Kodi addon viewers warned their details ‘could be in the hands of lawyers’

[grimm]

Details of viewers who have watched pirated series such as Game of Thrones or free streams of Premier League games could now be in the hands of lawyers, experts have warned.

Torrentfreak reports that several domains operated by Kodi addons Navi-X and TVAddon have been transferred to a Canadian law firm, DrapeauLex.

It’s not clear whether the law firm is planning legal action against individual users – but it’s possible the firm has these details.

TorrentFreak comments, ‘Where this will all end up is currently anyone’s guess. All the signs point to legal action of some kind but the nature of that is still unclear.’

TVAddons was the leading library for unofficial Kodi add-ons – which allow users to stream video to boxes plugged into TVs, some of it pirated illegally.

The site, which had 40 million users in March, shut down in June – shortly after the site’s owners were sued over copyright violation.

Using Kodi software (which can be installed on smartphones or PCs) remains legal – it’s just installing add-ons to allow piracy which is the problem.

The boxes are already illegal to sell in the UK, and dealers have been arrested and fined.

The move followed the shutdown of the popular Navi X add-on – which closed due to ‘the current legal climate surrounding Kodi,’ its makers said.

Britain’s new Digital Economy Act has put further pressure on Kodi users – means that users of Kodi boxes could face up to 10 years in prison.

Providers of illegal content are the most likely to face long sentences under the new law.

In theory, the bill criminalises even minor copyright infringement – where copyright holders face a loss or a ‘risk of loss’ by something being published online.

In practice, ordinary users are not actually likely to be prosecuted – although you have still technically committed a crime, the government says.

The Intellectual Property Office said in a letter to Open Rights Group, ‘It is important to note that the criminal offences apply to making material available to others, not to those just downloading material to their computers.

‘Anyone seeking to enforce their rights for the downloading of material would be unlikely to refer to this legislation.