1 ABCT2103 Topic 10 TOPIC 10 LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

1 ABCT2103 Topic 10 TOPIC 10 LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

1. Identify the laws or acts that relate to new media;

2. Discuss the problems that relate to ethics and legal parameters in new media technology; and

3. Analyse the legal implications of the problems in new media.

INTRODUCTION

The convergence of communication and multimedia in the new media technology industry has resulted in the blurring of distinction between the producer and the customer, the amateur and the professional, the private and the public. Everyone can now use and create content to share with others without strict requirements. New media, the Internet particularly, is seen as a media that offers more freedom compared to old media.

Even though the technologies and applications convergence in new media do challenge the traditional regulatory regime, every government including Malaysia, tries to control this media because it has the potential of being misused and may threaten national security. Since the introduction of the Multimedia Super Corridor, the Malaysian government tried to strengthen national cyber laws that ultimately led to the formation of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the legislation of Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

ACTIVITY 10.1

Issues of abuse are often discussed when we speak of new media. This can be seen in new media content such as weblogs which are regarded as unethical and inappropriate, and may even jeopardise national security. When legal action is taken against them, there are objections because new media is supposed to be more independent compared to old media. What do you think of this matter? Discuss with your course mates.

ACTIVITY 10.1

10.1   REGULATORY AND LEGAL ISSUES

Have you heard about the slander issue involving Siti Nurhaliza or the pornographic pictures of Linda Rafar through the Internet? These are among the controversial issues some years ago. Recently there were some blogs that displayed content which insulted the late Sultan of Johor and the state government; and the blogger "Penarik Beca", Abu Bakar Mohd Rashid, who imposed a picture of a dog on the logo of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) in his blog which was seen as an insult to PDRM as well as an attempt to incite people to hate the police. These are some examples of ethical issues related to the regulatory and legal regime arising from new media.

ACTIVITY 10.2

Browse the Internet and try to find websites or blogs similar to the issues highlighted above. List as many as you can and discuss in a group why such phenomena exist. Should we allow it to happen or should legal action be taken?

Today, the Internet and new media has become a tool of necessity and can be used by everyone. Unfortunately, these facilities have been abused by some of the users to publish and disseminate inappropriate contents. It is being used in unethical ways to express their dissatisfaction about something or someone.

Some offences in new media are as follows:

􀁸 Inciting and fostering hatred to the Agong and Sultans;

􀁸 Spreading false information which can threaten national security;

􀁸 Insulting religion;

􀁸 Inciting racial sentiments;

􀁸 Fraud activities involving false banking websites and investment;

􀁸 Copyright infringement;

􀁸 Slander with intention to bring damage on image, dignity and the good name of someone in the eyes of society; and

􀁸 Dissemination of pornography, obscene, and indecent content.

Even though there are several laws on this new media, the Internet in particular appears to be a refuge for anyone who wants to escape prosecution for offences against information and communication laws. The global nature of the Internet and its network infrastructure complicate the law. As a communication network, the Internet promotes “regulatory arbitrage” where people can “arrange their affairs so that they evade domestic regulations by structuring their communications or transactions to take advantage of foreign regulatory regimes”. (Froomlin, in Flew, 2004). The uses of new media have raised issues that are being debated by various

parties. The main issues may be categorised as what is depicted in Table 10.1.

Table 10.1: Legal Issues Concerning New Media

Cyberspace and business	Electronic commerce, online contract law, online gambling and online financial law.
Freedom of speech	Freedom of expression, obscenity, pornography and online indecency and cultural rights.
Intellectual properties	Copyright law, patent law and trademark law.
Access issue	Educational use, gender and race and unequal access to the Internet.
Security issues	Cybercrime, cyberfraud, online harassment, hacking, identity theft and terrorism.
Privacy issues	Cryptography and privacy protection for transaction, data security and personal information privacy.

Even though the adaptation of legislation in new media is necessary, according to Flew (2004), the legal implications of the Internet’s development and ICT are made even more complex by specific features of its relationship with existing laws, regulatory framework, and the ideas that underpin them. This is due to the nature of the Internet which is intangible, graphically free and ever changing.

Van Djik (2006) suggests three kinds of solutions: legal solution, self regulation, and technological protection.

Table 10.2: Types of Solution for legal ICT Problems

Legal solutions	Adaptation of laws and regulation
Self-regulation	Code of conduct and good practice Hot lines (reporting offences) Market regulation: licenses, public domain software, advertising Mediation (civil conflict resolution) Information agents (self-services) Rating and filtering (self-services)
Technical solutions	Rating and filtering (software) Build-in software Embedded software, scrambling, and coding  techniques Encryption Data metering and digital right management

Source: van Djik, 2006

10.2   CURRENT MEDIA LEGISLATION IN MALAYSIA.

In Malaysia, the media regulatory agency is under two ministries, namely the Ministry of Home Affairs (print media) and Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture (electronic media). Refer to Figure 10.1 for a view of the regulatory regime in this country.

