Brian,
The two pieces
of law as far as I’m concerned should not be merged. What I would propose
is to cut out all elements of e-Transactions from the ICT Bill to beef up areas
that may be lacking in the e-Transactions bill and let the two stand alone.
This position is first advised on the best practice, while researching for the
e-Transactions bill, we looked at more than a dozen countries and that of the
UNICETRAL model laws; and second, I feel as much as the ICT Bill is informed by
convergence of technologies, it is too wide in scope and coverage.
Harry
From: Brian Longwe [mailto:blongwe@gmail.com]
Sent: 08 July 2008 10:45
To: Harry Hare
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Legislation and Regulation for e-Commerce in
Kenya
Great analysis Harry, Marcel et
al,
What do you guys have to say about the 'merger' between the e-transactions and
the ICT-Bill, where language from the e-transaction drafts has been
incorporated into the ICT Bill?
Regards,
Brian
On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 10:10 AM, Harry Hare <harry@africanedevelopment.org>
wrote:
Dear Marcel,
Good review of the proposed bills. I happen to have participated in the
preparation of the Draft e-Transaction Bill and would like to respond to some
of the concerns in my own capacity as a Kenyan citizen. Another caveat is that
apart from attending a one week course on legal aspects of e-Commerce, law is a
stranger in my being. See my responses to the specific issues the analysis
raises below:
Harry
1.
Provisions on who can prosecute are missing
This is actually covered in Schedule C, under
the investigations of offenses section and article 21 gives the commissioner of
police the authority to prosecute. Under the same section, there is a proposal
to constitute special investigation unit on cyber crime.
2.
Liability of Internet Service Providers must be demarcated
You may want to be abit elaborate on this. Part
IV of the proposed bill tries to indemnify service providers from third party
felonies. Would you prefer for instance that we have data providers and
internet service providers as separate have separate limitations?
3. Clarification on which
commercial documents are excluded from proposed legislation
In the initial drafts of the proposed law, the
documents had been listed as title deeds, bearer bonds and letter of credit;
this is actually best practise as proposed by the UNCITRAL models laws on
e-commerce. The concept tries not to cover documents that can be exchanged for
cash/service or goods.
4. Eliminate any ambiguity on
admissibility of electronic evidence
The question of admissibility of electronic
evidence is covered very well in Schedule B which has proposed amendments to
the Evidence Act. I do not see any ambiguity in this section unless you can
point out something specific.
5. Need for data protection and
privacy provisions
Articles 31-34 of the proposed bill covers
protection of private information. Is this insufficient?
6. The Bills are more lenient on
e-commerce fraud than on traditional fraud
Might need some research on this.
7. Remove inconsistencies in
determining crimes and punishments
I tend to agree with the analysis here...for
instance spamming the proposed fine is 200,000 and spoofing the proposed fine
is 2m. May need some reworking in line with the weight of the offence.
8. Provisions for the inclusion
of cyber-crime within the scope of the Extradition Act
The bill proposes that the clause "all the
crimes mentioned in the Electronic Transactions Bill 2007", this clause
enough to amend the Extradition Act to include the crimes that have been
identified in the proposed bill.
9. Creation of an Administrator
for e-commerce laws whose functions will be policy implementation and advisory,
as a multi-sectoral body with industry associationsincluding KIF, lead
regulator communications Commission of Kenya and co-regulator
Central Bank of Kenya
We belaboured on this and initially came up with
a proposal to have a multi-stakeholder agency, akin to KENIC, to administer the
act but after long discussions and consultations, the team was unable to come
out as boldly as you did for several reasons.
i)
We were aware of the fact that proposing the
creation of a new body has some budgetary implications and therefore would slow
down the process of enacting the law.
ii)
The Bill was developed towards the end of
last year, the mood at that time was that anything that went to parliament had
the risk of being politicised and therefore aligning the bill to specific
institutions was suicidal
From: kictanet-bounces+harry=africanedevelopment.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=africanedevelopment.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
Behalf Of Marcel Werner
Sent: 06 July 2008 17:44
To: harry@africanedevelopment.org
Cc: secretariat@kif.or.ke;
KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] Legislation and Regulation for
e-Commerce in Kenya
Legislation and Regulation for e-Commerce in Kenya
Kenya ICT Federation (KIF) - Briefing Note # 3 - Report - Public Panel
19 June 2008
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) will add at least one percent point
growth to Kenya's overall economic growth within five years. This is contingent
upon the adoption of legislation that supports electronic transactions. Kenya,
as an emerging economy and regional leader, lags behind in having a legal
framework for e-commerce in place. The current situation is an anachronism
hampering national development, placing provincial centres at a disadvantage,
and harming global competitiveness. Both external and internal trade require
the new framework.The Kenyan private sector strongly supports e-commerce
legislation, as well as legislation of the Information and Communication
Technology sector that guarantees an open market and promotes innovation.
