uBox Review: $399 devices that stream copyrighted content
There is no information on the uBox website indicating who owns or runs the business.
The uBox website does have an “about us” link, however clicking this link simply redirects a visitor back to the uBox website homepage.
The uBox website domain (“uboxlive.com”) was registered on the 5th of January 2015 and lists a Hyolee Ung as the domain owner. An address in the US state of California is also provided.
A corporate address for uWay LLC in Newport Beach, California is provided on the uBox website. Noticeably this differs from the address provided in the uBox domain registration.
Who Hyolee Ung is or what their position in or connection to uBox is remains a mystery. I was unable to find any further information on this individual, either in connection to uBox or the MLM industry at large.
The email address used to register the uBox domain belongs to Lily Ung.
A classified ad published on “drbill.com” reveals that Ung ‘is a salesperson real estate agent in Irvine, CA‘.
Whether Hyolee Ung and Lily Ung are the same person is unclear.
Further research reveals multiple corporate uBox presentations, in which an individual named Roscoe Umali (right) is credited as the CEO and President of uBox.
Umali is from the Philippines and has been performing as a hip-hop artist in the US for some time now. uBox would appear to be his first MLM venture.
Why this information is not made available on the uBox website is unclear.
Read on for a full review of the uBox MLM business opportunity.
The uBox Product Line
uBox market a streaming box that carries the same name as the company.
Streaming Media Players seamlessly combine live TV and the best in streaming entertainment – bringing more hit shows, movies, music and more to your TV.
The uBox device is advertised as
- running on Android 4.2.2
- supporting 1080P Full HD Video Decoding and Most Video Formats and
- having Built-in WIFI and External Antenna for Stable Receiving
Taken from a uBox affiliate presentation, here’s a screenshot of the uBox user interface:
As per the uBox FAQ, their streaming box runs XBMC.
For those unfamiliar with the platform,
Kodi (formerly XBMC) is a free and open-source media player software developed by the XBMC Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium. (Wikipedia)
Through use of their uBox device, uBox claim their customers can access
- 100,000 Movies + TV Shows!
- 1000+ Channels
- Over 500 Live Global Radio Stations
- Live Worldwide Sporting Events
- The Latest Movies in HD
- TV Without Commercials and
- All Seasons + Episodes of TV Shows
The uBox Compensation Plan
The uBox compensation plan revolves around affiliates selling uBox devices for $399, either with uBox affiliate membership (an extra $50) or to retail customers.
The devices can also be purchased by affiliates at wholesale and then resold to retail customers.
Resell Commissions
When a uBox affiliate signs up for $50 or $449, they are then able to purchase uBox devices for $250.
These devices can then be resold to non-uBox affiliates.
Retail Commissions
uBox affiliates who sell the uBox device for $399 off the uBox website receive a $150 commission.
Recruitment Commissions
When a uBox affiliate signs up a new uBox affiliate at the $449 level, they receive a $150 commission.
Residual Commissions
Residual commissions in uBox are paid out using a unilevel style compensation structure.
A unilevel style compensation structure sees an affiliate placed at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed on level 1:
If any of these level 1 affiliates go and recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2. If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
uBox cap payable unilevel levels at 7, with how much of a commission paid out determined by what level a newly recruited affiliate is placed in their unilevel team:
- level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – $150
- level 2 – $20
- level 3 – $10
- levels 4 and 5 – $5
- level 6 – $3
- level 7 – $7
Presidential Pool
uBox takes $5 out of every uBox device sale and places it into what they call the Presidential Pool.
uBox affiliates can qualify for shares in the pool via recruitment of new uBox affiliates:
- recruit 25 affiliates = 1 share in the pool
- recruit 100 or more affiliates = 2 shares in the pool
Joining uBox
Affiliate membership with uBox is either $50 or $449.
The $449 affiliate membership is bundled with one uBox device.
Conclusion
The danger with the uBox compensation plan is that it’s entirely possible to focus on chain-recruitment of affiliates and ignore retail altogether.
As uBox CEO and President Roscoe Umali puts it,
If I were to introduce my friend to the opportunity, he says “Hey this looks great, I’d like to join on as a distributor”, well for me introducing him to the opportunity, I would make $150.
If uBox affiliates are making retail sales, and as such retail revenue is higher than affiliate revenue flowing into the company, there isn’t a problem.
In a uBox promotional video however, Umali claims that ‘95% of people who buy the box pay the extra $50‘ to become an affiliate.
This suggests a lack of standalone retail viability for the uBox device, with people only purchasing it because of the attached MLM income opportunity.
Further evidence of this is the fact that, again according to Umali, uBox pay “$205 out of the $399” charged for each device “back to the field” in commissions.
How is that going to compete with devices of similar specifications?
A lack of retail activity is problematic because without it, the uBox opportunity effectively deteriorates into a product-based pyramid scheme.
The other major issue lies with the legality of the uBox device itself.
As is, the device is not illegal – it’s computer hardware running freely available software.
The issue is in how uBox market their device:
Incredible
100,000 Movies + TV Shows!
1000+ Channels
Over 500 Live Global Radio Stations
Live Worldwide Sporting Events
The Latest Movies in HD
TV Without Commercials
All Seasons + Episodes of TV Shows
Needless to say uBox themselves do not hold the distribution rights to any of the content provided through their device.
In an attempt to absolve themselves of legal liability, the company displays the following message on their website:
Our software provides links to content that is already posted on the internet. We do not host any content nor do we know who does. We do not promote illegal conduct of any kind.
Anticipating questions regarding the issue, in a video titled “How uBox is legal in the US”, Umali explains:
Let me just explain a little bit because I know you guys probably have some questions.
You’re wondering “what’s going on here? These guys get these new movies…”, you see these Asian guys walking around showing us bootleg movies, what’s going on here?
What this technology we’ve developed does is called “file-scraping”.
So all it’s doing is simply file-scraping the entire internet and searching for the best possible feed.
Now once it’s latched itself to the best possible feed, it draws it back into the box and out through the HDMI cord and onto your television screen.
What this box does not allow you to do, is it does not allow you to download, it does not allow you to duplicate, it does not allow you to host anything that you see on here.
So basically what we’re doing and the reason why we’re able to become compliant, is because we’re operating in an unregulated space.
Now that we’ve created this box and all we’re doing is streaming, we’re completely compliant.
The movies? This still doesn’t give you an explanation as to why and how do we get access to the movies early.
I kind of goes back to Hollywood and the Hollywood story, and we can all agree that Hollywood is a pretty profitable industry – they know how to make money.
That’s because they don’t… they rarely take any losses.
Because, let’s say American Sniper for instance, costed $50 million dollars to create. Well, before it’s ever shown here in the United States of America, the first thing that they do is they go all around the world selling the licensing agreements to each and every country.
They go all around the world and make sure they recoup their entire film budget before ever hitting the United States of America.
The reason why we’re able to get these movies earlier is because, what’s happening is, you have countries such as China that have a different type of copyright than they do in the States.
To where, when a movie comes out in theaters in China, it comes out on DVD the same exact day.
So when that happens, it’s kinda like, ok what’s to stop a person who owns the DVD in China from putting it on a computer and uploading it into the cloud, to be accessed from the rest of the world?
Y’know I try to tell people it’s the world wide web, not just the American wide web.
This technology has been around, it’s been there in China for the last seven years. They’ve moved something close to a billion units similar to this.
That’s because over there they don’t have any traditional cable companies … the only way they can access US programming is through the internet.
So what we did was we took the box, that kind of technology, and we got it compliant with everything that’s shown here.
Putting aside the fact that legitimate content distribution services do exist in China, the claim that uBox operate in some sort of unregulated space is… for lack of a better word, complete bullshit.
There is no escaping the fact that uBox market a purpose-built device that is designed to access streams of copyrighted content without compensating the copyright holders. Nor does uBox hold the distribution license to any content streamed through their device.
You might be able to get away with this in China, but uBox are headquartered, operating in and marketing in the US.
Between uBox and vStream TV (a competing streambox MLM also launched recently), how US regulators react to MLM companies marketing purpose-built devices designed to bypass legal distribution channels for copyrighted content, remains to be seen.
And that’s on top of the compensation plan that’s likely to attract little to no retail (around 5% as estimated by the company’s CEO).
Feel free to call up any regulatory agency in the US and ask them about selling a purpose-built device designed to stream copyright content at no charge. Also ask them what they think about an attached business opportunity .
Oh and don’t forget the holders of the copyright for the content. Movie studios, televisions channels (HBO features on numerous uBox marketing videos)… also feel free to call them up and ask what they think about MLM companies pirating their content on purpose-built devices they’re selling for $399 a pop.
Despite claiming to be legally complaint in the US, I can guarantee you now that uBox have not approached any US regulator and/or copyright holder and asked them to certify as much.
Approach with extreme caution.
Update 14th April 2016 – In October last year Roscoe Umali was indicted for mortgage fraud. He plead guilty late last month and is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Update 23rd August 2016 – On August 18th Roscoe Umali was sentenced to 18 years and 8 months in a Californian prison.
Most content in China are IP checked to make sure you’re IN China. There are obviously bazillion ways to bypass that through proxies, but that’s another matter altogether.
Basically: sell something worth $75 for $150, and tell people it’s worth $400, slap on a MLM comp plan.
I looks very similar to VstreamTV but for different market. Selling copyrighted stuff is new way for scammers to pretend that they are legitimate MLMs.
Your wrong about how there’s no retails sales.
As a distributor, you earn NO commissions on recruiting other distributors, in other words, it’s $50 per year to become a distributor for which the sponsoring distributor earns nothing, commissions are only earned through the sale of each UBOX.
Also the name of the company is UWAY, UBOX is just their 1st product
I’m wrong or Roscoe Umali is wrong? He’s the one that said 95% of people “pay the extra $50 to become an affiliate”.
If I’m an affiliate and I recruit someone else who becomes an affiliate for $449, I get paid a commission for recruiting said affiliate.
And if I recruit a bunch of affiliates, I qualify for shares in the bonus pool.
Absolutely amazing how the ink isn’t even dry and scammers are here to defend their ploy.
What really gives them away is the fact they are searching for bad reviews, or any reviews at all, if they are legit.
I can recruit a distributor who pays the $50 and I earn nothing, UBOX cost is $399 and for each UBOX sale i get $150.
