The team behind Kodi have published a statement following a spate of complaints from users of so-called 'Kodi Boxes' that their streaming add-ons aren't working.

In a post on their official website, Team Kodi confirmed that a whole host of third-party add-ons have stopped working on their popular free platform following a global crackdown on online piracy.

Glasgow Times:

Earlier this year, the Digital Economy Act received royal assent – and increased the maximum jail sentence for copyright infringement in the UK from two to three years. 

And in another landmark ruling the European Court of Justice declared that streaming copyright-protected material without permission was illegal.

Downloading pirated copies of movies, music, games and TV shows has always breached copyright infringement - however, streaming the same content was previously a legal grey area.

Online streaming uses temporary storage files and mean that the end-user was technically exempt under copyright law.

It's estimated that around five million people in the UK use pirated TV streaming services via so-called Kodi Boxes, Amazon Fire TV chipped sticks, and illegal streaming apps on Smartphones and tablets.

Glasgow Times:

The combination of these law changes has led some developers to abandon the Kodi platform. 

Last month, TVAddons - one of the most popular sources for infringing content - was removed from the web.

Kodi is a completely legal piece of software that carries no content, but it can be modified to add third-party resources that stream copyright infringing content. 

Glasgow Times:

In a recent Evening Times poll asking if readers thought Kodi was on its way out, an overwhelming 62% didn't think it was.