Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that the Government hopes to table a Bill on cyberlaws in the present Parliament meeting, or latest, in the March/April meeting, and that compared with cyberlaws introduced in some countries, “Malaysia’s would be more comprehensive”.
Last month, the government had said that the first package of four cyberlaws to pave the way for Malaysia’s entry into the cyberage are now ready, and that these comprise the Digital Signature Bill that addresses verification of contracts and agreements signed across a computer network or the Internet; the Multimedia Convergence Bill addressing issues involving intellectual property protection in an environment where a product or service could be sourced from various media; the Computer Crimes Bill; and the Telemedicine Development Bill dealing with issues arising from practising telemedicine.
However, these proposed new cyberlaws - which are to be the most comprehensive in the world - have not been made public. While it is good to aim to have the most advanced and most comprehensive cyberlaws in the world, the government should be mindful of the fact that cyberlaws are a completely new field facing any country in the world. While we should not be afraid to be a pioneer in any field of human endeavour, we should make sure that we do not make colossal mistakes, especially in a field where no one anywhere in the world can claim to be an authority.
These are strong reasons why the proposed Malaysians cyberlaws which had been drafted by the relevant authorities should be made public immediately without any more delay to get the benefit of public consultation and input, not only inside the country but also from other countries which are also wrestling with the problem of how to introduce the necessary legislation to meet the challenges of a cyberage.
I therefore call on Anwar to give instructions to the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts, which is responsible for introducing the bills on the cyberlaws in Parliament, to immediately make public the draft bills as well as posting them on the Internet to invite public comments, both from Malaysians as well as the worldwide cybercommunity.
(6/11/96)