Android TV boxes

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Pieface

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I have a Sony Bravia Smart TV. The only "smart" features we use with it are YouTube and Netflix. I don't surf the web on it because we don't have a keyboard for it and so it is slow and painful to surf. None of the other apps seem useful to us. I have read up on android TV boxes but am stil unsure of what they can provide vs a smart tv. Would appreciate some advice. Thanks.
 
What do you want to do?

An Android Box can run apps like Netflix (which you already have), surf the web using a wireless keyboard etc. It can stream music and video from your local network. It can access video streams on the Internet, which may be illegal. It is illegal for anyone to sell you a preconfigured Android box with such streaming facilities (e.g. Kodi) although you can install it yourself. Since a European Court of Justice ruling on April 27th, it seems it may be illegal for you to do this too, whereas it wasn't previously.
 
I have seen on Groupon or something like that, android boxes advertised for sale which contains free movies and TV series. Are these boxes now illegal?
 
They don't contain free movies/free series - they just allow you to use the pre-installed apps (or ones you install yourself) to stream/watch movies/tv series via the net.

I don't think the boxes themselves are illegal. It's just become illegal for the seller to install the apps (which you can do yourself).

Streaming is not downloading ... rather watch as you go. Downloading movies etc. would be considered illegal.

Pieface said:
it is slow and painful to surf
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Unless you have a good internet service you are probably wasting your time getting one.

I watch stuff on YouTube via a box - and sometimes it loses connection which is annoying.
 
PaddyBloggit said:
I don't think the boxes themselves are illegal. It's just become illegal for the seller to install the apps (which you can do yourself).

Streaming is not downloading ... rather watch as you go. Downloading movies etc. would be considered illegal.
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The ECJ ruling of April 27th has changed that. The loophole had been that streaming only involved making a transient copy which was not considered illegal. However, the latest ruling says that making a copy -- even a temporary one -- can only be considered legitimate if the copyright holder does not suffer loss, and the court ruled that they did suffer loss in this case. The case concerned an individual Dutch reseller, and it may take another case to make the decision more general, but there is nevertheless now an EU legal ruling that streaming unpaid-for copyrighted content is illegal for the end user.
 
Thanks for clarifying that dub_nerd.

They may find it hard to enforce though ... with all the android boxes already in circulation.

TBH ... I think having access to movies/new series/full series without limit diminishes the user enjoyment of same.

At one time in my life I had access to all the magazines and newspapers I could read .... now I don't read any ... I think I over read the situation at the time.

Same with the android box I've got .... it spends more time off than on.
 
PaddyB, I think it's probably because of the large number of boxes in circulation that they may go after this. The big number makes it unlikely they will pursue individuals, but I reckon it's more likely they will go for the ISPs. I don't know enough about the technology to know if the ISPs are capable of detecting a download of illegal content. Obviously there are lots of legitimate downloads so they can't just knobble a whole category of traffic. Will be interesting to see. I don't think people will be turning off their boxes en masse just yet.
 
You don't need to buy an android box, you can install it on your tv. Put Kodi Sony Bravia into youtube and there are plenty of instructions.

It is illegal though
 
SBarrett said:
You don't need to buy an android box, you can install it on your tv. Put Kodi Sony Bravia into youtube and there are plenty of instructions.

It is illegal though
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Kodi isn't illegal.
The add ons that allow illegal streaming are.
 
It's unlikely that individuals will be targeted for buying pre-configured boxes, or watching illegal streams, but the MPA are starting to take action to make ISPs block the sources of these streams. ISPs aren't fighting it and so over time I'd expect the number of available streams to fall.
 
Leo said:
It's unlikely that individuals will be targeted for buying pre-configured boxes, or watching illegal streams, but the MPA are starting to take action to make ISPs block the sources of these streams. ISPs aren't fighting it and so over time I'd expect the number of available streams to fall.
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I agree with this, but there are so many streams out there it could be like a game of whack-a-mole.
 
Firefly said:
I agree with this, but there are so many streams out there it could be like a game of whack-a-mole.
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Agreed, it will take time. A similar approach on torrent sites is having some success but the regulators are usually a step or two behind.
 
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