Figure 10.1: The regulatory regime in Malaysia

New media, the Internet, is seen as a medium of communication and subject to the laws of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. However, other laws can be used for the offence of cyber media or related to the Internet.

Table 10.3: Laws that may be applied for new media offences

Type of Offence	Laws that can be	Applied Authority
Incitement/ sedition	Sedition Act 1948	PDRM
Safety threats	Internal Security Act 1960 Penal Code	PDRM
Cheating	Direct Sales Act 1993 Companies Act 1965 Bank and Finance Institutions Act 1989 Capital Market and Services Act 2007	Ministry of Domestic Trade Cooperative and Consumerism (MDTCC) Malaysia Companies Commission Malaysian National Bank Security Commission
Copyright	Copyright Act 1987	MDTCC
Slander/Libel	Penal Code Communications and Multimedia Act 1998	PDRM MCMC
Obscenity	Communications and Multimedia Act 1998	MCMC

10.2.1 Telecommunications Acts

The process of convergence, which is one of the characteristics of new media, has blurred many distinctions between the old and new media. Therefore, the laws or regulations that are related to the media in Malaysia have had to be changed from time to time. It began with the Telecommunications Act, 1950 and with the introduction of the ATUR (Automatic Telephone Using Radio) in 1986 pertaining to regulations of mobile services. We also had the Broadcasting Act 1988, Telephone Regulations 1996, and Postal Act 1996 which were implemented to regulate and control activities in broadcasting, usage of the telephone and postal services respectively. The table below shows the evolution of telecommunication regulations in Malaysia.

Table 10.4: Evolution of Telecommunication Regulations in Malaysia

Year	Main Regulations (Acts) and Changes
1950	Telecommunications Act, 1950
1986	ATUR Regulations 1986
1988	Broadcasting Act 1988
1996	Telephone Regulations 1996 Postal Act 1996
1997	Digital Signature Act, 1997 Computer Crime Act, 1997 Copyright Act, 1997
1998	Multimedia and Communications Act 1998 Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998

The development of ICT and the introduction of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) necessitated the drafts and approval of several acts in 1997, namely the Digital Signature Act, Computer Crimes Act, and Copyright Act (Amendments). This collection of acts is known as Malaysian cyber laws.

To fulfil the need to regulate an increasingly convergent communication and multimedia products and industry, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission MCMC was created pursuant to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act (1998) as a new regulator for the communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia. At the same time, the Communications and Multimedia Act (1998) was passed.

ACTIVITY 10.3

Cyber laws are created to regulate ICT. Define cyber law and show

how important this law is in Malaysia.

Discuss the key points in each of the following Acts:

(a) Digital Signature Act, 1997;

(b) Computer Crimes Act, 1997; and

(c) Copyright Act (Amendments), 1997.

10.2.2 Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA)1998

The Communications and Multimedia Act is a cyber law that has been set up as a framework for intervention by the Malaysian government in monitoring communication and multimedia industry. The activities and services controlled under this act includes traditional broadcasting, telecommunication and online services, including facilities and networks which have been used in providing the services and content provided through the facilities and networks.

The aims of this act are as follows:

􀁸 To make Malaysia a world centre and focal point for communications and

information services and multimedia content.

􀁸 To encourage the existence of civil society based on information.

􀁸 To grow and nurture local information resources and cultural activities to facilitate national identity and global diversity.

􀁸 To regulate the long-term benefit for end users.

􀁸 To encourage a high level of consumer confidence in providing services.

􀁸 To ensure equal and affordable services through national infrastructure.

􀁸 To create a robust application environment for end users.

􀁸 To facilitate the efficient allocation of resources such as skilled labour, capital, knowledge and national assets.

􀁸 To encourage capacity building and efficiency in the industries.

􀁸 To ensure the reliability and integrity of information security and network.

Cyber laws are created to regulate ICT. Define cyber law and show how important this law is in Malaysia.

Discuss the key points in each of the following Acts:

(a) Digital Signature Act, 1997;

(b) Computer Crimes Act, 1997; and

(c) Copyright Act (Amendments), 1997.

ACTIVITY 10.3

This Act is the basis to all cyber laws in Malaysia and describes the Malaysian ICT development policy. The Act also puts the promise of no censorship on the Internet under Section 3 (3). Following the approval of this Act, a special ministry was set up to embrace the communications and multimedia elements in them.

