Amazon to block ‘dodgy’ Fire TV Stick apps from today in new major global crackdown

It's the first time ever Amazon has taken this action

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Amazon are to start blocking 'dodgy' Fire TV Stick apps from today in a new major global crackdown.

The initiative comes as part of a new update to sticks that will block a number of illegal applications which give people access to pirated content.

While Amazon have long had illegal apps banned from its official Appstore for years, people have been able to circumvent these blocks by "side-loading" apps onto Fire Sticks.

However, the tech-giant has confirmed to The Sun that, for the first time, certain side-loaded apps are set to be blocked from the Appstore.

An Amazon spokesperson told The Sun: “Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore.

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“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.

“This builds on our ongoing efforts to support creators and protect customers, as piracy can also expose users to malware, viruses, and fraud.”

The Fire Stick will still legally be able to stream TV from official apps such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.

Because the apps will be blocked at a device level, even VPNs won't be able to sneak the illegal apps through.

However, Amazon did tell The Sun that side-loading will not be completely blocked, with some apps still allowed to be downloaded in this way as only those identified as providing access to pirated content will stop working.

The crackdown is reportedly global.

This latest update comes in the wake of the introduction of the release of a new Amazon Fire TV Stick, which uses an in-house Amazon system called Vega, will prevent hackers from downloading illegal apps that are used to stream the content.

James Bore, a cybersecurity expert, told the Metro: “It’s going to cause a problem for the people who create these apps.”

However, Bore insisted people will now switch to non-Amazon devices.

“People are just going to switch to non-Amazon devices, as this will only prevent those specific devices from being used for illegal streaming.”