SA Internet pirate court appearance
A Cape Town man, one Mr Norton from the Cape Flats, appeared in the Athlone court on the morning of Friday, 13 December 2013, for allegedly uploading a high-profile South African film to a torrent site.
That’s the word from the CEO of the Southern African Federation Against Copyright Theft (Safact), Corné Guldenpfennig.
Guldenpfennig said that the suspect was granted bail of R1,000, and the case was transferred to the Cape Town Commercial Crime Court, where it is scheduled to begin on 11 February 2014.
Although she was not able to reveal the name of the film, Guldenpfennig previously told MyBroadband that the movie was distributed via The Pirate Bay.
When asked about the significance of the case, Guldenpfennig said that it is a first for South Africa and that they made extremely certain of all the rights issues around this situation.
“You have to be extremely careful before making a first example,” she said.
Guldenpfennig said that they will bring charges against the person arrested in terms of the Counterfeit Goods Act and article 27 of the Copyright Act. Safact is investigating other charges, Guldenpfennig said.
More on digital copyright in South Africa
First for SA: Internet pirate arrested in Cape Town
SA Internet users must be allowed to copy and share (for research): DTI
Online Piracy: What happens when you get caught
Warning: Piracy over P2P a crime
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