We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

ZDNet / News / Internet / Story

S'pore Wi-Fi hotspots protected from lawsuits

By Kevin Kwang, ZDNet Asia on December 4, 2009

Summary

As long as operators of public Internet access areas aren't complicit in security breaches, they won't be liable in eyes of Singapore's law, says lawyer.

Topics

hotspot, internet, internet service, lawsuit, network, service provider, singapore, u.k., wi-fi, wi-fi network

Events

Microsoft MSDN/Developer Event
25 Mar 2010

One Marina Boulevard, Microsoft Singapore

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

SINGAPORE--Service providers that offer public Internet access, including retail outlets such as Starbucks or McDonald's, will not be legally liable if malicious hackers ride on their Wi-Fi hotspot to download illegal content or conduct other cybercrimes, according to a lawyer specializing in intellectual property (IP).

This week, a U.K. pub was fined after someone unlawfully downloaded copyrighted material over their open Wi-Fi network.

In Singapore, however, as long as the providers of such Internet services are not complicit or aware of the illegal act, they will not face prosecution in local courts, said Mark Lim, head of intellectual property of media and entertainment at local law firm, Tan Peng Chin.

"Open Wi-Fi providers will only be liable if they actively encourage or know that their customers are using their Internet source to conduct illegal activities online [and] yet continue allowing them access to its hotspot," said Lim in a phone interview with ZDNet Asia.

According to Singapore's Copyright Act, one is liable when the person authorizes infringement of copyrighted works, he added.

Not so clear-cut in U.K.
Legal lines may not be as clear in the United Kingdom. According to a report by ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK, Lilian Edwards, a professor of Internet law at Sheffield Law School, said: "Businesses running open Wi-Fi networks should brace themselves for a slew of copyright warnings from IP rights (IPR) holders.

"You're probably OK for now in terms of data retention, but watch out for the pile of copyright infringement warnings coming your way." She added that the situation might worsen with the introduction of the U.K. Digital Economy Bill, which stipulates users who download copyrighted content illegally and have been warned by their Internet service providers (ISPs), could face having their Internet access temporarily disconnected.

While Edwards noted that businesses would likely be exempted from having their accounts suspended because the Bill states that only "subscribers" can be targeted with sanctions, the IPR holder seeking infringers of their copyright might not know whether the Internet Protocol address that flouted the law belonged to a private user or a business entity.

In the case of the U.K. pub, the hotspot operator--and also the business owner--will have to point out that they were not the end-user illegally downloading copyrighted content. "But, when would they get to say that? Maybe straightaway, maybe not until after disconnection--it's not currently clear," Edwards said.

Singapore's ICT regulator, Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), could not respond at press time.

Related stories

Pub 'fined' US$12K for Wi-Fi copyright infringement

Wi-Fi's success relies on ubiquity

Three-strikes piracy deterrent not for S'pore

France adopts three-strikes law for piracy

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

RT @mistertechblog: I wrote about Nexus One and Touchdown, desktop dock, Bluetooth/USB tethering, ebooks here: http://bit.ly/bRdzx0

5 hours 21 minutes ago by yklee13 on topsy

Read my blog post on getting the most from your Nexus One: http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/m...

Data Centre Operator (Fresh Graduates Welcome to Apply) in ... http://bit.ly/bagYuu

5 hours 52 minutes ago by intmasterfeed on topsy

#Cisco #Cloud Cloud on ZDNet Asia: Aussie university joins Cisco cloud ยท Early-adopter criminals embrace cloud... http://bit.ly/d93C8S #TCN

6 hours 54 minutes ago by thetechgang on topsy

www.3w.com.au has seen it's outsourced IT Contracting Business in Manila grow at 4 times the rate of its traditional Australian Based...

13 hours 33 minutes ago by brucemills on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

RT @3wconsulting: Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oY9f

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbA

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbz

Zdnetasia.com Estimated Worth $178,365 USD. Daily Ad Revenue:$244 USD, Daily Views:81,445 Pages... - http://www.haplog.com/www.zdneta...

recently estimated website net worth of zdnetasia.com - http://www.haplog.com/www.zdneta...

23 hours 25 minutes ago by haplog on topsy

When I create an event, I click on an approximate time during the day when I want the event to occur, then I click "edit event detail...

1 day 1 minute ago by bessellbrowne on Google Calendar gets 'smart' rescheduling

ipads break alott i had one it broke three times in the month i had it so i got rid of the damn thing id just go for the laptop Top Grade...

1 day 3 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Report: 'Hundreds of thousands' of iPad preorders

There are a number of websites that still require Internet Explorer to view and IE for Mac Stinks (it is really ies4osx which is the Wind...

1 day 5 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Microsoft: Only minor tweaks in Windows 7 SP1

The receivers don't transmit back to the satellite. Unless there is a phone line attached to the receiver, they don't have any wa...

1 day 8 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Apple to join the geolocation craze?

"Lead Cognos BI Developer Insurance - Jobs - ZDNet Asia" http://bit.ly/bRcxOG

1 day 2 minutes ago by rhrcognos on topsy

whatever little understanding I have we 'll only progress toward end of the world if we use HPCs to lenthen life of human being. Huma...

2 days 14 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing promises elixir of life

Thanks for the knowledgeable article on SDDs. Allas...when all this reasearch will happen in Indian Universities. Hope the new bill on Fo...

2 days 27 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on APAC HPC users eye solid-state drives

It was a good article. This brings a good opportunity for Indian IT firms to come up with new solutions in this field. HPC can become a b...

2 days 46 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing most-wanted job in Asia

COL KR DHARMADHIKARY(RETD) its very late to reply the link, but if it is still alive and looking for opportunity, i would like to know th...

2 days 43 minutes ago by deb021280 on Education takes off in rural India, helped by PCs

It was just a matter of time until google was marginalised anyway. I'm afraid this will be forgotten in China very quickly. Still, it...

2 days 48 minutes ago by robinsmith on Report: Google to leave China on April 10

High performance computing (HPC) most-wanted job in Asia http://bit.ly/9vFC3i (via @zdnetasia) #singapore

He doesn't care if her shoes are of glass, All he wants to see is a huge rack and nice a*s. Sleeping beauty's not awoken by true ...

2 days 17 minutes ago by warlowdavies on One pair of 3D glasses to rule them all

RT @zdnetasia: EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. (cont) http://tl.gd/i5jjd

EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. http://bit.ly/9etOZW

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08 via @zdnetasia

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

3 days 27 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

3 days 12 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

Very good explanation of JMX

4 days 17 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

4 days 20 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

4 days 22 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license

Keep up with ZDNet Asia

Linkedin Join our network

RSS Feeds Subscribe now

Newsletters Subscribe today

Twitter Follow us

Inside ZDNet Asia

Special Report: Tech Focus in 2010

Latest Videos on Tech Industry

Insight: Interviews with Newsmakers

Search for over 15,000 Tech Jobs in Asia

Find your Tech answers in TechGuides

IT Library: Over 60,000 IT papers at your fingertips

Download IT Priorities 2010 Report