Data protection Necessary for global trade
July 12, 2010
The current trend of global trade would give Malaysia no chance to backtrack, as personal data protection law is now a trade prerequisite recognized by international communities. In fact, adequate regulation on personal data is now a prerequisite by many countries for initiating or continuing bilateral trade.”
Heng said: “It is this adequacy requirement that has forced years of negotiation and contention between Brussels and Washington before safe harbor principles were finally agreed. This adequacy requirement will affect the trade in this region as the countries that constitute the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have also recognized the importance of this legal development.”
According to Professor Abu Bakar Munir at the University of Malaya’s Faculty of Law, countries in the region that have implemented comprehensive data protection legislation include Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, New Zealand and Australia. In the Middle East, only Israel has similar bills while Indonesia and China are in the process of drafting such legislation, said Abu Bakar, who was also a speaker at the conference.
He said EU nations, Chile, Argentina and Brazil were the other countries with comprehensive data protection legislation in place. In the United States, data protection is governed by the Privacy Act 1974 and 12 federal sectoral-based legislations and individual state laws, and the safe harbor provision, he noted.
Singapore , he added, was among the countries that have adopted a self-regulatory approach to personal data protection. However, the Singapore government has since acknowledged this approach is not effective and is contemplating plans for a comprehensive data protection law, said Abu Bakar. The professor was asked by the Malaysian government to assist in the drafting of the revised bill.
In the absence of a data protection act, he said various parties in Malaysia including developers, local and foreign banks had been selling their customers’ personal information or allowed the data to be used by third parties.
“Currently, it is not illegal because we don’t have personal data protection legislation, but [the banks] should be observing international best practices that prohibit such practices,” he noted. “Hopefully, this new law will put a stop to all such practices.”
According to Abu Bakar, the revised bill contains provisions for a data protection commissioner who will have investigative powers and responsibility for enforcing it.
He said the proposed act would allow individuals to take civil action to seek redress if they feel their personal data have been compromised.
NTP Sues Apple, Google Over Wireless E-Mail Patents
July 12, 2010
The company known for winning a $600 million settlement fromResearch In Motion Ltd. over wireless e-mail patents has filed another swath of infringement suits over the technology, targeting Google Inc.,Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. and others.
Richmond, Va.-based NTP Inc. lodged half a dozen complaints Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, claiming eight of its patents are being infringed by companies that either develop wireless hand-held devices or make software used to deliver e-mail on the devices.
Along with Google, Apple and Microsoft, the suit targets LG Electronics MobileComm USA Inc., Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp. The plaintiff is seeking damages with interest, royalties, costs and injunctive relief.
Ron Epstein of LawPotential PC, settlement counsel for NTP, said progress on licensing talks had been weak.
“Every one of these guys has known about these patents for years,” Epstein said Friday.
Still, he added, his client’s first choice is make a deal and avoid litigation.
“That’s why I’m involved — because NTP is serious about being willing to enter licensing agreements,” Epstein said. “No one wants to go down the litigation path. You only go down that path if negotiations break down.”
Allegedly infringing phones include Apple’s iPhone, LG’s Ally and Incite, HTC’s T-Mobile G1, and Motorola’s Droid.
Google and Microsoft, meanwhile, are targeted for creating the Android and Windows Mobile operating systems used on the phones.
Apple’s iPad also infringes the patents-in-suit, along with the Mac OS X operating system used on the device, according to the complaint.
NTP was founded in 1992 by inventor Tom Campana as a holding company for his wireless e-mail patents. The company has been aggressive in going after alleged infringers, winning a widely followed $612.5 million settlement from RIM in 2006 over wireless e-mail on the defendant’s BlackBerry devices.
The plaintiff has remained in the spotlight by virtue of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s decision to re-examine the company’s patents in the wake of that settlement, ultimately rejecting four of the five patents asserted against RIM.
NTP has appealed the decision, and Epstein said the company had high hopes the patents would ultimately survive the scrutiny.