95% of the people become affiliates or distributors because, it’s a no brainer.
I have 3 distribuotrs which I have signed up that has paid $50 each. Again, you do not earn anything for signing people up as distributors. No defending is necessary as this is 100% fact.
Ubox is also everything as advertised as I have 1, I no longer need to pay a monthly cable bill or Netflix, I just cancelled mine 2 weeks ago
@Herb Tagay
I know you as a friend through FB and happy to see you post in here. The only part of the COMP plan which interested me or jumped out at me, was the part that only DISTRIBUTORS and sell the UBOX directly to customers and for each of those $399 sales, you earn $!50 commission.
As this is completely new territory to me, I’m approaching this with extreme caution.
I read the BehindMLM reivew of VStream which was considerably worse than this one. The issue that came up with Vstream and to a certain extent with UBOX is the LEGALITY of it all?
I know MY customers and UBOX DOES sound almost too good to be true, especially considering how much we fork out monthly for cable bills here in the US and the fact that we won’t have to after purchasing a UBOX.
The first question I’ve (already) been asked when telling some friends about this item is this: “IS IT LEGAL”? Aren’t certain types of content protected?
Do you remember the NAPSTER phase from more than 10 years ago – UBOX reminds me a little bit of this although I know with Napster we were actually downloading bit torrents of music & video illegally. With UBOX it’s “just” streaming.
My only question to YOU is, aside from the legality, is HOW GOOD IS THE PRODUCT?
Does it actually offer EVERYTHING it claims to? Is the picture extraordinary in HD? Does the content flow seamlessly? Thanks! 🙂
it depends on your internet connection, just as with any legitimate product like Amazon Fire TV / Fire TV Stick / Roku box / Roku Stick / Boxee, or any of those “Android TV boxes” you can buy online for $50-75 and load KODI (formerly XBMC) yourself.
Just search on Amazon and try it. You’ll save LOTS of money AND there’s a return policy too if you buy through Amazon.
As I said before, $75 product they’ll sell to you for $150 while claiming it’s worth 300-400. Brilliant market plan, eh?
@Herb
Or you can recruit one for $449 and earn a commission.
What’s your point?
Thankyou for confirming there is insignificant retail activity taking place in uBox.
If I sign up as distributor for $50, can I order myself a box for $250?
What if I, as a distributor, didn’t want a box and didn’t want to retail? Like you, could I still sign up a team of new affiliates who also don’t want a box? Obviously I’m not making commission, but am I making money from the comp plan for signing them up for $50? Please clarify.
Are you referring to retail commission only when you say , “you do not earn anything”?
And you do not see a problem with it? When the people participating in pyramid to recruit other members, it can not be called MLM and immediately becomes illegal.
Also any MLM that does not encourage repeat sales to the same customer with one product will always be borderline illegal.
And this is only “Becoming MLM” problems. Product legality problems are way more serious. And the fact that anybody with some tech knowledge can buy the way better quality box and install the same software showing the same pirated stuff under $150 easy.
I now have to wonder how long it will be for the Kodi community to get sued out of business, or when the developers of the “plugins” will start putting out code that self destructs when it find it to be running on certain hardware.
Developers for the Dreambox had code detecting counterfeit boxes that would brick satellite receivers.
My favorite description of this scam thus far is “we’re operating in unregulated space.” You’ve got to be kidding me! DMCA as well as FCC regulations cover these types of devices. Please note the “Copyright” information at the beginning and or end of content.
For people who are actually considering purchasing one of these, please consider the following:
The content you are trying to get, which is supposedly available for “free”, however it is also available to purchase from satellite providers, at a cost.
From Satscams.com (satscams.com):
These are end users being sued (on a regular basis) for subscribing to and receiving support for ‘free tv’.
If you are considering selling these devices, also from Satscams.com..
This “technology” is not simply ‘streaming’ and is in no way legal.
And as a thought, how difficult would it be for any of the content providers to set up a honey pot with 20-30 popular movies, tv shows etc and capture your IP address and sue for the maximum amount on each ‘free’ program/film you viewed??
Best of luck to you, but if you play with fire, you will eventually be burned.
Not even close to being the same issue. Guess YouTube better be shut down and anyone watching a music video on YouTube will go to jail. Please… LOL
YouTube has licensing agreements with copyright holders. uBox does not.
To quote yourself…
What a silly comparison to draw.
Streaming content is not the issue at all. It has to do with who holds the rights to deliver said content. Dish Network, Directv, Comcast, Time Warner etc all have binding legal agreements to deliver and carry content.
Ubox is a device being used to circumvent the delivery of content in a manner approved by the persons/corporations who hold the rights to the content.
Many things are removed from youtube for DMCA complaints from copyright holders. Some take down requests are even automated.
Under the logic given by ubox, if you are accessing child pornography from a county that allows for it to be legal, you are not liable. I wonder how ICAC would feel about that?
In addition to which, YouTube has active takedown of copyright content and content verification policies and even has a YouTube Copyright Center NOLINK:youtube.com/yt/copyright/ as any of the hundreds of thousands of YouTube users who have had their accounts suspended for copyright violation will confirm.
DEFINITELY a silly comparison to draw.
Most of copyright-problematic Youtube videos get removed and users repeatedly posting them get banned.
