Kodi and the Amazon Fire TV Stick are two of the most popular ways to consume content at home. Kodi is a home theater app that acts as a library management tool for all your media, while the Amazon Fire TV Stick is a streaming device that provides access to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
To give you an idea of the numbers, at the time of this writing, approximately 40 million people use Kodi, and Amazon has sold over 65 million Fire TV Sticks to date.
However, while Kodi and Amazon Fire are great for their flexibility, users could easily find themselves in hot water if they use these tools for the wrong purposes. In this article, we're going to explain what content is legal, what content is illegal, and what falls into the ever-murky “gray area.”
It is human nature to want something for nothing. As a species, we normally want to get the maximum reward for the minimum effort. And when it comes to free entertainment, apps like Kodi and hardware like Amazon Fire TV encourage the behavior.
Both ecosystems have developed a reputation for themselves as strongholds of hacking. More importantly, both have been happy to let their reputations go to waste. In the case of Kodi, it has helped tremendously in downloading numbers. And in the case of the Amazon Fire TV Stick, it has helped sell units.
Now the problem is reaching pandemic proportions.
In November 2017, the Copyright Alliance organized a round table. One of the speakers was Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Senior Vice President Neil Fried. According to TorrentFreak, he claimed that 26 million of Kodi's 38 million users regularly used hacking add-ons. That's almost 70 percent.
As for the Amazon Fire TV Stick, the device's brand name has now become part of the world's vernacular. In the same way that “Netflix and Chill” has taken on its own special meaning, “Firestick that sh*t” now means “download an illegal copy of a movie or TV show and take advantage of the awesome flexibility of the Fire Stick to watch it on your TV.”
Seriously, we are reaching levels of illegality of Popcorn Time..
Even famous entertainment stars openly advocate for the process. Jamie Foxx recently told chat host Joe Rogan that he might “Firestick that sh*t” if a new movie got bad reviews, while 50 Cent said the Tupac biopic was so bad people should “catch that.” sh*t on a firestick [sic].”
From a user perspective, it's easy to fall into a trap. If even Hollywood actors and famous rappers tolerate the piracy of their contemporaries' work, can they? Really be that bad?
If you start looking for more information, you will quickly enter a world of seemingly legal and widely used apps and plugins.
For example, an eBay search for Kodi boxes will reveal an almost endless stream of "Fully Loaded" hardware. Sellers promise everything from the latest Hollywood movies to the best sporting events.
Similarly, there are countless subreddits about getting “free” content on your Kodi app and Amazon Fire Stick. IPTV related forums promise thousands of TV channels for as low as $5/month. Kodi repositories provide addons for every type of content you can imagine. The list goes on.
The piracy problem is now so widespread that it has become normalized. But just like the file-sharing apps of the 2000s and the illegal streaming websites of the early 2010s, it's not here to stay. The authorities are starting to crack down.
If you want to make sure you are on the right side of the law How to use Kodi without breaking the law How to use Kodi without breaking the law You don't have to break the law to get the most out of your Kodi box. Here's how to make it work without straying from that thin gray line. Read More
Let's take a closer look at what content is legal on the two platforms.
First, let's dispel the myth that Kodi is inherently illegal. It is not. There is nothing illegal about using the Kodi app or owning a Kodi box. What are Kodi boxes and is it legal to own one? What are Kodi boxes and is it legal to have one? In this article, we not only explain what Kodi boxes are, but also give you a definitive answer about their legality. Read more . Similarly, there is nothing illegal about Kodi being transferred to your Amazon Fire TV Stick.
Second, any addon that is part of the official Kodi repository is totally legal. The official repository includes apps like PlayStation Vue, BBC iPlayer, ESPN, ABC Family, Bravo, Crunchyroll and many more.
Similarly, on an Amazon Fire TV stick, you can be sure that any app on the Amazon Appstore is completely legal to download and use.
The presence of an app in the Kodi repository or Amazon Appstore does not necessarily mean that the content creator creates the add-on (for example, BBC iPlayer is not the BBC's Kodi app). However, it does mean that it is legal to view the content within it, assuming you have the correct credentials and live in the correct geographic location.
