New Injunction Filed Against Kodi Box Maker Tickbox

[Len]

A global alliance of entertainment companies has filed an injunction against Kodi set-top box maker TickBox TV.

Torrent Freak published a detailed review of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment’s (ACE) filing. ACE has demanded that TickBox TV push software updates that erase its package of illicit add-ons and that it impound any unsold devices it has in inventory.

Studios Organize Global Anti-Piracy Actions

ACE is comprised of more than thirty entertainment companies from the US, Canada, Europe, and India. It formed earlier this year to present a united, global front in the industry’s fight against content piracy. The alliance claims that in 2016 pirated video sites received more than twenty-one billion visits, which produced over five billion illegal downloads of movies and TV shows.

TickBox was the alliance’s first target in the United States. ACE also worked with Australian regulators to shut down a Melbourne-based Kodi set-top box maker that supplied pirated content to the Asian market. This follows a wave of other civil and criminal actions in Europe.

British Kodi set-top box seller Brian Thompson received an 18-month suspended prison sentence in October. UK authorities caught him selling devices preloaded with pirated content and unauthorized access to Premier League soccer matches.

In May, the European Union’s Court of Justice declared that even linking to pirated content counts as piracy. That makes piracy-enabling add-ons just as illegal as pirated DVDs.

Expect to see more lawsuits and criminal investigations in 2018 as the entertainment industry’s legal machine ramps up. TickBox TV is just the first skirmish in ACE’s battle.