Amazon’s Fire TV piracy crackdown has already been foiled by some clever workarounds

Amazon’s Fire TV streaming sticks are popular thanks to their low cost and broad app support, making streaming services like Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, and more easily accessible on TVs. But that openness has also given Fire TV Sticks an unwanted reputation for piracy.

Since Fire OS — the Android-based operating system that powers the Fire TV Stick HD, 4K Plus, and 4K Max — allows users to sideload apps, many have taken advantage of this to install apps offering copyrighted material for free.

Piracy has become a growing concern for Amazon, which has recently faced increasing pressure to act to stop it. In October, the company announced it would begin banning apps on Fire TV devices that are “identified as providing access to pirated content.” And now, those efforts are officially underway.

According to AFTVNews, Amazon is now actively blocking apps that enable piracy on its Fire TV streaming devices. If an app is blocked, users will see a notification when trying to launch it, stating that the app has been “disabled” because it was “identified as using or providing access to unlicensed content.”

The only options are to dismiss the notification or uninstall the app, as there’s no way to bypass the block. Previously, Amazon would warn users about the risk of certain apps but still allowed them to launch them. Now, any app that’s been banned is immediately disabled when you try to use it. Amazon says this measure is intended to “protect both customers and content creators.”

Amazon’s piracy battle is just beginning

Some users have already found a workaround

While Amazon’s crackdown on piracy apps has officially begun, the company still has a long road ahead.

As AFTV News notes, Amazon appears to be identifying piracy apps primarily by their package names. When a user sideloads an app, Fire OS detects the package name and blocks it immediately. Unsurprisingly, some users have already found ways around this by installing blocked apps under different package names, and some piracy-focused apps have released modified versions specifically designed to evade detection.

Reportedly, some users have been able to bypass Amazon’s app-blocking system by using app-cloning tools that assign new package names. However, this workaround doesn’t work for every app.

Amazon is also catching on. The company has already removed at least one app from its Appstore that offers app-cloning services on its Fire OS devices, suggesting it’s aware of how users are attempting to circumvent its anti-piracy efforts.

Another way Amazon is tackling piracy is through its new Linux-based operating system, Vega OS, which doesn’t support sideloading apps at all.

Amazon seems to be targeting piracy-focused apps that offer access to copyrighted content without requiring any setup by the user — essentially, apps you can open and immediately start watching pirated content for free. Legitimate media players like Plex, and open-source alternatives like Kodi or Jellyfin, are not impacted by the ban, likely because they require user setup and are legal on their own, even though users can technically configure them to stream copyrighted material.

Another way Amazon is tackling piracy is through its new Linux-based operating system, Vega OS, which doesn’t support sideloading apps at all. Vega OS debuted on Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K Select. While Amazon claims it is now a “multi-OS company,” I find it hard to believe that its future Fire TV devices won’t all run Vega OS, especially due to its crackdown on piracy.