http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9232216/Philippines_Supreme_Court_restrains_government_from_enforcing_new_cyber_law?source=rss_latest_content&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+computerworld%2Fnews%2Ffeed+%28Latest+from+Computerworld%29
The Supreme Court in the Philippines has
temporarily restrained the government from enforcing a new controversial
cyber law, in response to petitions from civil rights and journalists
groups in the country.
In a temporary restraining order
(TRO), the court on Tuesday enjoined the government from implementing
or enforcing the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which makes online
libel a cybercrime with the prospect of being punished twice for one
act, allows the authorities to take down a website alleged of violating
the cyber law without judicial review, and also provides for collection
of real-time traffic data without a warrant or judicial order, according
to its critics.
By punishing libel as a cybercrime simply because it is committed
through a computer system, the clear intent of the provision of the Act
is to single out Internet users in their chosen medium of expression,
according to one of the 15 petitions before the Supreme Court.
The court has ordered that the respondents including the office
of the country's solicitor general comment on the case within 10 days.
The oral arguments for the case have been set for Jan. 15.
The new Act, also known as the Republic Act No. 10175, was signed
into law by the country's president Benigno S. Aquino III last month,
and took effect from Oct. 3.
It has been noted for other provisions,
such as banning cybersex, which is defined as the "willful engagement,
maintenance, control, or operation, directly or indirectly, of any
lascivious exhibition of sexual organs or sexual activity, with the aid
of a computer system, for favor or consideration."
Civil rights groups and journalist organizations have welcomed
the Supreme Court decision. The TRO signals that the court under chief
justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will remain independent and attuned to the
sentiments of the Filipino people, said Philippine Internet Freedom
Alliance (PIFA) in a statement.
PIFA however called on the people to remain vigilant as the
Supreme Court can still choose to later on lift the TRO "under pressure
from anti-democratic forces who want to see the Cybercrime Prevention
Act implemented."
Faced with protests including the hacking of government websites,
the government earlier this month sounded a conciliatory note, stating
that no government entity has moved to deprive anyone of access to the
Internet or to suppress civil liberties online.
"In fact what has taken place is that hackers who claim to be
aligned with critics of the Cybercrime Act are the ones who have engaged
in online vandalism, depriving the broader public of access to much
needed government information and services online," it said in a statement which indicated that there was still an opportunity for "reasonable discourse".
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you have a comment regarding the post above, please feel free to leave it here.