Bound to become another toothless law

ONE of the buzz these days is RA 10175, also known as the Cyber-crime Prevention Act, which was signed into law last Sept. 12. This law intends to curb cyber bullies by declaring some actions in cyberspace as criminal offenses. These include offenses against the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer data and systems, piracy of intellectual property, libel, fraud, child pornography and even cybersex.

While the spirit behind the law seems beneficial and necessary, its feasibility is greatly problematic. It is like a blind man looking for a black cat in a dark room where the cat is not even in there. And while it hopes to hold accountability over cyber users, the government will just end up like a dog chasing its tail. It is practically bound to become yet another toothless law.

For instance, our law only applies to crimes committed inside the Philippines (with only five exceptions as provided by the revised penal code). Cyber world on the other hand is border-less. If a foreigner in his home country defames me through facebook or twitter, can our local courts take jurisdiction of the case?

If the offender hides in the guise of anonymity, who will be charged? Although there are technologies now that can trace at least the device used by the cyber criminal, such process involves a lengthy course and comes with a price. In the end it may still not pinpoint a person with certainty. In this case, the law will only end up being selective.

Since the evidence of the crime can be accessed anywhere in our country, can the lawsuit be filed anywhere as well? Wouldn’t this open the doors for forum shopping?
And since hacking accounts is as easy as opening a can, how can the court prevent anyone from just claiming that his or her account was hacked and that he or she cannot therefore be held responsible on what’s in it. On the other hand, won’t it also be a very easy way to hold a person liable for something he or she did not commit?

I do not know how the government will design its implementing rules and regulation(IRR) , but with the allotted budget of only P50 million, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is bound to be yet another toothless law.

(published in http://www.goldstardailynews.com.ph/letters/bound-to-become-another-toothless-law.html)