Using Kodi Could Land You Ten Years In Prison Under New Laws

Netflix apparently isn't enough for people. Nor is iPlayer and the other catch up and streaming services.

As to get a proper fix of TV and film, a Kodi box, or something similar is needed for some.

If you're not familiar, Kodi is a free streaming software where just about anything you can think of is just one click away.

They've become popular for watching live sports without the proper licence, streaming films before they're available outside of the cinema and so on. Now though, a major crackdown on the boxes is coming.

Credit: Kodi

According to the Mirror, thanks to the UK government's Digital Economy Act, using one could land you ten years behind bars.

These rules account for watching and sharing copyrighted content, and have been put forward by the UK International Property Office (IPO), the Mirror reports.

"I'm delighted the Digital Economy Act has become law," Matt Hancock, the minister of state for Digital and Culture said.

"This legislation will help build a more connected and stronger economy. The Act will enable major improvements in broadband roll out, better support for consumers, better protection for children on the Internet, and further transformation of government services."

Originally the punishment for watching or sharing stuff with a Kodi box was two years.

According to Kieron Sharp, the CEO of FACT, the penalties are majorly aimed at those benefiting off the streams. So, if you turn up to your local and notice that they're not showing the footy on the big screen like usual, it's probably because they've been gripped for 'making a business' out of it.

"For minor matters, nothing changes," he said. "But it should hopefully provide a little bit of clarity."

Last year, the laws surrounding TV licences changed, particularly focusing on iPlayer.

The new law basically meant you were no longer free to watch BBC programmes on the internet unless you have a TV licence. Pretty simple.

If you don't have one, a criminal charge and a fine of up to £1,000 could come through your letterbox.

The law applies to all devices, and even those people who have made a 'No License Needed' declaration.

If you watch things on iPlayer, you need a licence to cover you, whether you have access to it from Freeview, Freesay, YouView, Sky, Virgin Media, BT TV, Apple, Roku, Amazon or your games consoles.

That should cover almost everything but if you do have any more questions, head over to the TV Licensing website and they should be able to answer.

Topics: Streaming

Mark McGowan

Mark is a journalist at LADbible, who joined in 2015 after a year as a freelance writer. In the past he blogged for independent football fan channel Redmen TV, after graduating from Staffordshire University with degrees in journalism and English literature. He has worked on campaigns such as UOKM8? and IIOC.