And therein lies the most significant gray area:geo-blocking. If You Use a VPN or DNS Proxy Service How to Set Up a VPN on an Amazon Fire TV Stick How to Set Up a VPN on an Amazon Fire TV Stick Using a VPN on your Fire TV can have many benefits. More information:It is possible to watch the BBC iPlayer app from outside the UK. The same situation applies to many other video-on-demand providers.
Are you breaking any national laws by accessing the content from outside the desired country? No but your are Break each individual company's license agreements and/or terms of use. Technically, the content creator could pursue it in court (although there hasn't been an example of such a case yet).
Finally, an addon or app does not need to be in the official Kodi repository or the Amazon Appstore to be legal. There are plenty of third-party apps that will do everything from playing videos on YouTube to streaming content from Twitch. In the eyes of the courts, everyone is safe.
Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, Live Streaming Media Player Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, Streaming Media Player Buy Now on Amazon $39.99
All illegal content on Kodi and Amazon Fire TV comes from third-party apps and add-ons.
For example, the “Fully Loaded” Kodi boxes we mentioned above pull all of their content from third-party addons. There's nothing special about the boxes - they're based on add-ons that are available to anyone through one of Kodi's many repositories.
Clearly, most people should know instantly that a box promoting Hollywood movies and sporting events for a one-time fee of a few dollars will never be legal. Whether the user sees a moral problem with it is a different matter, but the illegality of the content is not questioned.
Users should also be aware of the dangers of IPTV providers. As mentioned above, illegal IPTV is a booming industry. Some “providers” issue their own apps for Kodi and Amazon, while others issue M3U playlists.
There are plenty of legal M3U playlist apps on both Kodi and the Amazon Appstore. As with the Kodi app itself, there is nothing illegal about the apps themselves. The legal issues arise from what you (the user) choose to fill the applications with.
En última instancia, todo se reduce a la ley de derechos de autor. Si la aplicación que está viendo no tiene permiso para usar el contenido que ofrece, ya sea mediante una API o mediante el pago de tarifas de distribución a los titulares de derechos, está infringiendo la ley..
En este momento, las personas que usan aplicaciones ilegales han bajado ligeramente. Los titulares de los derechos de autor persiguen a los creadores de las aplicaciones Kodi y Amazon que proporcionan acceso al contenido y a las personas que venden el contenido. “Completamente cargado” Cajas de kodi.
Pero, al igual que algunos usuarios habituales fueron arrastrados por los tribunales por usar Napster a principios de siglo, también algunas personas terminarán arruinando sus vidas al perder batallas judiciales por el uso de dichos complementos..
Don't you believe us? Los dejaremos con las palabras de Kieron Sharp, el Director Ejecutivo de la Federación contra el robo de derechos de autor (FACT). Esto es lo que le dijo al Independiente periódico:
Y:
Como puede ver, varios problemas legales rodean a los Sticks de TV Kodi y Amazon Fire.
En el sentido más puro, lo que es legal y lo que es ilegal es el blanco y negro. Pero en la práctica, la forma en que el contenido legal está tan entrelazado con el contenido ilegal en los repositorios 13 Kodi Repos que necesita desinstalar y por qué 13 Kodi Repos que necesita desinstalar y por qué debería deshacerse de estos repositorios de Kodi porque podrían suponer un riesgo para usted si los mantienes cerca Lea más, las tiendas de aplicaciones y en toda la web hace que sea difícil para un ojo inexperto establecer los límites.
En caso de duda, no se arriesgue. Es más sensato ser un usuario inteligente de Kodi y Amazon Fire TV Stick. Tenga mucho cuidado y solo use su dispositivo / aplicación para ver contenido que esté 100% seguro de que es legal. Si desea saber más, consulte nuestra guía de configuración de Kodi para principiantes.
¿Sabía que podría crear su propio Netflix privado? Cómo hacer su propio Netflix privado con Dropbox, Google Drive o OneDrive? Cómo hacer su propio Netflix privado con Dropbox, Google Drive o OneDrive? Es fácil hacer su propio Netflix privado. Todo lo que necesita es Kodi, además de películas y programas de TV guardados en Google Drive, OneDrive o Dropbox. Leer más utilizando Kodi y almacenamiento en la nube? Así es cómo:
