Judge Muhamad Anas Mahadzir handed down the sentence on Ng Lee Lee, 46, after she pleaded guilty to all six charges.

In his judgement, Anas said the accused’s act of selling the TV media boxes was a form of piracy by taking shortcuts and benefits from other people’s hard work.

“The court appreciates the honesty and guilty plea, but what’s wrong is wrong because this is a very serious offence,” he said.

Ng is the first individual to be sentenced under Section 232 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which provides for a fine of not exceeding RM300,000 fine or imprisonment of up three years, or both, if found guilty.

According to the charges, Ng was accused of possessing six iBoite-X media boxes which contain the MyTV.apk software to wrongfully obtain the content applications service provided by Measat Broadcast Network System Sdn Bhd, otherwise known as Astro.

The offences were allegedly committed in Taman Putra Prima, Puchong at about 2.30pm on Dec 12, 2019.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Syazwani Zawawi offered a RM30,000 fine for each charge after taking into account the interest of the public, content creators and creative content as the accused’ act had caused the government to lose income through taxes.

In mitigation, lawyer Low Li Qun who represented the accused said this was her client’s first offence, besides she has to take care of her sick parents and three children.