Sony's new technology will allow you to block pirated content on Android TV

Sony is no stranger to the fight against piracy, whether it's games on the PlayStation or the films and music it has released. New Japanese development offers go even further: prevent users from watching pirated content on smart TVs and set-top boxes with Android TV.

A patent application filed by Sony describes an application built into the operating system that can check the content being played. It will check against a database of known pirated resources, including links and IP addresses, and catch third-party applications that give access to such pages. Further, such an application will either be completely blocked or limited: for example, the picture quality will decrease, or playback will pause at random intervals.

All this is intended to annoy the user and, in fact, force him to buy a movie or use a legal streaming service.

So far, there is no talk of using this technology: it does not yet have a name, and Sony has not yet received a patent. If this does happen, it's not yet clear if this will only apply to Sony TVs, or other Android TV devices as well. Performance is also questionable: such software will obviously use the resources of a TV or set-top box, which can lead to performance degradation - as in PC games with Denuvo protection.

Would you buy a TV or set-top box with anti-piracy firmware?