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Amazon is making it harder to use its Fire TV streaming sticks to watch pirated content, the latest blow to sports fans looking to access illicit livestreams.
Amazon is now blocking access to apps that have been identified as providing pirated content, including those downloaded outside the tech giant’s app store.
“Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “This builds on our ongoing efforts to support creators and protect customers, as piracy can also expose users to malware, viruses, and fraud.”
There are numerous videos and tutorials online that instruct users on how to “sideload” apps onto Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, which, while not illegal, can also be used to access apps that feature pirated content, including illegal sports streams. The latest edition of the streaming device, 4K Select, features a new operating system that only allows customers to download apps from the company’s app store. The crackdown will also apply to older devices by blocking third-party apps that have been found to host pirated content.
Amazon worked with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, which fights piracy on behalf of 50 media companies, including Disney, Paramount, Fox, Comcast, and others. Streamers like Amazon, Apple TV, and Netflix are also members. The Motion Picture Association, Hollywood’s powerful trade association, heads the alliance.
A game of whack-a-mole for pirated sports streams
Pirated content remains a significant issue worldwide, particularly for live sports, leading to an ongoing game of whack-a-mole for authorities and regulators.
As cord-cutting rises and cable TV declines, many sports fans have become adept at finding illicit workaround methods for accessing pirated livestreams of matches — including during carriage disputes, such as the ongoing standoff between Disney and YouTube TV.
Methods vary, but can include modifying the software on a streaming TV stick, like Amazon’s popular and inexpensive Fire TV dongles, or searching online forums for comments mentioning specific websites that offer illicit livestreams. Many access the livestreams on their phone or laptop’s web browser and then screen-cast or plug their laptop into their TV. Often, if one pirated sports domain is shut down, a variation is quickly spun up to replace it.
Efforts to combat the pirated sports streams recently scored a major win. In September, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, with which Amazon has partnered, worked with Egyptian authorities in the takedown of Streameast, a massively popular network for pirated live sports. The group said that Streameast was “the largest illicit live sports streaming operation in the world.”
Soccer, given its global popularity, is a massive source for such illegal streams. According to The Athletic, the English Premier League shut down 660,000 social media and website live streams last season alone.
Last month, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the governing body for European soccer, became the first such entity to join the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.
Amazon, which has been entering into deals with sports leagues to secure exclusive content for its Prime TV App, has an agreement with UEFA to stream matches in select European markets.
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