The Johor Bahru Sessions Court yesterday charged an individual, Lee Ah Moy, aged 66, for selling TV boxes pre-loaded with unauthorised Astro content under Section 43AA (1)(c) of the Copyright Act 1987. He was fined RM16,000 in default three months imprisonment. The offence was committed on 3 November 2022 in a retail outlet in Johor Bahru where 2 TV Boxes preloaded with unauthorised content were found during the raid.

In a separate court case, the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court had on 17 November 2023 charged an individual, Yee Kwai Weng, aged 46, for selling TV boxes pre-loaded with unauthorised Astro content under Section 43AA (1)(c) of the Copyright Act 1987. He was fined RM11,000 in default three months imprisonment. The offence was committed on 23 May 2023 in a retail outlet in Puchong where 1 TV Box preloaded with unauthorised content was found during the raid.

Earlier this year, 7 individuals have been charged and fined for the same offence under the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2022, which was gazetted on 10 February 2022. Enforcement of the law was implemented by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) on 18 March 2022. The key impact of the amendment is the criminalisation of the sale of illicit streaming devices (ISDs) and associated software applications that allow unauthorised access to copyright content. Anyone found guilty can be fined up to RM200,000, be imprisoned up to 20 years, or both.

The amendments to the Copyright Act followed the declaration by the Intellectual Property High Court in Kuala Lumpur in May 2021 that the sale, offer for sale, distribution and/or supply of ISDs that can provide unauthorised access to copyrighted works, constitutes copyright infringement under the Copyright Act 1987.

The public is reminded to channel information of piracy activities to KPDNHEP through hotline 1- 800-886-800 or 03-8882 6088 at the Enforcement Command Centre, WhatsApp at 019-279 4317, email to
[email protected] or via Ez ADU app.