PRESENT POINT POWER

A female post graduate USM (University Science Malaysia, Penang)student together with her boyfriend and another man was charged in the Penang Session court for peddling VCD & DVD via the internet.

ABOVE & BELOW: The shy couple shielding their faces from the press photographers

All three claimed trial to the charges.Huan Su Ling 25 her boyfriend Poh Wee Leng 30 & businessman Teoh Kee Hean 33 were charged under Section 4 (1) (g) of the Copyright Act 1987 and be liable to a a minimum fine of RM2,000 for each piece of DVD or to two years’ imprisonment or both. They all pleaded not guilty. Session courts president fixed Nov 17 06 for re-mentioning of the case and allowed eased on bail of RM7,000 each.

BELOW: The shy businessman also covered up his face

and MORE details from NST Report

IT whizzkid in court over movie piracy; 18 Oct 2006

GEORGE TOWN: An ITwhizzkid, who has represented the country in international seminars and is now doing her Master’s degree in sociology, was charged yesterday with selling pirated DVD movies over the Internet.
Huan Su Ling, 25, and her friend, Poh Wee Leng, 30, who is doing a Master’s degree in business administration, pleaded not guilty. Huan went to Brazil several years ago to represent her university at an IT seminar.
The two were brought to the Sessions Court in handcuffs, but appeared relaxed and chatted nonchalantly as they sat in the dock waiting for proceedings to begin.
Huan, of Solok Tembaga near here, and Poh, of Petaling Jaya, Selangor, were jointly charged with three counts of selling pirated DVD movies. They were accused of selling four English movie titles in the form of pirated DVDs at No 18, Solok Tembaga Dua in Island Park, about 1pm on Oct 12.

The two were alleged to have been in possession of a copy each of the pirated movies Garfield, Garfield — Tales of Two Kitties, The Da Vinci Code and Mean Girl. The first two titles are owned by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment while the other two belong to Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures, respectively.
Huan and Poh were charged under Section 41(1)(b) of the Copyright Act 1987. They face fines of up to RM20,000 per disc seized or five years’ jail, or both.
They were represented by R.S.N. Rayer while prosecution was conducted by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry’s prosecuting officer Hashim Hassan. Judge Hadhariah Syed Ismail set bail at RM7,000 each in one surety and fixed Nov 17 for the mention. Both the accused posted bail.
It was reported that the accused had allegedly made a windfall operating one of the most active websites linked to the supply of pirated discs worldwide.
Documents seized from the suspects showed that they could have raked in as much as RM1 million in the past one year from their operations.
Their activities came to a halt when officers from the ministry’s Internet Piracy team and representatives from the Motion Pictures Association conducted simultaneous raids on two houses in Jelutong and Ayer Itam. Earlier in the same court, a 33-year-old businessman also claimed trial to selling pirated DVD movies.
Teoh Kee Hean of Ayer Itam is alleged to have committed the offence in an apartment at Tingkat Paya Terubong, Paya Terubong, around midnight on Oct 12. He allegedly had two copies each of the movies Poseidon and Superman Returns. Hadhariah set bail at RM7,000 in one surety and fixed Nov 17 for mention.

Meanwhile in the MAS Export cargo complex on tip off, enforcement officers confiscated illegal VCD & DVD discs worth a total ot RM1.38 million to Middle East destination.

= = = = = = = Report from STAR
Wednesday October 18, 2006; RM1.3mil in pirated discs seized; By SYED AZHAR
PUTRAJAYA: Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry enforcement officers here seized pirated movie DVDs worth RM1.382mil meant for the Middle East market at the MAS Cargo complex on Monday. It was the biggest such seizure this year.

