Are you a cybercriminal?
There is currently a bill pending in the 14th Congress seeking to define cybercrime and provide for its prevention and the imposition of penalties therefor. The bill, House Bill 6794, is a consolidation of eight different House Bills filed by different members of the House of Representatives with regard to different forms of cybercrimes, including those with reference to cyber-sex, cyber-prostitution and child pornography.
The bill has some positive points:
It recognizes Internet usage as a positive development in technology, that it has become a way of life in almost all government, corporate and even personal operations, functions and communications.
It recognizes the necessity to come up with legislation to “protect the right to privacy” of Internet users and cyber citizens, particularly against phishing and spamming.
It is an effort to instill into the Internet somehow a “code of ethics,” or standards for “correct and responsible usage” as is the practice being followed and abided by users of other medium as dictated by law or community-accepted values.
However, some proposals may be deemed problematic, either in premise or presentation.
Kabataan Partylist, through this blog site, would like to consult you, Filipino ‘netizens’, on your comments and suggestions with regard to the bill, before Congress passes it on second reading, and eventually resolves to legislate it into law. The text of the bill may be read here.
Photo from: http://www.britannica.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cybercrime.jpg
I will have a problem with the definition of cybersex. The bill has pussyfooting terminologies like “indecent,” “private acts,” and “obscene.” C’mon. What are the definitions of these terms? I consider somebody’s ugly face or obese figure as obscene. I consider “snuggling” as a private act, so does that mean if I distribute pictures of me snuggling with my girlfriend, even if we both consent to posting it in Flickr, that is considered a cybercrime?
By “operation” do they mean an organized outfit, as implied by (h)? If so then perhaps (a) isn’t so bad as it’s just an extension of outlawing prostitution dens as already in effect. Otherwise, it’s simply ridiculous.
(d) and (e) should be qualified as prohibited from public viewing as is public indecency is defined.
In the course of my job as a virtual assistant and a blogger, I learned that spamming is illegal in the United States and they are strict about this. It is really easy to tract the IP address of the email sender, even the moderator/owner of this blog can see my IP address when I post this comment.
So I guess I need to spam you guys before this bill is enacted into law. lol. just kidding.
I am making money online in a legal way, but I know cyber prostitution is a big industry nowadays. No wonder why we see a lot of these on the news. Cyber sex dens are proliferating in the country because of cheaper talent fees of Pinays.
I support the crackdown of these dens. NBI should hire IT personnel to address the issue.
Kailangang pag-aralan at ipasa ang batas sa lalong madaling panahon…
Can I post this on my twitter?
I’ll post more inputs when I have the time. So far though, I see a huge privacy issue in the entirety of Chapter 4, that technically legalizes electronic espionage even among private citizens.
Also, what is even more disturbing is that should a file be found to be encrypted, people are forced under this law to reveal the contents of said file. Under Section 13 of the said law, “The law enforcement authorities may order any person who has knowledge about the functioning of the computer system and the measures to protect and preserve the computer data therein to provide, as is reasonable, the necessary information, to enable the undertaking of the search, seizure and examination.” This goes against the right against self-incrimination of individuals.
Lastly, Section 15 is definitely disturbing. Section 4 says that the Philippines will “Entertain a request of another nation for it to order or obtain the expeditious preservation of data stored by means of a computer system, located within Philippine territory, relative to which the requesting nation intends to submit a request for mutual assistance for the search or similar access, seizure or similar securing, or disclosure of the stored computer data.” Therefore, I imagine bodies like the MPAA or RIAA finally being able to reach Philippine territory. Not a comforting thought
Time to encrypt my data and employ plausible deniability.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
if a couple in their legal age,who live apart and see each other every few years, engage in cybersex as a way of communicating… would they be criminals for self-expression?
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