It’s always good when some sort of controversy happens is to first sit back. So when President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica signed into law Ley 9048 [July 10, 2012], which sought to expand the definition of cybercrime, we listened before writing this post.
As expected, the Costa Rica bloggers, newspapers, etc. had a field day, claiming a violation of internet freedom and a direct assault on journalism.
In a nut shell, the law had several anti-hacking provisions, clauses on disclosing government secrets (espionage or gag law) and unauthorized impersonation in social media. Just about all the laws carried sever criminal punishments that ranged from two to six years in prison.
While restrictions on internet freedom have not yet caused any serious issues in Costa Rica, Ley 9048 is troubling, and has generated criticism from activists concerned about the country’s commitment to free speech.
For example: If the law is published [as it is now written] any newspaper or journalist publishing classified information (as Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion did with WikiLeaks) will be prosecuted and normal online activities such as the use of nicknames/aliases will be forbidden and punishable.
Or if someone spreads false news or impersonates someone on online (like at Facebook or Twitter) with the use of avatars, pseudonyms and even pictures they may find themselves facing prison term. This happened in Guatemala when incarceration of a Twitter user happened for spreading false statements about a bank and the same in Venezuela.
Some bloggers feel, with Costa Rica strong ties to China, China is talking its first step in making sure their investments in Costa Rica do not get public outcry from its backdoor dealings with Costa Rica government – like what happened in Aug, 2012, China's donated $8 million to be divided within the National Liberation Party (PLN) and other ministers. The Bloggers were all over this. Or as one newspaper said, "Shark Fin soup anyone!"
And we all know how the program Shark Fin Monitoring has become one big farce with China being targeted for their demand of shark fins. So, in reality, anyone that spreads bad PR about China's demand for shark fins, could that person or organization be arrested? Interesting!
China, as we all know, has mastered the art of censorship. Personally this does make a bit of sense if China had any influence in setting the Cybercrime provisions and getting the law passed in almost recorded time.
Regardless, the real question is, "Is it Enforceable?"
First, the government does not have the technology, financial resources, manpower to enforce and Second, Costa Rica is not China! Thank God!
Our thinking is logical, before jurisdiction even comes into play, it’s necessary to discover where – and who before you can think about making an arrest, there are so many ways to hide one’s identity.
There are numerous services that will mask a user’s IP address by routing traffic through various servers, usually for a fee. This makes it difficult to track down anyone that is suspected of violating any of the new cyber laws. Also, how is the Costa Rica government going to prosecute a website/person in the United States or in any country for that matter who is Twitting government secrets? And what defines a government secret?
Other websites like Tico Blogger, Costa Rica’s largest blog website has 10s of 1000s of CR blogs AND is hosted in the US – SO it is nearly impossible for the government to even file a complaint or arrest anyone for violation of the new cyberlaw. So back to reality, a Tico Blogger could bad-mouth China's shark fin addiction without fear of being arrested. Free Speech?
All in all, I think what the government has a good start – but they should focus more on enforcing such things as child porn, and companies that create shell companies for ponzi scheme websites.
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