Kodi crackdown continues with Navi-X bought by law firm

Kodi crackdown continues with Navi-X bought by law firm

Controversy over the Kodi streaming service continues to intensify with an increased crackdown on users accessing illegal content.

Addons for the set top box that provide free copyrighted content, from football matches to films, have been shut down amid international legal challenges.

Two of the previously most popular addons are now in the hands of a Canadian law firm, who could be tracking and report the details of people who have used them.

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Controversy over the Kodi streaming service continues to intensify with an increased crackdown on users accessing illegal content. Popular addons for the set top box (pictured) that provide free copyrighted content have been shut down amid legal challenges

WHAT IS KODI TV?

Kodi is a free service that streams apps and on-demand services onto your TV.

The software, which is legal, can even be downloaded onto an Amazon Fire stick.

Blank boxes can be bought from most major retailers for as little as £20 ($24), with the software uploaded afterwards.

Users can play BBC iPlayer, Youtube, Soundcloud and other free catch-up apps on the device.  

But many of the plug-ins the box offers are illegal.

Be wary if the box is pre-loaded to include subscription sport, TV and movies for free.

Commonly the 'fully loaded' boxes let users watch Premier League games or Sky Movies without paying a subscription fee.

Ownership of Navi-X, known as a repositories, has now been transferred to DrapeauLex, based in Montreal.

It joins TVAddons, which was seized last week after a prominent legal case in Texas.

All of the subsidiary domain names of both services, including TVAddons.ag, Navixtreme.com, Offshoregit.com, XBMCHUB.co, will be affected.

Navi-X was set up in 2007 by a Netherl ands-based coder known as Rodejo.

It launched on XBMC, Kodi's original name, on the Xbox. 

The moves could be a sign of another impending legal case targetting users of both services, according to reports in Torrent Freak who broke the news.

Users of the repositories who haven't wiped their Kodi boxes or updated to new ones could be handing over their information to the firm.

This could include their entire viewing history on the sites, which may land them in legal trouble if the chambers, run by barrister Daniel Drapeau, then pass this information on.

The news comes amid a number of high profile court cases, including the one against TVAddons and a recent successful High Court case filed by the Premier League. 

TVAddons, which provided a library of more than 1,500 add-ons supplying b oth legal and illegal content, mysteriously shut down in June without warning.

Speaking at the time Kodi Project Manager Nathan Betzen told Torrent Freak: 'These are unsandboxed Python addons.

'The person [in control of] the repo could do whatever they wanted.   

The European Court of Justice has ruled that 'fully loaded' Kodi boxes, which include plugins that can access pirated material, are illegal to sell and own

'If some malware author wanted, he could easily install a watcher that reports back the user's IP address and everything they were doing in Kodi. 

'If the law firm is actually an anti-piracy group, that seems like the likeliest thing I can think of.' 

Another explanation is that DrapeauLex has acquired the domains to ensure they stay offline. 

They may also be looking to sell them on to legitimate operators.

But a lack of comment from the company is fuelling speculation among some Kodi users of a more sinister motive. 

Dubbed the 'biggest ever crackdown' on illegal streaming, the block will be in place for the 2017 - 2018 Premier League season and will fight the illegal use of Kodi boxes. As many as a third of football fans watch the sport illegally((stock image)

Under new rules, people will now face up to 10 years in prison if caught streaming illegal content.

And last week the High Court issued a 'blocking order' that will cut off online streams for people who are illegally watching Premier League football matches during the forthcoming 2017-18 season.

Dubbed the 'biggest ever crackdown' on illegal streaming, the order will help the league intensify its crackdown on the illicit use of pre-loaded Kodi boxes and other illegal devices.

'This blocking order is a game-changer in our efforts to tackle the supply and use of illicit streams of our content', Premier League Director of Legal Services, Kevin Plumb told BBC.

The order means UK Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will have to stop people illegally streaming matches. 

In the UK, you can only watch Premier League games legally on Sky Sports and BT Sport. Highlights can be seen on BBC Sport. 

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