Roku has begun cracking down on noncertified channels with pirated video content, alerting users that Roku can remove the channels without prior notice.
As TorrentFreak points out, Roku is issuing the warnings after earlier this year dealing with piracy issues in Mexico and recently renaming private channels as noncertified.
Roku’s warning on noncertified downloads reads: “Roku requires all channels to abide by Roku’s terms and conditions, and to distribute only legal content. Roku does not test or review noncertified channels. By continuing, you acknowledge you are accessing a noncertified channel that may include content that is offensive or inappropriate for some audiences. Moreover, if Roku determines that this channel violates copyright, contains illegal content, or otherwise violates Roku’s terms and conditions, then Roku may remove this channel with prior notice.”
In a statement provided to TorrentFreak, a Roku spokesperson said the company is cooperating with the content community and other rights holders to help combat piracy.
RELATED: Kodi cheers Facebook’s ban on the sale of boxes allowing video piracy
Roku’s tougher stance on video piracy comes amid companies like Facebook, Amazon and eBay cracking down on devices like Kodi boxes that are being sold preloaded with illegal video streaming software. For its part, Kodi cheered the move by online retailers.
“We very much welcome the rule change,” Nathan Betzen, community/project manager for Kodi, told FierceOnlineVideo. “We've opposed the sale of these streaming devices with piracy add-ons preinstalled for well over a year. Now that Facebook, eBay, and Amazon have all officially banned the practice, we are hopeful that the number of confused and uneducated users of piracy add-ons will decrease.”
While device makers work to fend off pirates, media companies are joining forces in the recently formed Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.
The worldwide members of ACE are Amazon, AMC Networks, BBC Worldwide, Bell Canada, Bell Media, Canal+ Group, CBS Corporation, Constantin Film, Foxtel, Grupo Globo, HBO, Hulu, Lionsgate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Millennium Media, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, SF Studios, Sky, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Star India, Studio Babelsberg, STX Entertainment, Telemundo, Televisa, Twentieth Century Fox, Univision Communications, Village Roadshow, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.