A Kodi Box Instead Of Cable TV?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by AV8R, Mar 26, 2016.

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  1. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    Have any of you heard of something called a Kodi box?

    For a number of years I've kept up with the blog of an American expat living in the Philippines (it's just something I find interesting). Anyway, he recently wrote an article about his Kodi box. It's basically a cable box that uses the Android operating system that allows you to stream all TV channels and movies to your TV for free.

    Is this even legal?

    The article:

    Do you know Kodi?

    Another Kodi article written by an expat living in Panama:

    More on the Technology Front | Chiriquí Chatter

    The Kodi website:

    https://kodi.tv/
     
  2. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member


    I hope it is real, although, like you said, I wonder if it may be illlegal. I live in the foot hills, and a regular TV antenna won't work. I have to use Time Warner, and the price seems to always be going up! Geesh!!!! All I need or want are your basic TV channels.
     
  3. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Speaking of illegal

    When my wife and I bought our house, we were kind of amazed at something. When we went to hook up our TV to a regular TV antenna, and I noticed a little black cable coming out of the raised floor. So I hooked it up, and we not only got regular channels, but also cable channels. We got free cable for quite a few years. Then, the cable company started revamping and repairing the cable antennas up on the telephone wires. They of course noticed that the previous owner had spliced in to one of those cables (I guess).

    I thought Time Warner would be upset or something. Instead, the gave us a cheaper rate if we continued using Time Warner! It still doesn't quite make sense to me, but I went with it. Strange.

    For years I have searched for some sort of TV antenna that will work in areas like mine, but many of them seem to things such as "As seen on TV" type stuff.
     
  4. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    That is strange. Prosecuting people costs money. Signing people up as new customers brings money in. I'm guessing they just thought it was more to their advantage to try to win people over instead of prosecuting them when caught.
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I had never heard of this before and so I took a peek and found this

    Is Kodi Legal? Safe? | wTVPC

    It seems like the answer to the question of legality is "It depends."
     
  6. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    In Texas that's theft and my local company will file charges for sure. Guy down the road from me just finished his probation last year. Same exact situation, was already there. Clearly he knew he committing a crime but never would have thought they would have taken it so far.
     
  7. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Damn! I am glad I'm not in his shoes!
     
  8. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    I have the Kodi app on my phone and an unlimited data plan. I can stream whatever I'm watching to the TV using a Chromecast, or just plug in an HDMI cable directly. If I was an expat somewhere trying to get channels I can't get, I would probably use it all the time, but here, it is easier (and safer) to use cable or off the air antenna.

    You can watch movies too, but the quality varies. In many cases you can tell it was recorded by someone sitting in a movie theater.
     
  9. quiclee1

    quiclee1 New Member

    Kodi is one of the biggest platforms to stream online to watch on-demand movies, TV shows, and music videos. You can play specific types of media and playback applications with the wide range of choices available. Kodi is a popular and favorite streaming platform, formally known as XMBC, which is a free open source media player with the great user-friendly interface. You can install Kodi on Chromebook or any Chrome OS devices using google play store and arc welder. Just install and start streaming Kodi for Chromebook.
     
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    That kind of device is generally known as "Android TV" around here. It's now illegal to sell a "fully loaded" one with copyright-circumventing software. Streaming itself is a legal activity here. The people who have them still use them with relative impunity. As far as I know, the offence (here) is in selling these boxes with copyright-circumventing software. If streaming ever becomes illegal here, something will take its place. Here's a pirated quote from another (non-degree) forum.

    "Its the same with piracy in general though, they stopped napster, 100 more programs were created. Stopped torrenting with KAT/TPB they just moved offshore with rotating hosts. Stopped/hindered FTA satellites it moved to online streaming."

    Right.
     
  11. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    More like people will just do it anyway....
     
  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Or somebody will figure a way to monetize it. I remember the bogus rumour back in the 90s that Canada Post was somehow going to charge 5 cents for each email we sent...
     
    Abner likes this.
  13. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    It's not much different than buying bootleg DVDs. That is, if the DVD bootlegger had your IP address and could be forced to hand it over to the feds at any time
     

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