Malaysian Cyber Cafe Owners Liable For Patron Behavior 119
An anonymous reader writes "Malaysia's new internet law maybe simply the toughest on the planet. According to the new law which was amended because of protesters the originators of content are those who own, administer, and/or edit websites, blogs, and online forums. This means that a blogger or forum moderator who allows nasty comments against the government on their site can be held liable. An internet café manager is accountable if one of his or her customers sends illegal content online through the store's WiFi. A mobile phone user is the perpetrator if defamatory content is traced back to his or her electronic device. Critics of the new law contend also that a person is considered guilty until proven innocent."
Re:I don't get it... (Score:5, Interesting)
I just think my country would be great and I don't understand why none of the small-time dictators, not even once, have seen it my way.
They have, precisely once. [wikipedia.org]
Wow. That's almost as bad as... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Wait... (Score:4, Interesting)
Making owners of internet choke points responsible for censorship is a very effective proposition for a government that wants maximum effectiveness with minimum resource utilization. If someone used your computers to cause a problem, the government doesn't need to identify that person, all they need to do is come get you if your cafe allowed that on to the internet. That or you can preemptively filter, monitor and control content for the government on your own dime.
Provided it was legal, if I owned an internet cafe in Malaysia I'd just pay for access to an out of the country proxy service and point the router at it. Put Firefox on all of the computers with the "https anywhere" extension and put some kind of macro program on the computers that automatically rewrites any establishment identifying information like IP address, street address or whatever so hapless users don't accidentally give up their identity despite the encryption. I don't know how well tor works in Malaysia but that could be an option too.
I'm not saying my plan is fool-proof as it's just off the top of my head but I wouldn't take this law lying down if I didn't have to.
Re:whereas... (Score:3, Interesting)
I agree with you that this should be the outcome of the trial. But the fact that he was charged still makes sense - he violated one rule to uphold another. The fact that he's not had a trial yet is the only real issue.
Yes, this sort of thing is exactly what the justice system was (allegedly) designed for.
IMO, every government official should be tried for treason at some point. The innocent will be exonerated, the guilty will be punished accordingly, and so long as the proceedings are carried out in accordance with the Constitution, everybody is a winner (well, everybody but the traitors).
Re:Malaysia is hopeless... (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, what did you expect from a predominantly Muslim country? Progressive politics?
Perhaps you should go to Malaysia some day. It's improving fast, has some of the best roads and infrastructure in the region as well as high levels of education. Food prices are kept low, and so is fuel and electricity, so most people have at least an opportunity to live well.
Nor is it uniformly Islamic. Even on the east coast, where the religion dominates, it's still easy enough to do as you choose, and in places like Penang, it's barely visible.
Most of this stuff is posturing, and has less affect on real people than idiocy like the *IAA pogroms being run out of the US.