LEGAL & REGULATORY WATCH – PART II: Beware! Set-top box users!

In the previous article, we wrote about how streaming copyrighted content without authorization infringes on the copyright of others.

This article will focus on the criminal aspect of unlawful use, possession, or supply of set-top boxes that facilitate copyright infringement.

There are two areas of law that members of the public are advised to take note of.

Firstly, a set-top box that has not met the Communications and Multimedia Technical Standards is considered illegal. Therefore, any dealing, inter alia, offer for sale or possession, is a punishable offense under Regulation 16 (1)(b) of the Communications and Multimedia (Technical Standards) Regulations 2000, which carries jail time and a fine or both.

Secondly, any person who commits or facilitates copyright infringement by manufacturing, importing, selling, or letting for hire, distributing, or offering to the public a streaming technology that has been defined to include a computer program, device, or component, all of which are the parameters that point towards a set-top box, is guilty of an offense under Section 43AA of the newly amended Copyright Act 2022, which carries jail time and a fine or both.

To learn more about Copyright Law in Malaysia, please write to us at legal@timothyjdass.com