SingaporeMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
ENFORCEMENT ACTION
The beginning of 1998 saw an increase in action against copyright pirates. In May 1998, over 40,000 pirated music, software and video compact discs were destroyed at a public ceremony. At the ceremony, the Minister of State for Law announced that 380 copyright-related raids were conducted in 1997 by the police's Intellectual Property Rights Warrant Unit. This figure is an increase from the 184 raids conducted in 1996. The Minister also revealed that in the first quarter of 1998, an average of 15 raids a day were conducted, resulting in the seizure of more than 100,000 items.
The courts had been strict too. On 30 April 1998, a software retailer was fined more than S$1.5 million after he had pleaded guilty to 314 charges based on illegal copies of software. He would face a 21-month jail term in default of the fine. This sentence was in addition to a jail sentence and fine which the offender had already received upon his earlier conviction for various
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