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Amazon Pulls Kodi Media Player From App Store Over Piracy Claims
An anonymous reader writes with news that the Kodi media player (formerly XBMC) has had its app pulled from the Amazon app store after Amazon decided that it facilitates piracy. Amazon said, "Any facilitation of piracy or illegal downloads is not allowed in our program," and directed the development team not to resubmit the app. The team was surprised to hear this, since Kodi itself does not download or link to any infringing content. It does support addons, and some users have created addons to support pirated content, but the Kodi developers are fighting that behavior. XBMC Foundation board member Nathan Betzen said it's absurd that "Amazon won’t let us into their appstore, but they have no problem selling the boxes that are pushing the reason they won’t let us into their app store."
"selling the boxes that are pushing the reason they won’t let us into their app store"
What does that even mean?
"I'm a humble person really,
I'm actually much greater than I think I am"
But Plex is still offered?
So remove every other apps that allow torrenting or access to a web browser as well.
.
How much money does Amazon get for selling things like Roku?
Big Corporations are the only ones who know what is right and what is wrong. Every ill in this planet stems from the fact that there are still some forms of live who dare practice informed free will.
So all computers, cell phones, tablets, any audio/visual recording equipment should stop being sold by amazon based on this premise, yeah?
Modern app appers watch apps using other apps, not Luddite software for Xbox!
Apps!
monitors
computers
ethernet cables
televisions
etc
all of them facilitate piracy
But Amazon sells computers, and computers facilitate piracy.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Amazon have Fire TV, a media hub for you TV. That is exactly what Kodi is, but its free. Sure Kodi is just software, and Fire TV is a hardware and software package, but it is very easy to use Kodi (and Kodi based Linux distro, OpenElec) to turn cheap hardware (like a Raspberry Pi) into a powerful media hub.
It is likely the marketing bods at Amazon have been seeing slow Fire TV sales and also noticed that their own app store is serving up a free alternative. As an app Kodi does add key functionality to Fire TV, but if Fire TV users get used to Kodi then sooner or later they wouldn't need the Fire TV.
They can't just outright state that they are pulling it to promote their own competing product; there would be public outcry. However, a 'facilitating piracy' claim does accomplish this and also damages Kodi's reputation as a result. Look to see Amazon pumping the Fire TV as a piracy free alternative in the very near future.
I ripped my DVD and Blu Ray library (which should be legal, but it isn't thanks to DMCA), and use Emby to index it and Kodi as the frontend.
It's a beautiful setup giving me a great deal of power over my library, without involving piracy. In practice most people employing this setup *probably* pirate, but a lot of us do not do that.
Can't you just side-load KODI? I have it installed on my fire-stick and that's how I got it on there. I didn't know it was in their app store.
cable companies losing broadcast subscriptions will eventually go after torrent users.. also torrents feed bits to some scumbag countries if you never figured that out.. you don't just download you're feeding criminal activity in some scummy countries... I suggest that if you have cabletv now that you use your computer to DVR all the content you can then you have local content to watch.. if you have an antenna dvr off the antenna.. compile a archive of shows then suplement that with free online resources that do not come from illegal sources... If your kid is torrenting and you lose your broadband you are screwed.. you could end up needing to move because most parts of the USA only have one broadband provider in any location... Don't Do Torrents or File Servers.. bad news... And yes I totally expect everyone to say that ahole no one cares or wants to hear it... All I am saying is as cable loses tons of subscribers they are going to come after people and you don't want to deal with it... but more so.. do you really want to be pushing out torrent bits to Pakistan or other crappy countries.. because its not just download.. you upload too.
What are those plugins that enable piracy?
Firetv shouldn't Amazon pull that off their website since I infringing copyrights?
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Too bad ripping your own DVD or Blu-Ray discs is still a form of piracy and yes, it is because of the very same DMCA. Yes, it is true most people don't think of it as technically being a form of piracy but legally it is.