The Ministry was initially known as the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications, but currently it is under the purview of the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture. This Act is the longest cyber law among the six cyber laws enacted in Malaysia so far.

10.2.3 Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998

Based on this Act, it provides permission for the establishment of a Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the sole regulatory body for communications and multimedia industry. In addition to this, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission also regulates the Postal industry and is the Certifying Agency pursuant to the Digital Signature Act (1997).

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 stipulated that the power and functions of the Commission shall include the following:

􀁸 To advise the Minister on all matters concerning the national policy objectives for communications and multimedia activities;

􀁸 To implement and enforce the provisions of the communications and multimedia law;

􀁸 To regulate all matters relating to communications and multimedia activities not provided for in the communications and multimedia law;

􀁸 To consider and recommend reforms to the communications and multimedia law;

􀁸 To supervise and monitor communications and multimedia activities;

􀁸 To encourage and promote the development of the communications and multimedia industry;

􀁸 To encourage and promote self-regulation in the communications and multimedia industry;

􀁸 To promote and maintain the integrity of all persons licensed or otherwise authorised under the communications and multimedia industry;

􀁸 To render assistance in any form to, and to promote cooperation and coordination amongst persons engaged in communications and multimedia activities; and

􀁸 To carry out any function under any written law as may be prescribed by the Minister by notification published in the Gazette.

The Commission shall have all such powers as may be necessary for, or in connection with, or reasonably incidental to, the performance of its functions under the communications and multimedia laws (www.skmm.gov.my).

10.3   THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

We have seen the rapid development in ICT which create new innovations from time to time, however, the majority of the population in developing countries still do not have access to digital technologies. This gap may be seen in different dimensions such as physical access, legal issues, affordability, and age.

In Europe, major changes were made in telecommunication policies in 1998 relating to the liberalisation of telecommunication markets that initiated a free market, more competition and dropping prices. However, in many developing countries, telecommunication is still centralised and is often strictly controlled by the state.

This gap has become broader based on the UNDP Report which indicated that the OECD countries spent $520 billion on research and development in 1998. This total amount is more than the combined economic output of the world's 30 poorest countries. OECD countries, with only 19% of the world's population, also accounted for 91% of the 347,000 new patents issued. This is of course tied to the system of intellectual property which ultimately deprived many poorer countries from accessing all the latest knowledge. In the end these countries are totally left out of the game.

The digital divide occurs all around the world, which means that there are gaps between communities and other communities in access to ICT, information access through ICT, and understanding and using the information from ICT.

Based on the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a digital divide is defined as follows:

"….. the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at

different socio-economic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities. The digital divide reflects various differences among and within countries."

ACTIVITY 10.3

The digital divide has become an issue that is frequently discussed by various parties.

Discuss what you think are the implications of this phenomenon.

Digital divide is caused by several factors including economy, geography, computer skill, and language knowledge and literacy. Exposure to ICT and its use is widespread among communities in large cities where the ICT infrastructure is well and complete. Meanwhile, rural communities have less exposure. This causes imbalances and disparities in various aspects such as knowledge in ICT, computer skills and ownership, access to Internet and online communication.

ITU World Telecommunication showed that while 71% of the population in developed countries are online, only 21% of the population in developing countries are online. By the end of 2010, Internet user penetration in Africa will reach 9.6%, far behind both the world average (30%) and the developing country average (21%). While in developing countries 72.4% of households have a TV, only 22.5% have a computer and only 15.8% have Internet access (compared to 98%, 71% and 65.6% respectively in developed countries).

A report from ITU also indicates that there is a strong growth in fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions, in both developed and developing countries: at the end of 2010, fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions will reach an estimated 555 million globally (or 8% penetration), up from 471 million (or 6.9% penetration) a year earlier. However, penetration levels in developing countries remain low: 4.4 subscriptions per 100 people compared to 24.6 in developed countries. Africa is still left behind in this new technology with a penetration rate of less than 1%.

Figure 10.2: Internet users by regions, 2005-2010

Figure 10.3: Broadband Divide Between Developed and Developing Countries, 2000-2010

Figure 10.4: Broadband Divide by region, 2010

This gap is not only caused by material resources, but it also involves other factors such as temporal resources (having the time to use new media), mental resources (sufficient technical knowledge), social resources (network and ties), and cultural resources (the status and other cultural rewards to motivate people to get access). All of these can be related to personal inequalities such as age, job or occupation, level of education and household role. Therefore, Van Djik (2006) categorised this digital divide as follows.

􀁸 Motivational access (motivation of use);

􀁸 Material and physical access;

􀁸 Skills access;

􀁸 Usage access; and

􀁸 Usage gap.

