Friday 4 December 2009
Thursday 3 December 2009
Malaysian Internet Censorship
http://www.vpnaccounts.com/malaysian-internet-censorship.html
Censorship in Malaysia has evolved into a mixed bag of misinformation and mystery, and some people claim that new censorship plans are underway. Nobody is exactly sure what's going to happen. The Prime Minister himself denied that any plans fitting the description of censorship were underway. However, if plans to apply censorship to Malaysian Internet access do exist, it would be common place to see such a sanction inducted into law. And, as always, censorship initiatives are almost always met with stiff public opposition.
In order to accomplish these initiatives, filters are installed in cooperation with Internet service providers. For example, Thailand does not require that ISP's censor offensive content, but there is an unspoken law in countries like these. Disobeying a government request most often results in higher penalties and additional sanctions. Restricting bandwidth and revoking an ISP's license are two such penalties.
In a similar fashion, some Malaysian companies are given free will without the burden of censorship. However, if such an ISP is found to be violating Malaysian law, such as allowing an organization to launch an anti-government rally, Malaysian authorities most often wield an iron fist in the face of these rebel parties. The punishments are often extraordinarily severe, depending on the scope of the crime.
Basically, any opposition to government regulation is considered a violation of law and dealt with accordingly. Malaysia's stance on the matter is fairly simple. Any content on the Internet that could jeopardize Malaysian authority is considered to be a violation of the law. The determination of what constitutes a violation rests in the hands of Malaysian authorities.
An Internet filter stands to solve the problem of questionable content available to all Malaysians. Just like in China, any defacing of government image could lead to rebellion and/or disrespect for the country in which they live. In addition, Malaysia is not an incredibly wealthy country, so any content deemed to be detrimental to the livelihood of Malaysia would fall under the scrutiny of the censorship filter.
Wealthy individuals and businesses have the option of purchasing a VPN, or (Virtual Private Network), to gain unadulterated and uncensored access to the Internet. The advent of an Internet filter that blocks content causing damage to the public view or general morale is a wise move by Malaysian officials. As of the present moment, there are no restrictions on Internet access for the general public. But, if such a content filter is installed, there remains the problem of sites accidentally being blocked for no reason. A content filter is no match for the human mind, and there are bound to be pages filtered out that are not in violation of Malaysian censorship efforts.
When and if the filter is launched, Internet users will have to hope for the best. There is no way to know what content the filter is going to block, so business sites are in danger of temporarily losing revenue while glitches are sorted out. On the other hand, purchasing a Virtual Private Network still offers users the ability to surf the Internet without any restrictions.Tuesday 1 December 2009
Tutorial Exercise - Law on PDPD and Cybercrime
1. Linda was stunned in front her PC when she received an electronic mail, in a chain of senders and receivers, telling bad things about herself, her crazy shopping habits, her domestic problems and her involvement in superstitious activities with a bomoh(magician) allegedly for gaining her more wealth and fortunes. She is now thinking to pursue legal actions for the unfavorable email against her. With reference to the above case, explain the meaning of online defamation, and discuss the legal remedies available for Linda. (Nov 2004)
Defamation means something attack the good reputation of somebody or say bad things about somebody , meaning as a result of malice, desire to harm someone else and its a unprivileged statement of fact. Online defamation means someone attack somebody else through Internet. One would have grounds for a lawsuit if remarks were made about them that were defaming to their character online. The side have to prove that the statement is false as well as malice in order to win for the lawsuit.
In Linda case, Linda can prove the email for her lawyer to against the senders. In Malaysia, in LAW OF MALAYSIA, penal code section 499 to section 502 is applicable for the case as Linda. If the senders is found guilty, he or she might get punishment. This can be divided into civil or criminal cases. In civil cases, the person sue the makers just want to get compensation on what he/she had damage on the person’s reputation. But, in criminal cases, whoever defames another shall be punished with two years of jail or with fine or with both. For Linda, she can sue the person for damage her reputation , get compensation and seek for apologizes.
2. Tommy, a Multimedia student at MMU, was caught by University authority after it was found that he had cracked the University’s information system, defaced the front page of University’s official website and stolen a bulk of confidential data regarding students’ academic records. It was also discovered that he had attempted to break several lecturers’ computer system but without avail. On the investigation he said that all his action was just for fun exploring the system’s weaknesses and without any criminal intention. In this case, advise the University regarding Tommy’s liabilities arising from his actions with reference to the law of computer crimes in Malaysia.
What is cyber crime? Cyber crime can be simple be describe as access other people ’s personal computer without any authorised right. Other than that, illegal interception or someone damage or delete computer data without right, can be said as cyber crime too. In Malaysia Law, cyber crime can fall into Computer Crime Act 1997 that related to the misuse of computer.
