When it comes to shopping-online shopping that is, Malaysian proves to be a pro in that area. According to the latest survey done by PayPal an online payment service owned by Internet auction giant eBay, Malaysian spend on an average of RM730 during festive seasons, with Chinese New Year topping the spending charts and averaging RM954 per person.

It also stated that Malaysian are considered to be among the savvy online shoppers, with more than half intending to shop online and 44% of overall holiday expenditure expected to be spent online.

So why Malaysian preferred online shopping rather than shopping at the conventional brick-and-mortar shops? It is cited that time (75%), crowds (64%) and access to a wider range of products (51%) as the main reasons for this shopping trend.

Two in five Malaysians prefer buying from online overseas merchants, citing product availability and choice, the offer of well-known brands and a more appealing website experience as the top reasons for shopping overseas.

Yet, overseas sellers should take note of buyer dislikes — high delivery fees, lengthy delivery times and lack of contact during a dispute were cited as the major disadvantages to shopping on overseas websites.

When it comes to online shopping, Malaysians are looking for a wider product range, assurance in payment security and product quality for the optimum online shopping experience...that's what we called an ultimate shopping experience!

(source: http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2009/11/3/technology/20091103095606&sec=technology)

UK police had arrested a couple who are suspected of helping to spread some of the Internet's most aggressive computer viruses here in Manchester.

A man and a woman both in their 20s were arrested on November 3rd on suspicion of spreading Trojan Horse programs known as "Zbot" or "ZeuS."

Police said the viruses are thought to have infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide, and one technology consultant described them as the "most notorious pieces of malware of recent times."

Zbot family of viruses is known of stealing personal information from computers across the world and feeding it back to cyber criminals. The viruses are commonly known as Trojan Horses or Trojans because they sneak onto computers and attack them from the inside, harvesting millions of lines of data - including banking information, credit card numbers and social networking (Facebook, MySpace, Friendster) passwords.

The viruses spread by sending e-mails or other messages from infected computers, impersonating banks, tax officials, credit card companies or even friends and enticing potential victims to click on a link that downloads the Trojan.

(Source : http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/11/18/20091118brit-computer-ON.html, psychinaction.files.wordpress.com/.../arrest.jpg)

Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia or MyIPO is responsible for the development and management of the intellectual property system including trademarks, patent, industrial designs, copyright, and IC Layout designs protection in Malaysia.

The objectives of MyIPO is to:

• establishing a strong and effective administration;
• strengthening intellectual property laws;
• provides comprehensive and user-friendly information on intellectual property;
• promoting public awareness programmes on the importance of intellectual property; and
• provides advisory services on intellectual property.

The Corporation is headed by a Director General and assisted by two Assistant Director Generals. Some of the important divisions are:

• Paten Division
• Trade Mark Division
• Industrial Design Division
• Geographical Indications Division
• Copyright and Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits Division
• Planning and Corporate Services Division
• Management Services Division
• Information Technology Division
• Legal Advisory Unit
• Public Relation Unit
• Internal Audit Unit
• Corporation Secretary
• Intellectual Property Training Centre
• Sabah Branch
• Sarawak Branch

Legistations:

• Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia Act 2002 (Act 617)
• Trade Marks Act 1976 (Act 175)
• Patents Act 1983 (Act 291)
• Copyrights Act 1987 (Act 332)
• Industrial Design Act 1996 (Act 552)
• Layout Design and Integrated Circuit Act 2000 (Act 601)
• Geographical Indications Act 2000 (Act 602)
  

MyIPO also provide an online service for Patent and Trade Mark application & search (PANTAS). This FREE service is currently available to individual, agent or corporate registered users.

For further information, click here.




(Source: http://www.myipo.gov.my)

Many law firms and public relations companies are now in danger of being hacked by hackers. FBI warns that hackers are using a sophisticated email scheme to intrude into these companies network system and steal their highly confidential data that are often linked to large corporate clients.

FBI had issued warning to these companies/firms for these alarming increase of "hacking activities", which has begun as far as 2 years back and remain drastically increasing from time to time.

Many of these intrusions are made through "spear phishing", which means these attacks comes from personalized/customized spam e-mails that are hard to detect and seems harmless due to it subject lines appear to be appropriate to the person's business and appear to come from a trusted source.

Alan Paller, director of research at SANS Institute, a computer-security organization, said that a major law firm in New York was hacked into in early 2008 in an attack that originated in China. However,it is difficult to tell whether hackers were working on behalf of the country's government, located in that country, or simply routing computer traffic through that country. In some cases, computer network attacks can be linked to independent cyber crime groups.

Paller also told that hackers are aiming law firms and target those companies that have major international deal negotiation such as seeking a patent on highly classified new technology.

Hackers often look for documents that lay out the company's playbook for the deal, or its negotiating positions and tactics.

While opening a "spear phishing" e-mail itself does not pose a danger, they often contain Web links or attachments that when clicked on or opened will infiltrate the network or install malicious programs.

Once the hacker is in the network, they often plant a computer program that searches for, collects and copies files and sends them to a computer server, usually in another country. The program also may create a back door that will allow hackers to get back in later.

