Hollywood's International War on Kodi Plugins And Video-Streaming Boxes (eff.org)

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Hollywood's International War on Kodi Plugins And Video-Streaming Boxes (eff.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday September 30, 2017 @07:34AM from the Pirates-of-the-Kodi-Media-Players:-On-Stranger-Tides dept.

An anonymous reader quotes the EFF: In the past few years, the sale of pre-configured Kodi boxes, and the availability of a range of plugins providing access to streaming media, has seen the software's popularity balloon -- and made it the latest target of Hollywood's copyright enforcement juggernaut. We've seen this in the appearance of streaming media boxes as an enforcement priority in the U.S. Trade Representative's Special 301 Report, in proposals for new legislation targeting the sale of "illicit" media boxes, and in lawsuits that have been brought on both sides of the Atlantic to address the "problem" that media boxes running Kodi, like any Web browser, can be used to access media streams that were not authorized by the copyright holder...

The difficulty facing the titans of TV is that since neither those who sell Kodi boxes, nor those who write or host add-ons for the software, are engaging in any unauthorized copying by doing so, cases targeting these parties have to rely on other legal theories. So far several legal theories have been used; one in Europe against sellers of Kodi boxes, one in Canada against the owner of the popular Kodi add-on repository TVAddons, and two in the United States against TVAddons and a plugin developer... These lawsuits by big TV incumbents seem to have a few goals: to expand the scope of secondary copyright infringement yet again, to force major Kodi add-on distributors off of the Internet, and to smear and discourage open source, freely configurable media players by focusing on the few bad actors in that ecosystem.
The EFF details the specific lawsuits in each region, and concludes that their courts "should reject these expansions of copyright liability, and TV networks should not target neutral platforms and technologies for abusive lawsuits."

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I see both sides here by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 07:41 · Score: -1

The people who download Kodi and set it up? They were never going to pay for your stuff, there's no point in going after them.
The people who download Kodi, set it up, and then SELL IT TO CASUALS FOR MONEY? Yes, they need to go to jail. You can't be making money off of theft.
1. Re:I see both sides here by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 08:01 · Score: 0, Informative
  
  Kodi's core functionality is Windows Media Player. If the people selling Kodi-boxes deserve jail, then so do WindowsPC vendors. The networks have issues with some plugins that may interface with torrent sites, streams that may contain copyrighted content, and other internet sources that may side-step national marketplaces. There's nothing wrong with watching a movie via torrent, if you have a license to watch that movie otherwise, eg having bought a DVD. There's nothing wrong with watching your local TV station's stream.
  If someone packages Kodi with a torrent plug-in, doesn't make clear that content available through that plug-in may be copyright-encumbered, and makes money by deceiving people into believing that it's free content, then I can see secondary copyright violation for that organization. Not jail. Nor any penalty for the Kodi developer. Nor for the plugin developer.
2. Re:I see both sides here by Kaenneth · 2017-09-30 08:15 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  > There's nothing wrong with watching a movie via torrent, if you have a license to watch that movie otherwise, eg having bought a DVD. There's nothing wrong with watching your local TV station's stream.
  Morally, Yes; Legally, No.
3. Re:I see both sides here by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 09:13 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  It has been 20 years since pirates started making media files available practically on demand, yet the Music And Film Industry Associations still - don't - get - it: They still insist on any form of market segmentation that they can think of. They still carve out regions. They still want "exclusive" content. Do they understand the word? Exclusive means it excludes people from consuming the product. You can still not enter the title of a movie you want to see and just watch it. First you have to figure out which service has it in their library, then you have to become a customer of that service, then they let you watch it, if your player works with that service. The pirates don't deliver for free: People buy the boxes with the illegal plugins installed. But the pirates have the better product. It. Just. Works. Hollywood on the other hand? Twenty years and they still don't deliver.
4. Re: I see both sides here by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 09:15 · Score: 0
  
