The dodgy box, explained

What it is, what it costs, what the courts are doing about it, and the legal way to watch the same stuff for less. No lecture, just the facts and the sums.

By the dodgybox.ie editor. Court reports, the Copyright and Related Rights Act and enforcement announcements. How we check. Out of date? Tell us.

• What is a dodgy box?

  The Irish name for a streaming box with a pirate TV subscription on it. Cheap, popular, and increasingly a bad idea.

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• Is a dodgy box illegal in Ireland?

  The box is legal. The subscription is not. Here is what the law actually says, in plain terms.

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• Is a Fire Stick illegal in Ireland?

  No. The stick is an ordinary legal product. A pirate TV subscription or app running on it is what the law is concerned with.

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• Is IPTV legal in Ireland?

  Yes, when the service is licensed to show what it shows. IPTV is a delivery method. The unlicensed subscriptions sold as "IPTV" are the illegal part.

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• Dodgy box crackdown in Ireland: the latest

  A timeline of who has been taken to court, who has had their details handed over, and what it means for the box under the telly.

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• Got a letter about a dodgy box?

  What the letters are, how they came about, and the one thing to do before you respond.

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• Dodgy box risks in Ireland

  A solicitor's letter is the headline. The malware, the card fraud and the €100 you never see again are the rest of it.

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• The legal alternative to a dodgy box: a first-week plan

  Free Irish and UK channels through an aerial and a dish, plus one or two monthly subscriptions for what you actually watch. Here is the week that gets you there.

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