The FBI warned that the attachments or links can appear to be anything from a photo to an executable program.



(source: http://www.time.com/time/business/article, 1.bp.blogspot.com/.../s400/kaos_hacker03.jpg)

What's your definition on democracy? What does it mean...to you...to your life and even to your country. If you want to express your view regarding democracy...grab your video camera and complete these phrase "Democracy is.....". Create a 3 minutes video and maybe you'll have the chance to win :

• An all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., New York and Hollywood.
• Gala screenings of the winning videos in Hollywood, New York and Washington
• Exposure to filmmakers and the U.S. film and television industry.
• Meetings with democracy advocates from government, media and civil society.

Remember the dateline is JANUARY 31, 2010. For more details click to http://www.videochallenge.america.gov.

(source: http://www.videochallenge.america.gov)

Malaysia is a country that practices parliamentary democracy while at the same time maintains a system of Constitutional Monarchy, with His Majesty the Yang di-Pertua Agong (King) as the Head of State. However, at the state level, the Sultan or Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) are the Constitutional Rulers of their respective states.
The Constitution of Malaysia clearly divides the authority of the Federation into three branches: Legislative, Judiciary and the Executive. The division of authority occurs both at the federal and state levels, in keeping with the concept of federalism which forms the basis of the government administration.

The Jurisdiction of the Malaysian Courts is determined by the Courts of Judicature Act and the Surbodinate Courts Act 1948. The courts are categorized into 4 : the Superior Court, the High Courts, the Subordinate Courts and the Adjudicatory Bodies/Tribunals.

The Superior Courts
The Superior Courts consists of the Federal Court , the Special Court and the Court of Appeal .

The High Courts
The High Courts consists of the High Court in Malaya and the High Court in Sabah & Sarawak (previously known as the High Court of Borneo).

The Subordinate Courts
The Subordinate Courts in Malaysia are the Sessions Court, the Magistrates’ Court, the Court for Children and, in West Malaysia only, the Penghulu’s Court.

The Adjudicatory Bodies / Tribunals
The adjudicatory bodies / tribunals are established under different statutes. Among them are the Industrial Courts, Native Court (in Sabah & Sarawak), disciplinary tribunals, and so forth. These tribunals are almost in the same level as the subordinate courts in the sense that if one is unsatisfied with its decision, one can refer the matter to the High Courts. However, the ‘appeals’ are called judicial review, instead of appeal.

(source: http://malaysianlegalsystem.com/)

CASE 1

This case related with cyber crime.This case is about Andrew who is a computer science student attached with Mircohand Corporation in Cyberjaya as a practical trainee.

During his working hours he did some cybercrimes in his office.Below are his cyber crimes:

1) He managed to crack the company's information system but did not do anything afterwards.
2) He managed to intrude into his company's website system
3)Posted his pic on the front page of the website and left his mobile numb below his pic so that someone will call him & make friends
4)Leaked the company's system access code to his friends at University
5)Sent e-mail to his friends telling bad things about his manager

It was based on Computer Crimes Act 1997

Types of Computer Crimes and Computer related offences:

1st cyber crime as mentioned above was charged
1)under unauthorized access to computer,computer system & computer network
Applicable Laws :CCA S.3
Punishment-RM 50 000/5 YEARS in prison /both

2nd cyber crime can be charged in both offences:
2)Computer cracking to explore loopholes in system
2)System intrusion
Applicable Laws:CCA S.3
Punishment-RM 50 000/5 YEARS in prison /both

3rd cyber crime can be charged in:
3)unauthorized alteration,amendment & modification of data
Applicable Laws:CCA S.5
Punishment-RM 100 000/7 YEARS in prison /both

4th cyber crime can be charged under:
4)Unauthorized communication of passwords
Applicable Laws:CCA S.6
Punishment-RM 25 000/3 YEARS in prison /both

5th cyber crime can be charged under both offences:
5)E-mail with false spreading
Applicable Laws:CMA S.211
Punishment-RM 50 000/1 YEAR in prison /both
5)E-mail with hatred & abusive content
Applicable Laws:CMA S.211
Punishment-RM 50 000/1 YEAR in prison /both



CASE 2

It is about Meera who have been receiving emails frm travel companies that keep offering her holiday packages to various places in the wrld.She replied to the senders to stop emailling her,but only to find that the emails keep coming and flooding her inbox.

Task:Advice her in legal aspects that may arise out of this practise by the travel company.Advise her on both criminal and data protection aspects.

Solution:

Data Protection Principles involves:

Principle 4 (Disclosure of Personal Data)

Personal data shall not be disclosed without consent unless:
a)Is done for the purpose for which data was obtained
b)The person is a registered data user under the Act

Principle 3-Use of Personal Data

Personal data shall not be held without consent unless:
a)For the purpose to be used at the time of the collection of data
b)For the purpose directly related to (a)

Principle 8-Security of Personal Data

All practicable steps should be taken against unauthorized or accidental access,processing or erasure,alteration,disclosure or destruction of personal data and against accidental loss.