Beware of sending provocative e-mails, SMS in Pakistan

I-G

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Beware of sending provocative e-mails, SMS
By Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter
Published: July 13, 2009, 23:10


Dubai: Sending indecent, provocative and 'ill-motivated' e-mails or SMS is now a punishable offence in Pakistan and violators can be jailed up to 14 years under the Cyber Crime Act, Gulf News has learnt.

Overseas Pakistanis will be liable to be deported to Pakistan in case they violate the new law, according to a senior official in the Ministry of Interior.

The Pakistan government has also entered into an agreement with the Interpol to identify e-mail addresses and websites registered abroad that are being used for malicious campaigns against the government.

A senior official at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai said the Interpol would aid in the deportation of Pakistanis found involved in cyber crime.


"The Pakistan government can also request action against foreign nationals or companies if they are involved in any provocative campaign against Pakistan or the civilian government. We can request the relevant government to take action against such elements abroad," he added.

"The new law was introduced by the government to stop the onslaught of negative propaganda campaign through this 'alternate media' against the civilian government and the armed forces, especially President Asif Ali Zardari," the official said.

Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Cyber Crime Cell will trace or block such SMSes and e-mails and take action against the violators..

The FIA will book offenders under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance.

All internet service providers will regularly be checked by the FIA.

Meanwhile, an official told Gulf News that neither the FIA nor did the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has a system to screen such communications in bulk.

"FIA will launch investigation against the accused only after receiving complaints as they are able to track down individuals or companies who send such SMS or e-mails," he said.

Under this law a violator faces imprisonment up to 14 years, besides confiscation of his or her property.

Cases will be referred to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes tribunals being set up in major cities.


Gulfnews: Beware of sending provocative e-mails, SMS
 

Antimony

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So if someone sends an email calling Zardari a corrupt idiot would that person be guilty of

  1. Lying
  2. Slander
  3. Revealing a state secret
  4. Both 2 & 3
 

I-G

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So if someone sends an email calling Zardari a corrupt idiot would that person be guilty of

  1. Lying
  2. Slander
  3. Revealing a state secret
  4. Both 2 & 3
Can interpol be disturbed for such things ?
 

Singh

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^^only if the culprits are Pakistani nationals.
 

I-G

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seems it would be done under the protection of US and Nato .
 

I-G

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Netizens dub Pak law ‘cyber terror’

PTI 17 July 2009, 01:31am IST

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s cyber buffs are fretting over a new move by the government to crack down on “indecent” emails and SMS text messages under which they can be jailed for up to 14 years.

Fatima Bhutto, niece of slain ex-PM Benazir Bhutto, was the first to air apprehensions about the laws against “cyber terrorism which threaten death to satirists, spammers and activists alike”.

“Pakistan’s so-called democratic government has introduced a bill before parliament, the prevention of electronic crimes ordinance that aims to censor our already frightened media and censured citizenry.

According to the bill, anyone found guilty of ‘cyber terrorism’, an undefined crime is liable to face the death penalty,” she wrote in the Guardian.

The Cyber Crime Act has become a cause for much consternation among cyber-buffs. Ahsan, who blogs at fiverupees.blogspot.com, wrote that the act is “draconian in the extreme and its effect on civil liberties will be vast.”

A senior official said overseas Pakistanis can be deported to Pakistan if they violate the cyber crimes law.

Netizens dub Pak law ?cyber terror? - Pakistan - World - NEWS - The Times of India
 

Singh

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14-year jail for SMS joke on Pak Prez

It would seem that in Pakistan there is nothing you need to watch out for more than making a joke about President Asif Ali Zardari by SMS (Short Messaging Service).

If you mistakenly, or just for fun, share with a friend one of the hundreds of derisory jokes about the leader floating around electronically, you could get a 14-year prison sentence.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced last week that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been tasked to trace SMS (or text messages) and e-mails that "slander the political leadership of the country" under the vague Cyber Crimes Act.

In addition to facing up to 14 years in the jail, violators could have their property seized, Malik said, adding that the government would seek Interpol assistance in deporting foreign offenders.

Surrounded by controversy throughout his political career, Zardari has been a subject of harsh public criticism since he was elected as president by the national parliament a year ago.