Too conspiratorial. Basically, as fast as Kodi stops updating software or App makers stop updating theirs, within a year users will not be able to use most of the streams.
Streaming websites use different ad formats, changing encoding and hosts continuously. As soon as somebody does not correct it through software changes, stream stops working. In a year most of streams will stop working.
Which is something that has been going on for years.
There’s nothing new being done here.
Unless users are prepared to become fulltime pirates and learn how to constantly upgrade their software with the latest hacks, they are in for a major letdown as their machine becomes increasingly useless.
Anyone like to weigh in here?
I’m still trying to figure out why a sponsoring distributor would bother signing up anyone for no gain. Not only that, in close circles that sign up could be taking the $150 commission from the sponsoring distributor.
It’s called the “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” Theory of multi level marketing.
Because it’s possible for someone or a small number of someones sign up others without earning a recruitment commission, that makes the MLM company legit – supposedly.
The kicker is, the vast majority of members will do as Roscoe Umali suggests and focus their efforts on earning the $150 recruitment commission.
This produces two problems:
* MLM companies in which a majority of members earn the bulk of their income IOW, pyramid / endless chain recruiting schemes are illegal
* Anyone intending to remain legitimate by concentrating their efforts on retail sales is immediately at a massive disadvantage by being associated with an illegal scheme in which large numbers of people are approached, not to purchase the product, but as recruitment fodder, thereby limiting the number of available potential retail purchasers.
Are those $50 affiliates part of his downline?
Does he collect $20 from his level 2 $50 folks? Or is a purchase required?
Now this could be a total coincidence, but if you add up level 2-7 you get $45 plus the $5 bonus pool equals $50.
Kodi itself is not illegal, it’s a media player software that is able to stream and play 99% of media files.
I believe from what I read, you have it wrong with their comp plan. The box itself sells for $399. When a distributor sells a person a box for $399, they receive a check for $150.
If the buyer of the box wants to also become a distributor, then it costs an extra one time fee of $50. The initial distributor gets none of that $50….it is given to the 7 levels. So the 95% retail means that most people who buy the box, will more than likely pay the extra $50 so that they can start selling the boxes for $399 and make a check for $150.
Sell 3 boxes with $150 check for each and his box is free! Makes sense to me and I am sure thats why most would pay the extra $50.
The only problem I have with this product is the legality of it. Now, some of the examples posted above are not good examples either. Someone being sued because they tried to “hack into” dish networks security and sell the content is alot different than steaming content(not downloading and copying and selling) from over the internet.
Why are these boxes legal everywhere else in the world even europe? Why have billions been sold? The usa is so strict and let the big boys hold all the people in binds because of payoffs! Remember when t.v. was free!!!
I have looked into this program…just unsure of the legalities! Would be nice for one of these companies to get official word!
char – you are on the right track – let me show you the following which makes it abundantly clear how this is legal and where the money flows starting from the top..
Which is clearly why this is actually above board.
@mac
I can sign up as an affiliate for $449. When that happens the person who recruited me gets paid.
That’s affiliate recruitment.
And if 95% of people who purchase the box are affiliates, that strongly indicates a lack of standalone retail viability. That would make uBox a product-based pyramid scheme.
The boxes are hardware, which are legal in the US.
The issue is combining that with marketing in the MLM arena that proclaims said boxes can access copyrighted content for free.
You then have purpose-built hardware marketed and advertised with the sole intent of breaching copyright law (distribution licenses).
You’ll find that’s not legal in most of the rest of the world either.
Oi that’s enough of that. People are going to start getting paranoid :).
exactly. Back in the day, it was cable boxes for your specific provider.
First, TV was never free. You watched ads that you could not skip through. That was your payment.
Second, where did you get the numbers that billions of such boxes being sold? I follow tech news and never heard of near of that number. Anyway “billions” is out of real of possibility.
Third, I highly doubt that boxes are that legal in Europe. They may be lax in enforcement and they are less financially interested to protect somebody else’s copyrighted material, but do not confuse it for official legality.
It is legal to watch copyrighted material on Internet because Judges know that they would put a lot of innocent people in bunch with real pirates, because normal people often think: “If I watched ads, it has to be legal”.
It is legal to sell android TV boxes because they can be used for legal purpose, the same way as bittorent software is legal.
It is legal to write software for those boxes(Kodi) because it can be used for the legal purposes too.
It is legal to break DVD copyright encoding, because it is an exercise in technology innovation and free speech.
Now, that is all legal. What is illegal is to combine those things to display copyrighted material for PROFIT and not paying to copyright owners what they are guaranteed by law and/or negotiations. And and when this company is going to be nailed, it is going to be nailed for intentional profiting from copyrighted material.
Knowing that videos are copyrighted, installing apps and software in the box for the entire purpose of displaying copyrighted video, charging additional money for the box knowing that all it shows is unpaid copyrighted material.
There is not even a chance that this is legal even in Europe and that they will be able to continue with it on a large scale.
I’m not sure I’m on any track because I have only asked questions.
Let me explain why the Dish Network cases are associated.
Information coming from the satellite is in the form of a digital stream, similar to how data from a website is “streaming” to your computer.
A “Free To Air” satellite receiver is a purpose built receiver is capable of decoding MPEG-4 data from satellites who offer free programing from their data streams.
