Kodi fans may find some of their favourite add-ons have suddenly disappeared.
In another major crackdown, it’s being reported that at least four of these popular streaming services have been forced to close their doors with 13 Clowns, Maverick TV and Overeasy all thought to be have been hit by the latest closures.
The shut down comes after police arrested a member of the public who is thought to have been running another popular Kodi add-on.
In a statement, North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: “Today, officers from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, working with FACT arrested a 40 year old man in Winsford in connection with creating and maintaining a Kodi ‘add-on’ directly linked to the supply of illegal online streams.
“The scale of the offending was significant and affected broadcasters and rights owners in the UK and worldwide.
“Police searched an address, seized evidence, and interviewed the suspect has later been released on police bail pending investigation.
“The investigation followed a referral from FACT, the UK’s leading cyber investigations organisation.”
Although the add-on in question is not named by police, TorrentFreak is reporting that a service called Supremacy happened to go offline on the same day of the arrest.
It’s unclear if this police interaction forced others to close their doors but some of the add-ons, that have ceased to be available, have posted messages on social media to say goodbye.
13 Clowns tweeted, “Thank you everyone for everything. Good bye,” and another simply said, “I’ve been Maverick. Thank you all. And Good Bye.”
This new crackdown comes as Kodi recently warned its users about the dangers of installing certain add-ons.
The team behind the player, which is totally legal to download and use, alerted users of issues with malware in post on its blog.
Explaining why users should be wary, Kodi said: “If a newer version (with a higher version number) of a given add-on is pushed to an installed repo, then the add-on can be updated regardless of which repo the addon originally came from.
“Hence, if a malicious programmer pushes a new version to an installed repo, then anyone who had the original version will get the poisoned version installed onto their device instead.”
Kodi says that its members are working towards improving the add-on/repository infrastructure but, for now, the team says before you install any third-party add-on, repo or build onto your Kodi device, pause and consider whether you really trust the source you’re getting it from and any repercussions that may result from that install.
Along with Kodi telling users be on alert a recent report from the Digital Citizens Alliance has warned of the dangers that many users face by streaming content illegally.
The comprehensive investigation found that so-called Kodi boxes and jailbroken Amazon Fire TV Sticks could leave owners at risk from cyber crime and malware that can end up accessing personal data.
As part of its research survey, Digital Citizens asked Americans if they’ve had a problem with malware in the last 18 months.
Of those who said they didn’t have a piracy device in their home, just seven per cent reported an issue with malware.
Of those who said they did have a piracy device in their home, 44 per cent reported an issue with malware.