Kodi reveals plans to tackle piracy

Kodi is an open-source, free software designed specifically for home entertainment. Kodi is operated by the Xbox Media Centre Foundation, a non-profit organisation, and it’s constantly being updated by numerous coding specialists the world over. Kodi turns a computer, tablet or smartphone into a digital set-top box or streaming device. This enables users to stream files and download all sorts of apps or add-ons created by the Kodi community.

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Kodi has the ability to run third-party plugins, which in some cases, make copyright infringing content available to the user. If you load Kodi with plugins recommended by a friend, and then see the latest movies listed, you assume that Kodi and the people behind Kodi are the ones providing the movie.

Problem

This has now become a huge problem for Kodi. The organisation is not only wrongly associated with infringing activity and have a vast number of people complaining when they have problems, but people are watching films totally unaware that they have been pirated, and also unaware they are not provided by Kodi. Third-party add-ons are supplied by eBay and Amazon, advertised as “powered by Kodi”. This infuriates Kodi, as more often than not, these add-ons don’t work, and users then complain directly to Kodi. Sellers are dragging users into the world of piracy without their knowledge, convincing them that the bad guy is Kodi.

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Fight

Kodi is fighting back, by targeting anyone that uses the Kodi trademark without permission. This is a huge task, so Kodi is enrolling supporters to help with the trademark battle against sellers and YouTubers. Digital Rights Management provides copyright protection for digital assets. Kodi is bringing this to the platform, to hopefully encourage providers to use Kodi, without the fear of piracy. It is also looking to attract additional legitimate content providers, which will hopefully improve its reputation. It believes that tackling piracy is best done through the provision of more legitimate content through official add-ons to Kodi.

According to Evesham TV aerial installation specialist, Steve Unett (http://steveunettaerials.co.uk/services/satellite-repair-installation-evesham/), the growth of digital streaming means that piracy issues are becoming more commonplace.

State of the art tools are being developed to detect unauthorised streaming, especially of Kodi add-ons and TV set-top boxes, so hopefully, this will be the beginning of the end for piracy.