An EU court ruled against a seller of customized set-top boxes this week, with the judge saying that his preinstallation of certain Kodi Add-Ons makes the boxes illegal to offer.
Mr Wullems sells, over the internet, various models of a multimedia player under the name
'filmspeler'. That device acts as a medium between a source of audiovisual data and a television
screen. On that player, Mr Wullems installed an open source software that enabled files to be
played through a user-friendly interface, via structured menus. In addition, integrated into the
player were add-ons available on the internet whose function is to retrieve the desired content from
streaming websites and make it start playing, on a simple click, on the multimedia player
connected to a television. Some of those internet sites give access to digital content with the
consent of the right holders, whilst others give access without their consent. According to the
advertising, the multimedia player made it possible, in particular, to watch on a television screen,
easily and for free, audiovisual material available on the internet without the consent of the
copyright holders
It might seem a 'technical' outcome: it's still fine to sell boxes with open streaming software, the end-user just has to set up arrmatey.plugin their own damned selves. But "Who, whom?" is always important.
