Lawsuits are killing Kodi's add-ons :mjcry:

[JordanWearinThe45]

Some of the biggest third-party Kodi streaming addons are no longer available. TorrentFreak reports that ZemTV and Phoenix have recently closed following a lawsuit from US satellite broadcaster Dish Network, with other streaming add-ons following suit. The add-ons, which offer on-demand and live streamed content free of charge, are accused of direct copyright infringement of various TV channels.

In a statement on the TVAddons forum, Phoenix developer Cosmix confirmed the closure, but didn't elaborate on the exact reason why: "In light of current events we have decided to close down Phoenix," he said. "This is not something that was easy for us to do; we have all formed a bond that cannot be broken as a team and have a HUGE support base that we are thankful of."

It's thought that while the Dish lawsuit is currently focused on other streaming add-ons, developers like Cosmix are distancing themselves (full list here) from any potential legal action due to the costs involved. Many Kodi developers consider themselves hobbyists and administer add-ons in their free time for no financial reward.

As copyright infringement damages can run into the hundreds of thousands (the Dish Network suit demands $150,000 per infringement), developers could be hit hard. ZemTV was removed from the TVAddons library as soon as it was named in the lawsuit and One242415 -- the developer behind Navi-X, Phoenix and his own add-on -- also announced that his creations will cease working in the coming days.

ZemTV rose to prominence as a reliable source of live TV streams from around the world. Phoenix, on the other hand, offered access to TV shows, movies and live sport, which led it to become one of the banner add-ons advertised by retailers selling "fully-loaded" Kodi boxes. In April, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that sales of streaming boxes that come pre-loaded with piracy add-ons constitute copyright infringement, which could lead to a European crackdown on such hardware.

A piracy lawsuit is tearing Kodi's add-on community apart

RIP Phoenix

 

[Dre Space Age]

Exodus still working?

 

[Zero]

I download my shyt and I dont need torrents but I have them on deck.

Streaming

 

[Malta]

Exodus still working?

Yes.


One falls another will take it's place. Eventually people will release shyt as anonymous developers.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

I mean of course.

Shyt is piracy

I don't get the people that buy the boxes and act like it's a cable subscription

 

[porque]

So Dish Network was their source?

I wondered how the Puerto Rico base addons had such great quality videos and were so quick with the channel switching

 

[Theabbot]

I download my shyt and I dont need torrents but I have them on deck.

Streaming

This. I download and distribute my local storage across a gigabit network. Thank you usenet!