[Dr.Dave]

@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.

 

[gdkitty]

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.

 

[AFF]

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

 

[asd]

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.

 

[gdkitty]

@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.

 

[ExDilbert]

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.

 

[Dr.Dave]

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.

 

[Wheelman]

This part is funny.

He also believes the case is actually working against the plaintiffs because it has made more people aware of the loaded Android boxes and what they offer.

"More people know about it and definitely more people are buying it," he says.

He reports some dealers not named in the case have stripped their websites of any promises of "free TV" and are enjoying increased sales.

I don't remember which thread it was on here but a link was posted about one of these dealers bragging about it. I remember thinking the BDU's won't let this go unchecked and it's incredibly stupid to expose yourself like that.

 

[Dr.Dave]

Here is the list of eleven additional sellers that have been added as defendants and are not allowed to advertise or sell set top boxes pre-loaded with copyright-infringing software:

A1 INK Rainbow INC.
SKYNET COMPUTERS INC.
SHOWPRO CORPORATION
RED RHINO ENTERTAINEMENT INC.
MORAT ISMET SAMIM dba MAC SPOT
Kamal Malik dba IPTVZOOM
2315807 Ontario Inc. dba ELECTRONICS PRO
TSUYUKI CORPORATION LIMITED dba G&G ELECTRONICS
Al Timini dba TV Box Hero
L3D DISTRIBUTING INC. dba INL3D
2322869 ONTARIO INC. dba OHM COMPUTERS

(dba means "doing business as")

If anyone wants to keep up with developments, you can use this link:
Federal Court of Appeal - Proceeding Queries - Recorded Entries Queries

For "Court Number" you can enter T-759-16 for the original trial or A-203-16 for the appeal. It may take a few days for new entries to be posted to the on-line database.

 

[Dr.Dave]

I don't remember which thread it was on here but a link was posted about one of these dealers bragging about it. I remember thinking the BDU's won't let this go unchecked and it's incredibly stupid to expose yourself like that.

I think this is the article. I just checked his web site and he now says he loads Kodi, but not Showbox or any copyright-infringing add-ons.

Free TV for life? It's here, and it may even be legal - CBC News

 

[Wheelman]

Hmm, looks like his company is in the clear?

 

[magnet]

I saw Red Rhino selling android boxes at the Calgary Stampede on the weekend.

 

[gdkitty]

I have in the past, at many shows, markets, etc.. seen the guys selling units there.

With the latest injunction.. it may be harder for them to sell ONLINE.. where they could more easily be stopped then.
(or at min, forced to remove any mention of the illegal stuff).


With selling thing LIVE at places.. it would be much harder to be everywhere at once.. for people to be everywhere to stop them from selling.

Even if they have been forced to make sure that their boxes DONT come with the stuff on it...
Especially in a live environment... its very easy to SAY/Mention something without having any literature..
Slip you a little piece of paper with a link to somewhere else..
With a lot less likelyness of getting caught.


As well, while those companies are the ones being targeted.. all the 'shutdown' type of stuff may not have been fully actioned against them yet?
Trying to get a rush in of last minute sales, before they are.

 

[brokenmindsk]

I find it amazing that with the supreme court ruling that makes it illegal to import these boxes with the software preinstalled big companies like AMAZON.CA are allowed to get away with selling them yet everyone else has the law coming down on them like a ton of bricks. it seems that the power of money and buying power of someone like AMAZON can get away with it

 

[bev fan]

Well, Amazon does not sell boxes with add ons which is illegal. I do not really see the law coming down on anybody.
Here in GTA many stores sell android boxes not only with add ons but iptv subscription with hundreds of Canadian, American and international channels.
Advertising it in front of the stores. All for $10 to $15 a month.
You can check Kijiji as well, hundreds of adds for iptv service, no wonder cord cutting has escalated.

 

[AFF]

I don't think Amazon sells any Android boxes. Amazon is like a big mall with stores in it. It's the stores that sell the boxes and some are fully loaded already.

 

[Dr.Dave]

I find it amazing that with the supreme court ruling that makes it illegal to import these boxes with the software preinstalled...

Just to clarify things, the case has not reached the Supreme Court. If you read the rest of the thread, you'll see that the only thing that has happened so far is that the Federal Court has issued an injunction to stop certain vendors from selling the boxes with software preinstalled. That case hasn't even gone to trial yet. After that case is decided, the losing party may appeal to the Supreme Court.

I just checked the status of the case (T-759-16) and saw that MTLFREETV.COM was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine today for contempt of court for ignoring the injunction plus $10,000 in costs to Bell, Rogers and Videotron.

It looks like a few more sellers have been added to the case, which has not gone to trial yet.

Recorded entry(ies) for T-759-16

 

[gary dean]

cable are the real pirates

maybe if cable companies were not molesting peoples wallets people would not cut their cable and get these boxes. i deal with cogeco cable and i am thinking about getting on the band wagon cable companies are ripping people off. i often use the android box as a threat when i get into a stint with cogeco.

 

[Jishan]

What makes it illegal? I heard new iOS got TV on it. So is it going to be like "iOS 10.2 is illegal?"

 

[NeilN]

1) Cable is not a basic human need. If you think the price is too high, don't buy it and don't use it as an excuse to commit copyright infringement.

2) Android boxes like this are specifically configured to access unlicensed copyrighted content. You can bet that whatever Apple puts out, it'll only be configured to access properly licensed content.