AMAZON’S biggest step yet to put a stop to illegal streaming has started to take effect.
The tech giant announced huge changes were coming for the popular Fire TV Stick a couple of months ago.
Illegal streaming is estimated to cost the broadcasting and entertainment industry billions in losses.
Cyber criminals operating apps to provide access to Premier League games on the cheap and endless free movies have long relied on modified devices like the Fire TV Stick.
Side-loading allows them to add third party apps that aren’t available on vetted app stores onto TV gadgets.
Ramped up efforts to block such apps started with a warning message that came up on screens.
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These informed viewers that the app will soon face a ban – but up until now they could simply dismiss it.
That appears to be changing from today.
A new popup doesn’t give any option to dismiss the warning and simply disables the app.
“This app has been disabled because it has been identified as using or providing access to unlicensed content,” it reads.
“To remove the app and recover storage space on your device, select Uninstall below.”
Trying to uninstall and re-install the app doesn’t get around the block.
The move comes just days after Amazon banned an app that helped users get around the ban.
App Cloner allows you to “create and install multiple copies” of apps and “safeguards your privacy and identity”.
The tool essentially allows you to rename apps in the background so Amazon won’t pick up on them from their blacklist.
While App Cloner itself isn’t illegal, it does appear to be used by those looking to illegally stream.
The app was downloadable within Amazon’s own Appstore but it was quietly removed last week.
“Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore,” an Amazon spokesperson told The Sun.
“Through an expanded program led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global coalition fighting digital piracy, we’ll now block apps identified as providing access to pirated content.
“Including those downloaded from outside our Appstore.
“This builds on our ongoing efforts to support creators and protect customers, as piracy can also expose users to malware, viruses, and fraud..”
Apps detected as allowing piracy are automatically blocked from operating on Fire Sticks.
WHY HAS AMAZON BLOCKED ILLEGAL STREAMING ON FIRE STICKS?
Here’s what tech industry expert Paolo Pescatore, of PP Foresight, thinks…
“Bottom line, it was about time, and it is the right thing to do,” he told The Sun.
“There’s much more the industry can do as a whole.
“More and more people are streaming illegally, and in many cases, they think the services are genuine.
“Sports is typically the genre that generates the most attention, given the escalating costs.
“With moves towards direct-to-consumer services online, the issue will only proliferate.
“Everyone has to do their part to address this problem, which is costing the industry a lot of money.”
