Dear Colleagues, My name is Emmanuel Njenga and I am working with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).
I would like to respond to some of the questions raised and interesting comments especially the recent ones on definitions of cyber-crimes and cyber-terrorism. In this regard, I would like to highlight a few examples of what is going on in Africa where it seems some countries do not understand the issues well and hence are adopting a reactionary manner to address issues, as opposed to proper policies, strategies and legislation. In the case of Zambia a Cyber-crime (dubbed 'computer crimes') bill was recently passed (not sure if this has become law yet) and it seems that this was more of a government reaction (although government claims it was a follow up from the policy framework) after a particular situation in which a man who hacked a government website was not prosecuted, as there was no legislation to this effect. So in this case we see a government going forward to enact legislation to counter such a measure without a comprehensive understanding of the issues. In other countries, like South Africa, they seem to have taken a different approach, where they are soon to enact a new law targetting child pornography measures that will have implications for computer technicians, Internet service providers and cyber-cafes. The new law will be in the form of amendments to the Film and Publications Act. So in a nutsell, they are tightening existing laws to cover existing crimes that are futher facilitated by the Internet/computers. In Kenya, there seems to be major confusion on addressing some issues such as access of ponography by minors from the Internet. On one hand there are those who insist there exists legislation to counter these issues: "The Act clearly stipulates a penalty under the Rights of Children and Protection section. It states that notwithstanding penalties contained in any other law, any person willfully infringing on the specified rights [of children] shall be liable upon summary conviction to a jail term or imprisonment not exceeding 12 months; or to a fine not exceeding Sh50,000 or to both." On the other hand, the police are not soo sure...and are now calling for new legislation: "However, the police, who are supposed to enforce the law, do not seem to have any clue that it exists. Criminal Investigations Department spokesman Gideon Kibunja says: "Since the Internet was introduced in Kenya, I cannot remember anybody being arrested because of browsing pornography sites or displaying obscene pictures as screen savers. Even if one is arrested, he/she cannot be charged in court under the law that makes it criminal to be in possession of a pornographic publication or videotape." The above are just a few cases of what is going on in Africa, a trend that seems mostly driven by lack of awareness and confusion of issues while some others like South Africa are making good progress in some areas. These are some of the areas that need to be addressed by the questions raised below - which I will try to answer in the coming days. In the meanwhile, you can view more details of the above cases and developments taking place in Africa from the Africa ICT Policy Monitor website...below.. Section on News > Security and Privacy http://africa.rights.apc.org/en.shtml?apc=21875ne_1 Regards, Emmanuel Njenga -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna Africa Policy Monitor Project Association for Progressive Communications (APC) Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://africa.rights.apc.org Tel: 61 4 0151 7112 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Monday, October 11, 2004, Global Knowledge Dev. Moderator asked: > Key questions: > > 1) Do we need to think and operate differently to prevent cyber-crime > and cyber-terrorism in the future? Who needs to change what? Please be > specific. > > 2) What is the responsibility of donors and NGOs who are helping expand > Internet access? Should they always ensure secure networks? Should they > demand a proper balance between security and privacy protection? > > 3) What new threats come from new technologies, e.g., cell phones that > access the Web? What, specifically, must be done -- and by whom -- to > address these threats? > > 4) Are there new technologies that can help meet the cyber-security > threats? > > 5) What policies and strategies do you recommend developing countries > adopt to take advantage of new technologies while preventing cyber-crime > and terrorism? > > 6) Can open source software help build cyber-security? What must > donors, businesses, governments and NGOs do to make it happen? > > 7) Where should we draw the line between development of legal and > illegal encryption? > > 8) Growing collaboration between regulatory and security agencies helps > fight cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism, but simultaneously poses threats > to privacy and human rights. What is the best approach to maximizing the > benefits and reducing the threats? ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