NTP Incorporated, the company founded by Tom Campana filed lawsuits against Apple, Inc., Google Inc., HTC Corp., LG Electronics Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and Motorola, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for infringing NTP’s eight patents related to the delivery of electronic mail over wireless communications systems. Each of the defendants is a manufacturer or developer of either wireless handheld devices or software applications used in the delivery of email across wireless communications systems.
Donald E. Stout, NTP’s co-founder, said, “Use of NTP’s intellectual property without a license is just plain unfair to NTP and its licensees. Unfortunately, litigation is our only means of ensuring the inventor of the fundamental technology on which wireless email is based, Tom Campana, and NTP shareholders are recognized, and are fairly and reasonably compensated for their innovative work and investment.
Malaysia bans political cartoons critical of government
July 12, 2010
Malaysia banned three works of political cartoons that criticize the government, but one of the artists said Friday he was obligated to highlight issues other cartoonists would not.
The government said the cartoons in two books and a magazine posed a security threat.
Malaysia has banned dozens of publications in recent years, but usually because of sexual content or alleged misrepresentation of Islam, its official religion. But the latest ban is certain to spark complaints that the government is disallowing critical views.
“All three publications have been banned for their contents that can influence the people to revolt against the leaders and government policies,” said a statement by Home Ministry Secretary General Mahmood Adam on the official news agency Bernama. “The contents are not suitable and detrimental to public order,” he said without elaborating.
The works are mainly collections of comics by Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque, known as Zunar, and other local cartoonists, questioning current events, such as police shootings and the sodomy trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The books, titled “Perak, Land of Cartoons” in Malay and “1 Funny Malaysia,” were published late last year. The magazine, “Issues in Cartoons” in Malay, with a circulation of 15,000 copies, was launched in February with three volumes coming out since then, Zunar said.
Independent online news portal Malaysiakini, which publishes “1 Funny Malaysia,” said it would file a court case to challenge the ban of its book. Its chief executive officer, Premesh Chandran, said the book was a compilation of cartoons already published on Malaysiakini’s website.
“It’s peculiar that the book is banned … as so far there is no evidence of public disturbance stemming from these cartoons,” he told The Associated Press.
Cartoonist Zunar, who has published the other two works, told the AP he was still waiting for an official letter from the ministry but vowed not to stop drawing.
“In Malaysia the government is like this. They won’t allow alternative views. You can do cartoons, you can do whatever art work you want, but it must be in line with the government (view),” said the 47-year-old, who has been a professional cartoonist for more than 20 years.
“Drawing cartoons it’s my social obligation … I will highlight the issues that Malaysian cartoonist have failed to highlight so far,” he said. “They can ban my books, they can ban my publications, but they can’t ban my mind.”
He said hundreds of copies of his publications had been seized by authorities for inspections from vendors throughout Malaysia. Another magazine he began publishing was also banned last year after the first volume.
He estimated the latest ban may cost him up to 70,000 ringgit ($22,000) as distributors were likely to return his publications. Printing, distributing or possessing prohibited material is punishable by up to three years in jail.
Activists and opposition leaders have frequently accused the government of disallowing dissent.
Last month, Malaysian authorities seized more than 6,000 copies of a pro-opposition newspaper, saying it did not have a printing permit. The publisher insisted otherwise.
Symantec ranks India as 5th in cyber crime
July 12, 2010
Symantec in its “Internet Security Threat” 2009 report has ranked India 5th in malicious activity, i.e. a climb of six places. India is the highest spam originating country in the world, contributing 4 % to the worldwide spam volumes, while the country ranks first in the Asian region. On the basis of web-based attacks, India has gone up from the rank of 13 in 2008 to rank 3 in 2009, next to US and Brazil. Of the phishing URLs identified in India, 91 per cent targeted the financial services sector last year.
Indian National Sentenced to 81 Months in US Prison for Role in International Online Brokerage Hacking Crime
July 12, 2010
An Indian national was sentenced today to 81 months in prison on conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges arising from an international fraud scheme to “hack” into online brokerage accounts in the United States and use those accounts to manipulate stock prices, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg of the District of Nebraska.