  I disagree, the core functionality of Kodi is not using Windows Media Player. It's using plugins to get content over the net into Windows Media Player.
5. Re:I see both sides here by hackwrench · 2017-09-30 09:47 · Score: 2
  
  Property is theft. Culture belongs to the whole of humanity. The only reason money exists is because it is fun to earn and buy things. So when it isn't it's all fair game.
6. Re:I see both sides here by hackwrench · 2017-09-30 09:49 · Score: 1
  
  10th and 14th amendment of the Constitution and the very concept of rights themselves.... Common law as well.
7. Re:I see both sides here by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 09:51 · Score: 0
  
  Kodi's core functionality is a universal plugin framework, The preconfigured boxes are designed and implemented specifically to facilitate streaming of pirate content, no ifs buts or maybes. I use Kodi and though it is often a buggy piece of shit I love it, but lets not pretend those reselling these preconfigured devices are innocent otherwise it drags Kodi and the community down with them.
8. Re:I see both sides here by hackwrench · 2017-09-30 09:53 · Score: 2
  
  Back when pirates ruled the seas, pirates delivered a better product too. Pirates are cool. That's why you have Pirates of the Caribbean and not Her Majesty's Ships of the Caribbean.
9. Re: I see both sides here by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 09:59 · Score: 0
  
  In reality those were Her Majesty's ships and crews.
  Just romanticized in stories.
10. Re: I see both sides here by hackwrench · 2017-09-30 10:07 · Score: 2
  
  Well the pirates were privateers.
11. Re:I see both sides here by Neuronwelder · 2017-09-30 10:08 · Score: 1
  
  Those were great days
12. Re:I see both sides here by Neuronwelder · 2017-09-30 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  I agree with the fun but not the fairness
13. Re:I see both sides here by hackwrench · 2017-09-30 10:11 · Score: 2
  
  Weren't they though?
14. Re:I see both sides here by hackwrench · 2017-09-30 10:36 · Score: 1
  
  Everything is both fair and unfair. Bifurcations you see. Everyone gets what they want, which is fair, but they also get what they don't want which is unfair. For some reason, the Shawshank Redemption comes to mind, as well as all the times on the Cowboy Bebop where they go hungry, but I'm senile in my old age. I started feeling old at the age of 40, but my aunt started feeling old at the age of 30. She's adopted.
15. Re:I see both sides here by Whibla · 2017-10-01 01:59 · Score: 1
  
  That's why you have Pirates of the Caribbean and not Her Majesty's Ships of the Caribbean.
  And once more reality (shows) are stranger than fiction...
Slashdot is dying by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 07:50 · Score: -1

Less than 50 comments on most of the stories. What went wrong?
Anyway, press F to pay respects.
1. Re:Slashdot is dying by Kaenneth · 2017-09-30 08:15 · Score: 0
  
  The racism is missing for some reason.
2. Re: Slashdot is dying by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 08:16 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks, Obama.
3. Re:Slashdot is dying by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 08:30 · Score: 0
  
  Whiny Republican type people get victimized just thinking about brown cocks, you don't have to admit it.
4. Re:Slashdot is dying by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 19:03 · Score: 0
  
  And we've not seen a mention of goatse or a penis bird in years!
BUILD A PRISON ON PUERTO RICO FOR TRUMP by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 07:52 · Score: -1

AMERICA WILL BE GREAT AGAIN as soon as we get this fucking traitor into the big water.
Beware "net neutrality" on this one... by TheZeitgeist · 2017-09-30 07:57 · Score: 0

If FCC regulates the inter-webs, Big Mickey has the in to shutting down streaming boxes etc. via regulation, not laws. Careful what you wish for with net neutrality.
1. Re:Beware "net neutrality" on this one... by thegarbz · 2017-09-30 10:02 · Score: 1
  
