An Israel-based anti-piracy group called Zira has shut down at least three Kodi repositories and add-ons and threatened them with legal action, TorrentFreak reported.
Zira has filed for an injunction to prevent sites including abeksis.com, kodi-senyor.com.il, and kodiwizardil.net from continuing to offer Kodi services. But even before the cases reached the court, all parties have agreed to a settlement with Zira and closed down, according to Independent.uk reported.
The Kodi add-ons and repositories paid a settlement of a few thousand shekels and will be fined with up to $28,000 should they decide to relaunch their sites. All three sites have also posted their content with a warning from Zira.
"The site you've entered was taken down since it was violating intellectual property rights. The site's operators were fined by court and therefore the site ceased to operate!" the message read.
One of the group's main targets was the Abeksis repository, as it offered an easy way to turn the Kodi media player into a piracy hub. The other targeted websites were not monetizing their services and some also offered access to legal content. But they chose to stop their services for good to avoid facing lawsuits.
Just last week, Facebook also cracked down and removed Kodi boxes and other similar software from its sites, joining the likes of Amazon and eBay.
Although Kodi is not illegal, it has been exploited and used as third-party add-ons to access illegal streams for sports events, films, and TV shows. These devices promise pirate content at no cost, and many of these boxes are 'fully loaded," meaning they contain pre-installed plugins ready for social media use.
Facebook has updated its Commerce Policy and prohibited "products or items that facilitate or encourage unauthorized access to digital media." It also requires all these items to comply with Facebook's Community Standards and Commerce Policies.
Facebook has become a creative mean to share copyright contents for free, especially following the demise of ExtraTorrent.cc. Facebook "Events" are reportedly used to share links to allow download of pirate movies and event games.