Amazon’s Crackdown on Illegal Streaming
Amazon is making a significant change to its Fire TV Stick system, making it harder for people to illegally stream football games and other premium content. The tech giant has unveiled a brand new Fire Stick model with huge upgrades, including a new system that prevents illegal streaming apps from working.
The New Fire TV Stick 4K Select Model
The biggest change is to the system, which means illegal streaming apps will no longer work. Furthermore, the new Fire TV Stick 4K Select model does not allow users to download VPNs, at least not for now. VPNs are popular among illegal streamers to hide their true location.
Restrictions on VPNs
Although VPNs will not be available for this particular version at launch, Amazon plans to enable VPN protocols via a software update at the end of October. However, even if there is VPN support, the new system that Fire TV 4K Select runs on doesn’t allow illegal streaming apps anyway.
The New Vega Operating System
Instead of running on Android, the new Fire TV Stick 4K Select model relies on a new in-house alternative called Vega. By design, Vega cannot run sideloaded apps, the technique used by illegal streaming operators to load Fire Sticks with shady apps. This means that Android-based apps simply won’t work on the new Fire Sticks, and they won’t be able to build new ones that work on Vega either.
Efforts to Prevent Piracy
The move comes after Amazon faced pressure to restrict how its popular TV gadget works, with so-called "dodgy" modified Fire Sticks a popular favorite for illegally watching premium football and films at bargain prices. Bosses at British broadcast giant Sky have even pointed the finger at Amazon, claiming the company is not doing enough to prevent piracy.
Warning About Jailbroken Fire Sticks
Illegal streaming can be delivered from a number of devices, including Fire Sticks that are “jailbroken,” meaning they have third-party media server software installed on them. The most commonly used software is called Kodi, which can give users full access to new features and apps that the normal version of the device wouldn’t allow. However, it becomes illegal if a box is used to stream subscription channels for free. It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices, which have become known as “fully loaded” – a term that describes how the software has been modified to allow access to subscription channels.
