A team led by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry caught the suspect during a June 11 raid in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, where the suspect was operating out of his house.
The ministry’s enforcement director Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said they launched the raid – dubbed Ops Skyfall – after five months of surveillance and confiscated computers and related equipment worth some RM30,000.
“The suspect admitted to owning and operating the JWG website. The website owner is said to have earned hundreds of thousands of ringgit,” he said at a press conference at the ministry’s office here.
Roslan noted that the suspect earned a living by charging a subscription fee for downloaders to use his website’s services, and also from advertising space following the high demand from users.
Recording Industry Association of Malaysia chief executive officer Tan Ngiap Foo, who was also present at the press conference, added that the suspect had practically every single album of Malay artists published in Malaysia on his server.
“We haven’t really counted how many songs are available, but you have everything from Siti Nurhaliza to P. Ramlee. We estimate that copyright holders have suffered at least RM10mil in losses over the past five years,” he said.
Tan said they found that the market serviced by JWG was used not only by Malaysians in the country and overseas, but also by Indonesians and Bruneians.
Roslan pointed out that the raid only emphasised the shift by intellectual property pirates from physical piracy such as illegal DVD peddlers of the past decade, to more clandestine online operations.
He said the ministry was currently monitoring 32 websites operating locally and globally offering services similar to JWG, and warned that they were gearing up for their next assault on online pirates.
“The ministry is upgrading its effectiveness in dealing with online piracy. We are arming our staff with advanced ICT capabilities, and we have also moved for amendments to the Copyright Act to extend the liability (for piracy) to service providers,” he said.
Source : The Star
PUTRAJAYA, June 18 (Bernama) -- The operator of a popular website, www.jiwang.org (JWG) who reaped hundreds of thousands of ringgit since 1997 by offering illegally downloaded and uploaded Malay songs was detained by an enforcement team from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry in Kelantan recently.
The ministry's enforcement director, Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said the 35-year-old man was arrested after the team raided his house in Kubang Kerian, Kota Baru on June 11.
"The man had reaped profits from advertising services and contributions from JWG members. He admitted earning as much as RM10,000 per month in 2006, but his earnings have now dropped to RM1,500 after competitors used the same modus operandi," he told reporters, here, Tuesday.
Roslan said the enforcement team also seized information and communication technology (ICT) equipment worth RM30,000, while the man was released on police bail.
He said the enforcement division would be issuing a blockage access notice to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to prevent access to the JWG website as provided under Section 263 (2) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Roslan said the ministry was now investigating at least 32 websites that offered downloads and uploads of free music and movies illegally in the country.
"Our initial investigation has found that the websites are operating in and outside the country. We will work with the Royal Malaysian Police, MCMC and the copyright owners to track and disable these cyber sharks so that action can be taken against them," he said.
Roslan also reminded all government agencies through the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) and Malaysia Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) to take the necessary precautions against cyber attacks on government websites after access to the JWG website was blocked.
"This is based on the experience in 2011 where a number of government websites were hacked after access to 10 websites which violated the Copyright Act 1987, was blocked," he said.
Meanwhile, Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) chief executive officer Tan Ngiap Foo said the music industry suffered losses of about RM10 million in the last five years due to the websites that offered to upload and download songs in the country.
He said RIM would take legal action against the JWG operator to recover the losses suffered by the music industry and it would also identify several websites that offered the same service not only from Malaysia but also from Indonesia and Brunei.
-- BERNAMA
Source 2 : Bernama
p/s : sangat sedih kerana disebabkan beberapa movie dan mp3, habis satu set website... RIP Jiwang... anda akan sentiasa di ingati selamanya
Suka Tengok Bila Korang Komen!~