No decision yet on proposal to ban sale of illegal Android TV boxes — Eddin

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PUTRAJAYA: The government has yet to decide on whether or not to ban the sale of illegal Android TV boxes currently available in the local market.

Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Eddin Syazlee Shith said discussions on the matter were still ongoing between the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP).

The ban is being mulled as the use of Android TV box, which offers a lot of extra services and content, involves some issues concerning the Copyright Act, which is under the purview of the KPDNHEP.

At present, the legal providers of such services and content in Malaysia are Astro IPTV and TM HyppTV.

“Both the MCMC and the KPDNHEP are in the midst of doing an in-depth study on the matter by focusing on several aspects, especially the effect of the content to the consumers.

“We hope the study will be completed before end of this year, and until then, there is no ruling to restrict or completely ban the sale of the Android box,” he said when asked whether Malaysia would emulate Singapore’s move to table new laws to ban the sale of illegal Android streaming boxes.

Earlier, the deputy minister launched the Malaysian chapter of Safer Internet Day 2019 celebration, which was also attended by the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Dr Ali Mohamad Nor here yesterday.

According to Eddin Syazlee, the month-long celebration themed ‘Cyber Wellness’ would be focusing on digital health and ethics among youths.

He said based on a survey, 35 per cent of Internet users aged between 15 and 30 were suffering from Internet addiction, allocating an average of seven hours a day to surf the Internet.

“That is why we will organise a campaign led by CyberSecurity Malaysia to educate these young people about Internet ethics because apart from ethical issues, uncontrolled use of the Internet can also affect their health,” he said. — Bernama