Why don't they pull all apps that utilize the cam and microphone since they can be used to record and then transmit copyrighted material
The arguments about competition sound like tinfoilhat speech to me. Amazon also sells a direct FireTV product, the Roku.
I bet Plex played a bigger part in this than a random Amazon exec.
We'll see what else they pull out of their store.
Sure... it's "stealing" despite the fact that you never actually "stole" anything and have actually paid for it too.
It's not "piracy". It's a violation of the DMCA.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
I have been using Amlogic based players recently as they run Kodi directly on Linux builds and seem to have good codec support. I was looking other options to ensure I was keeping up with the state of the art features and the Fire TV was one I looked at. I put it on my B list since they currently don't ship outside the USA, which find weird given they will export books to me. While I could get around the shipping restriction, it makes it less price competitive. With this negative Kodi attitude they are now dropped from my list completely. Yes I could sideload Kodi, but this could be sign of more aggressive restrictions to come, why take the risk?
> facilitates
Oh go fuck yourselves. Or better yet, sleep with the MAFIAAs.
They got called out on teh boxez and rightfully so. They all facilitate piracy. The internet facilitates piracy. OH HEY, AMAZON SUPPORTS THE INTERNETS, WELL-KNOWN FOR BEING A MAJOR TOOL OF PEDORISTS AND OR DRUG DEALERS.
Oxygen facilitates piracy. This associative bullshit is for politicians, go fuck yourselves.
Install it on a different device from Google play store, Use ES File Manager to back up the app (saves apk to backups folder), zip the apk, transfer to kindle or amazon phone, extract zip, side load. Done.
Books can give one knowledge of how to pirate, and yet they still sell them.
Congrats, your own argument just illustrated how piracy is not stealing.
Logged in just to comment on this without being taken as a shill. (seriously - check my karma.) In much the same way that CryptoCat’s dev team have realized that usability is a core feature of security, and not a nice-to-have, so too has the Plex team made usability a core feature of their product in ways the XBMC team was late to implement.
Plex’s lack of extensibility, scraper support, and local storage support drive me up a goddamn tree, but Plex works and XBMC doesn’t. I’m not a linux person, but I am a nerd - code is not my day job, but I’m teaching myself at night. Sweet baby Jesus, I tried XBMC so many freaking times that eventually I just gave up. And when my certified-Mac-tech friend showed me this miraculous XBMC fork that worked on OSX, with his remote control, and without fucking around, I spent a few years not looking back. I think I got myself banned from the TVDB trying to get Plex to identify shows properly, but it offered me the ability to play back home videos and fansubbed anime on the TV when I could not afford a dedicated HTPC - and that included salvage, scrounged laptops, and selling my body for transistors. (it was a rough patch in my life)
Ironically, I more or less quit watching even foreign television about when I got Plex to sit down and play nice and XBMC became Kodi and began to make setup less infuriating for people who didn’t hack C in their spare time.
More ironically - nay, infuriatingly - I spent most of my free time a couple weeks ago trying to sideload Kodi on my FireTV to try it out, and only found out there was an official app for it after the app was taken down. Way to piss in my cheerios, Bezos. :(
You did not buy it. At least that is their claim. You bought the media - the disk. On that disk was content. You licensed the content for a specific use per their terms.
You and I both know this is bullshit and you should be allowed to make a backup or alternative playing format. However, we are not the owners of the copyright and we do not have a say, legally. What would be nice, I think, is having a single time download that can be purchased and the onus is on me to ensure that it remains backed up. This downloaded version should, perhaps, also be available (single time only) when you buy a disk so you can back it up. It needs to ensure that the download is completed and resumable, of course.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Amazon sells TVs with USB plugs. You can play any kind of pirated content from there. I expect Amazon to retire those TVs from their shop soon.
After all, they can be used for copyright infringement by printing out pirated Ebooks or copyrighted photographs.
