Federal Court not Supreme Court according to my newspaper.


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The full court case could take years to resolve, especially if someone with deep pockets funds the defendants. I think they are probably individuals with limited resources who were just trying to make a quick buck. Whether they plead guilty or hire lawyers to fight to the end, they could be wiped out financially. Based on the tone of the judge who granted the injunction, it sounds like the odds of a "not guilty" verdict are pretty slim.

The injunction applies to ITVBOX.NET, My Electronics, Android Bros Inc., WatchNSaveNow Inc and MTLFreeTV, however the judge ruled that the plaintiffs (Bell, Rogers and Videotron) could add new defendants to the case in the future and the new defendants would have 2 weeks to challenge the injunction.

Anyone selling Android boxes with preinstalled applications used to access copyrighted content would be at risk. The applications in question are KODI with addons for illegal content, Showbox or private IPTV Services that retransmit TV broadcasts over the Internet, usually for a monthly fee.

The judge wrote “These boxes have several uses for consumers, some of which are perfectly legal and some which skirt around the fringes of copyright law. This is not the first time a new technology has been alleged to violate copyright law, nor will it be the last.” and “For the time being, I am satisfied that the plaintiffs have established a strong prima facie case of copyright infringement and that an injunction would prevent irreparable harm without unduly inconveniencing the defendants.”

Here is a list of repositories and add-ons that Kodi has banned from their forum:

Official:Forum rules/Banned add-ons - Kodi

It looks like this injunction will effectively shut down the sale of pirate Android boxes.

 

It may shut down local sales, but shutting down imports through the international online trade of these things seems like an impossible game of whack-a-mole.

To be clear, sale of boxes with Kodi remains 100% legal. Sale of boxes with Kodi specifically configured for accessing pirated content is now potentially illegal.

 

The funny part is that Bell, Telus, Rogers and Videotron think plugging these holes will increase their bottom line. In fact they are trying to repair a sinking ship.

I use an antenna and seldom watch tv. I could be won over by having access to reasonably priced shows however that will never happen in Canada

 

It is not only Canadian providers problem. Other countries have been after people selling Android boxes for a while now.
Seems to me that the war on piracy will intensify soon in many countries.

Arrests in UK modified set-top probe

 

This ruling won't stop piracy, it will only drive it further underground. Personally, I like the fact that these Android box sellers are being stopped. They are just making money from people who don't know how to configure the boxes themselves. Anyone can do it with any PC, Android box or even a phone. I don't condone it or do it myself but I don't see why the scumbags doing it for profit should get away with it.

 

Let's be clear here. Kodi is not the culprit in this situation. In fact the developers of Kodi have a substantial legal team ready to commence litigation should anyone accuse them of piracy. This issue is with the ad-ons which allow an end user to stream illegal content. Those ad-ons are readily acquired on the internet so I fail to see how these actions by federal officials will stem piracy.​

 

couldn't they just sell these boxes without the kodi addons and then have a website that provides a a simple easy to use installer to set everything up

 

Operating such a website in Canada is probably also illegal. Never mind that's what Android box sellers are doing themselves. Legal Android TV boxes are already available from many sources. The illegal Android box sellers just buy cheap Android boxes from China, install the pirating software from a site that already exists, then sell the Android box for a big markup. It's a quick and dirty profit for them.

 

TV for the lazy....

 

Well it is like the Big dishes, it will take some time to completely shut it down.

 

yep, this is like when they tried to outlaw FTA boxes years ago because people could use them to get bell and dish sat

 

Bought an Nvidia Shield, installed Kodi on it. I guess NVidia is in trouble? Or are we specifically talking about a precise combo of OS and software? Are there such laws prohibiting the combination of specific softwares?

 

Boxes that run Android OS are not the same as boxes that run the Android TV OS like the Nvidia shield or the new sony TV's
But the issues seem to just be the devices that come with kodi and all sort of addons that allow people to get movies and tv shows for free already installed on them

 

Boxes that run Android OS are not the same as boxes that run the Android TV OS like the Nvidia shield or the new sony TV's

So the court knows the distinction? They are that sharp when it comes to technology?

