PHL Cybercrime Bill no SOPA —Angara

A new anti-cybercrime measure passed on third reading at the Senate this week is no "Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)" and will not curtail Filipinos' Internet rights.

 

This was the assurance made by Sen. Edgardo Angara, who said Senate Bill 2796, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, has "safeguards" against possible abuse.

 

"Let me stress that the #Cybercrime Act is no way like SOPA. We've been working on this for almost a year. SOPA only made news recently," Angara said on his Twitter account.

 

He also suggested that critics questioning the measure study the bill first.

 

"I encourage everyone to first study the measure passed by the Senate. (I) Will post the link to the bill once it is available on Senate Web site," he said.

 

Several protests were held in January against the SOPA, which critics said can cripple their websites just because corporate targets file claims their intellectual property rights had been violated.

 

At least one group, Greenpace, said corporate targets can just file a complaint and effectively censor the Internet, with "no proof required, no court hearing."

 

For its part, open-source encyclopedia Wikipedia particularly questioned the requirement in the bills for US-based sites to actively police links to purported infringing sites.

 

Such self-policing activities are non-sustainable for large, global sites - including ones like Wikipedia, it said.

 

Earlier this year, the Senate approved on third reading the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Senate Bill No. 2796).

 

Filed by Angara, who chairs of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, the Cybercrime Prevention Act establishes a legal framework for the investigation, apprehension and prosecution of cybercriminals.

 

The measure seeks to protect Filipino Internet users from Internet-related crimes like online theft, fraud, hacking, cyber-squatting and child pornography.

 

It bill also provides for the creation of new government agencies such as the Office of Cybercrime under the Department of Justice (DOJ); a National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) under the Information and Communications Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ICTO); and a National Cybersecurity Coordinating Council (NCCC) under the Office of the President.

 

Cybercrime bill's requirements

 

Angara said the bill requires a court warrant for all content and subscriber data, with court warrant requirements enumerated in the bill.

 

He added only traffic (non-content) data can be collected and not necessarily disclosed by law enforcement officers.

 

Besides, he said the legislative process always consults stakeholders such as the Departmnts of Science and Technology and Justice, Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, and information technology experts.

 

"We need to assist law enforcement in apprehending criminals in fast-paced cyberspace. Our E-Commerce Law isn't enough," Angara said.

 

Group pushes junking of cybercrime bill

 

A militant consumer group urged President Benigno Aquino III and Congress to stop the consideration of the so-called Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, calling it “unconstitutional, draconian and a clear and present danger to the world’s social media capital.”

 

TXTPower pushed instead for the immediate passage of the Freedom of Information Act which has been languishing in Congress for many years now.

 

“(B)oth the Senate and House versions of the cybercrime bills contain dangerous and draconian provisions that have the huge potential of doing more harm than good. They look less about preventing so-called cybercrimes, and more like an orchestrated attempt to control and limit internet use,” it said.

 

It added that under the bills, government would have the power to "take down, sans a court order, websites at any time and anywhere if authorities find alleged prima facie evidence of offenses."

 

"This is not unlike the lamentable PIPA/SOPA of the United States being applied by our own Congress here in the Philippines,” said TXTPower.

 

“We urge Filipino netizens to study the bills, voice out their concerns and prepare for online and offline protest actions,” it added.

 

TXTPower said that the bills also pose “serious and grave threats to Filipino citizens’ right to privacy.”

 

“For example, under the Senate version, the government would have the power to retain all user-identifiable data for a period of six months, from as many individuals it could possibly tag as suspected cybercriminals,” it said.

 

The group added the House and Senate did not hold nationwide public hearings and consultations on both bills.

 

“Any and all the country’s 30 million internet users have a stake in these bills but Congress appeared to have deprived them of free, prior and informed consent before lawmakers tried to dismantle the right to privacy and the right to free expression via the proposed measures,” it said.

 

It added the Aquino administrations "appears to be interested in getting information about its opponents, but would conveniently cite national security when the people demand full disclosure of government actions and full participation in hammering out measures such as this one.”

 

“That the Aquino-controlled Congress chose to pass the cybercrime bill and continue to ignore the FOI betrays the administration’s hypocrisy about moralistic paeans to good governance. Instead of opening up government to public scrutiny with the FOI, we now see the government going on the offensive with a cybercrime bill that transforms the Philippine internet into one giant place for fishing expeditions on alleged cybercriminals,” it added.

 

TXTPower said the Aquino administration will be solely to blame for keeping the Philippines in a list of a minority of countries still without an FOI law.

 

“Aside from passing the FOI law, the government should also focus its sights on improving and expanding internet access, curbing corporate abuses by telecommunications companies, and removing taxes on end-users of telecommunications services,” it said. — TJD, GMA News