ABOVE: En Roslan with the seized unpacked movie compact discs reday for export

The ministry’s enforcement director-general Roslan Mahyuddin said its Export Unit enforcement officers initially seized a consignment of 104 boxes containing 106,200 pieces of DVDs, to be sent to Doha in Qatar, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and Nairobi.
“Following this, the unit then hauled in 33 (more) boxes that contained 32,000 units of DVD meant for the Amman and Jordan markets,” he told reporters at a press conference at the ministry’s office here yesterday.
“We have reason to believe that this syndicate was sending the consignment to the respective destinations after receiving orders via the Internet.
“This is one of the latest techniques used by the syndicate to sell pirated movie DVDs overseas.”
Roslan said nobody had been arrested in connection with the case yet, but enforcement officers had information on the sender and receiver, obtained from the airway bills.
“We know that the factory is based in Negri Sembilan and we will be moving in on it soon to get to the bottom of this matter,” he added.
He also said that those caught with pirated discs could be charged under Section 4 (1) (g) of the Copyright Act 1987 and be liable to a a minimum fine of RM2,000 for each piece of DVD or to two years’ imprisonment or both.
“Those caught producing the DVDs are liable under Section 19 (1) of the Optic Discs 2000, which carries a penalty of RM250,000 for each machine seized, while the directors are also liable to be fined up to RM150,000 or be jailed for three years, or both.
“We will soon send the DVDs to the chemistry department to determine the type of machine used to produce the DVDs,” Roslan added.
= = = =
Moredetails from the NST

Raid foils RM1.38m pirated DVD shipment ;18 Oct 2006;Lee Shi-Ian
PUTRAJAYA: The 137 boxes were neatly packed and waiting to be transferred to the plane to be flown to Doha, Abu Dhabi, Nairobi and Amman.
The invoices even brazenly declared that they were DVDs being exported to these destinations.

When enforcement officers from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry raided the Malaysia Airlines Cargo Complex at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and opened the boxes, they discovered 138,000 pirated optical discs.
The haul, valued at RM1.38 million, is believed to be one of the biggest ever. Each disc contained up to five films.
During the raid led by the ministry’s export unit head Md Zaki Samad following a tip-off, the officers found invoices and dispatch orders detailing the consignment and their destination.
Of the 137 boxes, 65 (containing 77,300 DVDs) were bound for the United Arab Emirates, 27 (21,700) for Qatar, 33 (32,000) for Jordan and 12 (7,200) for Kenya.
Ministry director-general Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said the size of the seizure showed the syndicates had shifted their attention from the local market to the international scene.
"There have been seizures at exit points in the country in the past but never such a vast quantity in one location.
"Multiple movies featuring actors such as Jean-Claude Van Damme were found in the discs. The other stars included Al Pacino, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt," he said.
It is estimated that each disc was to be sold abroad at US$8 (RM30) to US$34 — a lucrative profit for the syndicate.
Roslan said if the shipment had left the country, it would have damaged the country’s stance on piracy.
"We have worked hard to repair our image with constant enforcement but this shipment would have been a major setback."
It is learnt that although no arrests were made, the addresses of the sender and receiver are now in the hands of the officers and they were tracing them to check if they are genuine. The sender has been listed as a company based in Negri Sembilan.

It has been learnt that the syndicate commissioned local factories to produce the DVDs. The serial numbers were scratched out but the officers are confident of tracing the origins of the discs.
If a licensed factory is found to have manufactured the discs for the syndicate, it faces a RM250,000 fine and also seizure of all its equipment.

The factory’s directors could face a RM150,000 fine or three years’ jail or both.

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…..more how the Peddlers survive by adapting
Cyber pedlars find ways to stay one step ahead; 16 Oct 2006
GEORGE TOWN: The arrest of a couple for selling pirated DVDs online here last week may only be scratching the surface of the phenomenon.
Sources said the number of Internet-based pirated disc pedlars has increased steadily over the last few years as conventional sale methods were hit by crackdowns.
"Life has been difficult for the roadside pedlars and those operating in permanent premises," a Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry source said.
"As such, it is not surprising that they are transforming into cyber pedlars."
They are operating individually or in small groups and have links to big players in the state. Penang enforcement chief M. Guna Selan said it was possible there were now more cyber pirates in the state.
"We are keeping tabs on their activities with help from the Motion Pictures Association representatives," he said. The lure of cyberspace is its safer environment and bigger profit margins.
Another attraction is that the pedlars need not carry large stocks of the illegal wares. Since they are only dealing with foreign clients, the pedlars have built firewalls to shield themselves from the authorities.” Their websites are attached to servers overseas, in the United States and the European countries, which buy them a bit more time.
"They can also quickly build new websites and shift their operations to a new location when detected," said a source. They are also finding new ways to stay a step ahead of enforcement agencies. Recently; some cyber pedlars began delivering their goods in smaller packages, using thick boxes.
This prevented the scanners at airports picking out their consignments.
"Sending big or bulky parcels would attract the attention of the enforcement officers."