Hong Kong Customs Smashes First Illegal WebsiteThe Hong Kong Customs officers of the Anti-Internet Piracy Task Force smashed an illegal website for downloading MP3, RealAudio Clip musical files, and MTV of Dat format in Hong Kong Tuesday."This is the first case the Customs detected illegal website for downloading pirated music since the establishment of the Anti-Internet Piracy Task Force at the end of last year," said a spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department. He called on the public not to provide any pirated files for downloading in their websites as they may commit a criminal offense under the Copyright Ordinance. Acting on information provided by International Federation of Photographic Industry and follow-up investigation by Customs officers, the officers seized a computer server and two computers from three premises, totally worth about 40,000 HK dollars, at 07:00 a.m. Tuesday. In the operation, the officers arrested three men, aged between 19 and 23."The three arrested men made use of "hyperlink" to place 68 pieces of music and MTV at seven servers, two in Hong Kong and five in overseas," the spokesman said. According to the Copyright Ordinance, anyone found distributing infringed copies without the license of the copyright owner, otherwise than for the purpose of trade or business, to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright, is liable to prosecution. The maximum penalty for the offense is a fine of 50,000 HK dollars per disc plus four years' imprisonment. "We shall continue conducting vigorous enforcement action against piracy activities in an effort to protect the intellectual property rights here in Hong Kong," he stressed. |
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