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Amazon Begins Scanning Fire TV and Disabling Piracy Apps

The program uses an ACE blacklist to identify piracy apps.

Overview

  • Effective October 31, Amazon is matching installed Fire TV apps against an ACE-maintained blacklist and will block those tied to pirated content.
  • Affected apps trigger on-device warnings during a preliminary period, though Amazon has not disclosed how long the notices appear before a block takes effect.
  • Enforcement also covers software installed outside the official Appstore, with Amazon citing protection of rights holders and customer safety from malware and fraud.
  • Sideloading remains available, but on Fire TV devices with Vega OS it is limited to developers, and Amazon says it will not upgrade existing Fire OS devices to Vega OS.
  • c’t reporting previously found some Fire TV units sold with preinstalled apps that redistributed content via BitTorrent, illustrating the legal and security risks Amazon points to.