6 ms·

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-

by 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.
satysin 10y ago
Yes and that is why selling a Kodi box isn't the issue. The issue is taking that general purpose Kodi box then making and marketing it as a way to "watch free Sky TV!" and such. The issue isn't that it is a Kodi box but that it is modified and sold with the primary (one could maybe argue sole) purpose of violating copyright.
slantyyz 10y ago
> The boxes are specifically marketed for copyright violation, sure. Not only that, they're specifically configured for copyright violation. Assuming these are the Android TV boxes from China, these boxes don't come with vanilla Kodi. They come with Android apps whose specific purpose is to get copyrighted content (like Showbox), and the pre-installed Kodi comes with a pile of add-ons that do the same. On a vanilla system, a normal user would have to go get those apps and add-ons themselves. The Android apps (apks) are easier to find/get than the add-ons for Kodi. You need to know the locations of the repos to get some of the shadier add-ons and that involves legwork that would likely be daunting for non-enthusiasts.

by mod 10y ago

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.

satysin 10y ago

Yes and that is why selling a Kodi box isn't the issue. The issue is taking that general purpose Kodi box then making and marketing it as a way to "watch free Sky TV!" and such. The issue isn't that it is a Kodi box but that it is modified and sold with the primary (one could maybe argue sole) purpose of violating copyright.

slantyyz 10y ago

> The boxes are specifically marketed for copyright violation, sure. Not only that, they're specifically configured for copyright violation. Assuming these are the Android TV boxes from China, these boxes don't come with vanilla Kodi. They come with Android apps whose specific purpose is to get copyrighted content (like Showbox), and the pre-installed Kodi comes with a pile of add-ons that do the same. On a vanilla system, a normal user would have to go get those apps and add-ons themselves. The Android apps (apks) are easier to find/get than the add-ons for Kodi. You need to know the locations of the repos to get some of the shadier add-ons and that involves legwork that would likely be daunting for non-enthusiasts.