'Tempo' on Internet is okay: Harmoko

'Tempo' on Internet is okay: Harmoko

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko yesterday said
he did not see anything wrong with Tempo, a newsweekly he closed
down two years ago, starting its own homepages on the Internet.

"Anybody can go on the Internet. There are no regulations
against it," Harmoko said when asked by reporters about the move
by former employees of the banned magazine to launch what they
called Tempo Interaktif.

"I don't think there is anything to say; there are no laws on
the Internet," Harmoko said after attending a hearing with
Commission I of the House of Representatives.

"Maybe the House will want to discuss legislating the
Internet," he added.

Harmoko is currently facing a legal battle with a group of
former Tempo employees for closing down the magazine in June
1994. The Jakarta State Administrative Court declared his move to
rescind Tempo's publishing license illegal and the ruling has
since been upheld by the Jakarta High Administrative State Court.
The case is now awaiting the Supreme Court's decision.

The first edition of Tempo Interaktif was launched on March 6
by the Tempo Data and Analysis Center using the Idola provider.
It can be accessed on http://www.idola.net.id/tempo.

The inaugural edition picked up the most controversial issue
of the week: The government's decision to give special privileges
to a car-making company run by Hutomo Mandala Putra, the
president's youngest son.

The service draws on the rich data base of the old magazine
and offers access to all of Tempo's past editions, from the first
edition on March 6, 1971 to the last on June 25 1994.

Profiles of public figures which have been available in the
best selling book Apa & Siapa (Who's Who) are also available on
Tempo's homepages and will be continually updated. (emb)