Philippine Government Ignores Public Concerns, Continues To Push Extreme 'Cybercrime' Law
from the not-listening dept
One of the striking -- and depressing -- features of the Internet today is the almost universal desire of governments around the world to rein it in through new laws. We wrote about one such attempt in the Philippines a couple of months ago, where the government is trying to bring in some particularly wide-ranging and troubling legislation. Although the Philippine Supreme Court put a temporary restraining order on the law, the Philippine government is not softening its stance, and has asked the court to lift the order. Its arguments are pretty worrying:
"there is always a presumption of validity that attaches to every legislative act"
Oh, really?
It also said the law only "regulates and penalizes" acts defined as cybercrimes like hacking, and does not prevent the petitioners from using the Internet and expressing their thoughts.
Well, that rather depends on how you define cybercrimes, of course.
The government said "traffic data" referred to in the Cybercrime Law is "non-content data" that consists of the origin, destination, route, time and date of the communication. It said that unlike content data, which is considered private, traffic data is an "auxiliary to the communication and is necessarily shared with a service provider who is a third party."
That is exactly the same erroneous argument used by the UK government to justify its Snooper's Charter. The problem is that some traffic data -- like destination Web addresses -- give considerable information about the content being viewed. For example, if people are visiting Web sites that are critical of the Philippine government, it's pretty clear what they are reading about.
The GMA News piece quoted above lists many other dubious arguments given by the Philippine government in favor of lifting the ban. Ironically, the way it dismisses or ignores the important issues raised by petitioners to the Supreme Court only serves to confirm the impression that the government is not really interested in achieving a fair and balanced solution here, but intends to push through its plans regardless.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: cybercrime, philippines
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Why is journalism the first target?
The very clear message we get is that democracy is destroyed when the public is not informed of the actions of government.
And for what? Are the benefits of suppressing discussion really worth leaving a nation ignorant of their culture and different ideas and arguments that the people want?
Is democracy so evil that we need a government to suppress it?
So disappointed that the public can't have nice things...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
...oh yeah... provide freedom of communication.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
http://getrealphilippines.com/blog/2012/09/wanking-to-lewd-web-videos-now-a-crime-in-the-ph ilippines/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Internet is a powerful enabler of democracy, and so must be controlled to prevent it destroying the beliefs and powers of current politicians. The more repressive a regime, the more dangerous the Internet is to them, so actions like this should not be surprising. Trying to get the politicians to back off is like trying to convince a pope that calvin was right.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Presumption
Oh, really?"
YES, really. Courts are not supposed to substitute their judgements for that of the duly elected lawmakers. Laws should not be overturned by courts unless they are clearly unconstitutional. It worries ME that YOU think this is worrying.
Think of it like the presumption of innocence in a criminal case. The presumption doesn't mean that criminals can't be convicted. It just means that the case has to be proven first.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
DAMN YOU SOTTO!!!!
I won't vote for you and your allies in this coming 2013 election.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
John Fenderson
Quote reference: John Fenderson "It's easier to fix the government…" http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121204/13310521223/mmmmm-mmmmm-monopoly-uspto-to-hit-new-record-g ranting-utility-patents.shtml?threaded=true#c404
You are lost in a world of delusion John Fenderson...only GOVT can ISSUE FU laws!!
Not Apple, Not Samsung, Not any Corp on the earth. Only Govts FU what COULD be good.
Only stupid Govt pukes issue Patents that cause harm: Here We Go Again: Apple's Pinch-To-Zoom Patent Rejected On Re-Exam
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121219/17584521445/here-we-go-again-apples-pinch-to-zoom -patent-rejected-re-exam.shtml
List of the "supposed" Good Guys that you say are "easier" to control than Corporations:
UN
EU
UK
USA
Oz
CA
The list is endless, filled with moronic GOVT pukes that FU things that don't need to any interference.
John Fenderson, you are truly lost...do you even read this Blog?? Filled with example after example of BIG GOVT fucking everything up???
EX: LEAKED: White House's Bogus Talking Points On Why Senate Should Trample The 4th Amendment http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121227/23120421503/leaked-white-houses-bogus-talking-points-why-s enate-should-trample-4th-amendment.shtml
Apparently, Congress Isn't Actually Interested In Requiring
A Warrant For Law Enforcement To Read Your Email
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121227/02441521496/apparently-congress-isnt-actually-inter ested-requiring-warrant-law-enforcement-to-read-your-email.shtml
EPIC Sues CIA For Release Of Documents Concerning Domestic Spying It Swears's Not Doing http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121225/17035321483/epic-sues-cia-release-documents-concerning-dom estic-spying-it-swears-its-not-doing.shtml
European Union's Data Retention Law Could Breach Citizens' Fundamental Rights
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121221/04453121464/european-unions-data-retention-law-cou ld-breach-citizens-fundamental-rights.shtml
Senate Finally Holds Weak 'Debate' On FISA Amendments Act... But Terrorism!
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121227/11581121501/senate-finally-holds-weak-debate-f isa-amendments-act-terrorrism.shtml
Classic Function Creep As EU Police May Gain Access To Asylum Seekers Fingerprint Database
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121226/07503321487/classic-function-creep-as-eu-police- may-gain-access-to-asylum-seekers-fingerprint-database.shtml
DOJ Taking Down Sites For Infringement... While Infringing Content Is Available Via Its Own Network
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121226/17212521492/doj-taking-down-sites-infringement-wh ile-infringing-content-is-available-via-its-own-network.shtml
Senate Rejects Final FISA Amendment, Lets Spying Program Stay Shrouded In Secrecy
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121228/06554421507/senate-rejects-final-fisa-amendment-l ets-spying-program-stay-shrouded-secrecy.shtml
John Fenderson is lost in BIG Govt lust…and should be treated as "The Notorious B.I.G. Govt Troll" he is…going “post”al on me won’t help…you’re spent.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]