Exclusive:
Jailbroken Fire TV Sticks are not illegal to own – it’s just what you do with them that matters the most, an expert has said.
Authorities are clamping down on dodgy Fire TV Sticks – and could be monitoring your device. Amid the cost-of-living crisis, many cash-strapped Brits simply can’t afford the luxury of paying for several streaming subscriptions, along with the annual BBC TV Licence fee. As a result, many resort to buying ‘jailbroken’ devices for a lump sum that allow them to access content they haven’t paid for.
While ‘jailbroken’ Fire TV Sticks are not necessary illegal itself, using them to stream content you should be paying for and haven’t is against the law – and risks landing you in hot water. Just last month, a private prosecution undertaken by the Premier League resulted in Jonathan Edge, a 29-year-old dad from Liverpool, receiving a three-year and four-month prison sentence for selling and using illicit Firesticks.
Chartered Security Professional and tech expert James Bore has run a family tech and security consultancy which has been around since 1988. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, he explained that there are several ways your dodgy Fire TV Stick could be monitored.
“There’s no automatic way for police to find out if you’re using one, but some copyright owners monitor traffic to illegal sources of media and use that to identify people who download stream copyright-infringing content,” he said. “The copyright owners, or their management companies, have various ways of capturing traffic. These can be everything from setting up their own copyright-infringing servers so that they can monitor the traffic, to serving warrants against organisations who provide the copyright-infringing content.”
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Many Brits are also reported to authorities for having dodgy Fire Stick TV by people who witness them using it, or see them inquiring about the device on social media. “Of course, some of the jailbroken devices that you can buy promise security,” James added. “But, you should always remember that the sellers do not care whether or not you are caught – only that you gave them money.”
To prevent getting into trouble with the law, it’s best to comply with the legal obligation to pay your TV Licence (if you access BBC iPlayer or watch live TV) and purchase a non-tampered Fire TV Stick from a reputable seller. To cut down on costs, many people will only subscribe to one streaming platform at a time, and cancel their account if they want to join another. While this is time-consuming, it stops you forking out for monthly subscriptions you’re not actually using.
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