Brits who use 'dodgy' Amazon Fire Sticks to illegally stream content have been warned they could expect a knock at the door.
The use of these devices, which include USB sticks and other boxes plugged into your TV is thought to have increased over recent years.
Disney+, Netflix, Amazon and many more streaming sites have now increased subscription charges - during a cost of living crisis - so people have instead opted for riskier alternatives.
These 'dodgy boxes' - or often apps you can download onto your TV - allow you to stream live content and view on-demand entertainment from the likes of Disney+, Netflix, Amazon and many more.
Amazon Prime Video will be introducing an advert-free tier from February 5th in the UK.
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) January 3, 2024
You will need to pay an additional £2.99 a month to avoid.
You may face legal consequences if found with one of these devices
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT UK) is now increasing its efforts to minimise illegal streaming, by sending cease and desist letters as well as turning up at your door.
A spokesperson for the federation said: "FACT constantly monitors the digital landscape to combat illegal streaming activities in the UK and Ireland. We utilise a range of methods to identify individuals engaged in unauthorised businesses that offer access to illegal streams."
FACT and Crimestoppers both rely heavily on people reporting that they have seen illegal streaming.
"These reports are then investigated by our Intelligence Unit, and followed up with a rolling programme of action which includes issuing 'Cease and Desist' letters and conducting nationwide 'Knock and Talks'," FACT said.
FACT says these visits are undertaken with law enforcement and: "serve to inform individuals about their activities and the immediate need to cease and desist or face further action or prosecution. We also work in close collaboration with law enforcement to gather further evidence to actively pursue legal actions against these criminal entities."
Section 11 of the Fraud Act 2006 covers 'obtaining services dishonestly'. If found guilty of this, by the letter of the law, you can face 12 months in prison, but a maximum of five if the offence is more serious.
It is unlikely, however, that by viewing illegally streamed content you will face time behind bars.
However, five men were arrested on suspicion of distributing content in 2018, they went on to be jailed for up to 11 years each.
Demand for pirated TV, film at highest point in years — here’s why https://t.co/SUwIYzYWdr pic.twitter.com/9cKsAGKqmC
— New York Post (@nypost) January 7, 2024
How to reset a Fire Stick
For the vast majority of Amazon Fire Stick remotes, the instructions below will be able to reset them:
Unplug your Fire TV and wait 60 seconds.
- Press and hold the Left section of the circular button in the centre of the remote, the Menu button, and the Back button at the same time.
- Hold them for 12 seconds.
- Release the buttons and wait five seconds.
- Remove the batteries from your remote.
- Plug in your Fire TV and wait until you see the screen that says that the remote can’t be detected.
- Put the batteries back in your remote.
- Press the Home button.
When the LED indicator blinks blue, your remote is paired successfully.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel