Warning issued to anyone using illegal Amazon Fire Sticks ahead of 2025 Golden Globes
With millions of UK viewers planning on tuning in to this year's Golden Globes, tech experts are issuing a stern warning against streaming the ceremony using an illegal Amazon Fire Stick.
Next year's film festivities - hosted by actress and comedian Nikki Glaser at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills - will kick off on Sunday 5 January 2025, airing between 8-11pm in the States.
This means that, in the UK, the show will start at around 1am, and will last until around 4am.
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Despite the somewhat anti-social timings, the Golden Globes are expected to welcome hundreds of millions of viewers across the world - many of whom will hail from England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The ceremony is only available to UK viewers on very limited services, however, primarily being broadcast live on American TV.
As such, police are predicting, that a surprisingly high proportion of viewers will rely on illegal Amazon Prime sticks to access the ceremony.
Tyla reported earlier this year that a crackdown had officially been put into place, launchING plans to prosecute users of such devices amid a colossal surge in cases.
Bosses across the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Sky Sports previously reported that their exclusive, premium content was being abused by breakages in copyright law.
A survey conducted in 2022 discovered that a staggering 19 percent of those interviewed confessed to having illegally downloaded TV content in the last three months - a huge proportion of whom admitted to doing so using illegally modified Amazon Fire Sticks.
Though owning a 'hacked' version of these devices - which usually retail for between £38 and £70 - isn't technically against the law, using it to watch popular streaming service shows is absolutely prohibited.
According to the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT UK), more and more telly fans are turning in those who they know illegally stream content via Fire Sticks and other devices in order to gain access to both hit shows and American award ceremonies.
Following an increase in reports over the last 12 months, earlier this year, FACT UK started rolling out cease and desist letters, with officials even rocking up on the doorsteps of illegal streamers after neighbours blew the whistle on those living around them.
"FACT constantly monitors the digital landscape to combat illegal streaming activities in the UK and Ireland," a spokesperson for the corporation said in a statement at the time.
"We utilise a range of methods to identify individuals engaged in unauthorised businesses that offer access to illegal streams."
"One of these methods is through our partnership with Crimestoppers to make it as easy as possible to report illegal streaming, and over the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the number of reports directly linked to Fire Sticks and illegal streaming.
"These reports are then investigated by our Intelligence Unit, and followed up with a rolling programme of action which includes issuing 'Cease and Desist' letters and conducting nationwide 'Knock and Talks'.
"These home visits, undertaken in conjunction with law enforcement, serve to inform individuals about their activities and the immediate need to cease and desist or face further action or prosecution.
"We also work In close collaboration with law enforcement to gather further evidence to actively pursue legal actions against these criminal entities."
Thankfully, however, there is a legal way around these restrictions, so that UK-based Golden Globes fans really can tune in.
If you're able to get your hands on a VPN and use it to bypass geo-restrictions, you can sign up for a free or paid subscription to the likes of Hulu + Live TV, FuboTV to watch the show from the comfort of your own sofa.
So, there you have it.
Topics: Golden Globes, TV And Film, US News, UK News, Celebrity, Crime, Technology, Amazon Prime
Rhianna Benson