A Mexican judge has ruled that the sale of Roku streaming boxes can no longer take place, because the boxes are often hacked into allowing users to illegally watch pay channels such as HBO and ESPN.
A ban on the sale of the streaming cabinets was already issued two weeks ago. Roku successfully challenged that ban in court, but a Mexico City court has reinstated the previous ban. That writes Reuters. According to the verdict, hackers would approach users of Roku lockers via WhatsApp to gain access to hundreds of television channels for a fee.
The case was brought by a Mexican cable company, Cablevision. A spokeswoman for Cablevision said it cannot be allowed to illegally use domestic and foreign content that the cable company broadcasts under license. The spokeswoman also said Cablevision wants Roku to pay more attention to how the streaming box software is used so it can’t be used in an unintended way.
Roku’s streaming boxes offer access to services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Starz and Hulu. Roku has a policy of banning the streaming of copyrighted material. The company does not agree with the ruling and says it will continue to oppose it through legal means. According to a spokesperson, the ban will not prevent consumers in Mexico from purchasing Roku products at this time.