Amazon steps up its fight against piracy on Fire TV devices

Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks are a popular way to legally stream content through apps like Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, HBO Max, Pluto TV, and more. However, it’s also no secret that Fire TV Sticks are capable of accessing content illegally as well, through apps downloaded from the Amazon Appstore or that have been sideloaded.

Earlier this year, Amazon took action against several apps with pirated content by blocking them from being used on Fire TV Sticks. However, it was later discovered that Amazon didn’t block those apps because of their pirated content, but rather because some of them bypassed its Fire TV home screen or contained malicious content, such as malware (via AFTV News).

In recent months, Amazon has faced criticism for not doing enough to combat piracy on its Fire TV devices. A report from Enders Analysis states that Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks “enables billions of dollars” worth of streaming piracy (via BBC).

Now, Amazon is stepping up its efforts to combat piracy more directly and, for the first time ever, is taking action to specifically block apps on its Fire TV devices that are “identified as providing access to pirated content”, including both apps downloaded from its Appstore and those that are sideloaded, according to The Sun.

“Through an expanded program led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global coalition fighting digital piracy, we’ll now block apps identified as providing access to pirated content, including those downloaded from outside our Appstore,” an Amazon spokesperson told The Sun. “Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore.”

Which apps is Amazon blocking?

Amazon isn’t completely stopping sideloading on Android-based Fire TV devices

Amazon hasn’t specified which apps it has started blocking on its Fire TV devices, but according to its statement to The Sun, it is targeting apps that offer pirated content identified by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global anti-piracy coalition comprised of more than 50 media companies, including Amazon itself, Apple, BBC Studios, Netflix, Disney, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and many more. So if an app is found to be distributing copyrighted content illegally by the ACE, Amazon will block it on its Fire TV devices going forward.

According to AFTV News, if a Fire TV device is found to have an app that has now been blocked, users will be notified that it is no longer permitted and will be blocked from using it. This new initiative is reportedly set to begin for users in France and Germany first, before being rolled out globally.

It’s worth noting that Amazon isn’t completely blocking the ability to sideload apps on its Fire TV devices; it is only blocking the sideloading of apps identified as containing pirated content. Therefore, you can still sideload and install many other apps on your Fire TV device, such as certain VPN services or alternative media players.

Amazon has always tried to keep its own Appstore free of pirated apps, but sideloaded apps have unquestionably caused the most trouble for the company. With that in mind, it was no surprise when Amazon released the Fire TV Stick 4K Select last month, the first Fire TV Stick to run Vega OS, a new Linux-based operating system that Amazon has spent years developing and that doesn’t support sideloading apps. Besides the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, all of Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks and its Fire TV Cube run Fire OS, an Android-based operating system that has been used on Fire TV devices for over a decade. Since they’re Android-based, they support sideloading apps.

With the Fire TV Stick 4K Select being the first Vega OS streaming stick from Amazon, more are likely to follow, such as new versions of the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max. Technically, Amazon is now combating piracy in two ways: first, with its new Vega OS operating system that prevents sideloading apps altogether, and second, by blocking piracy apps on its Android-based Fire TV devices that still support sideloading.