Both the FTA receivers and UBox, Vstream and Roku are computers, which are legal in their base form. It’s the addition of “special software” designed to circumvent either the security of a content delivery system, or to deny rights holders control over how they decide to deliver (sell) their content which introduces a level of illegality.
Internet Key Sharing (IKS in the FTA Satellite Community) is used as a way to “scrape” the internet to receive “keys” to decrypt content.
These keys come from known key providers positioned around the globe on the internet. The software allowing the FTA boxes to do this are “pulg-in” modules to the base, legal software.
There was a time where piracy of Dish Network content was so advanced, a key card was not needed and plug-in software to the FTA receivers were able to generate the needed keys internally as needed.
Ubox, Vstream etc boxes also use “plug-in” type modules to “scrape” known providers positioned around the globe on the internet to locate copyrighted content and deliver it to the end user.
No matter where your stream is coming from, be it a satellite or a website – if said content is not authorized for you to receive it by the holder of the copyright, it is illegal to view/use said stream.
If it were legal YouTube, DailyMotion or Vimeo to name a few would be supplying all of this content and capturing the associated traffic to generate ad revenue or Subscriptions.
I see plenty of people able to clearly explain how these devices are not legal – yet nobody able to provide a clearly legal.
can they send signals to fry them like they used to do to the black market cards?
In a manner of speaking, yes they can.
case in point example would be the mashup plugin, where the developer made an update to remove his software from the users box.
This did not render the entire box a brick – but I wouldn’t be surprised to see code developed to brick certain boxes such as ubox and vstream if they continue to earn money from what the developers deliver for free.
Pro argument lies in three points always not based in reality.
1)We pay too much already so we have right to get it free. Where is the freedom, man?
2)In Europe/Asia/Moon they have different laws where everything is permeable.
3)This is “gray zone”, so it is almost legal.
Oh, that’s simple:
It’s not illegal until I get caught. 😀 Even then I’ll continue to b**** and moan about it. 😀
It’s also why the boxes are expensive… they make you think they must have something “more special” than than $75 boxes. Remember, people believe more expensive placebo works better. (real study by Dan Ariely)
As I have said before:
If you are trying to get something of value (in this case, premium content) for free then you are trying to get something for nothing.
Something for nothing never works.
Xorly
If you are a buyer of this box or another similar brand, you WILL wake up one morning and it will not be working.
Sooner or later the authorities will catch up and make the providers disable everything as a result of their sentence because they will not, as it has been pointed out, allow people to continue to distribute boxes that allow people to infringe upon copyrights.
For those that are arguing the merits and pseudo-legalities, these are not the first boxes this has happened to. It is just the first time you are getting the information.
And… do you think the MLM company or manufacturer is going to warn you?
The fact is there have been boxes before and they are gone, especially in the satellite field. But you wake up one morning and it does not work anymore.
For those that do not get it, why do you think Warner Cable will eventually cut your service off if you are downloading Torrents? It is because they would be shut down if they allowed it.
And for those of you who want to continue selling it and waving the flag about how legal it is. You are going to have a lot of angry customers when they wake up and the box no longer works and they find out why.
Just saying…
Best regards,
RC
And, THAT is for sure.
This is nothing but a revamp of a scam that has been going on since the days of Usenet message boards and IRC twenty or more years ago.
Thanks Chang. I think I get it now.
They have a $75 box that you are REQUIRED to purchase for $449 IF you want to become an affiliate. They use $374 to shuffle money around and pay the ones who recruit the most.
In order to be that recruiter/affiliate AND MAKE MONEY, you must rip off your mom and sister for $374 each so you can make a buck.
The affiliate takes $150 right out of their pocket for first level, and the remainder, minus the cost of the box that the “company” pays the manufacturer, is divvied out amongst the ponzi.
Who is going to pay $449? What type of person is going to sell it for $449? THAT is the question.
Seriously, why the flip does it matter if this box is legal or even works for that matter?
I suppose if the con artists can get you wrapped up in that conversation, you might forget to ask why you are paying $449 for a $75 box.
It’s important in that it forms part of a whole picture for anyone considering joining uBox, either as a customer or as a distributor.
It’s a three strike scenario;
1) It’s an illegal pyramid
2) It’s selling way overpriced merchandise
3) It’s illegal to use the machines as suggested
We all know what happens after three strikes.
And to get in front of the “if they are illegal, why do they sell them for $xx argument”..
Without the add-on software used to steal content, they are totally legal. A car is legal to purchase too, but you are expected to follow the rules of the road. If you use the car to run somebody over, that is illegal.
With the android/proprietary tv boxes, you are expected to follow the rules.
’nuff said..
Exactly @LB – therein lies the catch that avid merchandisers of this box will utilize:
The “box” itself is perfectly “legal” to make and sell. It’s what the consumer decides to DO with said box when they get which is ILLEGAL. [until proven otherwise]. And I don’t see that happening anytime soon. 🙁
A problematic point is that, as advertised and upon boot up, clearly it is pre-configured and the software is clearly implemented to do one thing very well-
Get something for nothing.
Xorly
But you forgot that they have to disclose that content is illegal before selling box to has any kind of plausible deniability. I have not seen full disclosure before sale yet.
