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 Technology News | August 2005 
Three Singaporeans Nabbed For Illegally Distributing MP3 Music Files
 Wire services
Three Singaporeans were arrested for illegally sharing 20,000 MP3 songs over the Internet, marking the first time home computer users who do not profit from swapping digital music are targetted in the fight against piracy, police said.
Acting on a tip-off in March from the Record Industry Association Singapore (RIAS), a trade body representing record companies, police monitored the trio, including a 16-year-old student, before making the arrests in pre-dawn raids Wednesday, a police statement said.
The three men were arrested at their respective homes where police found four computers and one laptop with 20,000 MP3 music files for distribution over a chat channel on the Internet.
"This operation, which is a first for the police, is part of police enforcement efforts with rights owners in tackling music piracy," the statement said.
"The police will work closely with rights owners to take to task persons who think they can exploit the faceless and anonymous features of the Internet to perpetuate such activities."
The Straits Times newspaper on Thursday quoted RIAS chief executive Edward Neubronner as saying the three offenders had ignored repeated warnings from the music trade body to stop swapping music files over the chat channel.
Under Singapore's toughened laws against music piracy that came into effect in 2005, the three could face jail terms of up to five years and fined as much as 100,000 Singapore dollars (60,606 US). |
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