At last it is coming…… here is what reported by nstonline
Task force to check on websites
By Deborah Loh
15 June, 2007A task force will be formed to study the need to regulate Internet sites with pornographic and seditious content. The cabinet approved the establishment of the task force at its meeting on Wednesday after a lengthy discussion.
It decreed that it should proceed with the study to ensure that any regulatory action is confined to the Multimedia Bill of Guarantees, which includes a provision not to censor the Internet.
Sources told the New Straits Times that the task force would tread carefully so as not to violate the bill and would study existing laws, such as the Sedition Act, to see how it could be expanded to include Internet content.
The sources said the regulatory powers were not meant to block or censor websites with such content, but to look at how warnings could be issued before action was taken.
The task force would also determine what sort of action was feasible, without contravening the Bill of Guarantees.
The websites to be monitored are those which contain pornographic material and those, including blogs, which carry seditious material.
“These include blogs which post inflammatory content against other races or religions and not just blogs on politics or those which criticise the government,” a source said.
Members of the task force are said to include high-ranking officers from the ministries of Science, Technology and Innovation, Information, Energy, Water and Communications, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the police and CyberSecurity Malaysia.
The task force will study “tricky” issues like the problem of identifying anonymous bloggers, the handling of websites with servers located overseas, and the application of sedition law in cyberspace.
Deputy Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shahziman Mansor confirmed that the MCMC had been directed to conduct a study on the subject.
“Any action would be limited by the Multimedia Bill of Guarantees,” he said. “The issue of censoring the Internet does not arise. It is not easy to monitor millions of websites.
“Neither can we simply install filters for certain sites or people will accuse us of censorship,” Shahziman said.
