The Malaysian Experience

Internet and e-commerce are two of the prime drivers of

communications market. But, without globally accepted cyber laws, they are unlikely to

succeed. Prof Zakaria Siddiqi, takes up the example of Malaysia, which happens to be

amongst the first few countries to formulate a comprehensive set of



cyber laws.

Malaysia is probably one of the

few countries in the world to respond so quickly to new developments particularly in the

field of IT and cyber laws. The Malaysian Government has not

width="113" height="110" alt="https://img-cdn.thepublive.com/filters:format(webp)/vnd/media/post_attachments/5c42f85e131d16b4f69056bb8e5526943f296eca8ac52a32de0840e37a3a693e.gif (8920 bytes)" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="4">Prof. M Zakaria Siddiqi is professor of law, International Islamic University, Malaysia The author is at mzaksid@mailcity.com

only updated the old laws but

also created innovative cyber laws. Some of them are the first of their kind in the world

and are well suited to be emulated by other countries. The need for such legislations has

been felt due to the phenomenon of e-commerce.

The principal laws are

Communication and Multimedia Act 1998, Digital Signature Act 1997, Computer Crime Act

1997, and Tele-medicine Act1997.

Significant changes have been

made in several statutes to incorporate the use of electronic media. These laws include

Copyright (Amendment) Act 1997, Companies (Amendment) Act 1998, Interpretation (Amendment)

Act 1997, and the Evidence (Amendment) Act.

The hub of activities in Malyasia

with respect to IT and e-business is an area of 15x50 kilometre south of and inclusive of

Kuala Lumpur, called Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). It has involved an investment of $20

billion for business and government to use it as a test bed for new cyber laws,

broadcasting, entertainment, education, and healthcare. The MSC will also offer Malaysians

virtual boardrooms, live multimedia, and Internet broadcasting. The purpose of the cyber

legislation is to facilitate faster growth of e-business in Malaysia and gradually to

integrate her into global e-commerce.

John Chambers, the chief

executive of networking hardware maker Cisco System Inc., while speaking before the US

President, Bill Clinton, in December 1998, estimated that the Internet commerce world-wide

may surge to $1.5 trillion in the year 2003 from about $10 billion presently. Malaysia is

conscious of the emerging technology and future explosion in e-commerce. To equip her as a

global player in e-commerce it has enacted the necessary cyber laws.

Communication and Multimedia Act 1998

Communication and Multimedia Act

1998, which came into force on 1 April 1999 is the world’s first law to integrate and

to regulate three media; telecom, broadcasting, and on-line services. No other country has

yet tried to do so in one single legislation under one central authority. The Act

establishes framework for regulatory intervention by the Minister and a regulatory

commission. The regulatory commission has power to grant licences for such activities as

• Ownership of "network facilities" (like
  
  satellite earth station, telecom lines, cables)
• Provision of "network services" (like
  
  connectivity & bandwidth)
• Provision of "application services"
  
  (like voice, data & e-commerce)
• Providing of "contents applications
  
  services" (like on-line publishing, etc.).

The Act incorporates concepts

necessary for e-commerce and gives special definitions to guide the Courts in the

interpretation of this law. It addresses requirements for technical regulation of the

industry including spectrum, numbering, and e-addressing and also provides a framework to

ensure safety, security and integrity of networking, and application services through

technical codes and standards.

Copyright (Amendment) Act 1997

The establishment of MSC has

generated new opportunities as well as new challenges. With a view to realizing the full

potential of MSC it was thought necessary to amend Copyright width="170" height="201" alt="https://img-cdn.thepublive.com/filters:format(webp)/vnd/media/post_attachments/315c8564a38c859a9a9f0b1d9a66d211431d5cd1a2a8a98be7dc4e3bf0091cdb.gif (19750 bytes)" align="right" hspace="4" vspace="4">

law to provide adequate legal protection to educational work, entertainment products, and

information devices. To this end the Copyright (Amendment) Act 1997 provides for the

nature of copyright in derivative works and makes the rights of the author of such work

more specific. Section 4 confers on author the exclusive right "to communicate to the

public"; his right over commercial rental of his work and limits on such commercial

rental rights of computer programs. The Act protects against mutilation and distortion of

the author’s work. It protects against copyright infringement through circumvention

of any effective technological measures, and also protects against removal or alteration

of electronic "rights management information" without authority. The offences

under the Act are punishable with three years imprisonment or fine of RM 25,000 and on

subsequent conviction with imprisonment for five years or a fine up to RM 50,000.

Digital Signature Act 1997

Most important legislation

relating to e-commerce is Digital Signature Act 1997. This Act is most advanced,

futuristic and first of its kind in Asian region. According to Alistair Kelman, a

barrister and British specialist in computer law litigation, the Act can be used as a

unified model that could act as a standard guideline to be used by other countries. By

enacting this legislation, Malaysia joins the US and Australia in this field. Even the

European Union is yet to enact a legislation on the subject.

