Kodi CRACKDOWN: Millions to be BLOCKED from watching free football streams

add-on users will find it hard to watch illegal free football live streams this season.

The Premier League had previously announced that ISPs will be forced to block illegal content being broadcast online for the upcoming 2018/19 season.

And now UEFA is joining in with the order, meaning ISPs can be asked to instantly ban any illegal free streams being broadcast across the country.

Major ISPs such as BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media are all included in the block which will affect millions.

The new crackdown comes after UEFA last season secured a similar ban which blocked swathes of streams being viewed illegally.

In the recent judgement Mr Justice Arnold said: “The evidence filed by UEFA in support of this application demonstrates that the First Order was very effective in achieving the blocking of access to the Target Servers during UEFA matches.

“Moreover, no evidence has been found of overblocking despite checks having been undertaken.

“The order sought by UEFA differs from the First Order in three main respects. First, it covers additional UEFA competitions.

Secondly, there is an adjustment to the first criterion in Confidential Schedule 3.

“This enlarges the subset of infringing steaming servers to be blocked.

Thirdly, the requirement to notify hosting providers is made subject to a short delay. This is in order to prevent the order being circumvented.

“The evidence filed by UEFA in support of the application demonstrates that there have been attempts to circumvent the First Order, and therefore this concern is a very real one.”

Premier League fans face a similar banning order in addition to the UEFA block.

The Premier League was recently granted a victory in court that will help in their ongoing battle against online piracy.

Last year the Premier League obtained a groundbreaking injunction which compelled ISPs to block illegal live streams in real-time.

And the High Court recently agreed to an extension for this order for a further season.

The order will affect BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.

So customers of these ISPs that are trying to watch illegal live streams of Premier League matches could be subjected to a sudden block.

Kodi software is not illegal, but unaffiliated developers can produce third-party add-ons that provide free access to pirated and illegal content.

These apps allow users to stream premium content, like paid-for live sports, the latest Hollywood movies and must-see TV shows for free.

The illegal Kodi add-ons are being targeted by ISPs, government agencies, broadcasters and rights holders in an ongoing piracy clampdown.

The Premier League 2018/19 season kicks off on August 10 2018, with the first game of the season Manchester United vs Leicester City.

The Premier League opener will be played on a Friday night at Old Trafford.

Arguably the must-watch match of week one will be Arsenal vs Manchester City.

The defending champions will open their campaign at the Emirates, which will see new Gunners boss Unai Emery take charge of his first Premier League game.