How pirates are thwarting Kodi box crackdown efforts

[Soundwave]

Looking for an “eyepeetv” box because you can’t afford “Sly” or “Virmin” Media? You might find exactly what you need on Facebook or eBay.

People appear to be getting around the crackdown on so-called “fully-loaded Kodi boxes” on various online platforms by simply misspelling keywords, such as the names of legitimate content providers, in product listings.

Facebook and eBay − along with Amazon − banned the sale of piracy-configured streaming devices last year, but it’s still very easy to track them down on their platforms.

One of the tricks sellers seem to be using to their advantage is deliberately misspelling companies’ names.

“Sick of high Sly and Virmin Television bills,” reads the product description of a £50 “eyepeetv” device listed on Facebook.

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Other listings promise “SLY / Virmin ( IPTV ) Premium channels” or “Full sly channels [and] all 3pm [Premier League] games”.

“Illicit streaming devices are illegal and unsafe,” Kieron Sharp, the CEO of the Federation Against Copyright Theft, told Trusted Reviews. “eBay, Facebook and Amazon have banned the sale of these devices, but criminals are beating the system by purposely misspelling brand names − we need to see tighter controls in place to help stop the sale of these devices.”

Earlier this week, piracy-tracking firm MUSO released new data suggesting that piracy is “more popular” now than it has ever been before.