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Facebook Bans Kodi Device Sales
- fipple 8y agoAll the fuss about Kodi makes me think I should get a box. Is it worth it?
- m-p-3 8y agoYou can easily install it on an existing computer and try it out if you don't want to spend money right away.
- eltoozero 8y agoKodi is what used to be XBMC, once it was obvious a “10ft” interface was desirable beyond the needs of OG XBox hackers it was revised to run on PC (XBox is 99% a PC anyway). Eventually nobody knew why it was called XBox Media Center when nobody really used it for the XBox. So they changed the name to KODI because it vaguely resembles REWIND STOP PLAY icons: |< [] |> | K O D I So that’s a little history, but I still mourn the loss of legacy screensavers like the excellent ‘matrix’ and the native ProjectM/Milkdrop support which hasn’t isn’t present in the Pi version or newer PC builds for years AFAIK. Anyway, this is like banning Chrome because you can go to a porno website.
- ozmbie 8y agoModding my xbox to run XBMC and play DivX rips is what got me into Home Theatre in the first place. I now use an AppleTV 4K to stream UHD movies from a NAS. But the concept is the same.
- mindslight 8y agoThanks for posting that explanation - it makes the official name mildly better. Although I'll probably just keep calling it XBMC. I had thought it must be named after someone's baby brother.
- dvfjsdhgfv 8y agoIn short: no. Kodi itself is the environment, the problematic work is done by plugins that look for free movie streams. It all takes longer than Netflix and other paid services. Nothing to get too excited about.
- jjeaff 8y agoTrue, but not even including these streaming sideloaded plugins, what percentage of Kodi users are playing legitimate content? And if more than 0%, where in the world are they getting the DRM free digital files?
- sigfubar 8y agoKodi makes BitTorrent only marginally easier to use. It integrates a VPN a little more seamlessly than a laptop running your general-purpose OS of choice. All this makes a much bigger difference for a non-technical user, but for the average HN commenter the benefits are much less obvious.
- arkitaip 8y agoKodi has one of the most arcane UIs I've used in years. Also, you need to find and set up plugins to get streaming going and this is a complicated process. The streams can be good but not worth all the hassle.
- nobleach 8y agoA younger more daring me set up SportsDevil back in the day (like a couple of years ago) so I could watch the Florida Gators play while living across the country. It was SUCH a pain to get a reliable stream. And even then, it was potato quality. With GoogleTV providing all the channels I need, and at a 35 dollar a month price, I can't see any reason why I'd go back to this route.
- eltoozero 8y agoThat’s because KODI is really just a media player with a plug-in framework. The plug-ins are NOT part of KODI’s core functionality. Although it could be argued the native stuff are plugins too, they are built on the same framework but source your media from locally attached storage (USB, SD card, HDD) or network server/stream (RTSP, SMB, FTP).
- derptron 8y agoThe stream links die left and right these days. The upkeep it requires (searching for working plugins) is just not worth the hassle, IMO.
- crtasm 8y ago(At least with OSMC) the current default skin is terrible IMO, install the older Confluence skin and things are much simpler. YouTube and twitch plugins work well for me.
- bubblethink 8y agoIf you have a huge media collection, maybe. It's just a convenient HTPC like setup that you can hook-up to your TV.
- J5892 8y agoIf you want to try it, just get a Raspberry Pi and install it yourself. Or just set it up on your computer. I gave it a try, and found it clunky and annoying to use, so I've since built a solution that meets my specific needs.
- LeoPanthera 8y ago"Kodi" is an open source media player. Nothing more or less. The problem comes because people sell boxes preloaded with Kodi and plugins that make one-click piracy possible. Unfortunately the association that people make is now "Kodi = Piracy", which is very wrong.
