The American firm recently announced the crackdown on so-called “dodgy” Fire TV Sticks and will begin blocking unofficial apps that allow access to pirated content.
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Discussing the crackdown, an Amazon spokesperson said: “Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore.
“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 installed from outside our Appstore.”
While the full crackdown is yet to fully start, it looks as though changes are already underway, with Fire Stick users receiving ominous messages.
Launching one of the “banned” apps will now sometimes trigger a notification that this action has been detected and that the user should delete it.
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The message reads: “Warning. One or more apps on your device have been identified as using or providing access to unlicensed content, including this app, and will be disabled. To remove this app now, select ‘Uninstall’.”
While users can still choose to launch the app, this makes it clear that the illegal activity has been detected and that Amazon may opt for a full ban in the future.
However, the company has not confirmed if the blocking of users will actually take place.
It has only revealed that the crackdown will first take place in Europe before coming to the UK at a later date.
Amazon has been approached for comment by Newsquest.
