The computer misuse act

A lot of flak has been levelled at the Surayud government and the military as of late for the cybercrime law, or as it is more formally known, the computer misuse act. Well, Surayud may be guilty of many things, but on this one, it is not his fault.

Perhaps the redshirts who are quick to blame Surayud and the military appointed National Legislative Assembly for the arrest of the Prachathai webmaster should realise that while it was passed by the NLA, it was drafted much earlier and took shape during the Thaksin era. The fact that it was the very first law passed by the NLA was a coincidence as the law was in already in the pipeline and due for reading then.

No, it is not a good law, but at least the NLA had the common sense to remove the death penalty in it that was included in prior versions.

IMHO the worst part is that everyone using the Internet can be found guilty of not being able to provide "and any other relevant information" to the authorities. Such a vague interpretation opens up the possibility of selective enforcement; where anyone can be witch-hunted on a whim.

As one of my friends said, the NLA had the choice not to pass it at all. True, but it is not without merits. Stealing information fell into gaps in the law before it as nothing was actually stolen. Yes, they should have amended the criminal laws to make them up to date with technology rather than embark on this, but that is not what happened.

The Redshirts should get their facts right and stop blaming Surayud for this.

Yellows, on the other hand, can take some comfort in playing a part in stopping Thaksin before this law was passed. Had TRT stayed in power and passed the law without the modifications, just think of how society would be like today with a cybercrime law with a death penalty in it. Peaceful, for sure, but how many more people would have died to achieve that peace?

This is my opinion. You do not have to agree with me.

P.S. Here is a link to an old story with one of the people originally on the project that became the Computer Misuse Act.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/20th_database/07Feb2007_data50.php