Roku is showing an FBI anti-piracy warning for YouTube, Netflix & some other channels

[Len]

YouTube TV isn't the only video service that seems to be running into problems today. According to widespread recent reports, many people are having trouble accessing specific Channels on their Roku set-top devices. The affected services, which includes YouTube and Netflix, are allegedly showing an FBI anti-piracy warning message.

Reports seem to have started a bit over three hours ago—according to the timeline for responses by the official @RokuSupport Twitter account. Roku's Support channels issued an official statement:

We aren't sure if the issue has been resolved just yet, but there are a few individual reports of success accessing the affected channels. It's possible that not everyone is experiencing the problem, though. To date, Roku's status update hasn't indicated any resolution.

So if you find yourself unable to kick up your feet this evening to binge watch some Babylon Berlin on your Roku, you know why.

Update: According to Roku the issue is now fixed. A Roku spokesperson told that “a small percentage of customers” were affected.

Once it had restored order, Roku claimed the “technical glitch” could be fixed by manually updating players inside the settings menu, while some channels would require users to log in again.

The issue was a pretty major blow to Roku, which analyst reports suggest remains the top streaming service in the U.S. despite competition from the likes of Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV.

That said, 2018 hasn’t been stellar so far. The company’s most recent financial report in February didn’t go down well with Roku’s share price tumbling 18 percent based on future revenue projections. The share price dropped 3.5 percent over the past day to $34.08, giving the firm a market cap of around $3.4 billion.

There’s more to come from the company this year. It plans to join many of its rivals in the voice computing space by launching smart speakers, smart soundbars, surround sound and multi-home audio systems that use new Roku Connect software to communicate wirelessly and be controlled by voice. The devices will be developed in conjunction with partners via a new Roku licensing program.