ask: internet freedom in SG

sp-kenny SG

Hi from Jakarta, Indonesia!

I would like to ask questions regarding (internet) freedom of speech, legalities and rules that apply in Singapore.
My GF is an indonesian studying in SG; brought a laptop from indonesia (with a copied version of win OS). Because she forgot to switch off the automatic update feature, her win OS was detected as non original. Since she was living in SG, she literally panicked that if she continued using this copy, someday the police would come knocking on her doorstep & arresting her. I simply told her to relax & re install. But she insisted on purchasing an original version & thats exactly what she did.
I know the grim reality of my advice was wrong, but here in Indonesia where everything pirated & knock offs prevail its somewhat "not a big deal" to use these things... Twisted Evil

My questions are:
Did my GF over react?

Here in jakarta, there are many buy&sell internet sites that offer varied (either legal or illegal) items; Either branded knock offs, internet pay site passes, original merchandise meant for export, adult ent, soft&hardware, glasses, tv series, electronics, sportswear (last week i bought an adidas jacket for about SGD 25 Mr. Green ), etc: virtually anything CHEAP ! Is this also happening in SG?

The online media in Indonesia is really open, many news sites offer real time news; good or bad, which the government has little to none control of. I ask again, is this also what its like over there?

Is it ok if i were to share my knowledge websites of anything cheap (either legal or illegal) for example recorded motivational dvds?

Thank You and I hope not to offend anyone, just looking to find out info regarding SG internet life...

kiss_my (_i_) SG

so ur point is?

sp-kenny SG

My point? Im asking questions duhh Rolling Eyes

kiss_my (_i_) SG

looks like u quite familiar with here

sp-kenny SG

out of topic: A few days ago my friend in SG told me about this great forum Very Happy
Enough about me, how about helping me answer my curiosity Question

aHGer^83 SG

u want cheap things in SG? than it can't be legal... duh...
from my experience, legal/illegal windows, it doesn't matter so long u are not being caught while buyin the illegal one...
and er... if she d/l stuffs like movies/songs, that's illegal.... Rolling Eyes
and er.. i dun actually get ur point....

ndmmxiaomayi SG

1. Your GF did over react. That doesn't mean I support piracy either. The police won't come knocking on her door. Neither will MS crash her Windows. At the most, she can't receive certain updates if her computer crashed.

2. Not that I know of. But I doubt if any wants to shop there either. For the security of their bank accounts.

3. There's only 2 major local news sites here. Not very open, but about what you need to know about the local news. However, international sites on SG news are quite open, you can visit them. There's no restriction on that. Physically, some are banned here, but online, they are not.

4. If you want, you could. I got my sources, I don't mind adding. Mr. Green

BrUtUs SG

x2.... the usual clone...

Where Is God SG

I believe you are mistaken.

There's no internet in Singapore.

kramnave SG

We are only restricted to some pornographic websites as the government wants to that it does not stand for that.

Singapore did have widespread piracy concerns in the past but we have kept it under control. Piracy in computer related software had in the past helped us to gain knowledge that would otherwise be rather unaffordable for many. However our society is more affluent now and Singapore wants to be knowned to protect intellectual property rights and being an anti-pirate assists in the formulation of Free Trade Agreements. Thus most forms of piracy widespread.

We hardly get knockdowns (illegal or otherwise) due to our stance against piracy and we don't have brands like Nike setting up sweatshops in our country as labour costs are considerably higher.

No we do not have police knocking on our doors due to illegal softwares on our PCs. Businesses do however get into trouble when someone blows the whistle on them. Whistleblowers get rewarded by software developers Laughing

mancha SG

Yes.

AndrewPKYap SG

x 2 Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi SG

Rolling Eyes

Phaze SG

What is the internet? Someone told me it's a series of tubes.

But anyway, your gf over-reacted. But it's good that she bought the OS. Reduced functionality mode is not usable anyway.

selfobliged SG

as long she didn’t get caught while buying pirated softwares, then it’s ok.

LatecomerX SG

Your GF over-reacted.

And, for your country, things are cheap, either legal or illegal. In Singapore, things are either free and illegal or expensive and legal. Open-source stands in the middle of both.

sp-kenny SG

thanks for the input guys Very Happy

wishboy SG

aiyo over-reacted riaoz

1 important reminder, dun download anime, such as bleach/d-gray man, thru p2p softwares, it is the easiest to get caught (or we call odex-ed)
fines can be as high as SGD 10,000

music, videos and such can be said to be quite safe to download, very little chances of getting caught

also, it is advisable not to tap on others' wireless internet connection (other than the free [email protected]) as it is illegal and the police have taken action on these people

and, dun watch prawns, bad for ur eyesight Laughing

mancha SG

Yea! a lot of Singaporeans watch prawns, that's why it is the spectacles capital of the world. Laughing

LatecomerX SG

Time to spoil your eyesight, again. Twisted Evil

*ALERT: Kids, please do not scroll down.*

Embarassed