Pakatan to blame for Evidence Act amendment, says Chua

It is not the government to blame for putting Section 114A into the Evidence act 114A, the MCA said today, but Pakatan Rakyat - for failing to stop it.

"This amendment was approved in Parliament, passed in Parliament, where politicians from both sides of the political divide are involved - BN and Pakatan Rakyat.

"They didn't request for a division of vote, so it passed through Dewan Rakyat, Dewan Negara, and it is now gazetted," MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek said.

Chua said the opposition did not oppose the amendment to the Evidence act, and it did not question it.

He said the amendment went through easily, despite Pakatan's objections to it now, and despite the ongoing campaign to raise awareness about Section 114A, which is heavily supported by the opposition.

"The same people who passed the amendment are now questioning it. This is what we call political dishonesty.

"The opposition should have voiced its objections and called for block voting," he said.

'Opposition went along with it'

Responding to a question on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's tweet that the matter would be discussed by the cabinet, Chua maintained that it had been, and in the full presence of the opposition.

"We were briefed and there was a full discussion. The outcome was that this was debated in Parliament with the opposition.

"It was passed in Parliament, without the opposition calling for a division in vote. In other words, they went along with it," the MCA president added.

In recent days, Pakatan, as well as prominent groups such as the Centre for Independent Journalism, have pledged to put an end to the Evidence Act amendment that was gazetted on July 31.

The groups maintain that the amendment presumes guilty owners of online networks that are misused by others.

Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/206529

PM bows to pressure, wants to 'discuss' Section 114A

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has instructed cabinet to "discuss" about the controversial amendments to the Evidence Act 1950 following a major online protest, dubbed as Internet Blackout Day.

Najib said this in a tweet from Saudi Arabia, where he is attending the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit, that the people must come first.

"I have asked cabinet to discuss Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950. Whatever we do we must put people first," wrote Najib.

Najib's tweet comes almost after dozens of websites adopted the Centre of Independent Journalism's campaign against Section 114A, which they argued would put innocent Internet users at risk of persecution.

The campaign is heavily discussed on social networking websites and has attracted wide coverage from international news organisations.

Earlier today, some BN leaders such as MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu has urged the federal government to review Section 114A of because it will cause hardship to innocent Internet users.

In a press release today, Gan described the law as imposing a “presumption of guilt” among Internet users and service providers who may be victims while the real offenders are at large.

“As an alternative and perhaps a compromise to meet the needs to tackle Internet abuse, a legal duty should be imposed instead so that any innocent agents or Internet service providers must provide full cooperation to enforcement agencies to assist investigations into these cases of Internet abuse,” said Gan.

Gan is among a small group of BN leaders to have expressed concern over the law. Others include Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Saifuddin Abdullah.

In a tweet this evening, Khairy stated he will be meeting de facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz on Thursday to ask the government to have another look at Section 114A.

Repeal ‘guilty until proven innocent’ law, Bar Council tells government

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 ― The Bar Council wants the government to repeal a law that makes even coffee shops offering free Wi-Fi services liable for any defamatory or criminal acts of customers using computers at their premises.

 
It said that while it recognised that people could exploit a false persona to incite racial hatred, organise violent hate crimes and commit fraud, the recently introduced Section 114A of the Evidence Act of 1950, which came into force on July 31, was not the answer to these problems.

The new law creates a presumption that any registered user of network services is presumed to be the publisher of a publication sent from a computer linked to that network service, unless the contrary is proved.
The Section also provides that any “person whose name, photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting himself as the owner, host, administrator, editor or sub-editor, or who in any manner facilitates to publish or re-publish the publication is presumed to have published or re-published the contents of the publication unless the contrary is proved.”

“Suitable replacement legislation can be enacted later, if necessary, but only after full consultation with all stakeholders,” the Bar Council said in a statement today.“Such a section would therefore create a presumption that is so wide that even the owner of a coffee shop that offered a free Wi-Fi facility could be presumed to have published an online publication originating from a computer using the Wi-Fi facility.

Internet heavyweights rally against Evidence Act change

Several bigwigs in the Internet scene are throwing their weight behind the 'Stop 114A' campaign in a bid to reverse an amendment to the country's Evidence Act that presumes guilty owners of online networks that are misused by others.

One of the most prominent websites to join the fray is the Malaysian portal MOL, an online payment service that has a presence in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Netizens visiting websites in support of the campaign by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) will - for 24 hours - be greeted by a black pop-up with information on the newly-gazetted Section 114A to the Evidence Act.

This pop-up will start appearing when the clock hits midnight tonight.

CIJ executive officer Masjaliza Hamzah (left) said in a statement hours before the start of its Internet Blackout Day that the campaign has gained much momentum, with the backing of prominent websites, top politicians and netizens.