Amazon's crackdown on illegal streaming continues as the most recently released models of their Fire TV Sticks appear ready to block the sideloading of apps and software that doesn't appear on their official store.
Tech companies have been making a significant push against illegal streaming as they're not happy about the number of people using their devices to get around paywalls and access locked content.
For a long time people used devices such as Fire Sticks with particular apps sideloaded onto them from one device to another, with some of these apps being used for illegal streaming purposes.
However, Ars Technica spotted that Amazon's newest models of Fire Stick are running an operating system which prevents apps not already given the green light by the tech giant, and this is due to be the case for new devices going forward.
Advert
They flagged that across Amazon's various pages the new rules for streaking with a Fire Stick appeared to have been laid down.
Future Fire TV Sticks will run on Vega
The latest model of Fire Stick is the 4K Select, which released in October last year, and Ars Technica spotted that on Amazon's developer page the tech giant says: "Starting with Fire TV Stick 4K Select, all future Fire TV Sticks will run on Vega."
Vega is Amazon's new operating system, replacing the previous Android OS past versions of the Fire Stick had used, and it's a Linux-based system.
It allows Amazon's gadgets to run newer software, and one of its features is making piracy much more difficult.
Amazon are going to continue to support their old operating system, but since their site is saying future models of the Fire Stick will carry Vega it's possible as the years pass their former system will be on increasingly few devices as people buy newer versions of their tech.
People who want to stick to their old Fire Sticks will be hoping they don't eventually get support discontinued as the tech company have done with some of their other devices that were considered to have run their course.
Only apps on the Amazon Appstore will be available
Fire Sticks with Vega OS on them are making it clear they're only intent on running apps which have been given the approval to go on the company's own app store.
If you go on Amazon's own site and look at buying one of their 4K Select sticks with the Vega OS on it'll tell you: "For enhanced security, only apps from the Amazon Appstore on Fire TV are available for download."
As for the apps which are on the store, Amazon has also been cracking down on those as plenty of dodgy apps have had warning notices stuck onto them for people attempting to gain access.
Those warning signs initially tell viewers they're going onto a dodgy app and they have the option to uninstall it, but later versions of the message block access altogether and still offer the option to uninstall.
So with dodgy apps being blocked from getting onto the store and a new operating system stopping other apps being sideloaded onto Fire Sticks it's a double-pronged approach against piracy.
Sideloading will remain for developers
There are still legitimate reasons to sideload apps onto a device as developers need to do it while they're working on their apps,.
Amazon will still allow Appstore apps to be sideloaded, though if you're not a developer you might as well just download it from their store.
A spokesperson for Amazon had previously said: "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 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."
So from now on it seems as though future models of the Fire Stick will run on Vega OS, the only apps available are the ones Amazon have approved being on their store and sideloading will be available to developers with registered devices.
Topics: Technology, Amazon, TV
Joe Harker