A seriously pissed off plaintiff from California has reportedly brought a new class action lawsuit against Amazon, accusing it of “bricking” his older Fire TV Stick device by refusing to send it any more software updates. He alleges that the company is trying to slow down the device until it becomes “unusable,” advertising its “instant” streaming features.
The plaintiff, Bill Merewhuader, said Amazon’s goal is to try and force owners of first and second-generation Fire TV Sticks to purchase newer models, according to a report in Top Class Actions. He claims that Amazon has been progressively eroding the functionality of its oldest streaming sticks, making them slower, with lagging content and delayed responses, despite the hardware itself remaining untouched.
Merewhuader said in his claim that he purchased two second-generation Fire TV Sticks in 2018, and that he began to notice performance issues just a few years later. By 2024, their performance was eroded so badly that he felt compelled to buy a newer, more expensive model to continue streaming. He argues that the lack of software updates makes Amazon guilty of “software tethering.”
Software tethering is the practice of marrying the performance of hardware devices to running the latest version of their operating software. He accuses Amazon of failing to provide any updates since early 2022, despite claiming that they would continue receiving them until 2024. By stopping the updates, it prematurely reduced the lifespan of the device, he said.
Merewhuader also adds that Amazon never said anything publicly about the possibility that software support may be discontinued. He also accuses it of false advertising, noting that the company originally marketed the second-gen Fire TV Stick as offering “instant” entertainment across a wide range of streaming services, which is why he decided to purchase the device.
In summary, the lawsuit makes two main accusations against Amazon. The first pertains to the software tethering policy, and the second regards the fact it misled consumers about the device’s true lifespan, eroding trust in the Amazon brand. Merewhuader hopes he can force the issue, and is inviting other Fire TV Stick owners who may feel aggrieved by the lack of software updates to join the class action lawsuit in the hopes of being compensated.
Amazon has not yet responded to the lawsuit, and Merewhuader’s claims are still only “accusations” at this point, with nothing proven in court.