If they fully disclose to user that he is buying box with illegal content, then they got something to argue in the court of law. Otherwise, this is $100 illegal.
It is highly parallel with what was happening 15 years ago when it was somewhat legal to sell cableboxes with broken encryption as long as you write something like “This product is for evaluation only. After trying service you should register with your cable company”. I remember, because I bought one 15 years ago.
Problem is, they can not write anything similar since they are streaming stuff from websites unaffiliated with content holders.
If everyone who pays for cable/satellite got one of these boxes and stopped paying their cable bill, where does the revenue come from to produce all this great programming we want to watch for free.
Content costs money to produce. Not just star salaries, but carpenters, painters, camera people, costumers, musicians, etc. Lots of people who work on making our entertainment are just working folks trying to support their families.
What you’re saying to them is “work for me for free”. Make my favorite shows, work your tail off, and, by the way, your love of your craft is enough payment. Now go off and make me another season of Game of Thrones, for free.
UBOX IS A RESELLER OF THE SMART TV BOX, WHICH IS SOLD IN CHINA FOR $138 PER UNIT.
YOU CAN BUY THE UNITS AT $108 EACH IF YOU BUY 1K AT A TIME..
UBOX DOESNT OWN THE TECHNOLOGY.. THEYJUSY BUY THE UNITS IN BULK FOR $108 EACH AND RESELL THEM THROUGH THIS MLM COMPANY.
Mikem makes a simple, but often overlooked point. Quite frankly there is no major company that is going sit on their hands and do nothing while their product is stolen or illegally redistributed. In fact, the executives have fiduciary to the investors to -not- sit in their hands.
Spin all you want. This box is advertised and configured to do one thing: Get something of value for nothing.
Here in the US, if you think that in the age of the DMCA and other Copyright and IP laws that this will not catch up with you, you have another thing coming.
Don’t act so shocked when the content owners go after you via your ISP or your own ISP threatens to cut you off because you became a liability rather than a valued customer.
Many of you might be shocked to find out you already “clicked off” on an agreement to not illegally stream.
Rationalize it away all you want. You are still trying to get something for nothing. And Mikem is right to point out an obvious fact.
This stuff cost the content owners money. They will not simply slowly go bankrupt because you are too cheap to get Hulu or whichever other service.
Xorly
Try $50, wholesale from Shenzhen.
For $138, you get the commercial Chinese version called “TVPad” which streams content from China… but only CHINESE content, not American content, same stuff you can get from Youku and whatnot, but no fuss.
Okay, so one can either pay $399 at once to get a box that may or may not work in a year and distributes illegal content, or pay, say $50 a month (at most, if that), to watch shows and movies legally, not to mention, on the go using mobile apps, right?
$50 a month is a lot to pay for monthly visual entertainment. I spend less than $20 a month using only Netflix ($7.99 a month) and Spotify ($9.95 a month), which also provides me with services on my phone. (There are also plenty of free avenues of entertainment like Youtube or Break.com.)
That’s what? About 3 extra value meals at McDonald’s or one 18-pack of Coors? All of which can be consumed in a span of one day, or two. Seriously.
If you can afford to pay $399 for a single box that may or may not work in a year, $50 a month comes to a little over 2/3rd’s of that year and for legal, mobile, services.
And, quite frankly, if you’re paying that much for televised entertainment to begin with and bitching about it, you either need a new job or you need to get off of your couch and take a vacation.
It’s really not that expensive if you compare it to what you spend on a daily or even monthly basis compared to how much time you spend using it.
Buyers (and sellers) of this product are the same people that made Billy Mays rich enough to die of a cocaine overdose. But, what makes it more sad is that these products are being sold by people who were suckered into it and then sold to their friends, whom they are trying to sucker.
The karma here is not so good…
WARNING!!! DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT. YOU’RE ONLY FUNDING MANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES THAT MR UMALI AND HIS PARTNERS ARE COMMITING.
IF YOU RESPECT YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, DON’T BE A PART OF THIS WHOLE SCAM.
MR. UMALI AND HIS SO-CALLED UWAY COMPANY WILL SIMPLY VANISH AFTER THEY MAKE THE PROFIT WITHIN THE GIVEN TIME THEY HAVE AND YOUR SERVICE WILL CEASE TO EXIST.
PS. I’VE MEET MR. UMALI PRIOR TO HIS VENTURE AS A BUSINESS MAN.
HE WAS JUST A SMALL TIME THUG WANNA-BE-RAPPER IN LA, CALIFORNIA. FAILURE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY TURNED ENTREPANEUR.
IN THE END WILL BE LABELED AS ANOTHER ‘CROOK’.
@the truth, what are the legal activities?
Why don’t you post your real name so we know this is coming from a viable person. I want to get a better understanding of what exactly you are talking about
People need to alert the members of the MMG forum about this scam.
Michael Colucci (sofstor) is the midst of trying to con as many people out of their money as fast as he can by promoting this scam in the MMG forum – he currently has 2 threads running.
One in the MLM section and another in the teambuild section. He KNOWS only too well that this is a ponzi but he has absolutely no conscience and will pimp this like there is no tomorrow!
So….. UBOX is not alone.
Welcome “JETBOX” – the latest of these products to arrive.
