Jail terms and heavy fines are coming here for those caught using the Internet to obtain pirated software or media files: $11,900 and six months behind bars for first-time offenders and three years in jail and about a $29,000 fine for repeaters.
The new laws, which due to take effect in January, allude specifically to those who download pirated software “to obtain a commercial advantage,” which suggests a loophole allowing those who download music or movies off the Internet for their own personal use to avoid the fines and jail.
A Singapore Intellectual Property Office spokeswoman told Agence France Presse that those who download one or a small number of songs or movies weren’t likely to end up in court but “one thousand could be pushing it.” She also said it would be up to the courts to decide what was or was not “significant” such downloading or piracy.
Singapore previously subjected software and Internet pirates only to civil action, until the government signed a free trade deal with the U.S. that mandated Singapore to toughen up against software and Internet pirates. The deal took effect this year.
The new rules are not likely to effect Singapore’s already tough laws against illegal manufacture, sale, and distribution of pirated software.
