Govt prepares Cyberlaw

JAKARTA (JP): The government expects to finalize the draft of a new cyberlaw by the end of the year to provide legal assurance for business and transactions conducted over the Internet, Director-General of Post and Telecommunications Sasmito Dirdjo said on Wednesday.

He dismissed calls from local Internet players who asked the government not to control the development of the Internet industry and to cancel its plan to make cyberlaws, requesting that the government amend existing laws on trade and property rights instead.

"Cyberlaw is needed to deal with security and legal assurance for people who do business on the Internet. Of course we can still utilize existing laws such as the trade laws to provide guidelines for business ethics on the Net," he said.

He said a team of officials from related government offices were currently working to prepare the draft. (cst)