Besides, nothing stops anyone from doing the exact same with the Shield, Nexus Player or Sony TVs. They can run Kodi as well. That's why I asked. This is a certain combination of softwares that are at issue.

 

It's only the pirating add-ons and the sites that stream pirated programming that are illegal. Android boxes and Kodi without the pirating add-ons are legal.

 

I think that is where the definition is.. and needs to be made during this.

People SELLING the boxes (making a profit) from re-selling these and putting the addons on (which is what makes it 'illegal' so to speak), is what is the main focus/target of this.. and needs to be.

Going after someone who is completely legally using an Nvidia shield for all regular things? No shouldnt be gone after.

(if a person chooses to add those addons afterwards.. that is their choice..)

 

The injunction prevents the companies I listed in post 3 from "selling set-top boxes that are adapted to provide users with unauthorized access to the Plaintiffs' Programs [Pre-loaded Set-top Boxes]" until the trial is over, defined as "set-top boxes preloaded with KODI (and the proper add-ons), Showbox or a private IPTV service".

The judge didn't list the KODI add-ons, but clearly the intent of the add-ons was to provide programming that users weren't legally entitled to watch.

The judge also said they "deliberately encourage consumers and potential clients to circumvent authorized ways of accessing content — say, by a cable subscription or by streaming content from the Plaintiffs' websites — both in the manner in which they promote their business, and by offering tutorials in how to add and use applications which rely on illegally obtained content."

The tutorial part of the discussion is interesting in that someone advertising and selling a bare-bones box and providing tutorials on how to add the applications could possibly be added to the injunction.

Here's the actual court decision from the law firm that represented Bell, Rogers and Videotron (searchable PDF)

http://www.smart-biggar.ca/files/Order (June 1 2016).pdf

 

so if that is right then its easy to get around that. they can just sell a box pre loaded with android and some free legal apps like netflix

 

@McPatrick As long as the sellers run a completely clean operation and don't advertise, "induce" or encourage the consumers to bypass legal content. As I said in post 3 - The judge wrote "These boxes have several uses for consumers, some of which are perfectly legal..."

This is a temporary injunction and the final restrictions, if any, will be decided when the case goes to trial.

 

Problem is without the advertising of getting all that 'free tv' content.. and just say its only for Netflix, etc..
These guys likely are not going to be selling that many of them.

 

I wonder how many buy preloaded boxes compared to buy a box and do it yourself? Everyone I know bought non preloaded boxes.

 

Good point, judges aren't likely software engineers. But on the other hand, technologists and software engineers aren't judges nor even, in most cases, lawyers. Moreover, the court has the resources to have such distinctions explained. Judges have the education, intelligence and experience to interpret the information provided to them from technical experts and, more importantly, the opposing lawyers make sure judges know the issues and distinctions.

 

@AFF

I think it really comes down to the PERSON.

The people I know who have one, who are technical minded? Bought their own box (usually much better quality, etc), and have done any loading themselves.

But everyone else who is not technical minded?
Bought the generic one from someone advertising online, facebook, etc.

 

Generic Android boxes can be purchased from retailers and etailers such as eBay, Amazon or local stores. They range from almost junk (don't play some video well or at all) that receive almost no support to fairly powerful, well supported devices that handle most video formats. (Recorded ATSC OTA TV video is a good test.) Almost all will support the official version of Kodi and it's variants. I'd recommend a box with at least Android 4.4 or higher. It has significant improvements over earlier versions. Part of the problem with pirate TV boxes, from a consumer viewpoint, is that they may not be the best quality and may not be supported. Installing pirate TV add-ons is not recommended but it's hard to argue against free TV. There are other ways to get TV that are legal, cheap or free and less risky.

 

Recent developments: One of the original defendants filed an appeal. Also, 11 new companies and individuals were added to the injunction barring them from selling boxes pre-loaded with piracy software.

Source: Cable companies take more Android box dealers to court to stamp out 'free TV' - CBC News

I checked a couple of weeks ago and only one of the original defendants still had a web site and they were only selling plain Android boxes and a few other things with no mention of "free TV." All the other web sites had been shut down.