Streaming pirates to get up to 20 years of imprisonment in Malaysia

In Malaysia, illegal streamers will now think twice before venturing into pirating content. The government has amended its Copyright Act to penalise individuals who allow pirate streaming. People who provide streaming services and devices that “prejudice” copyright owners might face penalties of $2,377 or more, as well as jail terms of up to 20 years.

Companies are also discouraged from collaborating in or tolerating streaming piracy under the new regulation. Managers will be found guilty of the relevant offence unless they can prove they were uninformed of the infraction and used “all due care” to prevent it.

Digital piracy is regularly covered by copyright laws across the world, although some of them were created to address downloads and other, earlier types of bootlegging. That posed an issue for Malaysia, which couldn’t utilise the Copyright Act to prosecute persons selling piracy-related streaming gadgets until a High Court ruling enabled it.

The potential penalties are severe, and the wording implies that avoiding involvement with certain rogue elements may be impossible for certain organisations. This demonstrates how some countries may address streaming piracy through law, which may satisfy the United States and other copyright-protected countries which are concerned that their neighbours will permit illicit internet services.