A shop owner at Sim Lim Square has become the second person in Singapore to be jailed for selling illegal media streaming devices, the Straits Times (ST) reported.
These devices enabled access to pirated content from major entertainment providers, including Disney, Warner Bros and the English Premier League (EPL).
Wang Yue, 36, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment on Thursday (30 May). His company Ace Technologies was fined S$181,000.
The Chinese national had pleaded guilty to 17 charges of copyright infringement in March 2025, with another 33 charges taken into consideration during sentencing.
Source: Google Maps
Between 2018 and 2022, Wang operated four shop units under Ace Technologies at Sim Lim Square.
He sold illegal streaming devices capable of accessing copyrighted material without authorisation or subscription fees.
Each device was sold for S$149 to S$249, with Wang pocketing profits of S$39 to S$99 per unit.
He earned as much as S$18,000 a month from the illicit sales.
The devices were sourced from an unnamed overseas supplier, and marketed to customers by Wang’s staff with the promise of “free” access to premium content.
Source: Google reviews
Despite receiving two legal notices from the Football Association Premier League in 2020, warning him to stop the infringing activity, Wang continued his business.
He was arrested on 4 October 2022 after a raid conducted by the Intellectual Property Rights Branch of the Singapore Police Force (SPF). In that raid, more than 1,000 illegal devices were seized.
Wang’s conviction follows that of Ge Xin, who in October 2024 was sentenced to 10 months’ jail.
Ge also had his two shops, MT Gadget+ and Grandnew, fined S$200,000 and S$100,000 respectively.
Source: MT Gadget+ Singapore on Facebook
Following the sentencing, the Premier League released a statement to “commend Singapore authorities for ongoing prosecutions against sellers under Singapore Copyright Act 2021”.
Source: Premier League website
Premier League General Counsel Kevin Plumb said: “This case once again sends a message to pirates that their activity will not be tolerated and reminds consumers that buying these devices is a problem.”
According to him, more prosecutions stemming from the 2022 Sim Lim Square raids are expected.
He also expressed gratitude to the Attorney-General’s Chambers and SPF for their continued enforcement efforts.
Under Singapore’s amended Copyright Act, which took effect in November 2021, it is a criminal offence to sell media boxes with “add-on” features that enable access to pirated content.
Under the Copyright Act, an individual who makes, deals, imports, distributes or offers devices or services to access works without the authority of copyright owners can be jailed up to five years, fined up to S$100,000 or both.
A company can be fined up to S$200,000 for such copyright infringement.
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Featured image adapted from Google reviews and Proxima Studio on Canva. Pic on the right is for illustrative purposes only.