KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 3): Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd said a salesperson was fined RM20,000 by the Ampang Sessions Court on Thursday (Aug 3) for selling TV boxes pre-loaded with unauthorised Astro content.

Leong Wei Xiang, 23, had pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 43AA(2) of the Copyright Act 1987, said Astro in a statement.

The offence was committed on Oct 21, 2022, at an outlet in Dataran Pandan Prima in Ampang, Selangor. He was found in possession of four Android TV Boxes preloaded with unauthorised content, the statement said.

This year alone, Astro said it has filed five legal actions against piracy and copyright infringement where a total of 10 individuals were found guilty and fined accordingly.

The Copyright (Amendment) Act 2022 was gazetted on Feb 10, 2022. Enforcement of the law was implemented by the government on March 18,  2022.

"The key impact of the amendment is the criminalisation of the sale of illicit streaming devices and associated software applications that allow unauthorised access to copyright content. Anyone found guilty can be fined a minimum of RM10,000 to a maximum of RM200,000 or be imprisoned up to 20 years, or both," said Astro.

The amendments to the Copyright Act followed the declaration by the Intellectual Property High Court in Kuala Lumpur in May 2021 that the sale, offer for sale, distribution and supply of ISDs that can provide unauthorised access to copyrighted works, constitutes copyright infringement under the Copyright Act.