Indonesia drafting first cyber law

Indonesia drafting first cyber law

JAKARTA (JP): The government is drafting a cyber law, the
first of its kind in Indonesia, State Minister of Communications
and Information Syamsul Mu'arif said on Tuesday.

In a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission I on
information, Syamsul said he had sought ideas from cyber experts
and hoped the draft law could be deliberated soon.

He said the bill was so urgent that he would submit it
directly to the House for deliberation without seeking prior
approval from the State Secretariat.

"We must bypass the State Secretariat, otherwise it will take
between two and three years before the House and the government
can deliberate it," Syamsul said.

The state ministry held a workshop on cyber law here on
Monday.

The urgency of a cyber law, Syamsul said, was highlighted by
the ongoing legal wrangle between PT Mustika Ratu and one of its
employees over ownership of an Internet domain name. The case is
being tried under the anti-monopoly law, concerning unhealthy
competition.

At the hearing presided over by Astrid Soesanto, only few
legislators showed interest and commented on the cyber law plan.

Syamsul said the future law would regulate things like digital
signatures, electronic transactions and consumer protection.

He said the law would assure the international community that
Indonesia had a legal framework for electronic transactions.

Indonesian Society for Telecommunications, Media and
Information (Mastel) chairman Soekarno Abdurachman said the
deliberation of a draft cyber law must commence soon.

He said, without a law, cyber space utilization and industry
would not develop properly.

The bill is being drafted by the Ministry of Transportation,
the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Justice and
Human Rights, and experts from the University of Indonesia in
Jakarta and Padjadjaran University in Bandung. (08)