A Malaysian businessman has pleaded guilty to promoting hardware and software which facilitates piracy in a first for the country.
A director of a Shah Alam-based company which sells an Android Box branded as Long TV admitted the company sells the product knowing that it would be used to bypass DRM protection on copyrighted works.
The admission was made to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) on February 8, with a March 1 judgement date. The law states that any party found guilty can be fined between RM4,000-40,000 (€816-8160) for each offence or jail time of no more than 10 years or, for extreme cases, both.
The MDTCA stated: “The company, located at I-City, Persiaran Multimedia, Section 7, Shah Alam, Selangor has violated Section 41(1)(ha) of the Copyright Act 1987 for selling any technology or device for the purpose of bypassing any effective technological measures stated under subsection 36A(3) of the same Act.
“MDTCA will take stern action against suppliers and sellers who misuse devices and software with the aim of illegally intercepting and accessing content protected by the owner of his copyrighted works. People are also reminded not to be fooled by the sale of Android TV Box devices that contain applications or are included with pirated content streaming service packages.”