The digital divide is also detected in Malaysia, especially in the rural areas, and this calls for a serious and concerted effort to overcome it. Only 14% of people in the rural sectors have access to the Internet compared to 85% of urban users in 1998. The majority of Broadband users in Malaysia in 2010 is located in Kuala Lumpur, followed by Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan (www.skmm.gov.my ). Refer to Table 10.

Table 10.5: Broadband penetration rate per 100 households by state.

ACTIVITY 10.4

There are many plans or initiatives to bridge the digital divide in Malaysia. Discuss the efforts that have been undertaken by our government.

10.4    PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET

The issue of privacy is an issue that is quite important when it comes to matters related to Internet-based technologies especially pertaining to personal privacy concerning transactions or transmission of data via the Internet. For instance, electronic transactions usually leave data trails and the potential of privacy invasion is huge. This is the most prominent of consumer concerns about online shopping or purchasing.

Increased usage of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendster, Bebo, and Tagged are also seen as areas of concern, especially when it involves underaged children. Most of these websites are easily used to create a user profile that provides personal details, photographs, and videos that may be viewed by others. Therefore, it is suggested that only people whom the individual knows, should be added as a friend to ensure privacy.

One of the main concerns of privacy issues is identity theft. In Malaysia, cases of identity theft on the Internet are now frequently reported. It usually involves the activities of user-based websites online banking by cyber criminals using phishing tactics, including producing fake websites that resembles the real banking website. Users who cheat will enter the password in the fake website and the information will be obtained by cyber criminals.

A study conducted by Norton Cybercrime Report (NCR) in 2010 found that 83 percent of adult victims of cyber crimes are victims of computer viruses, credit card fraud and online identity theft. A total of 159 identity theft cases involving Internet banking customers were recorded for the first nine months of 2010. This number increased by 27 cases compared to the 132 cases reported for the same period the previous year.

Privacy threats on the Internet can come in various ways such as below:

1. Cookies

2. HTTP

3. Browsers

4. Downloading freeware or shareware

5. E-commerce

6. E-mail

7. E-mail and cryptography

8. Spam

9. Internat Relay Chat

10. Internet Service Providers (ISP)

Do some research and find out how each of these threats can threaten.

ACTIVITY 10.5

There is no doubt that the Internet has much to offer but as users we can give away a lot of information about ourselves if we are not careful. Information, which is either personal or professional, may be stolen without our knowledge and our privacy may be invaded by anyone be it criminal hackers or marketing

companies and corporate bosses.

Therefore, privacy issues relating to personal data have raised the following

concerns:

􀁸 Insecure electronic transmissions;

􀁸 Data trails and logs of email messages;

􀁸 Online transactions; and

􀁸 Tracking of web pages visited.

Privacy may be defined as “the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine when, how and to what extent information about them is communicated to others”. (Westin, 1967: 7). In terms of legal theory, according to van Djik (2006), privacy is a particular right of freedom which is a right of no interference in private life. However, the classic definition of privacy may be accessed from Justin Brandeis (1928):

“Privacy is the right to be left alone·the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by free people.” Van Djik (2006) categorised it into three types:

Physical privacy - the right to selective intimacy.	This applies to the inviolability of the body and fulfilment of intimate human need, allowing the presence of only a very small selection of other persons, especially regarding biotechnology and biometric which is become intertwined with information technology.
Relational privacy - the right to make contacts selectively.	The relationships and behaviour in one’s private life at home, work, and others might be threatened by the use of communication networks and information systems. For example, digital telephone conversation and tracking traffic between telephone numbers, and Internet address.
Informational privacy - the right to selective disclosure.	Regarding the grip the individual has and keeps over his or her personal data and over the information based on these data. Always referring to protection of personal data and security.

There are several ways to protect your privacy via the Internet or new media technology and it can be divided into the following:

1. Legal protection.

Needed as a framework and backbone for other protection. For example, the United States has the Privacy Act (1974), Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1986), and Childrens's Online Privacy Protection (1994), while the EU has the European Privacy Directive 8 (1998).

2. Social protection/ self-regulation.

Users as individuals or collective attempt to safeguard privacy themselves using their own expertise, actions, and technical means such as a filtering software (P3 or TRUSTe).

3. System-technical and organisational protection.

Protected by privacy regulations and reliable personal data protection.

4. Technical alternatives.

Need development by technicians and scientists and it involves local control, concentration of intelligence terminals, offline equipments, and privacy-enhancing technologies.

Legal framework for the protection of privacy consists of three parts, namely national legislation, international legislation and treaties, and codes of conduct and professional codes. The right to privacy is covered in most constitutions of countries. At an international level, we can refer to the Treaties of Rome and Strasbourg (European Council) and Treaty on Civil Rights and Political Rights (UN).

