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Netflix, Amazon, and Hollywood studios shut down maker of "free TV" box
The entertainment industry has scored a big victory over the maker of a "free TV" box that helped users watch pirated video.
Dragon Media Inc., whose "Dragon Box" device connects to TVs and lets users watch video without a cable TV or streaming service subscription, has agreed to shut down the Dragon Box services and pay $14.5 million in damages to plaintiffs from the entertainment industry.
Dragon Media was sued in January 2018 by Netflix, Amazon, Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros. Dragon Media's lawyer initially predicted that the lawsuit would backfire on the entertainment industry, but the Dragon Box maker must have decided it had little chance of winning at trial.Netflix, Amazon, and major studios sue maker of "free TV" box"Free TV" box lawyer says video industry is "digging its own grave"
The plaintiffs and defendant filed a proposed settlement Monday at US District Court for the Central District of California.
The settlement requires Dragon Media to "cease all operation of the Dragon Box system" and related services within five days. Under the settlement, "[j]udgment shall be entered against Defendants and in favor of Plaintiffs on Plaintiffs' claims of copyright infringement, and damages shall be awarded to Plaintiffs in the amount of US $14,500,000," the document says.
Dragon Media, Dragon Media owner Paul Christoforo, and reseller Jeff Williams "[s]hall be further enjoined from operating any website, system, software, or service that is substantially similar to the Dragon Box service," the settlement says.
The settlement also prohibits the defendants from making its source code or other technology available to others.
[...] Dragon Media temporarily stopped sales after the lawsuit was filed last year but "later decided to change its business model, moving from a Kodi-addon platform subscription-based services," TorrentFreak wrote today. "First, it moved to 'BlendTV' and a few months later to 'My TV Hub.'"
However, the settlement requires Dragon Media to shut down both BlendTV and My TV Hub at the same time that it shuts down the Dragon Box service. The settlement defines the Dragon Box Service as "the hardware devices preloaded with copyright infringing software, addons, programs, applications, and all related services that Defendant marketed, promoted, sold, and supported." The settlement defines BlendTV as "the copyright-infringing software, programs, applications, and services that transmit or otherwise communicate television programs and motion pictures over the Internet that Defendant marketed, promoted, sold, and supported."
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:50PM
Kodi is cool software and runs on really low end hardware. Netflix and services like it, are in my opinion, about as good as we're going to get. Sure, I would love Legal free streaming movies. There are some, but typically they're really, really old black and white movies. Most black and white movies are likely not in the public domain, either. The reality is that, if you want a good movie. You have to pay someone to make it and they have to be able to make a living doing it. Sure, someone making $100 Million dollars on a movie, is somewhat obscene, but at that point they performed well enough, it was marketed well enough, etc. to make that much money. I don't begrudge them their millions earned. I also don't envy the constant prying into their private lives, paparazzi, etc. You want entertainment, at some point, someone's got to be paying for it. I much prefer a service like Netflix, where the customers are paying for it, and have a buffet style selection. Whereas with Cable/Satellite you have a lot more scripted service and have to pay a premium for buffet style service in the form of pay-per-view. Netflix is also a much, much better option than over-the-air, as you are the product. Since, you're not paying for it, other than watching the advertisements.
TL;DR
Don't Pirate, if you like Quality Entertainment. At least choose a side, Netflix / Amazon Prime. There are other options, but those are the two behemoths.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"