Kodi crackdown continues as three more video providers are shut down

The legal crackdown on so-called ‘Kodi boxes’ has claimed another scalp – as three major add-ons for the TV boxes have shut down over copyright fears.

The add-ons – including the popular Abeksis – have shut down due to pressure from Israeli anti-piracy group ZIRA, which threatened £22,000 fines.

Using Kodi software (which can be installed on smartphones or PCs, as well as on boxes which plug into TVs) remains legal – it’s just installing add-ons to allow piracy which is the problem.

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The boxes are already illegal to sell in the UK, and dealers have been arrested and fined – and under the new Digital Economy Act, users could now (in theory) face up to 10 years in prison.

The move followed the shutdown of the popular Navi X add-on – which closed due to ‘the current legal climate surrounding Kodi,’ its makers said.

Users of abeksis.com, kodiwizardil.net, and kodi-senyor.co.il are now greeted with a message saying, ‘The site you’ve entered was taken down since it was violating intellectual property rights.

Britain’s new Digital Economy Act has put further pressure on Kodi users – means that users of Kodi boxes could face up to 10 years in prison.

Providers of illegal content are the most likely to face long sentences under the new law.

In theory, the bill criminalises even minor copyright infringement – where copyright holders face a loss or a ‘risk of loss’ by something being published online.

In practice, ordinary users are not actually likely to be prosecuted – although you have still technically committed a crime, the government says.

The Intellectual Property Office said in a letter to Open Rights Group, ‘It is important to note that the criminal offences apply to making material available to others, not to those just downloading material to their computers.

‘Anyone seeking to enforce their rights for the downloading of material would be unlikely to refer to this legislation.

‘Ten year sentences would only be applied in the most serious of criminal circumstances.’