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The news this week that Kodi add-on Phoenix has shut down sent shockwaves through the online streaming community.

One of the most popular streaming add-ons on Kodi, Phoenix provided users with free access to TV shows, films and live sports - including Premier League football matches - allowing them to avoid paying for premium subscription services such as Sky and BT Sport.

In a statement announcing the shutdown, Phoenix developer Cosmix implied that the current legal climate had left it with no choice.

"In light of current events we have decided to close down Phoenix," it said.

"This is not something that was easy for us to do; we have all formed a bond that cannot be broken as a team and have a HUGE support base that we are thankful of."

The decision is linked to a high-profile copyright infringement lawsuit in the US, whereby American satellite and broadcast provider Dish Network is suing third-party add-on ZemTV and the TVAddons library.

The developers behind each of the add-ons face a fine of up to $150,000 (£116,000), according to TorrentFreak.

Now several other Kodi add-on developers are choosing to voluntarily shut down their services, rather than face similar fines in future.

Win for copyright owners?

In some ways, this is a big win for copyright owners. Shutting down the sources of illegal streams is a top priority for the UK Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), the trade organisation for the protection of intellectual property.

"These add-ons have made it incredibly easy for consumers to access illegal content via the Kodi platform. This was their principal function and it's a good step to see them shutting down in the face of perfectly valid legal pressure," said Kieron Sharp, chief executive of FACT.

"Digital piracy costs the UK creative industries millions in lost revenue each year and shutting off access to illegally obtained material is a crucial step in the fight against this type of crime."

The Premier League also recently secured a High Court order that allows it to shut down illegal video streams of football matches on Kodi.

(Image: Getty)

However, FACT admits that legislation is often lagging behind technology when it comes to online copyright infringement.

Kodi is open source, so when one add-on is shut down, the code is often copied and republished under a different name, helping it to evade detection.

"The legitimate side of this business is a much more slow-moving beast than the illegitimate side," said Sharp.

"So these things have developed very quickly technologically, and the criminals move in very quickly on that technology. It takes a lot longer for the stakeholders and rights holders to act upon that."

He added that copyright infringement is a criminal offence, and tackling criminal offences can take a long time.

"You have to examine the evidence, get a case together, the police have to be involved, and a prosecution follows from there on in. And that's a lengthy procedure," he said.

"So there's a lot going on of criminal activity still happening, even though you've started criminal action against people."

What else is being done?

The other major focus of FACT's crackdown on illegal streaming is on sellers of "fully-loaded" Kodi boxes and other streaming devices preconfigured for piracy.

While Kodi itself is perfectly legal, many unscrupulous retailers sell Kodi devices pre-loaded with third party plug-ins and add-ons that offer instant access to pirated content.

FACT is working with rights holders and law enforcement agencies to target these individuals, and several have already been arrested and charged with breaching the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act.

(Image: Gazette Live)

Meanwhile, major online retailers including Amazon, eBay and Facebook have also banned sales of fully-loaded Kodi boxes and other illicit streaming devices on their sites - although a quick search reveals they are not yet enforcing this policy.

Earlier this year, the Digital Economy Act was passed, increasing the maximum prison term for online copyright infringement from two years to 10 .

FACT said that this new legislation allows it to pursue harsher punishments for prolific sellers of illegal streaming devices.

"This is an opportunity for us to make sure that when there's a very high scale of criminal activity, we can use the legislation which is appropriate to that offence, knowing that there's an appropriate sentence available at the end of it," said Sharp.

"Four years has been the norm in an number of our prosecutions in recent times. We're talking here about people who are operating at a very high level, and making a lot of money, and causing a lot of harm and damage to the industry.

"That's an absolutely important factor to bear in mind because getting a prison sentence of four years for effectively fraud, economic crime, is a very very stiff sentence."

Are Kodi users in the firing line?

While the Kodi users are not the target of the crackdown, streaming pirated films and TV shows is illegal , and offenders could get swept up in one of FACT's operations.

Sharp explained that criminal investigations into high-level suppliers of Kodi boxesc ould involve examining their sales records.

"It is incumbent upon us to follow up on all those leads, and at some point we will be looking at those people who have been sold those boxes, and from there, we will see where that leads," he said.

Sharp admitted that there are thousands of users of illicit streaming devices out there, so it wouldn't be practical to go after all of them.

However, at some point, FACT may choose to make an example of a few offenders, in an attempt to deter those who may be tempted to watch copyrighted content illegally.

"You're looking at people obtaining content that has been very expensive to produce, or to put on for their entertainment. Whether it's live sports or films or television programmes, that all costs a massive amount of money," he said.

"And clearly, if a customer wants to see these things they have to pay something for it, and by accessing it illegally it creates huge problems for all of the creative industries - particularly anyone working in the entertainment world. It just can't be condoned.

"There's always going to be a certain proportion of society who want something for nothing, and you're probably never going to change that, but education can make a difference to people's attitudes.

"Sometimes that education has to be backed up by seeing deterrent activity taking place at criminal courts, where people are convicted of criminal offences, and that could be a deterrent to others using it."