Some important principles or rules, as below, are used in legislative protection of informational privacy which is formulated by the OECD and European Council (van Djik, 2006: 150):

􀁸 The use limitation principles: The smallest possible amount of personal data should be  gathered and used for the purpose given.  

􀁸 The principle of purpose specifications: Only personal data for strictly specified purposes  should be collected and processed.

􀁸 Quality: Personal data must be correct, complete and up to date. They have to be well protected by means of security

􀁸 The principle of transparent or openness: The people involved have the right to know what personal data are collected, for what purpose, who has access to that data, and to whom they are passed on.

Codes of conduct and professional codes are valuable additions to legislation. Codes of conduct exist in the form of organisation self-regulation and it applies in electronic banking or information services between employers and trade unions, or between producers and consumers while professional codes are made for information workers or researchers to ensure the privacy of certain information.

INNOVATIONS IN COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Technology and innovation are changing our ability to develop, organise, and share information, and the way in which we communicate. No doubt, with such innovation we have many choices to get what we need and what we want.

Communication technology allows an organisation to get the latest updates from different parts of the world where its business is located and also allows them to have increased regulation. The latest innovations in web-conferencing have made it possible for businessmen to interact with each other in a better way. The innovations in communication technology have also initiated a marked difference in the way education is imparted and has led to an improvement in the quality of education.

We can also make online banking transactions through the click of a mouse and travel to foreign countries without carrying any cash. The impact of globalisation on the banking industry has been enormous and today we can see various banks being streamlined through effective communication channels.

Generally, the innovations allow us to do everything via electronic application and it involves a variety of areas such as below:

1 - Learning systems and repositories;

2 - Research and computationally based science;

3 - Science for participation of educators and public in scientific research;

4 - Health records and information systems;

5 - Storage archival systems and indestructible data for telephone systems, etc;

6 - Content and digital rights management systems;

7 - Manufacturing process control and manufacturing systems;

8 - Small Business systems;

9 - Community for self organising community broadband networks;

10 - Strategy for integration of workflow and information systems;

11 - University student registration systems and admin systems; and

12 - Government for integrating and delivering government services.

There is definitely a positive impact from this technology, but it has also led to some challenges. Therefore, we have two options with this new technology:

(1) technological based change and innovation, generally good, and improve our human prospects,

(2) technological advancement as inherently bad, threaten our civil and economic life, and ultimately dehumanising.

For Blythe (www.ecorridors.vt.edu), the development of technology changes our societal sense of what is “right” and what is “wrong”, and between what seems to be “ethical” and "fair" on the one hand, and our laws on the other. Despite the efficiency of access to digital format or materials, prevalence of peer-to-peer, high bandwidth Internet connection and free distance communication, and anonymity of access to digital movie, video and software, there are some disruptive incidents involving intellectual property (IP) and fair use as well as individual privacy. The use of some software may also lead to privacy infringement. Some users are not aware that vendor license sometimes has some terms that allow them to modify our computer system.

As an example, “You agree that in order to protect the integrity of content and software protected by digital rights management (“Secure Content”), Microsoft may provide security related updates to the OS Components that will be automatically downloaded onto your computer. These security updates may disable your ability to copy and/or play Secure Content and use other software on your computer. If we provide such security update, we will use reasonable efforts to post notices on a web site explaining the update”.

This term gives the right to Microsoft to look and modify any file in our computers. In KaZaa-a file sharing program that lets users download music, pictures, software and video lips-license agreement there is a term that stipulates that,

“You hereby grant Brilliant Digital Entertainment the right to access and use the unused computing power and storage space on your computer/s and/or Internet access or bandwidth for the aggregation of content and use in distributed computing”. The user acknowledges and authorises this use without the right of compensation.

ACTIVITY 10.6

1. What are copyright properties and why is this right protected in many nations?

2. What is the meaning of fair use?

Despite that, in the name of fair use, each year the music industry loses about $4.2 billion to piracy worldwide. So much so, 85% of music recordings and 60% of movies released do not generate enough revenue to cover their costs. All stakeholders in this industry such as producers, publishers, retailers, the record companies, and creative artists lose their earnings. The abuse of fair use or copyright property nowadays can easily be done because anything can be copied and shared via the Internet. For example, we can upload photos and share it in Flickr and Picasa; we can share videos on Facebook or YouTube, and all these activities can be accessed by everyone and they can reuse it without our knowledge.

10.6   GENDER ISSUES.

Gender issues in ICT and new media technology have been discussed since the mid 1990s when people began to talk about Information Society. A series of papers on this issue has been presented in many conferences such as the World Telecommunications Development Conference and Conference on Women and Economic Development. In 2001, the United Nations Secretary-General established a high-level Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force with Plan of Action.

