The USS Quad Damage

I read a recent newspaper report about how they're trying to increase in penalties in Malaysia for illegal copying of and sale of discs, they mentioned how you can get copies of DVDs there for as little as 10RM (about AUD3.50), don't believe them, the starting price is actually about 8, if you buy a fair number you can get it down to 5, and I have an unconfirmed report of someone paying 3 RM each (probably for a purchase of 100+ discs).

At times there are crackdowns, but it seems that it's not taken very seriously, it was interesting on my previous visit to Malaysia (last March) where in one shopping centre there were people coming up to me, giving me their cards saying they'll deliver internationally, asking me to come into their stores to look at their wares. They has a little shop selling cute CD wallets, some legit VCD and the like and a door leading into the back. The back of the shop, is where 80% of the floor space went, with the shelves lined with CD/DVD packets. It was amusing seeing the door swinging open and close all the time.

Singapore on the other hand takes IP (Intellectual Property) enforcement a little more seriously so you don't find places where there are 10+ stalls selling illegal DVDs, you will however, if you go to where the locals live, walk past shops selling illegal copies of games and software, and while they are set up so that they can be shut down and moved in about an hour, you can find them in one spot for months at a time. In some ways they're like the shops selling the discount books in Sydney.

One change I noticed in Singapore is how the illegal CDs are getting more expensive, it used to cost about SGD5 (AUD4.20?) or 6 for a single CD, such as a copy of windows, now it's about SGD9, they stayed at about 6RM (AUD2.30) each in Malaysia though. A reason why one should resist purchasing these DVDs is because these elaborate operations are ran by organized crime.

While Singapore might be relatively lax with their IP laws, they are serious with their ban on pornography. Taking gum or pirated DVDs through Singapore customs might result in their confiscation, porn however will result in a fine, and the fines in Singapore have one or two digits more than the fines we have in Sydney. You might see people sipping water from bottles on the trains, but anything else might well result in a $5000 fine.