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Jeff asked: “I was wondering what y’all know about the G-Box and can you get in trouble for streaming new release movies over it? I heard there’s a loophole about it.”
There are two G-Box models including an octacore, 4K capable one, and both models are completely legal devices that run Kubi (you may know it as XBMC), an open source media center software that is also completely legal.
Kubi lets you either play locally stored media files, including movies, and it lets you access streaming media sources through the use of plugins. That’s where you start running into trouble with the law.
The plugins may access free and legal streaming sources like Vimeo, or utilities like the weather, simply let you access a paid membership-based streaming services, those are all fine, but anyone can make a plugin for the open source service, and some people make plugins to access illegal streams.
Those are the plugins that are feeding the G-Box the new releases while they’re still in theaters, or shows from cable or otherwise premium channels that would normally require a subscription.
There is no loophole, there are just use cases. G-Box is completely legal, Kubi is completely legal, but some plugins are not. The loophole is on their end, they’ll give you a legal platform, and if you singlehandedly decided to bolt on some illegal components, that’s your legal responsibility and your legal risk.
The loophole is on their end
A G-Box is like a Ford, which is a totally legal car, a legal streaming plugin is like putting mudflaps on your Ford, your choice but not illegal if you do choose to do it. The illegal streaming plugins are like welding a gatling gun to the roof of that Ford, not legal but also not Ford’s fault if you do it.
They’ll give you a legal platform that you can customize into something legal or something illegal.