Why e-commerce law? Today, legislation supporting electronic transactions
represents the single most powerful innovation opportunity in the legal
framework of the ICT sector. Legislation is needed to:
-Legalize e-commerce transactions by recognizing an electronic signature
-Manage and control e-commerce risks
-Remove e-commerce barriers
KIF has studied drafts currently circulating in the public domain, the
Information and Communications Bill, 2008, and the Electronic Transactions Bill,
2007, respectively, both of which are of the highest technical standards.
Public panels and hearings with sectors of the economy (including tourism,
agriculture, ICT) have been held on 6th and 27th May, 4th June and 19th June.
The Kenyan private sector has expressed overwhelming support for urgent
legislation of e-commerce.
Suggested improvements in
Bills - The public panels and hearings to date have yielded the following
important issues for improvement in the current Bills:
-
Provisions on who can prosecute are missing
-
Liability of Internet Service Providers must be demarcated
-
Clarification on which commercial documents are excluded from proposed
legislation
-
Eliminate any ambiguity on admissibility of electronic evidence
-
Need for data protection and privacy provisions
-
The Bills are more lenient on e-commerce fraud than on traditional fraud
-
Remove inconsistencies in determining crimes and punishments
-
Provisions for the inclusion of cyber-crime within the scope of the
Extradition Act
-
Creation of an Administrator for e-commerce laws whose functions will be
policy implementation and advisory, as a multi-sectoral body with industry
associations including KIF, lead regulator Communications Commission of Kenya
and co-regulator Central Bank of Kenya
Gains in tourism, agriculture, healthcare
Industry sectors, notably the tourism industry, are expressing their desire
to see e-commerce covered by law. In tourism, on-line travel bookings have
exceeded 80% in the USA and 50% in Europe. Decline in off-line bookings is in
ample evidence. Those destinations that cannot legally support abundant on-line
booking, such as Kenya, will loose market share. E-commerce in agriculture will
improve small-holder's living standards. Great impact is expected notably in
the coffee sector that provides livelihood to at least 5 million Kenyans, as
well as in the dairy industry. Healthcare efficiency and affordability will
improve by on-line health data management systems. Business operators in rural
towns and rural centres have also expressed keen interest, as they see scope to
address issues of trade efficiency and security in rural Kenya.
What is e-commerce
E-commerce is a method of trading that replaces paper-based documentation by
a mutually binding electronic protocol between buyers and sellers. E-commerce
is gaining ground globally and has become an irreversible trend. Many trading
partners are already practicing e-commerce, by mutual agreement, also in Kenya.
However, e-commerce will reach its full potential when parties that do not know
each other are able to trade with full mutual protection under the law. This
will benefit large numbers of consumers and businesses, including small-holder
farmers, tourism operators, small-scale industry and services providers in
almost any business sector.
About KIF
The Kenya Information and Communication Technology Federation (KIF)
represents the ICT industry with Government and with private sector bodies e.g.
Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Kenya Private Sector Alliance KEPSA. KIF is a
legally registered membership based Association, made up of trade associations
and professional bodies within the national ICT industry, as well as commercial
corporations. KIF has been accepted as the private sector voice of ICT by
Government. KIF contributes ideas to key sectors like healthcare, education,
agriculture, construction industry, and last but not least supports
e-government development. KIF is a membership-driven organisation. Members
bring issues on public policy and industry development forward for KIF to take
action. Issues include: innovation promotion, education improvement, duties,
taxes and levies, rural ICT investment. KIF has a strong and active network,
with excellent relationships with all government agencies. KIF membership is
open for market segment associations and individual companies. Membership
charges are annual and based on company size. Contact: secretariat@kif.or.ke,
020 4440102
MARCEL WERNER, Chairman, Kenya ICT Federation
please send any business mail to:
Marcel.Werner@innovation-africa.or.ke
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.135 / Virus
Database: 270.4.5/1536 - Release Date: 05/07/2008 10:15
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: blongwe@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com
--
Brian Munyao Longwe
e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com
cell: + 254 722 518 744
blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
No virus
found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.4.6/1539 - Release Date: 07/07/2008
18:35