Most of the criticism stems from his government's sluggishness in addressing problems such as severe power outages, intolerably fast-rising inflation, and a sputtering economy.

But many jokes hint that Zardari still acts as "Mr 10 per cent" - a label referring to the percentage he would allegedly receive in kickbacks in the 1990s during the two terms as prime minister spent by his assassinated wife, Benazir Bhutto.

One such joke portrays a school for demons at roll call. All the demons report for class, except one named Zardari. When the demon teacher asks where Zardari is, a student replies that he has "gone to rob Pakistan".

Another joke claims that the words that most frighten Zardari are the slogan: "Bhutto is still alive." It's a mantra his party workers chant often in public meetings, but it can be interpreted to mean it is unfortunate for the nation that Bhutto died and Zardari became president.

Most of the hundreds of jokes shared by 50 million SMS users of about 80 million mobile phone customers seem innocuous but can have disastrous political implications for Zardari, who according to some recent surveys is already highly unpopular among the public.

"Jokes in Pakistani political culture are a very effective way to delegitimise rulers. Historically, these have been used by the weak and helpless against the powerful," said Rasool Bux Raees, a political analyst at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Local media, human rights activists and bloggers have been swift in criticising the proposed law against anti-government SMS and online texts as "draconian and authoritarian".

The English-language newspaper the Nation said early this week that Malik's statement showed that Zardari's government had lost its nerve.

The newspaper urged the leadership of Zardari's liberal Pakistan People's Party "to consider why no other politician has become such a common butt of naughty anecdotes".

The newspaper further said the government's using the FIA's short-staffed cyber wing for political means would "seriously compromise anti-terrorism investigations".

The former director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, IA Rehman, condemned the legislation as "standing in conflict with the freedom of expression that is guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan".

He hoped the law would soon be challenged in the Supreme Court and eventually abolished.

"For a moment I thought it was a bad joke!" wrote a blogger. "But nah its reality - Yes, 14 years for sending an indecent SMS."

Noman Bashir, 23, a student in Islamabad's prestigious Quaid-e-Azam University said initially his friends were frightened by the law but later on they thought up ways to get around it.

"We now draft the text in such a way that Zardari's name is not mentioned and yet everyone who receives it knows the joke is about Zardari," laughed Bashir.

"We are not running some organised political campaign against Zardari, but we cannot stop writing about him," he said. "You know, he is such a funny character."

14-year jail for SMS joke on Pak Prez- Hindustan Times

YouTube - cyrus interviews zardari
 

Flint

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Just hope that they don't demand extradition of such "criminals" from India :D
 

1.44

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The Pakistanis are something else:D
I don't think even the Chinese Government arrests people for jokes.
 

musalman

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I want to make history: Gilani

He also made it clear that the recent announcement of Interior Minister Rehman Malik about action against anti-government e-mails and SMS would not be implemented. The prime minister did not take Rehman Malik seriously and said that nobody would be allowed in the future to make such announcements without consulting the federal cabinet. He said, “I am not bothered about any e-mail or SMS because nobody is sending anything against me.”
 

S.A.T.A

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Just hope that they don't demand extradition of such "criminals" from India :D
I'd be glad to handover Cyrus over to the Pakistanis,upon the promise they will shut him up for good or keep him forever for the neighbor's sake....... :)
 

1.44

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My God do you know that Cyrus actually thinks he's funny!
 

Antimony

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I want to make history: Gilani

He also made it clear that the recent announcement of Interior Minister Rehman Malik about action against anti-government e-mails and SMS would not be implemented. The prime minister did not take Rehman Malik seriously and said that nobody would be allowed in the future to make such announcements without consulting the federal cabinet. He said, “I am not bothered about any e-mail or SMS because nobody is sending anything against me.”
That is a strange reasoning. So if someone did send something against him he would get all hot and bothered and pull a crackdown?:sad:
 

IBM

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:dazed::blum3:Arrested for sending joke to biggest joker of this world " ASIF ALI BHIKHARI""" HAHAHAHHA :blum3::blum3::2guns:
 

musalman

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That is a strange reasoning. So if someone did send something against him he would get all hot and bothered and pull a crackdown?:sad:
haven't u seen his video where he put his hands on sherry rehman boobs :) point is he knows that this law will be defeated in parliament.
 

EnlightenedMonk

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