Man faces 34 charges for selling illegal streaming devices at Sim Lim Square

Chinese national Wang Yue also pleaded guilty to another 17 copyright-related charges served to Ace Technologies, a firm he had incorporated and owned. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

SINGAPORE – A shop owner caught for selling illegal streaming devices at Sim Lim Square has pleaded guilty to 17 charges related to copyright infringement.

This comes in the wake of the successful conviction of another shop owner in October 2024, for charges that targeted commercial dealers of illegal streaming devices.

That seller, Ge Xin, 3 7, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail, while his two shops, MT Gadget+ and Grandnew, were fined $200,000 and $100,000, respectively.

On March 20, Wang Yue, 36, appeared in the State Courts to face his charges.

The Chinese national also pleaded guilty to another 17 copyright-related charges served to Ace Technologies, a firm he had incorporated and owned.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Tan said Ace Technologies occupied four shop units at Sim Lim Square that sold illegal streaming devices between 2018 and 2022.

These devices were able to access content from Disney, Warner Bros, the Discovery Inc, and football games from the English Premier League.

Wang was solely responsible for the sourcing of the devices, which he had purchased from an unnamed overseas supplier.

DPP Tan said Wang also instructed his employees to offer the devices for sale by telling customers that they would be able to access otherwise copyrighted material with no additional charges.

Each device was sold for a price between $149 and $249, with Wang profiting between $39 and $99 for the sale of each device.

During investigations, Wang admitted to earning up to $18,000 monthly from the sale of the streaming devices.

He continued to sell the devices even after receiving two letters in January and October 2020 from the Football Association Premier League, warning him to stop the sale of the devices as they infringed on the league’s copyright.

Wang was later arrested on Oct 4, 2022, after a raid by officers from the Intellectual Property Rights branch of the police force.

During the raid, officers seized more than 1,000 illegal streaming devices from Wang’s shop.

DPP Tan is seeking a jail term of up to six months and five weeks for Wang, along with a fine of between $178,000 and $186,500 for Wang’s firm.

Both Wang and Ace Technologies had initially faced 50 copyright charges each. The 33 remaining charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced on April 24.

Singapore’s Copyright Act was amended in 2021 to ban the sale of media streaming boxes with “add-on” services that help consumers access pirated content.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Jan 22, Mr Kevin Plumb, general counsel of the Premier League, said cease and desist letters sent to errant shop owners at Sim Lim Square have led to an approximate 80 per cent drop in the number of physical stores offering such illegal devices.

In October 2022, police officers raided several retail shops in Sim Lim Square and rounded up 17 people for selling illegal streaming devices.

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