File sharing in Singapore

File sharing in Singapore relates to the distribution of digital media in that country. In February 2015, there were over 11,512,900 households connected with a broadband connection to the Internet in Singapore. There are also many public Internet access points (Wireless LAN) such as public libraries and Internet cafes.^[1]

Singapore's current status is a confusing similarity, because 1 in 2 are okay with illegal downloads, but 4 in 5 (or 82% of >1000 respondents) Singaporeans say protecting Intellectual property (IP) is important according to the latest Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS, which publishes biennial IP Perception survey) from last November 2014. The same belief did not seem to translate for online activities, more than 55% (down from 78% in a similar the survey in 2010) think that unauthorised downloading is a theft.^[2][3] On the other side consumer also pointed to the lack of available legal methods of downloading digital content, such as Netflix etc.

Legislation

The Copyright Act (Singapore) 2014 are applicable to and may be breached by file sharing activity.

The Copyright Act (Singapore) 2014 aims to protect the intellectual property rights of the creator or copyright holder. File sharing violates this act when the copyright owner has not given permission for its material to be shared.^[4]

Action to prevent illegal file sharing

Recording Industry Association of Singapore

On 17 October 2006 Recording Industry Association of Singapore (RIAS) filed cases of illegal music file-sharing.^[5] This basically results from obligations under the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

Odex's actions against file-sharing

Anime distributor Odex has been actively tracking down and sending legal threats against individual BitTorrent users in Singapore since 2007. For details see: Odex actions against users

Dallas Buyers Club LLC represented by Samuel Seow Law Corportation sends demand letters

In April 2015, Samuel Seow Law Corporation represented the owners in sending demand letters to more than 500 subscribers asking for a written offer of damages and costs.^[6] for details see: Case of the Dallas Buyers Club

As a result of this pressure, the 2 main ISPs (Singtel and Starhub) became responsible for the notification of users identified by Dallas Buyers Club LLC. This notification could be a cease and desist order that will threaten legal action if the behaviour continues or if a compensation payment is not made. Further steps can also be taken by ISP's, if the identified users continue to breach copyright, such as the restriction of the bandwidth available to them or even total disconnection and possible bans or suspensions from the Internet.

Opposition

Internet Society

President Harish Pillay and Vice-President Professor Ang Peng Hwa of the Singapore Internet Society (ISOC) Chapter stated, that "threatening subscribers won't stop piracy."^[7]

See also

• Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
• Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
• Censorship in Singapore
• Copyright aspects of downloading and streaming
• Computer and network surveillance
• List of Copyright Acts#Singapore
• Internet censorship in Singapore
• Legal aspects of copyright infringement
• Legal aspects of file sharing

References

1. "IDA: Statistics on Telecom Services for 2015". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
2. "One in 2 here OK with illegal file-sharing". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
3. "4 in 5 Singaporeans say protecting IP is important: IPOS survey". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
4. "What is Copyright?". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
5. "Personal Liability for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File Sharing under Singapore’s Copyright Act: Trends and Implications". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
6. "Studio demands compensation from more than 500 people here who downloaded movie". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
7. "Straight Times: Threatening subscribers won't stop piracy". Retrieved 1 May 2015.