"Fire stick that plays everything."

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GORDON
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"Fire stick that plays everything."

Post by GORDON »

I had an older relative ask me recently what I thought about that "fire stick that plays everything" that a local electronics store was selling for $500. I didn't know anything about that particular deal, but I was told they were selling it openly, and it gives you "every streaming video channel, forever." HBO, Netflix, SHowtime, everything.

I told him I'd heard rumors of it, but I was 99% sure that was illegal.

He asked, "Well how can they sell it openly?"

I said that didn't know.

ANyone else heard of this? I knew of a "guy" that could "jailbreak a firestick so you can get everything" years ago, but that was always just a rumor.
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Cakedaddy
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"Fire stick that plays everything."

Post by Cakedaddy »

My parents bought something similar. $400. Of course it's illegal. . . depending on who you ask.
"It's legal, because you aren't downloading anything and keeping it. You are just watching it. You never have the whole file." Is the loophole they use. Not sure why 'they' aren't cracking down on these things. My parents bought theirs at some tradeshow/flea market thing.
They have to update it regularly (almost daily) to get the new pointers to the new sites that are streaming as old ones are shut down. So their access to HBO content comes and goes as services are shut down and pop back up later.

All of the software is readily available, for free, to make your own. For $400+, they will make it for you and automate the update process.

It's Pirate Bay, but streaming.

"I can get 100% of everything for free. If it wasn't legal, I wouldn't be able to buy it this easy. And the sales person explained how it was all legal. They have a website and everything."
GORDON
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"Fire stick that plays everything."

Post by GORDON »

Cakedaddy wrote: Not sure why 'they' aren't cracking down on these things.
That's what I wondered.

In my small little town some dude built a nice house for a few hundred k (a lot in this area), and then got busted with an illegal cable TV box, went to jail, and had something like a $500k fine. Went bankrupt and lost the big new house.

So, I wonder why they aren't doing that, with these.

I told my old relative that it sounds like a good deal, but personally I wouldn't touch one because I don't want the anxiety of doing something illegal and trackable every single day. "Netflix isn't that expensive."
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"Fire stick that plays everything."

Post by TheCatt »

a) It's totally illegal.

b) You can just hack a FireTV stick to make your own and install Kodi (I think is the software).
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Leisher
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"Fire stick that plays everything."

Post by Leisher »

Remember "Popcorn Time"?

Same shit. It allowed you to watch bittorrent movies by streaming them to you from multiple sources.

It's very illegal, and the MPAA went after Popcorn Time users. In today's tech world, there's no reason the MPAA and whomever else couldn't just be sitting back collecting data on people using these sticks.

Whenever people ask me about them, I always say the same thing: "Basically, you have to weigh free TV shows and movies versus potential jail time and/or legal fees in the tens of thousands of dollars. Also, if you can't afford basic cable, then perhaps you need to be working and not watching TV."

These sticks are a microcosm of our society. Everyone thinks they're entitled to everything, but they don't want to work or pay for it.
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Cakedaddy
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"Fire stick that plays everything."

Post by Cakedaddy »

Kodi is the 'front end'. Then you install a bunch of Apps in Kodi that steals the content. Kodi is open source and hates that it's associated with the piracy. They just wanted to make an open source media center. And by itself, it doesn't do anything illegal.
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