
        I'm not so sure. It feels similar, but here's the difference, as I see it: TPB provided direct tracker downloads and/or links to trackers that were illegal files. These guys are installing some software that is the equivalent of TPB. The software provides "links" (more or less) to illegal video streams, but providing those streams, or the data to find them, is not something these guys have done. I think this would be more like some other examples in this thread, where maybe you provided a browser or extension that kept up-to-date torrent site bookmarks.
Bartweiss 10y ago
Per the article, the legal status in England isn't clear - a trial case is currently winding through the system.

satysin 10y ago

It is a little more complicated than that though. A computer or web browser is general purpose. These boxes are sold specifically for copyright violation or whatever you want to call it (pirating, theft, etc). Maybe if Mozilla/Google offered a version of Firefox/Chrome that came pre-configured with links to a bunch of torrent sites and bundled in extensions to download torrents, unpack archives and play media it would be similar.

jack-in-the-box 10y ago
Kodi is also a general purpose media player in the first place. There are enough websites on the Internet that would conveniently offer you such content to click and stream (no need for torrent, unpack etc.) In general Kodi does the same thing - it streams that content over your device (again no torrent, unpacking etc.) At the end the only real difference is the advertising of that box - meaning if I would somewhat distribute a firefox browser with the proper links and call it the watch any media for free browser I would be in trouble.
- satysin 10y ago
  Yup and that is why selling a generic Kodi box is fine. Loads of places sell them without issue. The issue here is that these five people have taken a normal Kodi box, modified it and then marketed it as a device designed to violate copyright. The real issue here is how these people were advertising and selling the device. It raises interesting questions though - would they get into the same amount of trouble if they sold a generic Kodi box with instructions for the user to configure it in such a way? What if they sold it with just a link to a Google search that had such instructions? What if they provided a script you could download and it would do the configuration automatically for the user but what they sold was actually a generic (legal) Kodi box?
mod 10y ago
That's possibly how it will be presented, but I'd argue you're wrong. The boxes are specifically marketed for copyright violation, sure. But Kodi is a general-purpose media player. It can manage your DVD tray and all that. Your home videos. Etc. It's similar to bit-torrent in that it has plenty of legal uses (torrents are great for downloading linux distros). In the example you're responding to, the computer could easily be marketed in the same way as these boxes, and then there would be little distinction beyond ease-of-use.
- k-mcgrady 10y ago
  >> "The boxes are specifically marketed for copyright violation, sure. But Kodi is a general-purpose media player." They're not just marketed for it. They come setup so that you go to the TV shows section and see a list of every TV show and every episode that you can play with one click. So comparing to a computer marketed the same way doesn't make much sense. A more accurate comparison would be selling a laptop that is locked down to the Kodi software setup to stream any TV show or movie the user wants illegally. I'm 99% sure all of the features the fully-loaded boxes come with access to in the UI are illegal.
  - mod 10y ago
    Right. I guess if I were going to tread in those waters, I would literally sell a "fully-loaded kodi box", like I would load every plugin available. Presumably a great many of them are not related to illegal activities. Anyway, I've never thought that making it easy to commit a crime was a crime in and of itself. Selling lockpicks is maybe a similar example.
    - k-mcgrady 10y ago
      I'm not familiar with all the details but the Pirate Bay trial seems analogous.
      - mod 10y ago
        I'm not so sure. It feels similar, but here's the difference, as I see it: TPB provided direct tracker downloads and/or links to trackers that were illegal files. These guys are installing some software that is the equivalent of TPB. The software provides "links" (more or less) to illegal video streams, but providing those streams, or the data to find them, is not something these guys have done. I think this would be more like some other examples in this thread, where maybe you provided a browser or extension that kept up-to-date torrent site bookmarks.

Bartweiss 10y ago

Per the article, the legal status in England isn't clear - a trial case is currently winding through the system.