After a lengthy case, Kodi box seller issued with paltry £1 fine
After several years of legal proceedings, a high profile seller of Kodi boxes has been handed just a £1 fine by the courts after it emerged that he had no significant assets to confiscate.
The seller, Brian Thompson, became infamous after it emerged that he’d been selling set-top boxes with Kodi pre-installed and fully configured with piracy-enabling add-ons, reports TorrentFreak.
Related: Sky Sports copyright infringement costs offenders £30,000
Initially Thompson issued a ‘not-guilty’ plea in an attempt to clarify the law’s position with regards to streaming pirated content rather than making it available for download.
But soon, the seller changed his plea to ‘guilty’, meaning that the case would not be fully fought out in court. In response, the judge issued him with an 18-month prison term that would be suspended for two years. This essentially means that unless Thompson committed a crime in the next 24 months, then he would avoid jail time.
…and now for the fine
This most recent development concerns the fine that Thompson is expected to pay after costing Sky £200,000 in lost subscriptions while putting £38,500 in his pocket.
However, after it emerged that Thompson has no substantial assets to seize, the court issued him with a fine of just £1.
Despite the relatively lenient punishment, it’s unlikely that many others will attempt to follow Thompson’s example, since the 55-year old has been tied up in legal proceedings since he was raided by police back in 2015.
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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.
