Sony’s new tech may block piracy apps on Android TV

The system-level "monitor" application contains a block list of known pirated network resources, such as URLs and IP addresses, as a result, it will identify third-party applications.

San Francisco: Tech giant Sony is reportedly planning to release a monitoring application on smart TVs and streaming devices that will block sideloaded piracy applications.

The tech giant has filed a new patent application to block piracy applications on smart TVs and streaming devices, which is likely to be for Android TV as the company uses this platform for its smart TVs, reports AndroidAuthority.

According to the company, the system-level “monitor” application contains a block list of known pirated network resources, such as URLs and IP addresses, as a result, it will identify third-party applications.

After identification, the monitor application is expected to block the third-party applications from running, throttle it to provide a degraded experience or pause the content at irregular intervals.

However, this is just a patent so it is not sure if this anti-piracy feature will actually roll out on commercial Sony devices.

It also raises plenty of questions such as whether this monitor software would consume too many system resources, making Android TV lag, the report said.