  Please don't conflate differing issues. You just confuse people who already are struggling to make sense of all the things activists are asking for.
2. Re:Beware "net neutrality" on this one... by TheZeitgeist · 2017-09-30 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  Oh no, I'm not conflating anything. Look at history. FCC itself was created to allocate spectrum and make sure it was 'level playing field' and all the rest. And within several years of its inception David Sarnoff of NBC was using it like an enforcer to completely repress the emerging FM band stations, followed by FCC turning into a censorship nanny for OTA broadcasts that continues today. Net neutrality will turn into a similar cudgel for the wealthy and politically connected.
3. Re:Beware "net neutrality" on this one... by thegarbz · 2017-09-30 20:31 · Score: 1
  
  Stop conflating piracy, net neutrality, and now somehow you managed to add a 3rd irrelevant issue: spectrum allocation.
  On your last topic: where are we now? What FM station is repressed? I mean you're talking like the entire scenario has concluded with a dramatic cover-up of free speech rather than an isolated period which was rolled back shortly after and (I can't stress this enough) has fuck all to do with the topic at hand.
4. Re:Beware "net neutrality" on this one... by Rockoon · 2017-10-01 01:15 · Score: 1
  
  You are fucking retarded if you think what the FCC has done in the past, and continues to do now, is "irrelevant" to what the FCC will do in the future.
  And since you did come right out and say it, its not an IF any more.. you really ARE fucking retarded.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
5. Re:Beware "net neutrality" on this one... by thegarbz · 2017-10-01 04:41 · Score: 1
  
  Says the person bringing up the FCC in a Hollywood lawsuit. Does your carer know you escaped your special needs school?
You can have my plugins... by Zurkeyon3733 · 2017-09-30 08:00 · Score: 1

When you pry them from my cold, dead hands!
Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 08:09 · Score: -1

There's a simple solution to make this problem go away completely. Stop pirating stuff, then you won't have to worry about these lawsuits. If you weren't so hell-bent on getting content illegally without paying for it, this problem would not exist. You don't have to be in Mensa like me to recognize this very simple truth. Stop pirating stuff.
- snruter rotsac
Note to moderators: Moderation does not exist to voice your disagreement with my post. There's a way to express your disagreement. It's called the reply button. Learn how to use it.
1. Re: Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 08:23 · Score: -1
  
  As I predicted, Dems can't justify why they should be able to take someone else's content for free so they mod down without answering. This is very typical of the Dems, wanting to take something from someone else giving anything back, whether piracy or wealth redistribution. Why do you feel you have the right to someone else's content without paying for it? Modding me down is admitting you can't answer my question. I predict I will be vindicated, as usual.
  - snruter rotsac
2. Re: Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 09:20 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  You got modded down because you are full of shit.
  I can pirating and that's not going to influence anyone so piracy still exists.
  Your solution is pointless, it expects people to actually follow a good example when you know that's not how modern anything works.
  Also, you expect the whole world to follow USA law. That's just bonkers.
3. Re:Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 09:24 · Score: 0, Insightful
  
  There's a simple solution to make this problem go away completely. Stop pirating stuff, then you won't have to worry about these lawsuits.
  Please note, that not everybody is living in your country. What is illegal in one place is perfectly legal in another place.
  
  If you weren't so hell-bent on getting content illegally without paying for it, this problem would not exist. You don't have to be in Mensa like me to recognize this very simple truth. Stop pirating stuff.
  Hey, Mister, I do want to pay for content. But ... I do not live in former British colony. Many movies or books are only sold in English speaking area (==former British Empire).
  Please tell me what is value or lost revenue for goods not sold here?
  According to me it is fair local price == zero.
4. Re:Simple solution by Applehu+Akbar · 2017-09-30 10:37 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I support creators of content, but not middlemen who geofence it, region-block it, or herd it into bundles that require me to subscribe to a ludicrous number of different streaming services. For that reason I Kodi when I find I can't rent a single view of content because of one of these mechanisms.
5. Re:Simple solution by Bert64 · 2017-09-30 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  For many people, the alternative to pirating content is to not have it at all.
  While we end up reading about it online and seeing adverts or discussions about it but cannot obtain it legally via any means short of flying to another country to buy it.
  
