The makers of a streaming box that advisers customers to “stop paying for Netflix” are being sued by the video on-demand giant.
Both Netflix and Amazon have now joined major Hollywood studios in their lawsuit against Dragon Box, which runs on the legal Kodi streaming software.
The $350 box, which has a quarter of a million US customers, offers free access to brand new movies as well as live streaming of channels and sports, and on-demand access to top TV shows.
The firm’s website brazenly boasts users can “watch movies at home that are still in theatres,” so it’s little surprise the studios are seeking legal action.
Related: install Kodi on a Fire Stick
The suit alleges (via Variety): “The commercial value of Defendants’ Dragon Box business depends on high-volume use of unauthorized content through the Dragon Box devices.
“Defendants promise their customers reliable and convenient access to all the content they can stream and customers purchase Dragon Box devices based on Defendants’ apparent success in delivering infringing content to their customers.”
Chasing the Dragon Box
The lawsuit is the just the latest against so-called Kodi boxes, and those who sell them.
Although perfectly legal, the open-source software has been harnessed by third-party developers whose addons have provided easy access to copyrighted content.
Although a Kodi-based system is easy for tech savvy folks to configure, Dragon Box is just one of a number of devices available to buy with everything set up and ready to go.
On his LinkedIn page CEO Paul Christoforo defiantly says, as a facilitator, his enterprise can’t be held responsible for what other folks choose to make available for online streaming.
He writes: “It is legal to stream content on the internet… We can’t be held liable for the movies and TV channels online that people are watching because all the software is doing is accessing content that is readily available online.”
Do you think the copyright holders are finally getting a grip on the Kodi-based streaming services? Or are films and TV shows as freely available as ever? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
