Number of Kodi users fall as more streamers turn to Netflix

[Len]

Kodi has seen its popularity fall as more people have turned to subscription services such as Netflix, researchers have said.

Kodi has seen its user base take a hit as more streamers turn to paid-for services like Netflix, researchers have said.

Kodi add-ons have been subject to the ongoing crackdown against illegal streaming and piracy.

Kodi software is not illegal, but unaffiliated developers can produce third-party add-ons that provide free access to pirated and illegal content.

These apps allow users to stream premium content, like paid-for sports, movie channels and TV shows for free.

The illegal add-ons are being targeted by ISPs, government agencies, broadcasters and rights holders.

And as the Government continues its ongoing piracy crackdown more people have reportedly dropped Kodi and are turning towards Netflix.

The findings were made in the Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) latest annual Online Copyright Infringement Tracker report.

The study found that Netflix has seen a huge jump in users in the past year.

The research noted a seven per cent jump in the number of people using the paid for services.

While Kodi is among the free services that the study said had seen a drop in users.

The research consulted 2,890 people based in the UK aged 12 or over who have consumed or shared content in the past three months, TrustedReviews reported.

Netflix saw a jump of seven per cent year-on-year among the respondents while Kodi saw a one per cent fall among those involved in the study.

The report said: “The proportion of people who only consume free content continues to fall as more services move to premium models.

“This is an indication that people are chasing the best content and are willing to pay for ease of access to it.”

In other piracy news, this week saw a huge ruling made in Brussels.

On Thursday the European Parliament voted on proposed copyright reforms which would have had huge ramifications if enacted.

The proposed rules would have put more responsibility on websites to check whether user uploaded content breached copyright.

One way they could have done this was to install upload filters that automatically checked if content was copyrighted.

This would have had a big impact on those that use illegal Kodi add-ons.

These third party apps find and pull together pirated streams of movies and TV shows posted on the internet.

These pirated films that are ready for streaming would have been uploaded to some form of file or video sharing website.

The proposed European copyright law would hugely impact such sites, forcing them to check for any content that is pirated.

However, on Thursday MEPs in Brussels rejected the proposed copyright reforms meaning it’s now going back to the drawing board.

Once these reforms have been amended, MEPs will have a debate and vote on them in September.

After the vote, Pirate Party MEP Julia Reda said: “Great success: Your protests have worked! The European Parliament has sent the copyright law back to the drawing board.

“Rather than proceeding directly to negotiations with the Council, the law will be re-opened for amendments and scheduled for a vote in the September plenary session.”