- bubblethink 8y ago>Unfortunately the association that people make is now "Kodi = Piracy", which is very wrong. Why is that association so wrong ? I mean, I would rather people fight fundamental issues like censorship on sales platforms for arbitrary reasons, instead of trying to sugarcoat it with stuff like, "yes, but it's only OSS software". For one, other than music, there is no real mass-market way to download DRM free popular media. Ripping your own DVDS/Blu-rays doesn't count, because that's still piracy (according to the US anyway). So instead of fighting the battle on whether this is piracy, and this isn't piracy, why not just say fuck it, and fight for the right to make and sell whatever device you want to and do whatever the fuck you want to with it.
- aslkdjaslkdj1 8y agoUnfortunately the piracy users for kodi now far out-strip the non-piracy users and so kodi gets de-facto associated with piracy. Just like mp3 CDs and bit torrent, when the single biggest mass market appeal for your product is piracy then the product gets associated with piracy.
- NullPrefix 8y agoIs WinAmp a piracy player?
- nobleach 8y agoVery odd. I can't imagine the rationale. "But you could watch pirated movies with it".... uh yeah, same for VLC, can I sell my Macbook on Facebook?
- chatmasta 8y agoThe media companies, especially in the UK, have been making a huge deal out of these so called “piracy boxes.” People have gone to jail for selling them in shops IIRC. Yes, it’s ridiculous.
- LeoPanthera 8y agoNone of them have plain vanilla Kodi on them. If they did, Amazon wouldn't have a problem selling them - and probably no-one would buy them either. They're all preloaded with insta-piracy plugins.
- nmca 8y agoCory Doctorow had a thing about this, I believe it was called "The coming war on general purpose computing"
- mindslight 8y agoDoes anybody think these clowns are actually going to be around in a decade? I can understand the business desire to censor political minorities to please the majority, but how does doing enforcement for the content cartels generate any goodwill from their users? It will be interesting to see what happens when their surveillance archives go off to the highest bidder (and are subsequently leaked).
- Zanni 8y ago"Content cartels?" You mean copyright owners? I'm not sure the majority is on your side. A lot of folks, including me, generate copyright-protected content and are happy to see anti-piracy measures enforced. Facebook has other issues, to be sure, but I don't have a problem with this.
- mindslight 8y agoEnjoy your bubble, while it lasts. It's [not] funny how every new "anti-piracy measure" seems more akin to precrime policing. This unrelenting insistence on invasive control is the heart of why copyright and the Internet cannot coexist.
- RaceWon 8y agoSo you give everything you create away for free? Hmm, how altruistic of you.
- obmelvin 8y agoI certainly think that many Hollywood companies are stuck in the stone age in many regards, but these devices are literally built for piracy (with the specific plug-ins, there are very legal uses of Kodi). You may have your own views on copyright, but I don't really see any rational argument for why someone should be able to profit off selling these devices. Yes, the internet makes it easy to circumvent copyright, so then why don't people download this software themselves? If you don't believe the `content cartels` deserve your money then why should someone random person installing free software?
- 8y ago
- drexlspivey 8y agoTIL that facebook has a marketplace.
- jensvdh 8y agoBuilt in React Native
- jessaustin 8y agoThis is brilliant marketing!
- maym86 8y agoFunny how they can easily and quietly manage banning Kodi yet stuggle publicly with removing blatent hate speech. Not saying they're equivalent, just that Facebook is perfectly capable of blocking things when they want to despite the free and open perception they try to create for the platform when they don't want to.
- nelzya 8y agoTheir choice is strictly defined by the profit gain and loss calcs.
- Animats 8y agoNo "wiretapping devices"? I wasn't aware that people sold stuff on Facebook. But Facebook apparently has a store now. Never noticed.
- karmakaze 8y agoShouldn't the title be FB bans ... sales on Facebook? It's good to remember that FB <> Internet and FB <> world.
- megaremote 8y agoIsn't that implied. If it said Walmart bans sales of Kodi, is anyone going to think they are banning it worldwide.
- karmakaze 8y agoOne would hope so, but not as FB would have it. e.g. internet.org. Safer to keep a tight psychological bound.