  --
  http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
6. Re:Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 12:10 · Score: 0
  
  Most bands don't sell tapes from a card table at the end of their concerts. They made their money by selling the music to middlemen, who themselves have the right to sell it.
  Cheating these middlemen is cheating the band. Taking it to the extreme (which is fair, as it has already happened in the last decade): if everybody just downloaded illegally, there would be much less money in music and that would lead to less new acts and innovation, with even large bands and popular acts forced to rely on selling jingles to advertise Whoppers.
7. Re: Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 12:50 · Score: 0
  
  Idiot. Bands make money off of concerts and popularity.
8. Re:Simple solution by Applehu+Akbar · 2017-09-30 13:16 · Score: 1
  
  Middlemen were a vital part of the entertainment supply chain in the days when music and movies were physical goods. When a movie was marketed in a new country, someone had to arrange for physical distribution of film cans to theaters. This required trucks, security, permits and checking for product wear over time. Advertising meant billboards and posters all over the place in each new locale. When was the last time your band sold its music from card tables full of cassettes?
  All of this goes away when the product is sold digitally, but the companies that got their cut in the old days still want to get paid for what they feel is their due slice of thin air. This is the part that I Kodi over if it gets in my way. One example going on right now: I get ABC TV shows over one of the major cable providers, for which the abc.com streaming site has an online logon. But any attempt to stream on the ABC site elicits a "Need to reauthorize" error loop. So if I miss something on ABC, I have to Kodi it.
9. Re:Simple solution by jedidiah · 2017-09-30 13:30 · Score: 2
  
  > There's a simple solution to make this problem go away completely. Stop pirating stuff
  These are the same people that sue you for developing tools to use the physical media we BOUGHT from them.
  "Not pirating" really isn't going to help.
  
  --
  A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
10. Re:Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 16:18 · Score: 0
  
  R.I.P AnyDVD
11. Re:Simple solution by EvilAlphonso · 2017-09-30 21:13 · Score: 1
  
  Coming at it from the opposite direction... between 2000 and now, there's been less than 10 movies coming from the big studios that I actually wanted to watch (I'm including movies to be released later this year). I don't have an issue paying for engaging content I actually want to watch, unfortunately the studios seem hellbent on not producing that. So I watch what they produce for free when it trickles down to the TV.
12. Re: Simple solution by gumbi+west · 2017-10-01 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  They used to make money off record sales too. The music is now smaller and there simply are fewer new national bands.
13. Re: Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-03 02:19 · Score: 0
  
  That's called capitalism at work. There are lots of fads. They come and go. New things take their place. Gaming for instance has become more popular.
  At one time everybody had an eight-ball, but for the longest time the eight-ball industry near died off, but more recently momentarily it had a resurgence. Shall we mandate everybody buy eight-balls once a year to ensure the eight-ball industry doesn't die off again? I think not. Rather we need to end these monopolies and force the entertainment industry to compete. I suppose that hasn't worked too well either though as in spite of wide scale piracy the products haven't gotten any better. Then again, why would you pay for something that has only gotten worse over time. There are good low budget films, so hollywood has no excuses.
Ban the sale of knife sharpeners ... by Alain+Williams · 2017-09-30 08:25 · Score: 1

some people use them to sharpen blades before murdering people!
Just because some people use something for a purpose that you do not like, does not give you a valid reason to stop them being made. However: big media is rich and can afford expensive lawyers who speak with forked tongues.
I don't give a damn by NewtonsLaw · 2017-09-30 08:29 · Score: 4, Interesting

Let them ban preloaded Kodi boxes... I don't really care.
Smarter folk just use a Raspberry Pi with OpenElec/Kodi and their choice of add-ons anyway.
The fewer store-bought preloaded Kodi boxes there are, the quicker my streams will start :-)
1. Re:I don't give a damn by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 10:15 · Score: 0
  
