It all started with sneaking your own snacks into the cinema. You save a few pound and it’s a victimless crime, right? Well, that mentality now has a modern twist in the shape of dodgy boxes. You can buy an Android box in Ireland fairly easily, but the Court of Justice of the European Union has had something to say about that.
Court of Justice of the European Union versus the Android Box
So this all kicked off because of a Dutch chap – classic Dutch right? He, like many countless othes, was flogging these Android boxes to punters trying to skip the bill on premium entertainment. The EU has found that these boxes are being sold purely to breach copyright. Now, everyone knows that but usually, you need a fairly iron-clad case to make something stick. Who’s to say you didn’t just buy an Android box for streaming Netflix?
So its illegal to have an Android box in Ireland?
No, this is the funny part. It’s illegal to sell a dodgy box. We’re now going to draw a line in the sand on this. Android boxes are just like your Android smartphone. They come with the basic apps to get you up and running, but you need to download the rest. A dodgy box comes preloaded with the likes of Kodi. Kodi, to be fair, really does facilitate illegal streaming of premium content.
We now have this hilarious situation where you can buy bullets and you can buy guns. But if anyone is found to be selling both of them together, they will feel the wrath of the EU. By this, I mean you can buy the Android boxes and you can still download Kodi. You just can’t buy these already combined.
That’s not entirely true either
Amazon and eBay have started removing dodgy boxes from their listings. Which won’t make a massive difference as the best Android boxes come from China. I can’t see any of those sellers being too bothered by the EU ruling nor can I see how they’ll be stopped.
