Android devices can install applications without having to go through the Google store, they just have to search for the APK file corresponding to the desired app, and voila, although that has several risks:
– It is possible that the APK file contains viruses, or malware of any kind, since the Google store generally blocks malicious files before they are available to users. – If a program is offered as an APK file and it is not in the Google store, it may be that it is breaking the law (although it may also be that they simply want to be able to install themselves on the new Huawei phones, which do not have a Google store).
The fact is that the result of a lawsuit in the United States has just been disclosed: an APK file download site will have to pay a $ 150,000 fine for piracy damage, since it was distributing apps that transmit pirated movies (such as Showbox and Popcorn Time, for example).
Movie companies, including those behind The Hitmans Bodyguard, London Has Fallen, and Hunter Killer have filed a complaint in court in Hawaii, accusing these apk download sites of facilitating mass piracy. The defendants were not the original developers of the application, but they did distribute the software. Not all of the defendants responded, but some of the defendant download sites have already disappeared. The plaintiffs have sought a court order ordering third-party services, such as hosting companies and domain registrars, to stop doing business with the sites, and that affected companies like Namesilo and CloudFlare, for example.
The fine is 30,000 per film title and more than 10,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, considering only those films whose copyrights were in the hands of the plaintiffs.
Until now it is uncertain if the film companies will really receive their damages from the operator, as indicated in torrentfreak.com, but it is a precedent to take into account for all those who distribute APKs: you have to calmly study what is being distributing and checking in advance if it does not violate the law of a country where the service is offered.
