People using illegal Fire Stick devices to stream content they shouldn't are starting to see a warning that's come as part of a crackdown on using the gadgets for nefarious purposes.
Dodgy devices that come loaded with apps which can be used to bypass paywalls have been the bane of streamers and there are legal punishments in the pipeline for those who get caught.
A new update to the Fire Stick is part of fresh measures to tackle illegal streaming and there's a 'two step' plan to cut down on people using the devices to watch things they're not allowed to see.
Fire Stick users might have noticed that since the update, if they've been loading certain apps they've received a warning about it and a prompt to delete it.
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The alert says: "Warning. One or more apps on your device have been identified as using or providing access to unlicensed content, including this app, and will be disabled. To remove this app now, select ‘Uninstall.’”
YouTuber unboxd.tech explained that's just the first part of the 'two step' plan on their Fire Stick crackdown, as you can currently ignore the warning and go onto the app anyway but she warned that Amazon was planning on completely shutting people out of these apps later on.
She said: "Stage two is the full block. the app won't launch at all.
"Now, we don't know the exact length of the window between stage one and stage two. It appears to be a rolling program and timing can vary by device, region, and app."
She explained that apps which were throwing up the warning message 'may stop working permanently' as they'd been 'flagged', so they'd been put on that path.
Those who clicked 'uninstall' would lose the apps immediately, but for people who bypassed the warning and kept watching, they should 'expect it to stop launching at some point'.
Essentially, if you're getting these warning messages on some of your apps, then the clock is ticking on you being able to use them.
A spokesperson for Amazon told the Mirror: "Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore.
"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 installed from outside our Appstore."
The updates are expected to be rolled out across the rest of Europe before they hit the UK, so if you haven't seen the warnings yet, it might only be a matter of time.
Topics: Amazon, Crime, Technology, UK News, Europe
Joe Harker