Illegal streamers everywhere are feeling the pressure of late, as popular streaming software Kodi becomes the latest target of authorities and media companies.
The software, legal in its own right, can be used by some to run add-ons that allow the illegal streaming of copyrighted content, and Hollywood isn’t happy.
And as numerous popular add-ons shut down in the wake of increased scrutiny of Kodi, one of the most popular add-on repositories has now seemingly shuttered.
Related: Is Kodi legal?
TVAddons.ag offered users a huge library of unofficial add-ons for the Kodi media platform, but now it appears the site has gone offline, while its Facebook group also seems to have disappeared.
As TorrentFreak reports, the site’s domain names are now unresponsive, following federal action taken against the site and the popular ZemTV add-on last week.
Before it shut down, the site was reportedly visited by almost 40 million unique users in March, and hosted 1,500 different add-ons.
Users will now likely have problems running one of the most popular add-ons which was hosted on the site – Exodus – when it comes time to update the software.
It’s not hard to imagine why the site would shutter, but the developers behind TVAddons have yet to explain in full just what prompted the action.
It seems the site’s DNS entries are no longer available, and it could be that, if this wasn’t TVAddons’ decision, the registrar hosting the site removed them.
Related: how to install Kodi on a Fire Stick
Whatever the case, TVAddons’ demise follows a lawsuit from US satellite provider Dish Network, which sued the site along with the ZemTV add-on in a federal court in Texas last week.
While ZemTV was the main target of the complaint, TVAddons was listed as a defendant for allowing the distribution of such add-ons.
The practice of using Kodi to illegally stream copyrighted content has been in the spotlight recently, with the European Court of Justice effectively banning the sale of ‘fully-loaded’ Kodi boxes in a lengthy ruling delivered in April.
Elsewhere, Amazon, Facebook and eBay all announced plans to ban the sale of ‘fully loaded’ Android TV boxes (i.e. hardware sold with the illegal add-ons pre-installed) on their respective marketplaces.
It seems the clock is ticking for Kodi add-ons, then, with TVAddons becoming the latest victim of the crackdown.
Are you sad to see TVAddons go? Let us know in the comments.
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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.
