Kodi users forced to pay thousands in new crackdown on free Premier League streams

[Len]

KODI BOX suppliers have been fined thousands in the latest online piracy crackdown.

A supplier of so-called Kodi Boxes – preloaded with the wherewithal to watch pirate broadcasts of Premier League football matches – has been forced to pay thousands of pounds, and cease all future trading of the illicit set-top boxes, according to piracy watchdog FACT.

Nayanesh Patel of Harrow, Middlesex, sold Kodi-style streaming boxes on several sites, including eBay and Facebook.

Patel has been slapped with a £18,000 fine for breaching Premier League copyright. He also agreed to remove all infringing adverts from the platforms, disable access to his website, and cease all sales of similar devices.

Meanwhile, a second supplier who sold subscriptions for Kodi Box owners to tune into free streams of Premier League football has had to pay £8,000.

The supplier, who has not been named, sold subscriptions to the pirate broadcasts via eBay. He has been forced to cease all such future trading.

These latest fines are the result of a wide-ranging copyright protection programme that includes the Premier League successfully obtaining a High Court blocking order preventing illegal streams being broadcast in the UK.

It also involves working with Spanish authorities to shut down illegal Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and action inside the UK, Thailand, and Singapore against sellers of Kodi-style streaming devices that provide access to illegal broadcasts of football.

Premier League Director of Legal Services, Kevin Plumb, said: “This case shows there are serious consequences for sellers of pre-loaded boxes and is a warning for anyone who thinks they might get away with this type of activity.

“The Premier League is currently engaged in a comprehensive copyright protection programme that includes targeting and taking action against sellers of pre-loaded devices, and any ISPs or hosts that facilitate the broadcast of pirated Premier League content.”

Kodi is a neutral media player which can be installed on a wide range of hardware, including desktop computers, servers, smartphones, HDMI streaming dongles.

The media player is capable of streaming content from the internet, a home network or local HDD storage.

Third-party developers can bring additional functionality to Kodi software via apps – dubbed Add-Ons – downloaded from the internet, from repositories like TVAddons.

Illicit streaming devices with these piracy-focused add-ons preloaded are colloquially known as Kodi Boxes.

The Premier League also recently won a landmark case in the Dutch Courts which requires illegal hosting provider Ecatel to now takedown all Premier League material or face fines of up to €1.5million, or £1.3million.

The news comes a few months a Sky customer agreed to pay £5,000 after his account was linked to an illegal stream on Facebook.

The feverishly-anticipated fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko back in April 2017 was available exclusively on Sky Sports Box Office for £19.95.

However, thousands of people enjoyed the boxing match via a Facebook live stream for free.

The stream, which was viewed by some 4,250 people at its peak, was traced back to the Sky account holder, Craig Foster, of Scarborough.

Foster says he received a number of letters from Foot Anstey LLP, a law firm representing Sky, following the stream.

One of these letters claimed Foster could face fines of up to £85,000 if the case went to court, according to the Mirror.

Neil Parkes, Partner at Foot Anstey LLP, told The Independent: “Mr Foster broke the law and illegally shared copyright protected content with thousands of people online.

“He has since acknowledged his wrongdoing, apologised for his actions and signed a legally binding agreement in which he agrees to pay a sum of £5,000 to Sky.”

Craig Foster says one of his friends live streamed the fight using an iPad, which was already logged into his Facebook account.

He has agreed to pay £5,000 in legal costs to Sky.

Last year, a Sky Sports subscriber was ordered to pay £16,000 after being caught illegally streaming the channel.