Never mind the fact that Amazon offers DRM free MP3 downloads and Kodi can play those too.
More to do with their deal with PLEX I suspect.
I don't think it's considered 'piracy', it's a different crime. The copyright is not infringed (fair use applies), but the circumvention of the protection is a crime on it's own regardless of copyright being infringed in the US.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Actually backup is fair use. If the media is sold under the exact same terms but not explicitly protected by CSS or whatever then a backup is perfectly legitimate.
DMCA created a weird world where you can break copyright law without infringing copyright. Circumventing a technology intended to protect against infringement is made illegal even with the copyright is not infringed. Circumventing it just to *play* the content is also illegal.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Let's see - on Amazon, you can purchase: ... equiv
* Hauppauge 1212 (HD-PVR)
* Hauppauge 1512
* Hauppauge Colossus / Colossus 2
* ATI
* Blackmagic Intensity equiv
* Elgato Game Capture HD
* Sourcingbay HDMI Game Capture 1080P HD Video Capture Recorder
* AVerMedia - C875
* AGPtek 1080P HDMI One Click Recorder (plus 5 clones)
* HDMI replicators (which remove HDCP) http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-P... - BTW, there are 10 + models that work.
And just to be 100% clear - recording netflix or amazon video or DVDs or Bluray works-every-time with this setup regardless of the source.
Basically, if you can see it on a monitor/TV, then you can record it. Some of these devices record DD+ and DTS audio too. All do 1080p video. Prices range from $75 - $500, so amazon gets a "cut" - unlike with Kodi where it is $0 and there isn't any "cut" to get.
Ah - I think we just found the reason for amazon to block it. They want their CUT.
...after reading this news. I won't use amazon app store anymore, this is too much. KODI/XBMC is's bleeding edge piece of free software, I love this project and follow it since the first xbox port. Bad bad Amazon keep your hands off, it's your lousy app store that don't deserve such a good software. So long
that they're going to pull all the emulators now as well? After all, those much be facillitating and encouraging piracy as much as kodi(xbmc)....
Kodi is still available on Google Play. Amazon pulling it from their app store only really matters if you have an Amazon tablet or a Fire Phone; anything else that has access to the Amazon Appstore should also be able to access the Google Play store.
See subject & answer it vs. you doing it here http://tech.slashdot.org/comme... so keep "puffing that pot" fool!
* :)
Gotta love it - seeing you give me guff (yet being a "ne'er-do-well" pothead with nothing better to show for yourself vs. what I've done that gives others more speed, security, reliability, & anonymity), knowing you CRIPPLE your OWN thought processes with pot is priceless, since it makes it (& I've just GOTTA say it, you're making me do it) "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez'" to utterly crush you by making you "eat your words", spiced with the bitter taste of SELF-defeat, + your foot in your mouth RAMMING THEM DOWN, rinsing down the puke you spewed on /. that I smacked you down with easily!
APK
P.S.=> Gotta LOVE pot smoking dolts - they're stupid enough to do what "stoned_ritual" did, & smash themselves into the ground everytime vs. myself, lol... apk
See subject & answer it vs. you doing it here http://tech.slashdot.org/comme... so keep "puffing that pot" fool!
* :)
Gotta love it - seeing you give me guff (yet being a "ne'er-do-well" pothead with nothing better to show for yourself vs. what I've done that gives others more speed, security, reliability, & anonymity), knowing you CRIPPLE your OWN thought processes with pot is priceless, since it makes it (& I've just GOTTA say it, you're making me do it) "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez'" to utterly crush you by making you "eat your words", spiced with the bitter taste of SELF-defeat, + your foot in your mouth RAMMING THEM DOWN, rinsing down the puke you spewed on /. that I smacked you down with easily!
APK
P.S.=> Gotta LOVE pot smoking dolts - they're stupid enough to do what "stoned_ritual" did, & smash themselves into the ground everytime vs. myself, lol... apk