From: damaged justice <frogfarm@yakko.cs.wmich.edu>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 1997 12:28:06 +0800
To: cypherpunks@Algebra.COM
Subject: Without Laws, There Are No Rights
Message-ID: <199711290422.XAA07301@yakko.cs.wmich.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain




   [1]SIDEBAR 
   
                                 [2][LINK]
                                      
No End In Sight To Thai Internet Regulation

          ****No End In Sight To Thai Internet Regulation 11/28/97
          BANGKOK, THAILAND, 1997 NOV 28 (NB) -- By Sasiwimon Boonruang,
          Bangkok Post. Finding a consensus on how the Internet should be
          regulated in Thailand is proving to be a difficult task,
          experts say.
          
          Attorney General Office Prosecutor Shinnawat Thongpakdee said
          the law defines and protects human rights and duties and
          inevitably involves itself with human behavior. As the Internet
          is a phenomenon related with human behavior as well, it would
          "unavoidably" be involved with the law as well.
          
          There are several "rights" involved with Internet information:
          the right to control access to information, right of
          information use, right of copying information, and the right to
          publicize information. These rights cannot be separated, he
          said.
          
          The rights come from several laws - "without laws, there are no
          rights," the prosecutor said.
         
[And a BIG, HEARTY RASPBERRY to this CLUELESS MORON!]
 
          In the Internet world, the producers of information own the
          copyright to their work, and consequently, any law regarding
          the Internet should also go hand in hand with copyright laws.
          
          There is no solution at the moment as to whether there should
          be compulsory laws regarding the Internet because it's
          difficult to use legal means to enforce such laws, and they
          would also vary greatly from one country to the next.
          
          One practical approach would be drawing up of a worldwide
          conventional agreement regarding Internet regulation, allowing
          each country to sign off of their own choosing.
          
          At the very least, he said, we should accumulate information
          concerning the Internet in order to consider what should be
          allowed or prohibited - this information would be useful in the
          future.
          
          Mr Shinnawat added that Internet technology is very new for the
          legal sector and other societies, and it was difficult to make
          any conclusions in legal term about the Internet at the moment.
          
          He said the Internet provided the opportunity for all - rich
          and poor alike - to access and make use of information, even
          though the reality would be that the gap between rich and poor
          would grow even wider.
          
          According to Internet Thailand Service Center (ITSC) President
          Trin Tantsetthi, infringement on the Internet has increased
          greatly during the last year, and laws regarding the Internet
          would be very hard to enforce.
          
          For example, there were already 30,000 documents on the
          Internet in Thailand already.
          
          Copyright infringements on the works of others was wrong in
          both moral and legal terms, he said, but using legal means to
          deal with it would prove difficult. Social pressures might be
          an alternative.
          
          Wanchai Kanti, of Thammasat University, said people should have
          freedom of speech and freedom to express opinions, and that the
          flow of information "should not be closed", especially to
          academic institutes. There should not be laws to control
          Internet content, although opinions expressed should be done in
          a responsible manner.
          
          Reported By Newsbytes News Network: [3]http://www.newsbytes.com
          
          (19971128)
          
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