Newpaper – Illegal Downloads…
Tougher law not aimed at home users but…
HE may look like any normal computer user.
But if the software running the computer, the music in the digital audio player, and the movie recorded on the CD were all illegally downloaded, he could be in trouble.
The proposed amendment to the Copyright Act, which was introduced in Parliament yesterday, could send someone to jail for infringing copyrights.
The new laws are aimed at businesses which make use of pirated materials for financial gain, and not meant to put the average home user behind bars.
But home users shouldn’t push their luck.
If your pirated music and movie collection is big enough to look like the inventory list of a small CD shop, you could either be fined up to $20,000, or jailed up to six months, or both.
Do it again, and the fine jumps to $50,000 and the jail term goes up to three years.
Previously, infringing of copyright was only a criminal offence if the offender did so for commercial purposes, for example, if he compiled illegally downloaded music on a CD and sold it to others.
Otherwise, infringement of copyright would only be subject to civil legal action.
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) said the Act had to be amended because of ‘the emergence of syndicates that post movies and software on the Internet in return for recognition and notoriety’.
WHEN IT WILL TAKE EFFECT
One of the most notorious syndicates, called DrinkorDie, helped facilitate illegal sharing of copyrighted material, like software and movies, worth up to US$50m ($83.6m) before it was busted by US authorities in 2001.
The changes were tabled in Parliament for the first time yesterday. The new law, likely to be discussed by MPs at another sitting later, is expected to take effect on Jan 1 next year.
When that happens, those who download copyrighted works, like music and movies, will be viewed as committing a crime if the person does it wilfully, and to a ‘significant extent’.
That will depend on how much you download, the value of the works you download, and whether your act causes substantial losses to the copyright owner.
‘The whole idea is not to target the man in the street,’ said Ipos director-general Liew Woon Yin.
‘The whole intent is to actually send a strong message that we are not condoning rampant piracy. If I were to download one or two songs, the court will not view this as rampant if you look at the criteria set.’
But that doesn’t mean you can’t be prosecuted, warned Ipos assistant director-general Wong Sheng Kwai.
‘You are open to the reading of the Act,’ he said.
The new law also deliberately does not state how much copyrighted material a home user has to illegally download before he breaks the law.
Mr Cyril Chua, a lawyer who specialises in intellectual property, believes it’s better not draw a clear line to show when this becomes illegal.
‘If you do this, you are just encouraging infringers to work around the system,’ said Mr Chua, who works for law firm Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva.
HOME USERS AT RISK TOO
‘For example, if you say you cross the line when you download six songs, then everyone will do five.’
And he thinks that the Government will not hesitate to prosecute home users if they continue ‘pushing it’.
He said: ‘I think if it’s a recalcitrant home user who receives a warning, but still continues to do it, then he may have run foul of the law.’
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News extracted from newpaper
Original Author: Eugene Wee