Blog . Jiboneus

As reported via TheStar, a local news agency, and currently is spreading throughout the blogosphere (blogging community).

The report goes:

AT THE DEWAN RAKYAT

BLOGGERS using locally hosted websites may be asked to register with the authorities, Deputy Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said.

He said registration was one of the measures the Government was considering to prevent the spread of negative or malicious content on the Internet.

Had the Government ever considered educating blog readers instead to what is consider negative or malicious in the first place?

If there is an official site, a website that is frequently updated and chronologically ordered, which points out such negative and malicious content on the blogosphere then blog readers will know which content to be taken seriously and which content to avoid.

Shaziman said this while winding up the debate on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address for his ministry.

He added that the ministry did not have any problem with bloggers who identified themselves, and he welcomed blogging activities.

However, he said there were about 50,000 websites registered under the .my suffix and there were a lot of avenues for anyone to host websites with malicious content which could harm the country’s security.

Currently those who wish to register a .com.my suffix are already required to provide Trade License or some certificates. Currently there are already mechanisms in place, which required those who wish to register a domain name to provide some form of identification.

Requiring them (the bloggers) to register makes it redundant.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, who interjected when Shaziman was speaking, said the negative comments of several ministers about bloggers reflected their lack of understanding about information flow in cyberspace.

“They should be educated on the vast benefits of blogging, which will help them to interact more with the people. Many politicians overseas already have their own blogs,� he added.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang who is somewhat a blogger himself, does understands the vast benefits of blogging. He has been using the medium to spread his words for quite some time.

Asked to comment on the matter, Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said bloggers were very aware of their own ethics and responsibility for content on their sites.

While agreeing that there were bloggers who had inflammatory content, he said unidentified bloggers could still be traced through their website addresses.

He added that the problem was also about inflammatory comments by unidentified visitors to the blogs.

If that is the real issue here then the title should be ‘blog readers should register to comments on blogs’. Some blogs already require you to register as a user in order to post a comment.

So are you responsible for comments made on your blog? I already address this question before. Yes you are responsible for comments made on your blog by your readers. If there are inflammatory comments made by unidentified visitors to your blog, and you as the blog owner, having the access to edit and remove such comments, then as a responsible blogger that is what you should do. Read my previous for more.

Ahirudin Attan of Rocky’s Bru said the move to compel local bloggers to register was effectively the Government trying to control what Malaysians were writing online.

“This violates the Government’s no-censorship policy with regards to the Internet,â€? he said.

Clearly Ahirudin Attan of Rocky’s Bru does not understand the Government’s no-censorship policy. True that the Malaysian Government does not censored the Internet now and it will not in the future. You are free to post anything you want, the Government wont stop you at that, but however if what you are posting is inflammatory, slanderous, illegal or are violation copyright laws or any laws, then you are taken into action.

You are free to write anything online but at the same time you are responsible for whatever you writes online.

He added that the move would just create fear among the bloggers and would encourage them to host their blogs overseas.

Most bloggers already have their blogs hosted somewhere else, Blogger.com or Wordpress.com doesn’t have their servers over here right?

Marina Mahathir, a blogger and activist, said the Government really should “get real.�

She said the move “is just going to make Malaysia look ridiculous in the eyes of the world.�

Actually the Malaysian Government is already looking pretty ridiculous thanks to irresponsible bloggers.

Blogger Jeff Ooi wondered why the Government was pursuing this course of action.

He said the Government had already set up the Content Forum to deliberate on complaints by any party.

The Government should set up a blog instead.

This move by the Government to require bloggers to register, if were to be implemented, will be a huge waste of resource. There is no easy way to govern the blogosphere.

There is no way to make a blogger who decide to set up a blogspot blog on Blogger.com to register with the Government. Unlike registering cell phone prepaid, there is no way for the Government to restrict the access to Blogger.com.

If such a move were to be implemented I wonder how would website that offers blogging service will operate? Will websites like LifeLogger need to register all it’s Malaysian users?

Technically it would be difficult to implement. It is one thing to suggest such an ideal but it is totally different when it comes to implementing or even enforcing it. There are other ways the Government could venture into in trying to keep its citizens save from negative or malicious content on the Internet.

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