ACTIVITY 10.7

Studies by Pierre Montagnier that were presented in WSIS Thematic Meeting in 2005 identified important trends as follows:

In Internet activities, downloading software is more of a male activity while seeking health information on injury, disease or nutrition is more of a female activity. Sending and receiving e-mail is a very common activity for women.

(a) In Korea, one of the most connected countries in the world, the share of women researchers is only 10%. Since 2002, the gender gap in Internet usage rate increased significantly in the older age category (50-60), but it is rapidly closing in the younger generation (6-19 years, 20’s and 30’s). Perhaps the gender gap will disappear in the next ten years.

(b) Among ICT-using occupations, women tend to have a much higher share of clerical occupations and a lower share of scientific and professional jobs. The share of women in ICT-using occupations in OECD countries indicates a disparity of between 40-60%.

(c) The share of women in the ICT industry (producing ICTs) is low, particularly in manufacturing industry and in computer & service industry.

(d) Women’s low share of ICT specialists’ jobs has not increased since 1998. In 2005, only 25% of all software engineers in the US were women. On the other hand, the number of women who have relative specialisation in computing in Mexico is higher than other countries.

(web.worldbank.org)

What do you think about the problem of gender inequity in ICT use? Discuss. The gender gap exists in ICT use, especially among older age groups, and in areas of newer technologies. The differences can be seen from where men and women access the Internet. Men are more likely to access from both home and work in many countries, while women are more likely to access from educational establishments and home.

In the information technology sector, women make up only a small percentage of managerial, maintenance, and design personnel in networks, operating systems, or software. According to the UN entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNIFEM), women hold 9% of mid- to upper-level IT related jobs in engineering and make up 28.5% of computer programmers and 26.9% of systems analysts.

In terms of the use of ICTs, there are significant differences in patterns of use across the

whole population. For example, in their on-line activities women are more likely to engage in shopping and health-related activities, while men are more likely to play games and visit sports pages. These differences are present for all age groups.

Gender issues exist in differential access and impact of the new technologies on

men and women. Generally, it can be seen as below:

. Physical access to infrastructure.

Infrastructure is developed in urban areas, and the bulk of women live in rural areas, especially in developing and African countries. Access to this new media technology is difficult for women in poorer and less urbanised areas where telecommunications infrastructures are poor and unaffordable.

They have a smaller chance than men to access new technologies because the phone lines are fewer, there are no relay stations for mobile phones and no earth stations for satellites.

(c) The share of women in the ICT industry (producing ICTs) is low, particularly in manufacturing industry and in computer & service industry.

(d) Women’s low share of ICT specialists’ jobs has not increased since 1998. In 2005, only 25% of all software engineers in the US were women. On the other hand, the number of women who have relative specialisation in computing in Mexico is higher than other countries. (web.worldbank.org)

. Social and cultural issues

Specific barriers for the majority of women include illiteracy, unfamiliarity with the dominant languages of the Internet, domestic responsibilities, and the fact that the information delivered by ICTs is not that valuable to them.

Furthermore, since the infrastructure are more in urban areas, women have difficulties using it because their mobility (both in the sense of access to transport and ability to leave the home) is also more limited than men. They also have limited time to spend on new technology because of their heavy responsibilities in domestic tasks.

. Education and skills

There is gender bias in attitudes towards women studying or using information technology. For example, in Africa many mathematics and science teachers have views that girls cannot think or work scientifically and that science is too mechanical and technical for girls, thus discouraging female students. In some countries, there are cultural discriminations against women having access to education and technology. Furthermore, this new technology requires literacy, language, computer skills and information literacy.

. Financial issue

When it involves paying for information access, such as at a rural information centre or a cyber cafe, women are less likely to have the disposable income to do so.

. Language and content.

Women’s viewpoints, knowledge, experiences and concerns are inadequately reflected on the Internet, while gender stereotypes predominate. These concerns content that relate to issues of sexism and portrayal of women in the media.

Besides that, English is a predominant language in the new media and that is a problem for a majority of women because their national language is not English, especially in places such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa. This excludes them or limits the benefits that they can get from using ICTs.

Even though the gap between men and women in Internet usage is now relatively small, gender equality in ICT-related education and training and ICT access is still not yet fully achieved. Men tend to have a slightly higher share in Internet users (except in Honduras, Ireland, New Zealand, Nicaragua, and Thailand).

10.7   ACCESS FOR THE DISABLED.

Access to ICT for disabled people has been incorporated as one of the clauses in the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2006.

“To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.”

