KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — Astro group chief officer-designate Euan Smith has welcomed the High Court’s declaration that a restaurant’s owners acted illegally when they streamed content, including Premier League football, through a pirate broadcast of the service.
In a statement today, Smith said that the court’s decision set an important legal precedent for cases of copyright infringement.
“Piracy deeply hurts our ability to keep serving sports fans and commercial enterprises.
“It damages the income of the entire content creation industry, reduces the amount of tax being received by the government to support the Malaysian economy, and puts food and beverage (F&B) outlet owners at risk of serious financial penalties,” he said.
Premier League general counsel Kevin Plumb similarly praised the court’s decision.
In October 22, the Premier League and international group Alliance of Creativity and Entertainment jointly undertook action against the premise in question — 42 East Pub and Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.
Astro and the Premier League were seeking a declaration from the court that the showing of pirated content is illegal.
The court, which issued its verdict on 14 November, confirmed this was the case.