Tommy had cracked university’s information system and this is the acts of unauthorized access on CCA 1997 , section 3. An person shall be guilty of an offence if (a) he causes a pc to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer ; (b)the access is unauthorized ; (c) the person knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function. Whoever fall under this section , will be liable to a maximum RM50,000 fine or 5 years jail or both.
Furthermore, Tommy had done another serious act which is defaced the front page of University’s official website and stolen a bulk of confidential data regarding students’ academic records. This can lead him under Computer Crime Act 1997 ,Section 5(1) which is the person modified of the contents of a computer without any rights. IF the person is found any guilty under this act, will be punishable with a maximum RM 100,000.00 fine or to 7 years imprisonment or to both. Nevertheless, Tommy said his action is just for fun exploring the system’s weaknesses and without any criminal intention. But, what he did was attempted to unauthorized access to his university ’s system.
Defamation means something attack the good reputation of somebody or say bad things about somebody , meaning as a result of malice, desire to harm someone else and its a unprivileged statement of fact. Online defamation means someone attack somebody else through Internet. One would have grounds for a lawsuit if remarks were made about them that were defaming to their character online. The side have to prove that the statement is false as well as malice in order to win for the lawsuit.
In Linda case, Linda can prove the email for her lawyer to against the senders. In Malaysia, in LAW OF MALAYSIA, penal code section 499 to section 502 is applicable for the case as Linda. If the senders is found guilty, he or she might get punishment. This can be divided into civil or criminal cases. In civil cases, the person sue the makers just want to get compensation on what he/she had damage on the person’s reputation. But, in criminal cases, whoever defames another shall be punished with two years of jail or with fine or with both. For Linda, she can sue the person for damage her reputation , get compensation and seek for apologizes.
2. Tommy, a Multimedia student at MMU, was caught by University authority after it was found that he had cracked the University’s information system, defaced the front page of University’s official website and stolen a bulk of confidential data regarding students’ academic records. It was also discovered that he had attempted to break several lecturers’ computer system but without avail. On the investigation he said that all his action was just for fun exploring the system’s weaknesses and without any criminal intention. In this case, advise the University regarding Tommy’s liabilities arising from his actions with reference to the law of computer crimes in Malaysia.
What is cyber crime? Cyber crime can be simple be describe as access other people ’s personal computer without any authorised right. Other than that, illegal interception or someone damage or delete computer data without right, can be said as cyber crime too. In Malaysia Law, cyber crime can fall into Computer Crime Act 1997 that related to the misuse of computer.
Tommy had cracked university’s information system and this is the acts of unauthorized access on CCA 1997 , section 3. An person shall be guilty of an offence if (a) he causes a pc to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer ; (b)the access is unauthorized ; (c) the person knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function. Whoever fall under this section , will be liable to a maximum RM50,000 fine or 5 years jail or both.
Furthermore, Tommy had done another serious act which is defaced the front page of University’s official website and stolen a bulk of confidential data regarding students’ academic records. This can lead him under Computer Crime Act 1997 ,Section 5(1) which is the person modified of the contents of a computer without any rights. IF the person is found any guilty under this act, will be punishable with a maximum RM 100,000.00 fine or to 7 years imprisonment or to both. Nevertheless, Tommy said his action is just for fun exploring the system’s weaknesses and without any criminal intention. But, what he did was attempted to unauthorized access to his university ’s system.
Internet Content Regulation
What is Content Regulation? The open and ubiquitous nature of the internet facilities all kinds of abuses. Obscenity, hatred speech, defamatory messages, indecent content and other type of harmful contents flourish in the internet. For this reason, many countries are now regulating speech on the Internet, just like what they have traditionally done all types of mass media.
Offensive contents that could implicate in content regulation are defamation:libel and slander, child pornography, rumor mongering, hatred messages, workplace issues and against public norms.
Malaysia had an unique law which is 'no cencorship policy'. Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 was implemented by Malaysia government for internet content regulation. "nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting the censorship of the internet".
In order to regulate the harmful content, under Communication and Multimedia Act 1998, Multimedia Commission is required to form Content Forum comprising of industry leaders, consumer NGOs and government agencies.
Offensive contents that could implicate in content regulation are defamation:libel and slander, child pornography, rumor mongering, hatred messages, workplace issues and against public norms.
Malaysia had an unique law which is 'no cencorship policy'. Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 was implemented by Malaysia government for internet content regulation. "nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting the censorship of the internet".
In order to regulate the harmful content, under Communication and Multimedia Act 1998, Multimedia Commission is required to form Content Forum comprising of industry leaders, consumer NGOs and government agencies.
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