Category Archives: 2014

ISOC SG events in 2014

Forum on Blocking Websites

Forum on Changes to the Copyright Law in Singapore for Blocking Websites

The Internet Society (Singapore Chapter) hosted this Forum and Webcast on proposed changes to the Copyright law of Singapore, to collect feedback for the Ministry of Law’s Public Consultation. You can watch the presentations below on the changes, concerns, as well as research on piracy in Singapore.

Singapore copyright owners could find it easier to get court orders to block websites which infringe their copyright material end 2014, if proposed changes to the Copyright Act are passed as measures to act against pirate sites. But many questions remain: How easy will it be to get a site blocked? Should it be so easy? What can wrongly blocked (innocent) sites do? Will site blocking actually work?

The results of the discussion were compiled by the moderator Prof Ang Peng Hwa and the text of the document submitted to MinLaw can be found here
http://isoc.sg/our-feedback-on-the-proposed-amendments-to-the-copyright-act-blocking-websites-isocsg/

Speakers:

  1. Benjamin Ang, Education Chair, Internet Society Singapore
  2. Anna Meadows, Director, Sycamore Research and Marketing
  3. Harish Pillay, Internet Society Singapore
  4. Steven Liew, Asian Internet Coalition

The results of the discussion were compiled by the moderator Prof Ang Peng Hwa and the text of the document submitted to MinLaw can be found here
http://isoc.sg/our-feedback-on-the-proposed-amendments-to-the-copyright-act-blocking-websites-isocsg/

hackerspace-talk

ISOC Singapore at Hackerspace SG Movie Screening

ISOC Singapore Education Chair Benjamin Ang spoke at Hackerspace SG‘s movie screening and panel discussion event on July 4, 2014.

The event saw a screening of ‘The Internet’s Own Boy’, a new film about internet activist Aaron Swartz, followed by a panel discussion. Benjamin Ang spoke on Copyright Law and the Computer Misuse Act, and you can find the slides from his talk here. The video of the panel discussion is embedded below.

Forum on Blocking Websites

Our feedback on the Proposed Amendments to the Copyright Act (Blocking Websites) #isocsg

Public Consultation on the Proposed Amendments to the Copyright Act: Feedback at a Meeting Organised by the Internet Society and the Asian Internet Coalition

Venue: Office of Red Hat, 8 Shenton Way #10-00, AXA Tower

Date: 21 April 2014

Time: 7 pm to 9.15 pm

 

Disclaimer: Because of the diversity of those attending, the views expressed should not be taken as representative of those present. Rather, they should be seen as offering a diversity of opinions pointing out the pros, cons, benefits and pitfalls of the proposed amendment.

 

Attendees:

Attending as Representatives of Organisations Attending in Personal Capacity (Names of organisation are places of work)
Harish Pillay, Internet Society Caleb Kow, TuCows, Inc
Goh Lih Shiun, Asia Internet Coalition George Goh
Steven Liew, Asia Internet Coalition Bryan Ghows, VIA Law Corporation
Bryan Tan, Internet Society Ang Peng Hwa, NTU
Benjamin Ang, Internet Society

 

 

 

Rationale for the Need of the Amendment

Is there a need for the Amendment? The notice-and-take-down regime has worked well in many other countries. It is not clear that it is not working well in Singapore.

There is no data showing, for example, that ISPs are ignoring rights holders when served with take-down notices. Some of the online companies see invalid take-down notices.

UK, for example, after much debate, has decided not to introduce the law. (See “Government Drops Website Blocking” BBC News, August 3, 2011, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-14372698.)

Unintended Consequences

The Amendment will protect incumbent rights holders but it may have unintended consequences of stifling new technologies.

The Amendment will discourage business owners from developing a robust notice-and-take-down system as they will now wait for the court order. The notice-and-take-down regime is readily accepted as a current practice.

Exceptions

Copyright law always has exceptions but there are none in this, eg fair dealing, non-commercial use, creative commons licensed material.

Site-Blocking

Site blocking is ineffective as VPNs (virtual private networks) TOR (The Onion Router) networks would make it possible to bypass the site blocking.

Permanence of Injunction

Copyright has a limited lifespan. So while it is efficient for the rights holder, it is not conceptually sound. There should be an expiry period for the injunction.

Recourse For Wrongly Blocked Sites

There should be recourse to sue for damages from those who wrongly claim copyright.

Better Ways

Encouragement should be made for diverse and flexible ways to deliver content to users.

Legal Process

It is possible for someone wanting to block the site to go straight to court with little warning to the possibly offending site. It is likely that once the rights holder has a court order, other sites will fold when presented with the court order. This bypasses legal due process.

ICANN has a Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) process for handling domain names used for illegal purposes. The Amendment may conflict with this URS process.

Rights holder should prove that actual infringement has taken place.

There is the danger of overblocking. Any block should be of the infringing page, not the entire site.

Better Wording

The definition of what is an ISP should be made clearer. It may be necessary to spell out what is excluded: platforms such as Yahoo, Google and Facebook, domain name registrars and cyberlockers (eg DropBox).

Forum on Blocking Websites

Send your feedback on Blocking Websites – Proposed changes to Singapore Copyright Law

Singapore copyright owners could find it easier to get court orders to block websites which infringe their copyright material end 2014, if proposed changes to the Copyright Act are passed as measures to act against pirate sites. But many questions remain: How easy will it be to get a site blocked? Should it be so easy? What can wrongly blocked (innocent) sites do? Will site blocking actually work?

Internet Society (Singapore) hosted this Forum and Webcast to collect feedback for the Ministry of Law’s Public Consultation. Watch the presentations on the changes, concerns, as well as research on piracy in Singapore. Then join in the debate, share your views and concerns, by commenting on the video or sharing on Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Google+ hashtag #isocsg or e-mail [email protected]

Speakers:

  1. Benjamin Ang, Education Chair, Internet Society Singapore
  2. Anna Meadows, Director, Sycamore Research and Marketing
  3. Harish Pillay, Internet Society Singapore
  4. Steven Liew, Asian Internet Coalition

Keeping Up With The Tech Companies: How Quickly Should Our Laws Evolve?

Monday, 17 March 2014

Event report coming soon. 


ISOC Singapore organized a roundtable discussion at the offices of Pinsent Masons MPillay LLP on the growing importance of the sharing and knowledge economy. The event bought together regulators (such as the Media Development Authority), tech companies (such as eBay, AirBNB and Google), academics and experts to discuss how emerging business models were disrupting existing regulatory frameworks, and how regulation could keep up with an industry that moved at lightning-fast speeds.

Participants debated the evolving role of governments as promoters and change agents, and suggested that governments and businesses (startups, SMEs and multinationals) need to kickstart a dialogue on compliance, competitiveness and the public interest – with their attendant complex trade-offs and balances.

The discussion followed Chatham House rules, and the free-form nature of the event produced many suggestions and ideas, from frameworks to allow “permissionless, agile innovation” to strategies that allow businesses to self-organize and make their needs better known.