Avatar the Last Airbender film leak: Man in Singapore arrested for unauthorised access to media server

A 26-year-old man has been arrested for unauthorised access to a media-content server, the police said on Friday (April 24).

He had allegedly gained unauthorised remote access to a media server and downloaded a film — reportedly The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender — and leaked snippets of the film online.

The police received a report on April 16 that extracts of the animated film, which had yet to be released, were circulating on social media platforms.

"Through follow-up investigations, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department swiftly established the identity of the man and arrested him within a day of the report," the police stated.

Electronic devices belonging to him were seized and a copy of the film was recovered from his devices.

He is being investigated for unauthorised access to computer material under the Computer Misuse Act 1993.

If found guilty, he faces up to seven years' jail and a fine of up to $50,000.

This arrest comes amid worldwide furore following the alleged leak of the film's clips on X, formerly known as Twitter, by user ImStillDissin.

The user had reportedly claimed that American production company Nickelodeon had accidentally emailed the movie to him, also uploading a now-deleted extract of the movie with his post.

By April 13, an unrelated account allegedly belonging to someone in Singapore leaked the full movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

[[nid:734392]]

khooyihang@asiaone.com