This is how you could be at risk of getting caught if you are using an illegal Fire Stick as Amazon announces further crackdowns on the devices.
With so many different streaming services available to buy, the cost of watching TV can mount up.
So, it’s understandable why some may be tempted to cut costs by purchasing a Fire Stick that streams shows for free using illegal third-party apps.
But it looks like Amazon is now cracking down as the industry giant announced it has been identifying the apps which are believed to be used to illegally stream content.
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According to Cordbusters, some UK users are being met with a new warning which reads: “This app has been disabled because it has been identified as using or providing access to unlicensed content.”
After receiving this message, users are then given the option to either uninstall or dismiss it, which will mean that the illegal apps will no longer be accessible to them.
Amazon is also working on blocking the apps altogether, but what happens if you are caught using an illegal Fire Stick?
In the US, modifying your Fire Stick by ‘jailbreaking’ it in order to access paid content for free is considered to be a serious copyright infringement.
This violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and could end up leading to fines or even a prison sentence.
Over in the UK, downloading these apps violates section 11 of the Fraud Act 2006, which refers to ‘obtaining services dishonestly’, including ‘knowing the services are made available on the basis that payment has been, is being or will be made for or in respect of them or that they might be; and avoids or intends to avoid payment in full or in part’.
Kieron Sharp, who is chairman of The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), told Yahoo News that using an illegal stick ‘isn’t worth the risk’.
He explained that police often find out about users after customer information has been seized from illegal streaming providers.
In addition, user information can also be passed to authorities from the broadcasters themselves, if they have reason to believe their services are being streamed illegally.
Then there are neighbors, who contact the team to report users ‘because they’re paying the service and then seeing somebody else who isn't and that does frustrate people’.
Users are being caught through IP addresses and traceable Amazon accounts which leaves a digital fingerprint.