This Digital Signature Act has

introduced a mandatory licensing scheme but with a minimum regulatory system to provide a

basic level of reliability in Certification Authority (CA) practice without undermining

the reliability of any signature by invalidating it for lack of regulatory licence.

Digital signature under Malaysian law means "a transformation of a message using an

asymmetric cryptosys-tem such that a person having the initial message and the

signer’s public key can accurately determine the transformation was created by using

private key which corresponds to the signer’s public key; and, whether the message

has been altered since the transformation was made".

Asymmetric cryptosystem means

"an algorithm or series of algorithms which provide a secure key pair". Digital

signature, therefore, involves two keys—one the public key, which operates as a lock

at transmission end and the other, the private key, which operates as a key to open that

lock at the receiving end to decrypt the message.

To convert a transaction on the

Internet into a legally binding agreement the signature of parties is required. The

Digital Signature Act supplies that element. The Act provides for a third party to act as

a verification authority. The CA issues digitally signed certificates about the true name

and address and the public key of the subscriber on payment of a fee. In Malaysia these

certification authorities are required to obtain licence from Controller of Certification

Authorities who functions under the overall control of Minister of Energy, Communication,

and Multimedia. Till now, Malaysian user were signing up for digital signature from the

US-based certification authorities like VeriSign Inc.

A digital signature verified by

CA puts such digital signature on par with hand written signature. Section 62 (2) of the

Act states "a digital signature created in accordance with the Act shall be deemed to

be legally binding signature." Section 64 and 65 provides that a digitally signed

"message shall be as valid, enforceable and effective as if it had been written on

paper and shall be deemed to be the original document."

The Evidence (Amendment) Act

The Evidence (Amendment) Act had

introduced a new provision under Section 90A, which provides for admissibility of

computer-generated documents in any proceedings, civil or criminal before the Court.

Interpretation (Amendment) Act 1997

Section 62A of Interpretation

(Amendment) Act1997 has facilitated the use of electronic means and medium with respect to

any information required under any Malaysian statutes to be



given or kept or maintained, provided the identity of person giving information could be
determined and verified and that sufficient precaution had been taken to prevent

unauthorized access to such information.

By virtue of Section 4 of this

Act the definition of "writing or written" has been extended to any information

in electronic storage or transmission.

Companies (Amendment) Act 1998

The Companies (Amendment) Act

1998 enforced on 1 September 1998 has given reality to instantaneous e-business vis-a-vis

electronic filing of documents. However, the executive framework is yet to be drawn up by

the Registry.

Tele-medicine Act 1997

Another piece of cyber law is the

Tele-medicine Act 1997. This Act confers power on the Government to regulate the practice

of tele-medicine by specifying the person who may practice tele-medicine in Malaysia. Any

registered medical practitioner outside Malaysia can also practice tele-medicine in

Malaysia if he has been granted a certificate to practice tele-medicine under this Act.

An unlicensed practitioner from

within and outside Malaysia faces a sentence of imprisonment up to five years and a fine

up to RM 500,000 on conviction. Tele-medicine under the Act means "the practice of

medicine using audio, visual, and data communications". The Act contains sufficient

provisions to safeguard the interest of the patients by the requirement of a written

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According to a newspaper report

(7 June 1999) the Malaysian Health Ministry has identified three leading hospitals in MSC

and one outside it for a pilot



implementation of tele-medicine. IBM Malaysia is vying for implementation of tele-medicine
project. Healthcare is a multi-billion dollar global industry. With the legal framework

ready, there is enormous opportunity for this business in Malaysia.

Computer Crime Act 1997

Last but not the least is the

Computer Crimes Act 1997. It criminalizes those activities, which hitherto remained

unregulated. There is nothing unique in the regulation. An examination of its provision

will reveal similarities with UK, Singapore, and US legislations. The Act deals with

offences relating to computer by penalizing such activities as

• Unauthorized access to any computer material
• An unauthorized access with intent to commit
  
  fraud, dishonesty or cause injury as defined in the Penal Code
• Any unauthorized modification of contents of any
  
  computer
• Wrongful communication of a number, code, password
  
  or other means access to the computer
• Any attempt or abetment of the above offences

Where any person is in custody or

control of any unauthorized computer program data or other information, it shall be

presumed that the person obtained the information by unauthorized access unless otherwise

proved. Four people were charged on 25 September 1998 for rumour mongering through the

Internet. This is the first computer-related trail in Malaysia. The trial is in process in

the Magistrate’s Court in Petaling Jaya.

The host of cyber laws enacted in

Malaysia cast a responsibility on legal fraternity to develop necessary insight into these

laws and to know how these laws are likely to evolve. The local legal, judiciary, and

business community need to be aware of the legal risk that arise from e-commerce. Without

proper administration of these laws it will not be possible to turn the country on the

path of economic revival and to achieve the status of a developed nation.