Last updated 14:49, April 25 2018
SCREENSHOT
My Box was sold to a Chinese firm for $12.5m, its founder announced on Anzac Day.
My Box was sold to a Chinese firm for $12.5m, its founder announced on Anzac Day.
The Hamilton-based firm that is being sued by Sky TV over piracy claims has been sold to Chinese buyers for $12.5m.
My Box founder Krish Reddy announced on Thursday the sale meant the company would wrap up its New Zealand operations in the next 90 days.
Reddy said last month the company had sold 20,000 Android media players to consumers in 11 countries and was "rapidly growing". In March, Reddy said a Chinese firm had offered to buy the business for $10m and he was seriously considering the offer but he declined to name the firm.
Sky TV first took legal action against My Box for alleged piracy last year. The legal battle is ongoing, with Sky seeking $1.4m in lost revenue.
Sky Television is suing My Box saying its devices come "pre-loaded with piracy software" and that My Box promotes them as a way to access television content that Sky has exclusive rights to in New Zealand.
It's not the only company Sky has sued for selling the android media players, commonly referred to as Kodi boxes, which cost upwards of $70 and often come pre-loaded with software that points to foreign television streams.
My Box chief executive Krish Reddy says the company's New Zealand operations will be wrapped up in 90 days.
Last year, Sky filed papers in court against My Box and Christchurch company Fibre TV NZ for their sale of Kodi boxes.
Sky secured an interim injunction last year against FibreTV on the terms Sky had sought and with costs were awarded to Sky.
Auckland High Court judge Warwick Smith reserved his judgement when the case against My Box was heard early last month.
Sky TV was seeking $1.4m compensation in lost revenue.
The company's lawyer Laura O'Gorman said in court My Box was misrepresenting its product by stating its business was legal when it was breaching copyright laws, and in doing so, also breaching the Fair Trading Act.
My Box lawyer James Hazel said the "nefarious behaviour" was committed by third parties using My Box's product.
US researchers at Sandvine published a report in November identifying the technology as a "multi-billion dollar problem" for pay-TV companies and the telecommunications industry.