Kodi Box - Societal Impacts

Running head: KODI BOX – SOCIETAL IMPACTS
Kodi Box – Societal Impacts
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1KODI BOX – SOCIETAL IMPACTS
Many people of Singapore are not fully aware of what an Android TV box is,
according to a lot of them they think that it is just a regular set-top box that runs the Google’s
Android software and it lets the subscribers stream legit services such as Netflix, YouTube or
general TV channels. The Ministry of Law and the office of Intellectual property have
created new regulations that would make the usage and the selling of these set-top boxes
illegal. It is important to specifically categorize the set-top boxes which will be deemed
illegal, because that would risk all set-top boxes to be eradicated (Wong, 2016).
The versatility of Kodi and its open nature have made it hugely popular for people
who want to stream their favourite television shows and movies without paying a huge
amount in subscription fee. Kodi’s free-to-access video content allows the users to stream any
video from whichever website they would want to (i.e. YouTube and Vevo). Not every Kodi
plug-in is designed to display illicit activities of promoting torrent services (Myhra, 2013).
Kodi is a well-designed software allows the users’ access to numerous content in a
convenient, accessible and visually pleasant format. The biggest bonus of Kodi is its cost, this
is because the software itself does not cost any money to download and use, and it seems
perfect for those who are tired of dishing out money monthly for subscription based
streaming services like, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.
General Manager of AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) has said that as piracy
methods become increasingly mainstream in the consumer market, there is a great risk for a
malware infection in all the consumer’s devices (Rahman, 2017). Additionally, since the
suppliers of the pirated media will not be known, the consumers risk losing a significant
amount of money if the channels end up stop working. The people who infringe on the
copyright of others are not able to guarantee the quality of the idea or the product that they
are allowing others to have an access to.