Will be interesting to see how many others will follow and if there will be a “crack-down” of any sort.
I’m merely referring to the “box” and NOT any sort of money-making MLM affiliate association.
Any thoughts?
I only glanced at it but JetBox is single-level commissions is it not?
@Scammerssuk
Are you suggesting that Michael Colucci is not to be trusted?
Is there other proof of impropriety associated with him?
Just curious…………….
@Oz
All is know is: you earn 20% on main sales and a 5% override on any affiliate you enroll… which I’m guessing translates into a single-level commission?
5% on recruited affiliate sales would be 2nd level (unilevel).
Do you think large media companies will leave them alone when they send cease and decease letters to torrent users for single movie/tvshow downloads? As if.
@Ken, I wouldn’t trust Michael Colucci at all. He is the usual ponzi pimp that will pimp anything that fills his pockets. No ethics at all with this guy!
@scammerssuk
thanks – I’ve come to realize this over the past 6 months. I guess I just don’t understand people and why they have to do this.
:::::::::::Sigh::::::::::::::::::
Oh well – live and learn. thanks for your comment – I appreciate it.
Looks like these guys are holding meetings in the USA – how long before they are investigated?
moneymakergroup.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=491788&view=findpost&p=1109222220
@scammerssuk
Maybe like Never? I’m wondering exactly “who” is going to be investigated? The founders of Jetbox? The affiliates? The buyers?
MPAA may have something to say about these guys… 🙂
I know some people at the top of the chain with Uway and they have always been involved with some MLM scheme for the last 20 years.
I also know some people at some of the Hollywood studios legal departments that are taking a look at this. Won’t be long now.
Bottom line is the use of the box is illegal and the people behind Uway are lifelong scam artists.
Here is the pimp Michael Colucci’s latest post on the MMG forum displaying the details about the upcoming LA event:
moneymakergroup.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=491788&view=findpost&p=1109225065
Time to alert the authorities!
who cares if it is going to BECOME illegal or not?
is it legal now? yes – gray area – but for now it is legal there is only two questions to be asked? DOES IT WORK? and if yes, how is the quality of that product?
@jc
Uh so where’d you pull that crap from?
Marketing the streaming of licensed content isn’t legal, otherwise a court wouldn’t have ruled against those two websites last week.
Ok, so how is selling a product and being paid a commission, a pyramid scheme?
If you sell a ubox, you are paid for it. We, here in America, call that sales.
You are paid on your effort. It’s not like all the money is at the top and they trickle down some to the employees, you know like the biggest pyramid scheme ever, also known as corporate America.
Yes you can build a team, and make money with them, kinda like a broker in a real estate office gets a cut of every house the agent sells.
Who would you rather be? The broker or the agent? I want a cut of all the pie, not just a piece.
(Ozedit: Derail attempts removed, what you think about current copyright law is irrelevant. Unlicensed content is unlicensed content.)
If the only people buying the product are affiliates…
a product based pyramid scheme.
Well here come the competition: NuWayTV.
$299 for a faster unit that comes with a full keyboard and mouse. No membership fee.
I don’t see this lasting a long time. I purchased a box very similar to this. Spent a lot less then $400. Somebody made a comment above that it cost $75 and they are reselling for $400.
These boxes are made in China. Whoever made this box is the same company who made the box that I have, everything is the same except the name on the top.
The company that sells the box that I have does not have a mlm ties to it. You can buy one or 1000.
To give people an idea of how this box works and the quality of it. It does offer pretty much every movie and TV shows along with all the seasons and episodes.
Quality is HD on all movies and tv shows. Live streaming and all the sports games/fights. Those are low quality, 720p, some are blurry some are decent to watch.
Overall, if all you want to watch movies and TV shows, this box is prefect for you.
I researched the device clearly and I found that you can get this exact same device from china for $72
If you want to stay out of hot water just sale the device without any details. better yet all you can say it’s just like ubox and use all their marketing to keep you clear.
you can sale your device for like $150 easy and flood the market quick.
but like someone said this device will be no good in one year if their lucky.
If it was illegal, they would not have it in business as we speak, you have to get a permit to sell,and to start an mlm company, they would have shut them down by now if it was a scam.
Why would a company put all of their money into it and know they would be going to jail, and yes this is legit business, and if you know how your country works when it comes to money, you would understand how the system works, but for all of you guys that says it’s a scam, you are not a true business person.
Search before you try to bash a company. You have state officials have these boxes, Judges, and people that is in law enforcement.
So people wake up, it’s here to stay, because the cable companies are getting away with to much of your tax dollars, and fees that they are charging you with.
Read more info on the cable companies, trying to get rid of them. So it’s all good, trust me.
Why note? People engage in illegal activity 24/7 all around the world.
This is absolute bullshit. Fire the upline who sold you that lie.
Terrible, terrible advice.
The US Economy is Crumbling. Jobs Not Pay enough. You have to back for Insurance for Family. Cable Bill is 1200 a year. Oh Yea I would surely pay for a Box that would give me more Content for My family Educations Book to Read the Internet Videos from all over the World.
Also this would allow me to Keep more Money on my table for My Family.
My understanding from the Presentation You can’t, burn, rip file share or download No viruses. Saving over 1200 a Year.
