- Amazon cracks down on illegal streaming on Fire Sticks
- Where to find legal free streams
- How to watch your regular streams from abroad with a VPN
Watching live sports – such as football, F1, UFC and boxing – on illegal IPTV streaming apps has been widespread for years, but Amazon is cracking down on piracy with its Fire Stick sideloading ban.
But there are plenty legal free sports streams showing all Premier League football matches, Ashes cricket and also martial arts. Here’s what you need to know…
The end of streaming on “weak” Fire Sticks?
Amazon blocks apps it calls “piracy” at the device level. This means that certain third-party sideloaded IPTV apps will soon be disabled – and a VPN will not magically hide any IPTV apps.
Expect to receive a warning; If you don’t shop, Amazon will delete the “weak” app.
Which sticks are not affected by the IPTV crackdown?
Likely not affected (so far): If you still want full page loading and VPN compatibility for legitimate purposes, try an Android-based device such as Chromecast with Google TV or an NVIDIA Shield. These let you install APKs and run VPN apps today.
Piracy is illegal: Sideloading apps isn’t illegal, but piracy is. Using sideloaded apps to access copyrighted content without permission can get you a fine or worse.
How to watch free streams (legally)
You can still watch legal free sports streams. It all depends on where you live.
Broadcasters around the world have different rights packages, meaning that streaming services offer free sports streams to local fans. Here are just a few we uncovered:
How to watch your streams from anywhere with a VPN
A good streaming VPN will unblock services and allow you to view your local legit free stream when traveling abroad (provided it does not breach any terms and conditions). No IPTV apps, no “proper” sticks, no fraud risks and no big monthly fee.
Using a VPN for streaming is easy:
- Sign up for a streaming VPN. We rate NordVPN as the best streaming VPN.
- Open the VPN app on the device you want to watch.
- Connect to a server based in the country of your usual streaming service.
- Go to your usual streaming service and start watching as normal!
As we say, we rate NordVPN as the best VPN we’ve tested, but also take a look at Surfshark, which is our #2 pick. It is the best cheap VPN and like NordVPN has excellent live customer support and is easy to use.
Both NordVPN and Surfshark come with one 30-day money-back guarantee and limited-time Black Friday VPN deals…
We test and review VPN services for legitimate recreational use. For example: 1. Accessing a Service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that Service). 2. Protecting your online security and enhancing your online privacy when you are abroad. We do not support or condone illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consumption of paid-for pirated content is neither endorsed nor endorsed by Future Publishing.
