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.