Jail for man who sold illegal streaming devices in landmark prosecution

SINGAPORE: A man who sold illegal streaming devices was sentenced to 10 months’ jail on Thursday (Oct 24), setting a precedent under a copyright law passed in 2021.

Ge Xin, a 36-year-old Singaporean who ran two companies in Sim Lim Square, pleaded guilty to 16 charges related to selling devices that had applications allowing users to access copyrighted content, including Premier League football matches, said the English league in a statement on Thursday.

Ge's jail sentence was in relation to eight charges. His two companies – MT Gadget+ and Grandnew – received fines of S$200,000 and S$100,000 respectively, in relation to four charges each.

In September 2021, a law was passed banning the sale of pirate set-top boxes. A police raid on illegal streaming device sellers in 2022 seized more than 2,500 sets of these devices, with more than 400 sets from Ge's two shops.

Ge was charged earlier this year for infringing the copyright of companies like Disney, Netflix and the Premier League by selling devices that came installed with programmes that could access copyrighted shows such as Raya and the Last Dragon, The Adam Project and Premier League games.

He was also accused of infringing the copyright of other works such as Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore by Warner Bros, Discovery Channel by Discovery and Top Gun Maverick by Paramount Pictures.

The Premier League, which opened its first international office in Singapore in 2019, said Ge's sentencing is the first-ever prosecution under section 150 of the Copyright Act 2021, which imposes liability for copyright infringement on commercial dealers of illegal streaming devices.

The prosecution also marks a significant milestone in the fight against piracy in Singapore, the league