Philippine president signs e-commerce law

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500215789-500305812-501698769-0,00.html

MANILA, Philippines (June 14, 2000 9:01 a.m. EDT
http://www.nandotimes.com) - President Joseph Estrada signed an
electronic commerce measure into law on Wednesday, spurred by
criticism that the Philippines had no system to punish perpetrators of
last month's "ILOVEYOU" computer virus.

Under the law, which went into effect immediately, hackers and those
who spread computer viruses can be fined a minimum of $2,350 and a
maximum "commensurate" with the damage caused, and can be imprisoned
for up to three years.

The law does not apply retroactively to those involved in the
so-called "Love Bug" virus, which was traced to the Philippines. The
virus spread last month to millions of computer systems worldwide.

Authors of the law said it will facilitate the exchange of information
and transactions through electronic media and will promote security of
electronic documents.

Estrada said it will also improve government services because it calls
for the computerization of government agencies involved in issuing
permits, licenses and other documents.

The law will not necessarily deter hacking, Trade and Industry
Secretary Manuel Roxas II said.

"I think the psychology of a person that would make him do something
like an 'ILOVEYOU' virus is different," Roxas said. "It is a challenge
for them."

The Philippines is the fourth Asian country to pass an e-commerce law.
The others are Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.


*-------------------------------------------------*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;
Intelligence without communications is irrelevant."
Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
---------------------------------------------------
C4I Secure Solutions             http://www.c4i.org
*-------------------------------------------------*

ISN is sponsored by SecurityFocus.com
---
To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of
"SIGNOFF ISN".