New laws to affect ICT industry

Parliament will consider a raft of new laws this year that will affect the way ICT companies do business, according to its 2008 Legislative Programme. Several of the legal changes are already before the legislature and will likely come into effect during the year.

Several government departments have drafted new laws or want to further amend existing laws, and plan to introduce Bills to that effect. Most of these will hit the statute books only next year.

The most significant item on the legislative agenda - for the ICT industry - is the Regulation of Interception of Communication and Provision of Communication-related Information Act (RICA) Amendment Bill. This was "indefinitely deferred" in the select committee stage of its passage through the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), which many consider a mere brake on the certain passage of legislation.

The committee stalled the passage of the law after justice department officials and police bickered whether all its provisions were necessary. Mobile phone providers have said that should the Bill become law in its present form, they will have to shut down roaming for international visitors.

The Bill will also introduce a host of new crimes and punishments, including a 10-year prison sentence for phone users who fail to register a welter of information with service providers. This information will be made available to the police, ostensibly to fight organised crime.

Internet and wireless service providers will - along with content generators - also have to take note of the Film & Publication Amendment Bill. This was adopted by the National Assembly, with much fanfare, in June, as part of a government crackdown on child pornography and the exposure of children to porn and violence. But media freedom advocates say many of its provisions are impractical or impossible in an information society and amount to the re-imposition of censorship.

The National Gambling Amendment Bill, which last surfaced in the National Assembly in September, is making heavy weather, with MPs who challenge the morality of gambling. Should it become law, it will authorise and regulate Internet gambling and interactive gaming over mobile handsets, providing content providers with a new income stream.

The industry may benefit from the Technology Innovation Agency Bill, introduced in November, which will seek to take research and development (R&D) projects to product and profit.

Indirectly affecting the industry is the Broadband Infraco Bill, passed in late November, which establishes in law the government's latest hope for cheap, ubiquitous broadband. The Astronomy Geographic Advantage Bill, passed into law in late November, declares part of the Great Karoo a radio frequency reserve to boost SA's bid for the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope, which is already pushing R&D funding into the ICT environment.

The plethora of new laws and amendments headed for Parliament in 2008 include the Companies Bill that will change the way business does business, changes to the country's intellectual property and competition regimes, a new "official secrets act" and more regulation in the name of fighting crime.

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