Copyright law to extend its scope to include digital world

The Macau government has just finished revising the copyright law in order to extend the protection to Internet and digital technology. The law proposal will now be sent to the Legislative Assembly, the spokesperson of the Executive Council, Leong Heng Teng, announced yesterday. However, legislators will only look into it after October 15, when their summer recess is over. According to the proposal, punishment for the infringement of copyright using Internet for commercial purposes goes from a fine of 120 days to four years in jail. The new regulation also prohibits unlocking gaming machines electrical boxes or decoders for paid television programs. Macau’s copyright law was enacted in 1999.