by GolfPopper
4 subcomments
- Piracy is just the excuse. What they're saying is that Amazon will allow a collection of corporations (including Amazon) to decide what you're allowed to do with the hardware they pretended to let you buy.
- > Fire TV players are repeatedly offered on the internet with piracy apps that are supposed to enable free access to IPTV or VoD content.
They’re so close to getting it. So close. They almost understand that this is a response to a completely unusable, expensive and user shitty experience.
Build something that integrates all streaming providers and many people will already stop pirating. But even then, people are still expected to pay rent to n different streaming companies. It just doesn’t work. They’re being too greedy.
by BigTTYGothGF
1 subcomments
- The website doesn't let me view the article unless I agree to accept tracking cookies from "up to 184 partners".
by pessimizer
0 subcomment
- Do they even really have a choice about this? When all your platforms are locked down and proprietary you can't allow piracy apps. I never understood why people buy products like this, but I don't have to understand - some people just don't mind if Amazon or Google own their televisions, or even every sound made in their homes.
And they allowed piracy apps until now, so I was overestimating how fast the frog was boiling anyway. Must have been a good deal while it lasted.
Weird how people are acting like this is a collapse: everything was always locked down until FOSS alternatives came to free you. Megacorps invited you back by letting you pirate a bit, for a while, and now that the alternatives have been adequately starved it's time to get in line again.
Why in the hell would Amazon let you pirate the things it sells (rents?), forever? I think a lot of people got caught up in a free promotion handing out samples of a zero-marginal cost product. It didn't cost them anything to pretend like you were going to have any real control over their completely controlled device.
- The blacklist is easy to circumvent by offering apps with randomly generated package IDs and probably also with randomly generated signing keys per user.
This is of course more effort than just building and signing the app once, but doable.
Of course you can't have any api keys or functionality in the app, that is bound to a specific app id or signing key.
by _fat_santa
1 subcomments
- Part of me wants to be angry at this change but another part of me is honestly going "ok whatever".
It's not like FireTV is the only game in town. These days you can buy an RPI Zero or next to nothing and program it to basically the same thing as a FireTV with zero restrictions and no possibility for future restrictions.
- Protecting the margins of media companies...errr I mean users from spyware-laden illegal streaming apps!
- How to block OTA updates on your firewall: https://xdaforums.com/t/psa-firetv-ota-update-url-has-change...
- The ads and recommendations on Firetv sticks has been getting worse and worse. I tried modifying it to use a custom launcher but they keep breaking it.
I think I'm going to just trash it and get a Onn. 4k Pro and install projectivy on it.
by DrNosferatu
1 subcomments
- Exactly which individual apps are they talking about?
- I gave up on my Chromecast when Google broke it with an update. I'm never going to buy a single use computer again anyway. I won't buy anything with DRM, thanks.
- How long till they block apps like plex or kodi
- This just feels like such an Apple thing to do.
Tell people what they are and are not allowed to install on their device, then use piracy as the reason, when in reality it's simply because Amazon wants control over the device they sold to you.
Also, app store revenue splits.
- Hmm VLC and Plex still work for me but it looks like I'll need to buy another stick long term.
I wish there was a FOSS AOSP distro for android TV, just like lineageos for phones.
by ridiculous_leke
1 subcomments
- Don't see a list there. Will they also ban apps like Stremio and Kodi?
- > blacklist maintained by the anti-piracy coalition ACE (Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment)
Can we see what's on the blacklist? I haven't been able to find it despite searching everywhere.
- And, another use for a RaspberryPi.