  Smarter folk just use a Raspberry Pi with OpenElec/Kodi and their choice of add-ons anyway.
  ODRIOD C2 with Libreelec is way better. Hardware 4k h265 decoding without breaking a sweat for less than $50.
2. Re:I don't give a damn by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 12:46 · Score: 0
  
  Let them ban preloaded Kodi boxes... I don't really care.
  Smarter folk just use a Raspberry Pi with OpenElec/Kodi and their choice of add-ons anyway.
  The fewer store-bought preloaded Kodi boxes there are, the quicker my streams will start :-)
  Not to mention the wankers that buy preloaded KODI boxes because they don't know how to build them in the first place.
  Yes, it is those wankers that are ruining the interwebs for the rest of us.
  BEWARE OF AMERICANS ONLINE! Yeah, I know that's so 1980s but.....
  magic word: played
  Oh how appropriate here!
3. Re:I don't give a damn by rtb61 · 2017-09-30 19:47 · Score: 2
  
  It is not about copyright it is all about the establishment of content distribution monopolies. They do not want content creation and distribution competition, it will send them and their crap marketing driven content bankrupt. This is all about creating publishing monopolies on the internet to censor all expression that can not pay millions of dollars to be accessible to the public, the old model.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
4. Re:I don't give a damn by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-02 04:48 · Score: 0
  
  OpenELEC is a dead one-man project, and RPis are underpowered pieces of shit. Smarter folks don't waste their time like that.
they are focusing their energy in the wrong place by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 08:37 · Score: 0

they are going to poison their own well, first by ending up with a horrible reputation for being consumer aggressive and second for wasting all this money fighting stupid fights instead of spending that energy coming up with engaging and entertaining content.
There is nothing i want to stream any more, if i need passive entertainment i go check out the theater. There is nothing being produced for home consumption that justifies the hassle of actually watching it.
Read books, work out, do something creative. Hollywood does not have a right to exist, they only exist by the will of the consumers, so start consuming something else.
Itâ(TM)s really simple by dnaumov · 2017-09-30 09:13 · Score: 1

If you have developed bittorrent, you could succesfully argue that you have a general purpose tool that CAN be used for unlawful purposes and you walk away. When you develop a tool whose ONLY purpose is illegal in most jurisdictions, well... good luck with that. In case thatâ(TM)s still news to somebody: âfacilitationâ or âenablingâ is an actual crime in many places. Yes, little details matter.
1. Re: Itâ(TM)s really simple by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 14:49 · Score: 0
  
  This story literally has no mention of, or even refers to bittorrent in any way.
  What the fuck are you rambling about?
Wrong by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 09:14 · Score: 0

If we lose this fight on net neutrality, that "regulation" to censor things is exactly what will take the regulations' place. The whole fight is about changing ISPs from "utilities" to "content producers", the later of which is expected to censor things like you describe.
And that's exactly what ISPs want, because taking away the internet as we know it would incentivize people to watch cable TV again.
Re:they are focusing their energy in the wrong pla by fluffernutter · 2017-09-30 09:51 · Score: 1

first by ending up with a horrible reputation for being consumer aggressive
Since when has that stopped any company?

--
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Legitimate uses of Kodi keep it safe and sound by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 14:18 · Score: 0

Fortunately, for all the evidence of "rampant piracy" on the Kodi, the singular useful legitimate use of Kodi as an extensible frontend that plugs into multiple providers including PnP for your home personal media library and software DVRs mean that it isn't going away any time soon.
OpenElec has some privacy issues by Anonymous Coward · 2017-09-30 22:17 · Score: 0

OpenElec sends usage information back to their servers without even an option to opt out.
http://wiki.openelec.tv/index....
They say that none of the information sent back is against your privacy, but if none can be opted out, then it's a concern.
Any one will do... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-01 01:16 · Score: 0

Whack a mole
Pandoras box
Genie out of bottle