ICT has been identified as an important aspect of the wider strategy for the social inclusion of disabled people and for help to be given to this group to participate fully in the social and economic life of their communities. New technologies can offer them the ability to compensate for physical or functional limitations, thus allowing them to enhance their social and economic integration in communities by enlarging the scope of activities available to them.

In USA, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal websites to provide individuals with disabilities access to and use of website information and data that is comparable to that provided to the general public. Each agency must ensure that such electronic information technology is accessible to individuals with disabilities unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.

When compliance imposes an undue burden, Section 508 requires agencies to at least provide the information by an alternative means that allows disabled individuals access to it. Alternate methods may include, but are not limited to, voice, fax, relay service, Internet posting, captioning, text-to-speech synthesis, and audio description.

In Malaysia, despite the provision of incentives, strategies and access to information and communication technology in the disabled policy, it is still not able to bridge the digital gap. Most of the websites in the country is difficult to be accessed by disabled people, especially with the the lack of software that can translate it into the Malay language. This has resulted in reference texts in the Malay language to sound more like the English pronunciation which makes it difficult for blind people in this country to understand it.

10.8   INFORMATION RESTRICTIONS AND CENSORSHIP.

Recently, the Malaysian government through the MCMC has taken action to block 10 websites which allowed illegal downloading of files and videos. They are Warez-BB.org, ThePirateBay, Movie2k, MegaVideo, PutLocker, DepositFiles, DuckLoad, FileServe, FilesTube, and MegaUpload. Instructions are given to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to take that action based on the request by the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs to prevent access to those websites which is seen to violate the Copyright Act 1987. This action has initiated various reactions from the public; some in support and some against.

Ideally, new media is a channel that could provide any information such as technical, scientific, political, economic and even gossip, as long as there are no restrictions on the dissemination and information, including that which may be construed as "threatening national security”. Information which is considered as dangerous for national concerns can be censored in order to retain the status quo of the ruling political power or to avoid the danger towards national harmony of the country.

Other countries also have censored the contents or information involving new media. The German government, for example, in December 1995, ordered CompuServe to block access to illegal materials under the law of that country. They warned the Germany Internet Access Provider (IAP) that they would be charged with abetting terrorists, if they do not restrict the information that may motivate terrorism on the web.

In January 1996, Deutsche Telecom, blocked the German people to access the URL Ernst Zuendel, the German activist residing in Toronto, Canada, on suspicion of disseminating information on anti-Jewish and neo-Marxists on the Internet. In UK, their IAP established Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) with the permission of the police and the government to report material that is unlawful to the police, besides asking the IAP to remove or block it.

China has many laws related to the Internet. One such law states that spreading any message that has been defined as "illegal" and "anything that violates the constitution affecting the dignity and interests of China" is prohibited. In 2000, a total of 1,000 Internet offences have been reported by the Chinese government.

China has take action to block websites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, as well as applying a Great Firewall filter to block its citizens rather than allowing them to watch the images and read ideas that are posted on illicit web pages outside the country. Besides that, all Internet users in China are required to register with the police and to sign an agreement not to do things that would harm the country-including state secrecy, to spread information that could damage national security and pornography on the internet.

ACTIVITY 10.8

In most closed countries, new media technology creates a space of freedom which would not otherwise exist. Its potential to disseminate news irritates dictators and eludes traditional censorship methods. Some regimes use it - mainly on Facebook and Twitter - to monitor dissidents and infiltrate their networks.

Discuss the statement above in terms of the pro and contra of the freedom of information? Can the restrictions and censorship of something that is not appropriate ensure the safety and harmony of the country?

There is less censorship on the Internet in most developed countries. Most of the censorship are to prevent children pornography or to monitor websites that incite hatred of religion, race and culture. But some developing countries do not impose any form of censorship and there are developing countries that impose some form of censorship on the Internet. Reporters Without Borders stated that the list of Internet enemies are Burma, Cuba, China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Malaysia is under the surveillance list with Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Libya, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

In Malaysia, the government continues to provide the assurance that the government's policy of not censoring the Internet will continue to be implemented as stated in the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, "not anything in this Act shall be construed as permitting the censorship of the Internet". But as the body which is responsible, MCMC has the power to act if there is any party who abuse or violate several provisions in the law of the country.

Internet restriction or censorship involves control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. There are various way to filter or censor Internet content. One way is through technical censorship such as IP blocking, DNS filtering and redirection, URL filtering, packet filtering, reverse surveillance, and connection reset. There are also some software that can be used, usually by users, to filter Internet content such as Cyber Patrol Filtering Software, Sites Blocked, CYBERsitter, Bess Filtering Services, CleanNet, McAfee Office (Guard Dog), and American Family Filter.

