UK man spared prison despite Kodi piracy sentence

A British man who purchased Kodi boxes from China and installed piracy software before selling them at a profit has been handed a suspended 18-month prison sentence.

According to news publication WalesOnline, Daniel Brown from Swansea, Wales, was convicted of running the illegal scheme and generating more than £370,000 ($479,000) through it.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay court fees and do 180 hours of community work.

In May, TBO reported that a study by Canadian networking equipment company Sandvine claimed that 70% of Kodi installations provide access to unlicensed content.

Kodi is a free media player that can run on any computer, smartphone, tablet or set-top box, allowing users to stream films and TV programmes over the internet.

Owning a Kodi box is in itself legal, but owning one with the capabilities to watch pirated content is not.