Clouds Looming Over New Computer Crimes Act

The proposed new Computer Crimes Act, which will supersede the 2007 Computer Crimes Act, has been introduced in an attempt to fill loopholes in the current legislation.

The new draft is aimed at those who perpetrate offenses and who have previously evaded liability. But there are concerns over whether the new law would be overly zealous in handing out harsh punishment to all offending parties, regardless of the severity of the crime involved.

Although the draft Act has similarities to the current Computer Crimes Act, there are new key sections that have been introduced, including definitions for "system administrator" and "Board" under Section 4. There have also been important additions to Sections 16 and 25 of the law, which detail offenses relating to any person who is found to be copying another person's computer data and the penalties for possessing child pornography.