Anti-piracy firm's scaremongering attack on Kodi boxes should make you angry

You can’t have failed to notice, but copyright holders and anti-piracy groups are waging war on Kodi -- and "fully loaded" Kodi boxes in particular -- at the moment. And as is the case in all wars, the first casualty is truth.

A new video from the Hollywood-backed Digital Citizens Alliance is so full of lies and nonsense it will have you shaking your head in wonderment. Does anyone truly believe this propaganda anymore (if they ever did)? Clearly the DCA thinks they do.

The video, which you can see below, talks about "disreputable devices" which have "slipped through the cracks," while showing a Kodi box which TorrentFreak rightly points out appears to be a cased Raspberry Pi.

After stating that the "free" movies, TV, and games accessed by the devices is actually stolen and being streamed illegally -- the important true message -- the video then moves on to state how such devices expose you to malware, can lead to ID theft, financial loss, and can lock down the computers of small business owners until they pay a ransom.

These boxes, the video says, are sold in shops that sell "legitimate" devices, confusing consumers and leaving them "stuck with a useless device when criminals get busted for selling them."

Piracy and malware is a big illegal business, the Digital Citizens Alliance informs us, as if the two subjects are one and the same. Fortunately, the government and law enforcement can protect consumers by cracking down on illegal piracy devices and apps… phew. And then comes the kicker.

This isn’t about Hollywood combating piracy to try to keep the money flowing in in order to be able to continue to make movies, pay actors and crew alike. Oh no, it’s to keep you safe.

"Because everyone," says the voiceover while a picture of a happy cartoon family slides into the center of the screen, "deserves to be safe in their own house or place of work."

Sigh.

Judging from the comments underneath the video, which the Digital Citizens Alliance unwisely decided to leave turned on, people are thoroughly unimpressed with the claims being made.

As "Krystel Merkel" says:

You know, there are real issues with piracy and malware and pirated stuff. Unfortunately this ad doesn't actually represent any of it and is just embarrassingly out of touch. Get over scaremongering and maybe people will care about your message.

Image Credit: pathdoc / Shutterstock