Tag: S114a evidence act

  • Netizens v the Government

    2012 saw the intensified battle between netizens and the authorities. The former desires protection of their right to freedom of expression and anonymity whereas the latter desires control and governance. Through this battle, the authorities introduced many new legislations to govern the use of internet. In July 2012, the Malaysian Government enforced s. 114A of…

  • GE13 Candidates and 114A

    Published on LoyarBurok on 16 April 2013. I am no expert in election laws but GE13 Candidates should take note of this. If you are running a blog, I suggest you moderate or close the comments section until and after the 13th General Election. The reason why I say so is because s.114A(1) of the…

  • Bread & Kaya: Attention e-commerce businesses: Fraud, the law and you

    My Bread & Kaya’s second column was published on Digital News Asia on 29 January 2013. Attention e-commerce businesses: Fraud, the law and you Jan 29, 2013 – A new law to protect users of online trading portals goes into effect July 1 – While it may cost them a bit, operators of such businesses…

  • Anonymity, is your time up?

    A. Asohan, my fellow comrade from the Stop 114A Committee, quoted me in his article in Digital News Asia regarding internet anonymity. I am an advocate of privacy rights and to me certainly would extend to online privacy. We now live in a world where enterprises are hungry for personal data to be exploited commercially.…

  • 拉昔巴星:114A苛刻‧應有更多機制保護無辜

    I was quoted in Sin Chew newspaper regarding the weakness of S. 114A Evidence Act 1950. 拉昔巴星:114A苛刻‧應有更多機制保護無辜 2012-10-24 08:22 布城23日訊)今年8月1日通過的證據法令114A條文,雖然經過總檢察署多次召開閉門會議討論,但仍無法消除各界人士對此條文的爭議。 應站在公眾立場考慮 【新潮】就像沒有一個女人會嫌自己瘦一樣,從來沒有一個男人會嫌自己的“小弟弟”過大。 大馬律師公會刑事法委員會主席拉昔巴星認為,檢察司應該站在公眾的立場考慮,而114A條文中應該有更多的防禦機制來保護無辜的人。 “但反過來想想,如果114A條文需要更多的保護機制以免錯誤使用的話,那為甚麼我們還要保留這樣的一個條文呢?” 他今日受邀在總檢察署主辦的114A研討會的發言時,提出上述看法。 總檢察署沒收財產(forfeitureof property)單位主任安森在回應其論點時多次強調,114A條文雖是以事實推定(presumption of fact),但若沒有其他證據支持,這也是無法入罪的。 他指出,事實推定並非法律新詞,根據基本常識判斷的情況也不只是應用在114A的情況中。 “像在一個人身上搜出大量毒品,我們也會推定他是販毒者。” 採用事實推定不恰當 對此,拉昔巴星反駁道,在114A中採用事實推定並不恰當,毒品不容易取得,栽贓嫁禍相當困難。 “但我們可以輕易地取得某人的手機發出誹謗性、煽動性言論陷害他人,而如果這個人根本不記得誰碰過自己的手機而無法找到時間證人,那他就被無辜冤枉了。” 他強調,資訊科技的發展如此迅速,設立114A條文是非常苛刻(Draconian)的。 針對拉昔巴星對114A的批判,他解釋,檢察司在收集證據時會考慮到當時的情況與背景才做出推斷。例如某人用電腦發出誹謗言論,但他所使用的電腦並非他專屬,那這項證據將非常薄弱,不足以提控某人。 “嚴峻的情況便需要採取苛刻的管制方法。” 瑪麗亞特:事實推定更易取真相 專精於知識產權與知識管理的律師瑪麗亞特認為,事實推定是為了更易取得真相。 “事實推定不是自動發生的,檢察司需要蒐集證據,確定器材的所有人後,才由被告舉證保全自己的清白。但就算某人被證實為發出訊息的器材的所有人,他也未必有罪。 單是這一項證明是無法讓他入罪的。” 但她指出,如果沒有114A條文的話,主控官同樣能夠援引114條文提控被告,而他們也能夠取得同樣的成果。 瑪麗亞特也是論壇的3名嘉賓之一,她認為大馬律師公會代表的立場強硬,但他們以公眾利益出發為考量,情有可原。 但她也認為,各方的爭議在於對114A條文有所誤解,他們必須詳細解讀整個證據法令,才能瞭解為甚麼要有114A條文。 “114A比114條文更明確,是因網絡上有人採用匿名方式犯罪而設的,但這項條文中並沒有列明只限用於資訊科技中。” 研討會分2部份進行 這場由總檢察署舉辦的研討會共分兩個部份進行,前半部為安森與扎布里講解114A條文的應用,以及數碼鑑證科無法找出電腦罪案兇手的困境,後半部則由三位論壇嘉賓針對114A的爭議發表看法。 研討會獲得來自律師、大學代表以及電訊服務供應商的響應,出席者近百人,會場幾乎座無虛席。 吳文徉:被告者難證明清白 出席研討會的律師吳文徉指出,以一名律師的立場來看,被告一旦被證實為通訊器材的持有者,如何證明自己的清白對他們而言是困難的,因為一般人大多不具法律常識。 而雖然無辜者事後可能因為證據不足而不被提控,事實推定指他涉罪的話,已經足以導致讓此人名譽受損。 馮正良:危害資訊科技發展 114A應取消或重擬 吉隆坡律師公會資訊工藝委員會主席馮正良認為,114A條文應該被取消或撤回重擬,因為它將危害資訊科技的發展。 他指,用戶創建內容(user-generatedcontent)的網絡平台依賴網民評論和留言來獲得瀏覽率,繼而獲得廣告收入。…

  • Internet Freedom Under Threat in Malaysia?

    I was interviewed by Asia Calling, a news portal produced by award-winning Indonesian radio news agency KBR68H since 2003. KBR68H is Indonesia’s first and only independent national radio news agency. Established in April 1999, today KBR68H produces 9 hours a day of information and education based programming to over 750 radio stations and 22 million…

  • Section 114A, Evidence Act 1950: Its Impact on Your Business

    I will be speaking at Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers’ (FMM) event on 114A below. Click on image for larger view Understand the impact of Section 114A on your business and learn about network security and content filtering to protect your business. Date : October 30, 2012 Time : 08:30 AM – 02:00 PM Venue :…

  • What the hack happened?

    The Star quoted me in the following article on 19 August 2012:- Sunday August 19, 2012 What the hack happened? By LISA GOH lisagoh@thestar.com.my Losing your personal particulars to hackers can lead to financial losses, heartaches, loss of reputation – and sometimes friends, too. IT starts out so innocently. A simple vote request by an…

  • ‘Guilty until proven innocent’ law applies to Umno Youth in Facebook probe

    I was quoted by Malaysia Insider on this article regarding the applicability of S. 114A of the Evidence act 1950 on the incident regarding UMNO Youth’s Facebook page. ‘Guilty until proven innocent’ law applies to Umno Youth in Facebook probe By Ida Lim August 22, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — The burden of proof…

  • Tweetjacked

    This article appeared on Rage following my interview with The Star. Tweetjacked By KEVIN TAN and PHYLLIS HO alltherage@thestar.com.my ONE fine day, Chee Yun Sam, a 22-year-old model, started getting a barrage of angry tweets and messages from his friends. Apparently, Chee had posted something rather racist on his Twitter account, and a lot of…