S'pore sentences two for piracy

S'pore sentences two for piracy

SINGAPORE (UPI): Singapore has handed down the longest jail
terms in Southeast Asia for copyright infringement to two men
convicted of possessing counterfeit CD-ROMs, officials said
yesterday.

The two men, who were sentenced to 30 months and 18 months in
jail respectively, both owned and operated shops that sold
counterfeit CD-ROMs.

Private investigators hired by the Alliance Against CD-ROM
Theft discovered the two stores in Singapore's Sim Lim Square, a
mall specializing in computer and electronics products, a news
release from the organization said.

The investigators alerted Singapore police to the illegal
activities, which led to raids of the shops and the recovery of
more than 5,000 fake CD-ROMs.

AACT, a group formed to combat intellectual property rights
violations in Asia, is comprised of companies increasingly
affected by copyright piracy. The companies include the Business
Software Alliance, Simon & Schuster, Sega Enterprises and Virgin
Interactive.