Articles about Kodi

Kodi has been the subject of controversy for some time, and addon repository TVAddons has, in particular, been criticized from many quarters. Having recently announced that it will no longer proactively check for pirated content, TVAddons is suggesting that there's a very good reason to use Kodi addons to stream online content -- security.

The site says that one of the reasons Kodi is so hated by the industry is that addons give users the chance to avoid advertisements and "all forms of monetization." TVAddons says that Kodi addons not only enable people to avoid ads, but also potentially dangerous malware and secretive cryptocurrency miners.

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Justified or not, Kodi has been somewhat synonymous with pirated content. At the heart of Kodi-related controversy are the addons that provide access to such material, and addon site TVAddons constantly finds itself embroiled in things.

Having recently announced that it managed to build up 12 million monthly users despite being closed down, TVAddons has now announced a change to the way it operates. While still perfectly happy to comply with the law when it comes to pirated content, the site will now rely on DMCA takedown notices rather than proactively checking for infringments.

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TVAddons has had a tough year. The site, which provides access to unofficial Kodi add-ons, and for a time had a custom build of Kodi called FreeTelly, has been sued, had its site closed down and its domains and social media accounts seized.

On top of that, it’s also had a number of run-ins with Team Kodi, which called for the site to be permanently shut down, claiming it brings "nothing but misery to everyone."

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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.

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Kodi boxes, and other so-called illicit streaming devices (ISDs), are the big-target for anti-piracy organizations at the moment. It’s a war being fought on many fronts. While bulling third-party add-on developers into retiring using legal threats is one of the most high-profile approaches, it’s far from the only tactic being used.

Governments and anti-piracy organizations are also using heavy doses of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) to persuade Kodi lovers to seek other -- legal -- methods for streaming content.

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LibreELEC is a fantastic open source Linux-based operating system designed to run Kodi. It is particularly well suited for devices like Raspberry Pi. If you want to build your own Kodi box, it's ideal.

Today, the LibreELEC team releases a new build that it expects will be the last from the current branch -- going forward the focus will be firmly on LibreELEC (Leia) 9.0 development.

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Kodi, and "fully loaded" Kodi boxes in particular, are frequently in the news. Mainstream media likes to spread a lot of FUD about the hugely popular streaming software.

If you’re a Kodi user streaming content via third-party add-ons, you know there’s a danger that those add-ons might stop working, or disappear altogether due to legal action, and there’s always the (very distant) threat that rights holders might start targeting end users. Now there’s another concern to keep you up at night -- your Kodi box might kill you.

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After the Exodus Kodi add-on shut-down many users switched to its replacement, Covenant. There’s bad news for users of that add-on however, as the Colossus repository has now been deleted following legal threats.

This affects not only Covenant but other add-ons hosted there, including Bennu and DeathStreams.

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There’s a lot of negativity surrounding Kodi at the moment. The media center software is synonymous with piracy, even though you need to install third-party add-ons to use it for illegal streaming purposes.

Team Kodi has been rolling out regular updates, but now says "enough is enough" as it pushes out the final release for the stable version of its media center software. It recommends everyone upgrade to this release, regardless of what platform they use.

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The Apple TV has long been a wonderful device for consuming media on your big-screen television. From video to music, it is a great experience. Some people weren't satisfied with the default functionality, however, opting to jailbreak Apple's media box. In fact, the jailbroken Apple TV 2 was one of the most popular XBMC/Kodi boxes for this reason.

Are you running one of those jailbroken Apple TV 2 devices? You should be worried then. You see, as the folks over at TVAddons warn, the jailbreak process installed OpenSSH by default. This means your network could be compromised by the fairly outdated media box. A hacker only needs your ip address to attack you.

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While many folks prefer to leverage legal streaming services like Netflix on hardware such as Apple TV and Roku nowadays, other people still prefer accessing locally stored media files. Is that concept dying? Yeah, but it will be a while before it is dead completely. Not to mention, music and movie pirates will keep locally stored downloaded media content alive for quite some time.

Don't get me wrong, not everyone that watches locally stored media files are pirates, but some certainly are. Whether you are accessing downloaded media or streaming content using an addon, the Kodi media center is a great way to experience it. Taking it a step further, a Linux-based operating system that exists just to serve Kodi is even better. Today, one of the best such distros, LibreELEC, gets a major update to version 8.2.0.

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Kodi is rarely out of the news these days, and the media center software has become synonymous with piracy.

Users who install third-party add-ons that allow them to stream TV shows and movies illegally should be aware that developers could be monitoring their devices, looking for 'infringing' add-ons that facilitate piracy. Worse still, if any of these add-ons are found, a nag screen will appear demanding their removal.

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Popular media center software Kodi continues to be in the news, often for the wrong reasons. Most recently the organization behind the program called for unofficial Kodi add-ons site TVAddons to be be shutdown, and said that users who stream illegal content should 'bugger off'. It’s clear the Kodi Foundation is frustrated with its reputation as a means to allow users to view pirated content.

If you’re a Kodi fan, then you’ll be interested to know that a new update for the software is available from today.

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A week ago, Kodi took to Twitter to express its hatred for popular third-party add-ons site TVAddons, claiming that it should be shut down as it brought "nothing but misery to everyone."

The media software developer has continued its war of words since, attacking not only TVAddons again, but also end users, stating that anyone who uses Kodi to stream content illegally "can just bugger off and never come back." And that’s not all.

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Roku has started to clamp down on pirate channels such as XTV. In addition to the channel closures, Roku is also displaying an FBI anti-piracy warning to those who try to access them.

In recent months the focus has been on piracy on Kodi, but the problem also exists on other platforms. Roku closed down the XTV channel -- which was "known and loved by hordes of Roku users looking for free access to cable channels and popular network shows" -- and it didn't take long for it to reappear as XTV-2. This too has now been closed down, and the anti-piracy warnings have started.

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