'Pirate' Android TV Box Sellers Raided By Police

[hihello]

Sellers of Android boxes loaded with software enabling the free viewing of movies, TV shows and live sports have been raided this week by UK authorities. Trading Standards officers, police and representatives from Sky TV carried out raids in several locations, causing other sellers to quickly reconsider the tone of their marketing efforts.

While paying subscriptions to services such as Netflix, premium satellite and cable channels, sports broadcasters and PPV outlets are legitimate ways to obtain content on a TV, there are others that require very little outlay.

Apple TV boxes, Android set-top boxes and even the lowly Raspberry PI can run software such as Kodi (previously XBMC) alongside third-party addons to provide all of the above at virtually zero cost. Unsurprisingly, this annoys content providers no end.

While selling any of the above devices alone is entirely legal, over the past couple of years online markets such as eBay and Amazon have been flooded with “fully loaded” boxes (Android-based in particular) that enable free viewing of anything from first run movies to live sports.

Surprisingly, many vendors have been happy to publicly advertise that fact, with many apparently under the impression that if they don’t provide the illegal content themselves then they aren’t liable. In the UK that argument is unlikely to fly and during the past week patience appears to have run out.

Earlier this week Trading Standards officers and police carried out raids on sellers of Android boxes setup to receive unauthorized content. One seller, operating from GeekyKit.com, told customers that his physical shops would not be trading as normal.

“As you may be aware we were visited yesterday by Sky [television] in conjunction with Trading Standards. Whilst we continue to investigate our position the stores will remain closed and support will remain suspended. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused,” he explained.

“We do not control the content that is accessible on the internet via the product that we sell. We are currently working with Trading Standards to ensure that we can sell our products whilst adhering to UK copyright laws.”

Although no details on changes were provided by GeekyKit, the signs on the front of one of their shops will be the first thing to go after leaving little to the imagination.

A source who asked to remain anonymous told TorrentFreak that raids were also carried out at home addresses. In those cases officers reportedly seized computer equipment and mobile phones. A 38-year-old man was arrested under the Copyright Designs and Patent Act.

The raids have certainly provided food for thought for other companies involved in the supply of similar devices. DroidSticks, one of the most prominent UK suppliers, is now limiting discussion on its Twitter account to matters relating only to the device.

Whether or not the company intends to continue packaging third-party addons with its boxes will remain to be seen, but for now ‘pirate’ talk is strictly off-limits. DroidSticks did not respond to our request for comment.

Finally, complying with UK legislation should be a fairly straightforward process if sellers want to play it safe, but that will probably mean never mentioning the “special features” of these boxes in a sales pitch ever again.

It could also mean relying on users to install their own third-party addons from scratch. It’s a simple enough process for those with patience but something unlikely to appeal to Joe Public who increasingly wants a simple plug-and-play device.

Source:TorrentFreak

[KP333]

with advertising like that shop above what do they expect..

[GRiM]

with advertising like that shop above what do they expect..

Agreed. Complete idiots if they thought they would get away with it for long. Making it as blatant as that is just asking to be sued.

[Ballistic Gelatin]

LOL, this reminds me of the cable-box marketing era of the 1980s and 1990s that pitted box manufacturers and cable/satellite operators against each other in the U.S. and Canada.

Man, those were the Wild West days of entertainment encryption technologies. The classified ads section of Popular Science magazine was crammed monthly with advertisers for boxes and devices known as BAGs, or Bogus Address Generators.

This post, like the ads, is for "educational purposes only." Of course. ;)

[ugurano]

nice advertising lol

[steven36]

LOL, this reminds me of the cable-box marketing era of the 1980s and 1990s that pitted box manufacturers and cable/satellite operators against each other in the U.S. and Canada.

It's still around but now days mostly done on satellites . there's a big difference though for paying someone a chicken scratch fee to service a black box for a company that has legit paid content . Than paying someone for pirated content that's freely available on the web . About anyone can hook up some kind of cheap player to there TV and stream or watch downloaded files. Paying someone for free pirated content is just noobish and means you're ether rich or computer illiterate.

[Ballistic Gelatin]

steven36, absolutely the game has changed since those days.

Perhaps you recall this thread? Interesting....

[steven36]

steven36, absolutely the game has changed since those days.

Perhaps you recall this thread? Interesting....

I use to know a guy once who serviced black satellite boxes hes dead now but all he done was put the card thorough his computer every time they scramble it and fix it for his customers. This was in the 2000s not the 1990s . Even though I have satellite I just pay for mine from the service provider its not very expensive . I dont watch TV very often though mostly I watch stuff on my computer. I think I'm going buy me a cheap blu-ray player so I dont be tied down to watching media on my computer anymore.