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Amazon Pulls Kodi Media Player From App Store Over Piracy Claims

Posted by Soulskill on from the get-out-because-reasons dept.

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."

28 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. Pronoun Game Anyone? by The+Faywood+Assassin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "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"

    1. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by ganjadude · · Score: 4, Insightful

      they worded it badly but pretty much they are complaining that amazon is selling the fire TV and other media sticks, while banning KODI, which without addons is not any different.

      Seems like an issue with anti competitive behavior

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by bsolar · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not the "legal" boxes: they complain about illegal boxes sold with a preinstalled version of Kodi modified with addons facilitating piracy. The article talks about "pirate boxes" and cites a link to another article explaining their fight against piracy-oriented media boxes sold on eBay and advertised as running Kodi.

    3. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by SeaFox · · Score: 5, Interesting

      they worded it badly but pretty much they are complaining that amazon is selling the fire TV and other media sticks, while banning KODI, which without addons is not any different.

        Seems like an issue with anti competitive behavior

      Why does the foundation find this "absurd"? Just sounds like business as usual for content/platform lock-in and large companies using their control over a marketplace to remove competition.

      Kinda reminds me of how Apple removes apps that "duplicate functionality built into iOS" and then at the same time "adopts" features of the best third-party utilities in new iOS versions.

    4. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by bsolar · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The issue is not people customising their own install of Kodi. The issue is custom *hardware* set-top boxes being sold on eBay or Marketplace or whatever, which are explicitly advertised to run Kodi (which is preinstalled) and have the capability of pirating content easily (thanks to the not advertised custom addons).

      People think it's Kodi "vanilla" which allows the pirating since they don't realise it's thanks to the custom addons, so the reputation of Kodi suffers.

    5. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by jedidiah · · Score: 2

      Amazon sells a competing product.

      Amazon also sells speciality Android hardware with XBMC preloaded.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    6. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by tepples · · Score: 2

      There are no alternate web browsers for iOS. There are alternate shells around the engine of Safari, and there are remote desktop applications that connect to a browser running on someone else's computer. They cannot enable any HTML5 features that Apple has chosen to leave out of Safari.

    7. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by dj245 · · Score: 2

      I really wish the "normal" moderation was in between 'good' moderations and 'bad' moderations. I have reached for Insightful and accidentally hit Redundant way too many times.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    8. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by St.Creed · · Score: 2

      I just bought one of those boxes for my wife. The Minix Neo X8. Lovely little thingy. It came pre-installed with all standard addons for normal TV and movies but I didn't have to pay extra. It was provided as a service, free of charge, by the vendor. So yes, people do expect those addons to be there apparently, because the vendors don't do it just because they can. Anyone not pre-installing them is liable to get the box returned as "not working".

      I love that little box btw. I actually started watching TV again, after discovering Agents of Shield - and I haven't watched *any* TV for years.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    9. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

      Amazon allows Plex, even features Plex, and I don't know anybody who doesn't use it for piracy. Plex is basically a forked version of XBMC that you pay money for to get extra features (namely, an auto-transcoding server that doesn't rely on annoying nfs/samba configuration, which I wish XBMC had.)

    10. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Most Kodi video addons permit downloading a stream instead of just watching it. In many countries this is completely legal, for the purpose of format or time shifting. Obviously, the USA is not one of them, and Amazon is primarily a USA-based company.

      Amazon is selling set-top boxes with Kodi preinstalled. Just search Amazon for 'Kodi', you will get a load of 'em. The first such result I get is "Matricom G-Box Q Quad/Octo Core XBMC/Kodi Android TV Box" which points out in the description that "Tons of free streaming add-ons [are] available for Kodi so you can cancel your satellite or cable service." So as long as they can make a buck selling you Kodi, in a way anyhow, they're cool with that. But if you can install Kodi on your Amazon STB, Tablet or whatever and get access to media for free, they can't make a buck on that, so they're going to make it harder for you to do... apparently.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by Catbeller · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Pirating" meaning "watching TV". Or recording it.

      We used to call it a VCR. We could record anything we wanted. And we weren't "pirates", a term that used to mean SELLING copyrighted content, usually in physical form. Which is still done at dealer tables in conventions all over the US, and no one is trying to take those people to prison.

      I could repeat my points of the last, oh, sixteen years warning of definition drift and the removal of the right to record something happening on a screen in front of you. But, the liars won and now watching and recording TV is illegal unless the "owners" control your TV and, well, everything else connected to it. Encrypted BIOSes, HDCP, all the crap that has taken over what once was just watching TV and turned it into a worldwide ubercrime, a Prohibition III nightmare that is never going to end.

    12. Re:Pronoun Game Anyone? by cbhacking · · Score: 2

      BZZZZT try again. Chrome used (and still uses) its own JS engine, distinct from the built-in JS support in WebKit. Apple didn't let them do that on iOS; they had to use the JS engine that runs in the WebKit that is used in the webview widget, no exceptions. Until a recent iOS version (8, I believe), that WebKit build didn't even use JIT-compiled JavaScript, so it was always a lot slower than Safari.

      The JS engine (including both its performance and its behavior) is a hugely important part of a modern browser. By that standard, Chrome-on-iOS definitely wasn't the same thing as Chrome-on-PC.

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
  2. It's all about money by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2
    How much money does Amazon get for having the Kodi player in the app store?

    .
    How much money does Amazon get for selling things like Roku?

  3. "piracy-enabling" device? by stoned_ritual · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So all computers, cell phones, tablets, any audio/visual recording equipment should stop being sold by amazon based on this premise, yeah?

    1. Re:"piracy-enabling" device? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 2

      Media too since you can't pirate something if you don't have it to pirate from.

  4. Re:Plex by spire3661 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Plex has spent a LOT of money greasing the wheels of the big players. Thats why they have official apps on Xbox one and PS4. Kodi doesnt play the 'pay me ' game.

    --
    Good-bye
  5. I'm confused by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Funny

    But Amazon sells computers, and computers facilitate piracy.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  6. Piracy claims just a ruse to remove competition by NimbleSquirrel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:Piracy claims just a ruse to remove competition by netsavior · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I run xbmc/kodi on my Fire Stick currently. It is a huge annoying pain in the ass that Amazon won't let me have a shortcut to it on my Fire main page... You have to go to settings -> Applications -> Manage installed applications -> XBMC -> Launch Application... But when I get there it works exactly how I want it.

      Lets face it, Kodi on the app store vs Kodi sideloaded is no big difference... A user sophisticated enough to actually run something through XBMC is sophisticated enough to run ADB to sideload apps over the network.

      I am just glad the fire stick isn't more locked down than it is. Since I got it for 14 dollars, it is the cheapest possible way to run XBMC on my TV.

    2. Re:Piracy claims just a ruse to remove competition by afidel · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There's FiredTV launcher, an alternative home/launcher for the FireTV line that shows sideloaded apps.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  7. Side loading? by Jhon · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  8. You've made me curious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What are those plugins that enable piracy?

    1. Re:You've made me curious by St.Creed · · Score: 3, Informative

      I think they mean plugins like Genesis (http://www.tvaddons.ag/). It's pre-loaded on mine and works great.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
  9. If I access Netflix US from Canada by future+assassin · · Score: 2

    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*
  10. Re:Plex by barc0001 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's hard for a community project that doesn't have any revenue to "play the 'pay me' game". Plex is a commercial product.

  11. Makes hardware choice easier by ukoda · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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?

  12. $commentSubject by Falos · · Score: 4, Funny

    > 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.