Philippines MANILA – Mid last week the Anti Cybercrime Law which is also known as Republic Act No. 10175 has been passed and is now a full-blown law. This is good news for those who feel that their rights were being violated by someone online or someone stole their identity to make evil deeds over the Internet. But what is it in the new Republic Act No. 10175 bill? It is a collection of all known cyber crimes that are now punishable by law. And with having this kind of awareness, a person can now protect themselves from Internet-related crimes.
The Republic Act No. 10175 also known as Anti Cybercrime bill signed by our current President Benigno S. Aquino last September 12, 2012. And this a joint effort from DOST, DOJ and the DILG and implementation will roll-out in the next 90 days since the day the bill was signed. And the budget allotment for this bill is PhP50,000,000.00. Here’s the complete and detailed signed Republic Act No. 10175, or you can check it from Malacañan Official Gazette.
How does it affect us, Netizens?
To be honest, this is one of the best law imposed for Internet users. People have now something at hand for protection against hackers and abusers over the Internet. People like who steals passwords, bank accounts, credit card information, confidential files, intellectual materials, and many more. And one of the punishable laws included herewith is Chapter II Section 4 – Libel
(4) Libel. — The unlawful or prohibited acts of libel as defined in Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.
This is one of the punishable act which I think will be overused eventually. I am not really confident that this will be handled very well as well. We have already seen so many cases within our society where people whether they are celebrities, politicians, or normal citizens throwing this accusations with each parties and ends up with nothing. And worst, with this bill I am pretty sure that there will be petty quarrels over the Internet that will use this law. I am just hoping for the best.
And the bloggers?
When I saw this new Act, I started to wonder how is this new bill going to affect bloggers like me. I can only think of some niches that will be affected by this somehow. I don’t want to start the fire by bringing up the issue of cyber-bullying case of a certain politician by my fellow bloggers and netizens. I just wanted to share my thoughts and you can disagree with me or help me share this with our dear fellow Pinoy bloggers. Or you can add some more thoughts and ideas to help me as well.
Do not send unsolicited emails – This is very common for micro-niches sites promoting products or for websites or blog sites that buys email addresses from third party companies and sends out massive emails. You might end up getting a lawsuit from one of your recipients. Instead of acquiring a collection of email addresses, do it your own and send a formal invitation or create a registration page and promote it on social media websites.
Product reviews – If you don’t want to receive a libel lawsuit especially if your product, service or app review is something that is not recommendable to other consumers or users then you have to back up your article or post with proof. One example I made was my Internet speed review for Wi-Tribe – I have placed all the possible and needed information I have just to prove that I was not satisfied with their service. Also choose your words carefully.
Secure your website – If you own a e-cart or online retailing website, make sure that it is fully protected. Choose wisely your webhosting, platform, plugins, digital certificates, and many more. Make sure that your website is always secured and you can always get the full support you need from your webhosting company. I have been with Floroworks for years and I can always rely on the service they provide with their clients.
I suggest, you read this law and use it as one of your guide when posting your next article. I can’t fully say much for now and what I want to see is how is this going to be implemented in the coming days. I just hope that this act was not imposed just because of the recent and controversial cyber-bullying on one of the known politicians. I just hope so because if that’s the case then they are forgetting something – the Freedom of Speech. Besides, social networking is a personal thing and a person can always post anything on their wall simply because it’s their wall.
