Update: IPOS replies to Chris (I had to add the "to" or else Tym the Teacher, whom I love to bits, will scolding me for my grammer, hehe) and Scott Snow wrote a post on this too.
I am not sure if many of you realise this, but if you own an iPod or an MP3 player in Singapore, and you ripped music off your OWN CDs, you are actually breaking the law in Singapore.
After the papers reported about the 3 guys who got arrested for illegal filesharing under the new law, there was this FAQ that was quoted off the IPOS site (Intellectual Property Office of Singapore).
Q. How do I know whether the songs in my computer or MP3 player are legal?A. If you didn't buy it from a legal site like Soundbuzz, it is probably illegal. Plus, when you buy a CD, the rights only apply to the CD; this means you cannot rip songs out and make them into MP3s for your player.
Generally, it's advisable to check the terms and conditions of use before you make a copy of the songs. -- SOURCE: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF SINGAPORE"
I was not the only one having this conclusion when I saw the newspaper article. Chris wrote a post on this, (found via Tomorrow) and Unionpost also has a post on this.
Anthony Lim points out, in his comment on the Tomorrow post, that:
"Actually, IPOS is right on the money here - it is illegal to rip songs from your CD and place them in your MP3 player. It's illegal because the fair use defence in Singapore is limited to very narrow circumstances (reporting news, private study etc)."
So technically, does that mean a policeman can pull you off the streets when they see you listening to your iPod, and arrest you for breaking the Singapore copyright law?
Learned opinions on this matter are welcome.
