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Taiwanese Police Arrest Operators of SviCloud Android Boxes
Taiwanese Officials have successfully raided and arrested 7 individuals for distributing illegal SviCloud streaming boxes.
The Alliance For Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is applauding Taiwanese authorities for their part in dismantling the operation.
On September 27, Taipei Police announced that they completed a successful raid against the distributors of SviCloud.
This included the seizure of over 1,000 illegal Android Boxes and the arrest of 7 individuals associated with these devices.
SviCloud is a “Fully Loaded” Android Box that comes pre-installed with streaming apps that provide access to free content and more.
Features include “1000+ HD TV Channels, 200,000+ rich VOD Content, Exclusive children’s playground apps, Karaoke, and high-definition live sports” among other things.
These boxes come in all shapes and sizes with various prices ranging from $150 to up to $240 for the “Ultimate Device for Home”.
You can find all of this information available on the official SviCloud website which is still currently up and functioning.
Fully Loaded Android Boxes such as SviCloud are associated with tons of issues including pre-loaded malware and more.
Oftentimes, these pre-loaded boxes are just cheap, generic Android TV devices that sellers install various apps and APKs onto for streaming.
Typically, these boxes are illegal as many of the streaming apps provide access to content that is protected by copyright.
Most are also sold at a major upcharge to unsuspecting customers who are looking to find free content.
SviCloud is one of the most notorious sellers of these devices which is why they were the main focus of this Taiwanese investigation.
Executive Vice President and Global Content Protection Chief at the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Head of ACE Jan van Voorn noted the following on the seizure:
On behalf of all ACE members, I congratulate the Taiwan Police for their swift action against the seven distributors of illegal streaming devices and for reaffirming their dedication to taking down similar operations…
The intellectual property rights of various ACE members were infringed upon by these criminals, but this recent action reinforces how valuable our partnerships are with law enforcement agencies around the world. Partnerships such as this are vital to the success of our global campaign to combat piracy and protect legal content platforms.
This isn’t the first time we have seen sellers of fully loaded Android Boxes run into legal issues.
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It will be interesting to see what charges are brought against these individuals and any penalties/jail time they may face in the future.
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This story was originally published by the Alliance for Creativity & Entertainment (ACE).
Let us know what you think of SviCloud operators being arrested in the comment section below!
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" Fully Loaded Android Boxes such as SviCloud are associated with tons of issues including pre-loaded malware and more.
This is one reason to avoid these scams.
These Trojan horse boxes dangle a mighty big carrot for the unsuspecting. That’s why you’ll see many listings bundle with remotes, wireless keyboards, and laundry list long promises of free services with no expirations.
Even the hardware spec is misleading and widely inaccurate - from “usable” ram inconsistencies to counterfeit SoC. The embedded backdoors are imposing, especially with remote firmware installs. These boxes are a dime a dozen though - even with this recent bust, there hundreds of others and more new ones at every horizon.
Linus did a good stream on these boxes a few months ago - good watch.
All I’ll say is I’ve had 2 T95Z Plus boxes going on 6 years now and I’ve never had any issues. I never clean them nor shut them off. If there is Malware in these boxes I haven’t seen it. They are cheap non certified generic boxes and They are running an older version of android - V7. I’ve never had a need or upgraded the Firmware
This must be something on newer boxes as I’ve noticed their are numerous articles and videos on this but not too many situations of actual damage happening to people.
I purchased a T95Z box last year and I have not had any problems with it. The remote is kind of cheaply made but I use a keyboard remote with it so not really a problem.
The thing is, with malware, the triggers can be pretty transparent. If malware is variants of copycat, data can be routed out without anyone even knowing. That data could be exploited or not ever utilized if it got leaked.
You’d have to start digging into the root folders and see what notable Java folders exist or processes that have urls that are sketchy in origin.
There’s no guarantee, for sure, that your import box is indeed malware infected, but the presence of bad boxes are clearly in the wild and far from rare in the current landscape.
Apparently, from my research, these boxes were just fine from the manufacturer and did not have any malware. A large shipment was intercepted, malware added and then repackaged for distribution. So you’re absolutely right, there isn’t anything wrong on the manufacturers end, just a “supplier” without scrupples. This sort of thing can happen on any device. Crooks are so invasive.
That makes sense Miki because there are so many of these Boxes that people have NOT had issues with. Plus a lot of these videos spreading gloom and doom push their own streaming box as well. But yeah if a 3rd party distributor bought a S$it Ton of these boxes and then added Malware I can see how that MIGHT be a problem
Ya but the point I really want to make @MarkxG is that you are absolutely right. Nothing wrong with these cheap boxes. There’s nothing a manufacturer can do about what happens when their products leave their facilities. A shame low lifes ruin a companies rep. Be well Mark and have a good night.
No wonder China wants to invade!
