SPECIAL REPORT: Is Stealing the NEW WAY of watching TV?

[GaryPen]

I can't imagine those people getting knock-off Android boxes to run various apps and plug-ins successfully and easily.

Yeah. There wil be certain people comfortable with it - the same people who were comfortable setting up and using FTA rigs, or who BitTorrent, etc. But, the majority of people buying these things at state fairs might as well have just thrown that $300-400 in the shredder.

 

[Yespage]

Love Kodi, but I use it as a media hub for the bazillion discs I legally owned that I ripped.

People love free entertainment. The cheater boxes existed in the 80's/90's/00's and this is just the extension of it. Some people think they have right to free anything. Some others think that they are being robbed by not paying 1988 rates for cable/sat in 2015. So they'll cheat to get what they want. In the end, the plug-ins don't have to work or will pass away. And all you are left with is an expensive box.

 

[Stephen Henson]

The FCC has already said that Kodi TV and all of its plugins are totally legal and that's because Codi TV is doing the same thing that free to the air satellites are doing so what are you saying that free to the air satellite should be illegal to

 

[Titanium]

The FCC has already said that Kodi TV and all of its plugins are totally legal and that's because Codi TV is doing the same thing that free to the air satellites are doing so what are you saying that free to the air satellite should be illegal to

I'm not familiar with any FCC ruling on Kodi and not sure why the FCC would even comment on software. Please provide a link.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I can't imagine those people getting knock-off Android boxes to run various apps and plug-ins successfully and easily.

Yeah. There wil be certain people comfortable with it - the same people who were comfortable setting up and using FTA rigs, or who BitTorrent, etc. But, the majority of people buying these things at state fairs might as well have just thrown that $300-400 in the shredder.

That was the issue with the FTA garbage.

At the end people where selling clone viewsat boxes.

 

[DishSubLA]

Yet amazon sells the boxes

And Amazon's removal of the Kodi App from its App Store can only be seen as a mere gesture to the content owners with whom Amazon must make deals for its video (Prime and not) streaming services.

 

[Hall]

I can't imagine those people getting knock-off Android boxes to run various apps and plug-ins successfully and easily.

Yeah. There wil be certain people comfortable with it - the same people who were comfortable setting up and using FTA rigs, or who BitTorrent, etc. But, the majority of people buying these things at state fairs might as well have just thrown that $300-400 in the shredder.

Exactly, at least for the time being, I think this is being overblown. Lots of people paying $300-400 for a "box" to get "free TV" ? Sorry, I find that hard to believe....

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Hall come on down and visit the BIG E you can see it yourself.

One thing to note that I have seen posted by others, most of the live streams that are receivable are NOT being broadcast by the channels themselves, instead the streams are being rebroadcast by others and being fed to the internet. When I was watcing the BBC one day a SkyTV menu came up and the person controlling it changed to a Sky Sports channel for a little while and then the person changed it back to the BBC.

I should also note another thing, they were not promoting the legal things this box could do only the illegal things the box could do. In one demo they talked about never having to pay for movies again and said "our box even has movies that have not been released in theaters yet" and then started showing the movie Hotel Transylvania 2 which does not hit theaters until today.

 

[RONZ]

Is there a app for this at I-tunes

 

[Ronnie-]

Exactly, at least for the time being, I think this is being overblown. Lots of people paying $300-400 for a "box" to get "free TV" ? Sorry, I find that hard to believe....

You find which hard to believe? That the box will actually get the channels and programs? Or that most would have the knowledge to use them properly?

I have kodi on my media pc, and I will admit to installing some of these add ons out of curiosity. The content is there, and some plays better than others. Personally, after checking it to see how well it works, I have not used it for that purpose since, but it does work. Better for streaming shows and movies Netflix style than live tv. The quality in that regard was quite good, on par in most cases with what you can get from Netflix or amazon (depending on which stream you used)

Live tv from what I saw works like what scott was saying. Someone with a sling box set up diverting it to the net and the add on connects you to that server.

 

[jayn_j]

Anybody remember the early big dish days?

