TVAddons shut down? Why Kodi's leading pirate library is likely gone for good

TVAddons, an unofficial library of piracy-friendly add-ons for Kodi, has seemingly been shut down. The website went offline on 13 June amid a legal battle in US federal court that has left the Kodi community reeling.

Any attempt to access the website and its extensive library of Kodi add-ons now results in a Domain Name System (DNS) error message, indicating that the site has been taken down by its creators. TorrentFreak attempted to contact the site's administrators via email to clarify the situation, but found the email addresses were also offline.

The add-on library, which boasted around 1,500 Kodi extensions, has also gone quiet on social media. The site's Twitter feed has not been updated for over a week and its Facebook page has been removed.

TVAddons' radio silence is likely linked to a lawsuit filed by US broadcast company Dish Network.

The lawsuit in question directly targeted TVAddons, as well as Kodi add-on Zem TV, with Dish Network accusing the two of enabling copyright infringement of its on-demand and livestream services. The network is reportedly asking for $150,000 in damages.

The threat of similar lawsuits has been cited as the primary reason behind a mass culling of add-ons used to stream TV, movies and sports on XBMC Foundation's Kodi software.

Some of Kodi's most popular add-ons, such as Phoenix, have gone dark in recent weeks and the shuttering is expected to continue as add-on developers try to preempt equally damaging legal battles.

TVAddons' closure, whether temporary or permanent, appears to represent another victory in the ongoing legal crackdown on both piracy friendly add-ons that abuse the open-source Kodi software and the retail of "fully loaded Kodi boxes".

In March, 40 million users reportedly accessed its extensive library in a single month, and many Kodi pirates rely on the site for crucial add-on updates.

While Kodi pirates and independent retailers selling "Kodi boxes" will likely mourn the death of the unofficial add-on haven, its removal represents a huge win for the major online retailers, anti-piracy organisations and the EU courts which have all taken steps to clamp down on the sale and use of pre-configured IPTV boxes.

Kodi itself could also benefit from the move in the long-term. XBMC Foundation has previously condemned 'shady' add-ons that have gained popularity on its software, leading the team to consider ways of solving its piracy problem without sacrificing Kodi's open-source structure. The move will also have a direct knock on effect for the Kodi craze that has recently swept the UK.