Two charged with illegal song uploads

Two men were charged in Singapore with distributing illegal digital music files on the Internet, including songs by popular international, Indonesian and Malaysian artists.

Mohd Faizal Osman, 21, and Mohamad Azry Zainol, 22, allegedly put hundreds of songs on a popular relay channel for others to download since 2002, according to The Straits Times.

The duo were arrested by the Intellectual Property Rights Branch of the police in separate predawn raids last August following a tip-off by the Recording Industry Association of Singapore (RIAS).

The body represents companies such as Sony and Warner Music.

District Judge Bala Reddy adjourned the trial until early February since this is the first case in Singapore of home users facing the music for not-for-profit copyright offences.

A 16-year-old secondary student was also nabbed, but let off with a stern warning by police.

Jobless Mohd Faizal was charged on Friday with three counts of illegally distributing nearly 300 songs from Sony, EMI and Warner.

Mohamad Azry, a factory operator, was slapped with four counts of illegally distributing 650 songs from Sony, EMI, Warner and Universal music.

If found guilty, each man could be fined jailed up to five years and fined up to 100,000 Singapore dollars (59,000 U.S.).