Chinese national arrested for selling USBs with downloaded content

The Optical Media Board (OMB) on Thursday arrested a Chinese national for allegedly selling unregistered storage devices that contained pre-installed content, according to Glen Juego’s report on Super Radyo dzBB.

In an interview, OMB chairman Christian Natividad said they apprehended 50-year-old Lin Quinggun, an overstaying foreign national, in Carriedo.

“Based doon sa intelligence report ng ating mga operatiba ay meron ‘di umano dito na isang foreign national na nag e-engage sa business of selling ng mga storage devices without the proper necessary licenses and permit that are required under OMB laws,” Natividad said.

FLASH REPORT: Isang foreign national, inaresto ng Optical Media Board dahil sa pagbebenta ng mga piniratang pelikula. | via@glenjuego pic.twitter.com/gxvvdzSUQO

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) October 8, 2020

Natividad said that regardless of the content of the storage devices, selling them without a proper license was already a violation of Republic Act 9239 or the Optical Media Act of 2003.

“The mere fact of selling, mag-benta ka lang ng mga USBs, storage devices, ng mga nakumpiska natin dito, hard drives and flash drives, ay without the necessary license and permit dito sa Optical Media Board is a violation of RA 9239,” he said.

“‘Yung iba naman namin na nahuli dito, storage device na siya, may pre-installed music and videos pa siya. Na it’s also a violation of RA 9239,” he added.

However, the chairman said that piracy and regulation of storage devices were different things.

“Kung meron kang storage device na nandyan… at hindi ka kumuha ng lisensya dito, kapag ikaw ay nag-benta nito, kapag ikaw ay nag-manufacture nito, kapag nag-replicate ka nito, pagka nag-export at import ka nito without the necessary license and permit under the OMB ay kukumpisakihan po natin ‘yan,” he said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News