         3 April 1997

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         Inter Press Service, April 2, 1997

         MALAYSIA: CYBER LAWS PASSED TO SUPPORT HIGH-TECH DREAMS

         PENANG - Malaysia is busy implementing a network of "cyber laws"
         to support its plans for transforming the country into a hub for
         multimedia commerce.

         Among the government's plans is to be the first country in the
         world to set up a "cyber court," a minister in the Prime
         Minister's department said recently.

         With advanced cyber laws to make this possible, the country
         would be "the first on-line reference center for criminal cases
         world-wide," the official said.

         Since March 24, parliament has passed several new "cyber
         bills" in its current session. The bills cover computer crimes,
         digital signature, intellectual property protection, and
         telemedicine development.

         These are the first steps in setting up a regulatory framework
         to support companies involved in multimedia commerce
         located in the proposed 50 kilometer by 15 kilometer
         Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) south of Kuala Lumpur.

         The Super Corridor project is being pushed by Prime Minister
         Mahathir Mohamad, who sees it as a high-tech paradise that
         will transform Malaysia into Southeast Asia's technology
         heavyweight.

         The Super Corridor would combine business incentives with
         advanced computer technology and skills to provide a hub for
         hundreds of multimedia and information-technology firms.

         But for this to be successful and attract investors, Malaysia
         would have to demonstrate its adherence to upholding
         intellectual property rights. Indeed, experts say this is the real
         aim of the country's new cyber laws, even if they cannot at
         once be implemented.

         For instance, opposition leader Lim Kit Siang asked how
         Malaysia can have the world's first cyber court "when its
         judicial system has not yet gone on-line, while other countries
         are already quite advanced in electronic usage in their
         administration of justice."

         Mustafa Annuar, a lecturer in mass communications, said,
         "The new legislation is a way to impress on investors that
         Malaysia means business in copyright protection." He added,
         "The cyber bills are more to protect the international players
         in the MSC and to encourage them to come over here."

         But Mustafa says such strict cyber laws would mainly benefit
         Western software creators, while computer users in the
         developing world would have to fork out large sums to buy
         software.

         The government also plans to pursue two other laws on
         information technology. The fate of these bills on multimedia
         convergence and electronic government remains uncertain for
         now pending further study.

         The bill on electronic government will be crucial when
         Malaysia's new administrative capital, Putrajaya, is ready.
         Putrajaya, which lies in the Super Corridor, will be the center
         of electronic government.

         In the meantime, Lim urged the government to allow full
         public discussion of the proposed cyber laws. He said
         Malaysians are entitled to know how the government plans to
         fulfill its pledge to provide the region's best copyright
         protection and cyber laws in order to carve a niche for itself
         in high technology.

         The bills have not been circulated to the public. The
         Malaysian Medical Association and the Malaysian Bar
         Council, whose members will be affected by the cyber laws,
         have not been consulted.

         Experts say the scope of the computer crimes bill must be
         wide enough to cover every possible crime. "We want the
         definition of the law in the bill to be wide enough to cover
         stealing of data," said professor Khaw Lake Tee.

         After all, she said that in cyberspace "an unauthorized person
         can just enter a system and copy information, which amounts
         to stealing." The bill, she said, should also clarify whether
         computer evidence is admissible in court.

         While these cyber bills should beef up the country's
         technology backbone, critics say they are not a total solution
         to computer hacking or to threats to integrity of computer
         networks.

         Recently, a computer hacker easily tampered with Telekom
         Malaysia's Internet home page. Lim cites a United States
         General Accounting Office report that say computers of the
         U.S. Defense Department was subjected to 160,000 attacks
         in 1995.

         Others fear the right to privacy may be affected once all
         databases in the country are linked, as is the eventual plan.

         "Protection of privacy through data protection legislation is
         necessary in an information society," Lim said. He said the
         vast flows of all kinds of personal information through
         computer networks, such as credit card information,
         transaction processing and health information, made such
         laws vital.

         Mustafa agrees that "free flow of information can be very
         beneficial to business people and the government, but all this
         at the expense of the citizens' right to privacy."

         He notes the irony in the fact that while Malaysia talks about
         leaping into the era of high technology -- which entails
         opening up and expanding the freedom of information -- it
         still has laws that can be used to clamp down on dissent.

         "Surely along with these cyber laws one should also think of
         repealing laws that hinder the free flow of information such
         as the Official Secrets Act," says Mustafa. "It should go hand
         in hand."

         With free flow of information on the Internet, there should be
         more room for freedom of expression in society, Mustafa
         argues. Thus, he says the Official Secrets Art and the
         Printing Presses and Publications Act, both of which have
         been pinpointed as curtailing media freedom, should be
         repealed.

         Social campaigners have long been calling for these laws to
         be replaced with a new Freedom of Information Act. Such a
         law, they argue, would propel Malaysia into the Information
         Age faster than a string of cyber bills.

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