Jaisankar Marimuthu, 36, a native of Chennai, India, was also ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution. Marimuthu pleaded guilty on Feb. 5, 2010, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft, and to one count of aggravated identity theft before U.S. District Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett III in Omaha, Neb. Marimuthu, who was extradited to the United States following his arrest in Hong Kong, was sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp.
According to court documents, Marimuthu was part of a conspiracy that operated out of Thailand and India from February 2006 through December 2006 in which the prices of thinly-traded securities were fraudulently inflated by hacking into brokerage accounts in the United States and then illegally using the accounts to make large, unauthorized purchases of securities in the name of the unsuspecting customers. Marimuthu admitted that after the price of the securities had been artificially increased or “pumped up” through the bogus trading, the conspirators’ own holdings of the securities would be sold at a profit. More than 90 customers and seven brokerage firms in the United States have been identified as victims. Financial losses of close to $2.5 million were sustained by the victims in this case.
Pakistan blocks Facebook and Youtube
July 12, 2010
A Pakistani court ordered temporary blocking of Facebook.com due to the controversies over a competition for caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. similar order has been passed for the blocking of youtube.com the Pakistan Government has urged the international community to address the issue at the earliest, as it is an extremely sensitive and emotional matter for Muslims across the world.
Digital signature bill hits Congress
July 9, 2010
There are numerous forms of digital/electronic signatures, which raises a swarm of legal and liability issues. E-signatures range from the equivalent to hand-signed paper documents to certified IDs similar to a passport or driver’s license. The most talked-about digital signatures are secured by encryption and attached to email messages and other digital documents and handed out by a “certificate authority” that takes steps to verify a person’s true identity.
This legislation ensures that state and federal regulations do not interrupt the rapid growth of e-commerce, This legislation would establish a national uniform legal framework for e-commerce.
The bill defines electronic signature as a signature in electronic form, attached to or logically associated with an electronic record, any symbol, sound, or process executed or adopted by a person or entity, with intent to authenticate or accept a record.
The legislation also would authorize a federal study to determine if government agencies imposing any barriers to electronic transactions. And in some instances, the new bill could override state efforts, but leaves room for interpretation.
There are three reasons to pass electronic signature legislation:
1. To resolve the questions of its legality
2. To address whether you can trust messages signed with digital signature
3. To specify the rules for using them
Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim was discussing with the Public Service Department (PSD) on the manpower needs, emoluments and other service requirements for the commission.
“The commission has already been created in terms of legislation, it’s just that we need to cooperate with and accept the location of the building from the PSD, which we are working on now.
“I think it’s not later than January next year, but probably by the end of the year we can resolve the size of the manpower required, and we are also planning on the logistics for the new department,” he told reporters after presenting the 2009 Excellent Service Awards to ministry staff, here today.
A total of 772 staff of the ministry and agencies and departments under the ministry received the awards at a ceremony which was also attended by the two deputy ministers of the ministry namely Datuk Joseph Salang and Datuk Maglin Dennis D’Cruz, Kamaruddin as well as heads of departments including Bernama Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Domestic News Service) Zulkifli Salleh.
Rais said that with the existence of the commission, the number of agencies and departments under the ministry had increased to 19.
He said the commission was closely linked to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as it applied computer forensic knowledge.
“In addition, the commissioner is not just anybody. He has to be trained in interrogations, cross-examinations in court proceedings and others,” he said.
Rais said the position of other companies including Credit Tip Off Services Sdn Bhd (CTOS) which had been using one’s personal data all this while was now placed under the new act.
The act, which was passed by Parliament in April, among others aimed at regulating the processing of the personal data of an individual, who is involved in commercial transactions, by the data user to provide protection to the individual’s personal data and thereby protecting the interest of the individual concerned.
According to the act, any personal data user who breaches the provision under Section 5(1) has committed an offence and faces a maximum jail term of two years, a RM200,000 fine or both.
Malaysia’s lower house (Dewan Rakyat) has passed the Personal Data Protection Act 2009. The Act introduces protections for personal information, including requirements of and restrictions on private sector data users and rights of data subjects. The Act will also create a Personal Data Protection Commissioner, an advisory committee, and an appeals tribunal.
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