Filtering or censorship might be done to content related to the following themes:

􀁸 Political: Express views in opposition to those of the current government. Content more broadly related to human rights, freedom of expression, minority rights, and religious movements is also considered here.

􀁸 Social: Material related to sexuality, gambling, and illegal drugs and alcohol, as well as other topics that may be socially sensitive or perceived as offensive.

􀁸 Conflict/security: Content related to armed conflicts, border disputes, separatist movements, and militant groups is included in this category.

􀁸 Internet tools: Web sites that provide e-mail, Internet hosting, search, translation, Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone service, and circumvention methods are grouped in this category.

ACTIVITY 10.9

Malaysia is not implementing Internet censorship.

Joseph Kaos Jr

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 13:31:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia does not intend to implement an internet filter similar to China's Green Dam project, the Deputy Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum told the Dewan Rakyat today.

Salang said the government will leave it to the discretion of internet users to practice good usage, rather than use censorship to cull abuse of the internet.

He also clarified that a survey by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to study on China's internet filter operation was simply, a "study".

"The study on China does not mean that we want to impose internet censorship like them. We just wanted to see how effective their programme is, and what we can learn from it. But it does not mean we want to impose the same thing," said Salang, responding to a Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Pantai Dalam)'s supplementary question during Question Time.

Salang said Malaysia, as a sovereign nation, can make their own decisions and does not have to be dictated by what other countries do. 

The deputy minister also urged bloggers to exercise caution in their blog entries, and to refrain from insulting the country as well as its rulers.

"The alternative media is no longer "alternative", in fact it has become the preferred media among the public now. Since the government does not intend to censor internet content, bloggers and internet users must exercise caution," said Salang.

Source: www.mmail.com.my

What do you think of this statement? Does Malaysia actually censor Internet content? Should the government apply censorship in this new media? Discuss.

Freedom, prosperity and the development of a society depend on education as well as on unrestricted access to knowledge, thought, culture and information. 

The right of access to information and ideas is vital for any society. Therefore, the restriction and censorship of information are seen as crucial and is a controversial issues to many people because it is always related to freedom of information and democracy. Any attempt to impose censorship on the Internet will be greeted with loud protests from various parties who see information access as one of the rights of humanity. Any restriction or censorship will be seen as a violation of human rights and denying their freedom to receive information that can increase their awareness about the world.

􀁸 The global nature of the Internet and its network infrastructure complicate the law.

􀁸 The legal implications of the Internet’s development and ICT are made even more complex by specific features of its relationship with existing laws, regulatory framework, and the ideas that underpin them.

􀁸 The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission MCMC was created pursuant to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act (1998) as a new regulator for the communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia.

The deputy minister also urged bloggers to exercise caution in

their blog entries, and to refrain from insulting the country as well as its rulers.

"The alternative media is no longer "alternative", in fact it has become the preferred media among the public now. Since the government does not intend to censor internet content, bloggers and internet users must exercise caution," said Salang.

Source: www.mmail.com.my

What do you think of this statement? Does Malaysia actually censor Internet content? Should the government apply censorship in this new media? Discuss.

􀁸 The Communications and Multimedia Act is a cyber law set up by the Malaysian government to monitor communication and the multimedia industry.

􀁸 The majority of the population in developing countries still do not have access to new media technologies.

􀁸 The digital divide gap is not only caused by material resources, but it also involves other factors such as temporal resources (having the time to use new media), mental resources (sufficient technical knowledge), social resources (network and ties), and cultural resources (the status and other cultural rewards to motivate people to get access).

􀁸 The digital divide is also detected in Malaysia especially in the rural areas.

􀁸 Electronic transaction usually leave data trails and the potential of privacy invasion is huge.

􀁸 One of the main concerns of privacy issues is identity theft.

􀁸 Legal framework for the protection of privacy consists three parts, namely national legislation, international legislation and treaties, and codes of conduct and professional codes.

􀁸 In the information technology sector, women make up only small percentages of managerial, maintenance, and design personnel in networks, operating systems, or software.

􀁸 The gap to ICT access between gender exists, especially in older age groups, and in areas of newer technologies.

􀁸 Access to ICT for disabled people has been incorporated as one of the clauses in the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted by the United Nations (UN)

in 2006.

Censorship

Digital divide

Legislation

Privacy

Security

Self-regulation

1. List all legal and ethical issues related to the new media technology.

2. Explain the importance of Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 to the new media technology industry in the Malaysian context.

3. What is meant by digital divide?

4. Discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of open source to public / users.

1. There are several ways to protect the privacy of our information. List and explain each of it.

2. Restriction and censorship of information will always be a controversial issue. Explain the reasons.