Kodi users wouldn't stream SkySports, Virgin Media & BT Sport for FREE if prices fell

[Len]

THE MAJORITY of Kodi Box owners would stop watching live sport streams and downloading the latest blockbusters for free if Sky TV, Virgin Media and BT dropped their prices, an exclusive Express.co.uk survey has revealed.

Almost two-thirds of Kodi Box owners would return to legal methods of streaming, if providers like Sky TV, Virgin Media, and BT TV dropped their prices.

Some 74 per cent of people who watch content illegally online would return to legal providers if the television package prices were dropped, an exclusive survey for Express.co.uk has revealed.

The survey was conducted by price comparison site Finder.com – the biggest comparison site in Australia, which launched in the UK back in February 2017.

It surveyed some 2,000 adults from across the UK.

According to the research, those who use nefarious methods to tune-in to premium content, including popular television dramas and live sport coverage, would return to subscriptions with the likes of Sky, Virgin Media and BT if they cost less money.

Meanwhile, over 25 per cent would not turn their back on illicit streaming devices, regardless of the price of the legal equivalents.

Millennials were the most likely to return to legal methods of watching television, movies and sport with some 79.77 per cent pledging to ditch streaming, vs 68.25 per cent of Baby Boomers and 73.91 per cent of Gen X.

All the major broadcasters have tried to entice customers with deals which include getting a free BT Sport subscription for six months but getting access to all of the major sporting events is still likely to cost over £60 per month.

Sky TV, Virgin Media and BT TV were all contacted for comment on this story.

Illegal streaming has been thrust into the spotlight over the past year, thanks in part to the rise of illicit streaming devices, like so-called Kodi Boxes.

For those unaware, Kodi is a neutral, open-source media player which can be installed on a broad range of devices – from discount set-top boxes powered by Android, to well-known branded devices, like Amazon Fire TV Sticks.

Apps – known as add-ons – built by the passionate community of third-party developers allow users to stream premium content, like paid-for sports and movie channels for free.

So-called Kodi Boxes are devices, manufactured by a number of different brands, with all the requisite third-party software to stream paid-for content for free preinstalled on the set-top box.

Streaming paid-for content for free without the permission of the rightsholders is illegal.

Sky recently shook-up its television packages, dropping prices for new subscribers across the board and offering more flexibility.

Dubbed Sky Entertainment, the new £20 a month subscription package lets customers build their own build by adding any combination of Sky Box Sets, Sky Kids or Sky HD to Sky Entertainment for just £5 per month each.

Sky Entertainment will replace Sky’s existing TV bundles. It’s available to new customers now and will be available to existing customers by the end of January.

That said, existing customer will be able to remain on their current packages if they’d prefer.

The move follows a similar reshuffle of Sky Sports earlier in the year, which enabled customers to subscribe to channels dedicated to coverage of a specific discipline.

Earlier this year, research from FACT revealed that there are now one million Kodi Boxes in use across the UK.

The FACT research was conducted in association with the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, Intellectual Property Office, Police Scotland, and anti-piracy outfit Entura International.

It estimated that up to 25 per cent of the online viewing public access content illegally online.

According to the FACT report, the UK is one of the countries most affected by the increasing demand for Kodi boxes.

Those supplying the Kodi Boxes range from individuals building boxes for a select few friends and family, to sprawling organised crime networks.

There has been a steady stream of reports of individuals who have been arrested for selling these devices, however, FACT claims these are just the "tip of the iceberg".

According to FACT, there are a number of large-scale operations currently in the early stages.

However, the organisation is unable to specify any other details at the moment. The crackdown on so-called Kodi Boxes in the UK is likely to carry severe penalties.

Back in April, the EU Court of Justice judgement in the Filmspeler case included confirmation that streaming by end users on illicit set-top boxes, like those powered by Kodi, constitutes an infringement of copyright.

The Digital Economy Act, which came into effect in October 2017, extends criminal penalties for online copyright infringement to match those of physical copyright infringement.

That means the maximum prison sentence that can be awarded in online copyright infringement cases has increased from two years to 10 years.

This change could result in longer custodial sentences for the criminals involved in distributing illicit streaming devices.

Aside from the legal implications of streaming and downloading premium content for free, there are dangerous implications for your computer.

Cybersecurity firm Siege says there are “very real technical concerns” about downloading popular content – for example, Game Of Thrones – via torrents.

Earlier this year, Siege CEO Jason Syversen told Consumer Reports, “There are some very real technical concerns.

“You’re dealing with these shady third-party sites, so it’s a great opportunity for people to insert malware into the BitTorrent client as well as transferring files with malicious content.”

This threat is not simply academic, either.

Ahead of the Game Of Thrones Season 7 premiere last year, ransomware was introduced on The Pirate Bay – aimed at capitalising on the influx of users looking to download Game Of Thrones episodes for free.

When users clicked on the page to download the torrent file, a malicious pop-under advertisement quietly redirected users behind their back and infected the machine with Cerber ransomware.

Security firm Malwarebytes discovered the threat, which leveraged a number of vulnerable browser plugins to silently download the malicious payload to a system.

Malwarebytes security researcher Jerome Segura said: "Popular torrent site The Pirate Bay was serving ransomware via a malvertising attack this week-end.

"The ad network changes but the modus operandi remains the same.”

And it’s not only downloads that run the risk of infecting your computer.

Streaming sites are ideal locations for so-called watering hole attacks, where an incentive – like the ability to watch a Premier League match for free, for example – lures unsuspecting visitors, Siege CEO Syversen has cautioned.

Hackers use the increased volume of traffic to attack a high number of users and gain access to personal information on their computers.

“They use that as bait,” he told Consumer Reports.

“It’s the internet equivalent of going to the bad part of town and buying a movie that fell off the back of a truck.”

There are also wider implications for the Industry.

Federation Against Copyright Theft, or FACT, works closely with law enforcement to protect Intellectual Property (IP) in the UK.

Speaking to Express.co.uk earlier this year, following the leak of a number of unaired Game Of Thrones episodes online, FACT said: “It is very simple; watching and streaming TV shows and films, such as Game of Thrones, without the right subscription or permissions is illegal.

“If everyone pirated and got their content for free, programmes like Game of Thrones wouldn’t exist.

“If the studios behind these shows don’t make back what they put in, then they don’t have money to reinvest into creating original classics that we all love.

“And if we aren’t creating new TV programmes and films, then there won’t be as many opportunities for those working in the creative industries.

“In the UK these industries provide more than 1.8 million jobs and therefore piracy puts the livelihoods of so many people – not just the stars but from runners to producers – at risk.”