Yep. I also remember the "pringle can" microwave HBO receivers. and the original napster. and the illegal Muzak decoders of the 50s and 60s. and DVD and BluRay decryption software. As long as there are content streams that are hackable, someone will come along, hack them and try to make a buck.

 

[RONZ]

Yep. I also remember the "pringle can" microwave HBO receivers. and the original napster. and the illegal Muzak decoders of the 50s and 60s. and DVD and BluRay decryption software. As long as there are content streams that are hackable, someone will come along, hack them and try to make a buck.

Don't forget about pay UHF "ON" tv

 

[Foxbat]

If I'm a Content Provider and have a licensing agreement with Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Roku, etc., and they provide an App that'll pull my pirated content from anywhere off of the Internet, then I'm thinking twice about signing that deal. If Kodo is as innocent as they claim, simply restrict content playback from the subnet that the Kodo App resides in (i.e., inside the home network). If the Kodo user wants to watch content for free, then they have to break the law in order to download it into their LAN.

Scott, how is talking about pirate IPTV any different (morally) than the "No Hack Talk" for Satellite? This discussion gets it into the light, but people on this board should not be helping others with watching content that the Content Providers are not compensated for.

 

[Hall]

One thing to note that I have seen posted by others, most of the live streams that are receivable are NOT being broadcast by the channels themselves, instead the streams are being rebroadcast by others and being fed to the internet. When I was watcing the BBC one day a SkyTV menu came up and the person controlling it changed to a Sky Sports channel for a little while and then the person changed it back to the BBC.

Sounds like Ustream and other similar services. Many of them suck and people will grow tired of the quality and/or unreliability of them.

You find which hard to believe? That the box will actually get the channels and programs? Or that most would have the knowledge to use them properly?

Mainly that people will pay that much ($300-400) up-front. 75% of those that do will be sorry when they're not able to get it working and then the few that do, will be disappointed for the reasons I gave above. The "technical" person or geek (like the people here, myself included) is NOT going to buy these at a fair. Like Tampa8 and stardust mentioned, you can do this with a $40 Fire stick or a $100 set-top. That's what people like "us" would do and we have the skills to get it working.

 

[Ronnie-]

True, I would not buy one, I would just load it on the fire or on my pc like I did. Many are enticed with the promise of "free" after the initial purchase though, but I do agree that the majority of them will not have the knowledge to keep them working, if they get them working to begin with.

 

[harshness]

I have an Apple TV, and gave my Dad a Roku 2 so he could watch his NFL Games from my ST subscription.

It sure didn't take long for someone to present an illegitimate use of a legitimate service.

 

[harshness]

I am surprised the Comcast guys had an issue, as you need their Internet to make this crap actually work.

I'm betting Comcast makes considerably better profits on TV than they do on Internet; especially if the customer streams a lot of TV.

 

[Tampa8]

The FCC has already said that Kodi TV and all of its plugins are totally legal and that's because Codi TV is doing the same thing that free to the air satellites are doing so what are you saying that free to the air satellite should be illegal to

I am not aware of any FCC ruling, but not saying there has not been one. If the feeds that are being streamed are not encrypted or being obtained illegally there would be no problem. The fact that Amazon stopped supplying the APP over piracy concerns tells me there are at least some illegal plugins.

 

[Tampa8]

Love Kodi, but I use it as a media hub for the bazillion discs I legally owned that I ripped.

People love free entertainment. The cheater boxes existed in the 80's/90's/00's and this is just the extension of it. Some people think they have right to free anything. Some others think that they are being robbed by not paying 1988 rates for cable/sat in 2015. So they'll cheat to get what they want.

Yes, but there is another side to it. Sometimes arcane laws or laws that are not in the interest of the consumer keep material from being seen that is available to some but not others. Distants as one example, BBC TV as another. Realizing it doesn't make it right to obtain and stream that material to others, when artificial barriers are made this is what happens. I have no doubt whatsoever, people would pay something for programming if it was made available. Those that just want free are not who I am talking about.

 

[Juan]

I'm betting Comcast makes considerably better profits on TV than they do on Internet; especially if the customer streams a lot of TV.

Comcast is switching to internet tier pricing