Federal Court orders ban on ‘Mr. Blamo’ Kodi add-on software

Nearly a dozen content producers have obtained a court order banning set-top box software developed by an individual in Canada that allows users to watch their content for free, according to court documents. The Sept. 24 decision by the Federal Court ordered Samuel Horkoff, a developer of Kodi add-on software, to stop developing, maintaining, updating, hosting, distributing or promoting applications that allowed users to access unlicensed content. The decision also forbids Horkoff from operating websites or making the plaintiffs’ works available on the internet, effectively banning his operation entirely. Horkoff, also known by his alias “Mr. Blamo,” developed a number of popular “repositories,” software from which users retrieve the add-ons allowing them to view the content. The court documents list at least three such repositories -- “Blamo,” “Griffin,” and “Pure Repo” -- that allowed users to get 26 listed add-ons, it said. The statement of claim, which was sent to Horkoff at an Alberta address, was filed on Sep. 7 and the hearing was held on Sep. 21 in Montreal. The interlocutory ban means it remains until the court makes a final judgment on the matter. Horkoff did not appear before the court, the documents say. Before the decision was handed down, a Sep. 10 tweet on Twitter Inc.’s social media platform from an account by the name of Mr. Blamo said that the developer is “done for good.” His Twitter account also appears to have been deactivated. The ban is just the latest case involving the Kodi set-top box, the multimedia player that does not itself host but allows users to install third-party add-ons that can contain unlicensed content. Early last year, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld a ban on the sale of pre-loaded set-top boxes, which pre-installed the add-ons that allowed users to watch unlicensed content. The content producers who spearheaded the case include prominent names, such as Netflix Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Columbia Pictures Industries Inc., Sony Corp., Paramount Pictures Corp., Walt Disney Co., and Twentieth Century Fox. They involve 10 Netflix works, eight Amazon Video properties and other titles including the hit TV show Breaking Bad and Grey’s Anatomy, court records show. The addition of Netflix and Amazon content rubs against arguments made by some that suggest low-cost legal content would put a damper on piracy. A May report commissioned by Innovation Canada and Canadian Heritage found 11 per cent of surveyed Canadians said they infringed because legal content was too expensive, with the same percentage saying they did so because legal content wasn’t on the services they pay for. Over half of surveyed Canadians said they infringed because the content is free, 40 per cent said it is easy or convenient, and 34 per cent said it’s quick, the same survey said. A Sandvine Corp. report earlier this year revealed that 71 per cent of Canadian households with Kodi could access unlicensed content.

Federal Court orders ban on ‘Mr. Blamo’ Kodi add-on software

Brief | October 3, 2018

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Federal Court orders ban on ‘Mr. Blamo’ Kodi add-on software

Brief | October 3, 2018

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