That’s a Good and I will Share with Others the Opportunity to keep more food or cash on their Table.
This company is completely illegal.
There are dishonest at the top with the brothers Umali. Thugs as the post above states!
They are living the great with everyone’s money in their pockets!! They are taking people to the cleaners all the way.
When they shut down the boxes etc the bro’s will run with their group with all the money and attempt to start another scheme! Where will be your support then!
It is a pity people are so gullible over this. It reminds me of the Directv cards and how Directv would send signals out to zap them after they were programmed and also the old satellite boxes that decoded the signals from the satellite.
The providers really need to get into this whole thing! A $50-$75 box that people are getting ripped off for $399 or $449. Wake up people!
Do not screw your friends and sell to them!
(Ozedit: This isn’t the place for shopping advice)
This product is a rip off and a hoax.
75% of the time there is no stream available for whatever movie I select. When I try to download updates I get the error message ‘md5 error-download file invalid’ with no instruction on how to repair whatever is wrong.
Their help line is ope 10:00 am – 5:00 pm M-F. Unless I take off of work I am never able to call and receive any assistance.
Overall this was a waste of money and I wish I could share this information with lots of people so other people are not ripped off.
I will make this short because i am on my way to work…..UBOX..UBOX..UBOX DONT BUY IT…AND DEFINELTY DO NOT WORK FOR THEM !!
I WAS A REP FOR A VERY SHORT TIME….THE BOXES ALL HAVE ISSUES !!….AND I HAVE BEEN WAITING SINCE DECEMBER TO GET THE ITEMS REPLACED THAT WERE MISSING FORM THE BOXES I BOUGHT BACK IN DECEMBER…
NO ONE ANSWERS THEIR PHONES…YOU HAVE TO SEND A TICKET / EMIAL AND YOU WILL GET ANOTHER BULLSHIT MESSAGE 24 HOURS LATER!
THEY JUST SOLD ME USED BOXES !! ONE WAS MISSING THE BACK OF THE REMOTE AND THE OTHER HAD NO POWER PACK.
THE STORE IS CLOSED IN THE OC…THEY ARE NOT TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT THAT OR THE FACT THAT ONE OF THE OWNERS IS NOW IN JAIL.. THEY ARE ALL FULL OF SHIT…..BUT THEY LOVE YOUR MONEY !
BUY A LEGAL STREAMING DEVICE ! BECAUSE IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THEY ARE IN JAIL FOR THIS COMPANY AS WELL !
NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY ! USING THIS BOX IS WRONG AND USING IT MEANS YOU ARE ARE PART OF THE BULLSHIT SCAM OF STEALING FROM THE SKYS.
IF IT WERE LEGAL…..EVERYONE WOULD BE SELLING THEM…
MLM…..GET IN…MAKE YOUR FAST CASH AND THEN EVERYONE ELSE JUST GETS LEFT HANGING !
PEACE
OK, so I read the reviews, good and bad. What I tell people is if in doubt, call the FCC which people have done to double check if streaming media is legal here.
Their response: It is legal as long as it is not for commercial use and you are not downloading or uploading any content. Thank you.
Did you ask the FCC what they think about profiting from piracy?
Didn’t think so. Call them up again and ask what they think about an MLM business opportunity selling purpose-built piracy boxes.
So, in response to the piracy, I’m afraid they would have to eliminate You Tube as well since you can go there and watch just about anything you want. With the media centers it’s all about being able to watch everything in one place without being on the computer, tablet, etc.
Sorry to hear about the people that have had bad experiences but we have been enjoying ours (not ubox live either) and haven’t had a bit of trouble.
Wrong question. Streaming content you paid for or freely available is perfectly legal. Streaming pirated content is illegal. Trying to lump them together is either dishonest or ignorant. I haven’t decided which one you are yet.
And you can buy $60 boxes off Amazon that does the same thing. so you overpaid, and you’re encouraging others to overpay… to line your wallet (and your upline’s wallet).
So where does that leave you?
How sad that you can prejudge me when you have no idea who I am. I am a very honest person, an ordained minister, have 5 children, 15 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.
Who said I was promoting anything, no one. You just assumed I was. I have looked at a lot of different boxes and yes, there is quite a bit of difference.
They are not all the same. Sorry if I offended anyone, I was just relaying my opinion. Thank you for letting me share and hope everyone has a great day!
YouTube isn’t an MLM business opportunity. Fail.
That’s not the problem. The problem is the attached business opportunity, which sees affiliates market and profit on the sale of piracy boxes.
I paid $449 for my box. I am extremely disturbed for the lack of service that I’m getting from ubox tech support.
many times via e-mail I’ve ask for help in resolving issue. Each time that is send mail to u-box I get a reply that my message has been received and that I will be contacted w/in 24hrs.
Since December 2015 I have had no response.
You need to know this and read this about the owner of Ubox.
california.realestaterama.com/2016/03/31/five-california-residents-plead-guilty-to-defrauding-homeowners-in-nationwide-home-loan-modification-scam-ID07018.html
Thanks for the heads up!
Most of these guys affiliated with UBOX are either in prison or in the process of going.
Roscoe Umali and Jefferson Maniscan who are related are already incarcerated. Everything these guys have ever put their hands on it has been a scam.