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)