Software Piracy—Singapore

Ang Chiong Tek of Singapore has been sentenced to four months of prison in Singapore for selling fake copies of Microsoft software.^[1] Mr. Ang was found guilty of importing counterfeit Microsoft software from Hong Kong for S$80 per disc and reselling them as genuine for prices ranging from $180 to S$320, which is a 30% discount on normal retail prices in Singapore.^[2]

Mr. Ang was arrested in September, and police seized 100 copies of counterfeit software and fake certificates of authenticity worth over S$20,000.^[3] While low-end pirated software can be purchased in Singapore for S$10, those copies are easily identifiable by their “cheap labels and flimsy plastic wrapping.”^[4] Mr. Ang’s counterfeits, in contrast, were “virtually indistinguishable” from legitimate copies; his scam came to light only after his customers complained to Microsoft that they were unable to register their software.^[5]

Microsoft in turn, notified Singapore authorities about Mr. Ang, who began an investigation of the student under tough new intellectual property laws that went into effect at the beginning of 2005 after signing a free-trade agreement with the United States.^[6] He could have potentially received up to 5 years in prison under the new Copyright and Trademark Acts.^[7]

Mr. Ang’s conviction comes at a time of blossoming public-private partnerships, as well as the recent appointment of an US DOJ Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordinator for Asia. Back in August, we mentioned that the individuals responsible for the “Mytob” and “Zotob” computer “worms” that disrupted major computer networks in the US last year had been arrested in Morocco and Turkey. At the time the arrests were made, the FBI announced that they had received “valuable assistance” from Microsoft, which operates an Internet Crime Investigations Team that provides “round-the-clock” technical and investigative support to the FBI and foreign authorities.^[8]

---

[1] Ingrid Marson, Singapore Jails Software Fraudster ZDNet UK, Jan. 11, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Undergrad Jailed for Dealing in High-End Pirated Software, Malaysian Star, Jan. 1, 2006.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Marson, supra note 1.
[7] Malaysian Stat, supra note 3. See also Singapore Copyright Act, Cap. 63 § 136.; Singapore Trademarks Act, Cap. 332, § 46.
[8] See FBI, Press Release: FBI Announces Two Arrests in Mytob and Zotob Computer Worm Investigation, Aug. 26, 2005.