Three in Hong Kong jailed for providing illegal TV boxes to stream subscription-based Now TV content
They were sentenced from 21 to 27 months in jail in heaviest penalty ever meted out for internet piracy
Three men were jailed on Thursday for illegally broadcasting programmes from Now TV’s paid channels to their customers through streaming devices, with a judge handing down the heaviest penalty ever for internet piracy in Hong Kong.
The trio, comprising a mastermind, Chung Yu-cheung, 40, his assistant, Ho Kwok-cheung, 54, and a stall owner, Lam Siu-wai, 54, were jailed 21 to 27 months.
They were caught by customs in a raid on four residences, a warehouse and a stall in 2014, after a report was made to authorities by a local cable TV station.
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The devices allow a provider to sell media services streamed from the internet directly to consumers, bypassing cable TV stations or broadcasters.
This is the first case in which charges of “providing a circumvention device or service” and “conspiracy to defraud” were applied successfully in a prosecution of a piracy syndicate, according to a customs spokesman.
“The rulings and sentences [serve] as a strong deterrent to similar piracy activities, “ he said, adding that the agency welcomed the ruling.
Handing down the judgment, District Court Judge Gary Lam Kar-yan said Now TV could face HK$4 million in losses because of copyright infringement and fraud.