What is understood to be South Africa’s first criminal trial for uploading a video file to the Internet has been delayed, after it was referred to a different court ahead of a scheduled hearing.

The case against of a Mr M Norton, from the Cape Flats, was set to be heard February 11th in Athlone magistrates court. Norton is accused of uploading an unnamed TV series to a file-sharing website, ahead of its commercial release.

Norton’s December indictment alleged a loss of revenue amounting to R126,000 (€8,420), with the charge claiming contravention of the Counterfeit Goods Act.

Norton’s case has been transferred to the Special Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville, with a hearing scheduled for February 26th.

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