UNDANG-UNDANG SIBER - UK 4643

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS
SEM 1 2020-2021

1. Rambutan is the webmaster for Kasi Lelong Enterprise, which operates an online auction site
at http://www.kasilelong.com address. His duty is to manage updates to the information on the
site and ensure the operation of online auctions run smoothly.

Without the knowledge of the employer, Rambutan makes some modifications to the interior
setting of the site, where he is able to extend the time of the auction and give the 'Buy Now'
option to consumers who contact him through WhatsApp while the auctions are still running.
The users pay him a small fee for helping them to get the goods without having to go through
the process of bidding. His actions anger other users who allege that they have been cheated
because of the sudden extension of time without reason or they find the status of the goods
auctioned being changed to 'Sold'.

Pulasan, a customer service officer of Kasi Lelong learns of Rambutan’s activities and feels
unhappy because she is often scolded by users who are not satisfied. Pulasan does not dare to
report such activity to the employer because she fears that Rambutan will do something bad to
her. Pulasan then hires Mangga, a hacker to perform remote access to Rambutan’s computer
and restore the original interior setting.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

2. Pauh is an information technology officer in Delima Enterprise. He and his team are assigned
to conduct beta testing of security software generated by the Programming Unit of Delima
Enterprise. The software is produced based on customer-defined details for their business
needs.

Angered by his employer's action of reducing his allowance due to economic hardship faced by
the Enterprise, Pauh decides to take advantage of the software that are sent to him for beta
testing. He conspires with his team by embedding Trojan horses on every such software. The
goal is to control their clients' computer systems remotely and make the computer systems a
ransom for money. Not only that, Pauh also studies the beta software, and then produces new
software based on the inspiration that he has gained from the beta software.

Unfortunately Pauh does not know that every software that has gone through the beta testing
process will be screened by the Delima Enterprise Monitoring Unit. This unit detects the
activities that Pauh has done. Belimbing, the head of the Unit has decided to intercept every
communication made by Pauh.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

3. Kundang is an artist who actively shares his expressions in social media. He always uploads
photos and abstract paintings on his Facebook and Instagram. His Facebook and Instagram are
private and only accessible by his friends and followers.

When the air quality decreases due to haze, Kundang posts a photo of a woman wearing the
veil, edited with smoke background along with a caption: "Effective protection against haze.
Lol."

The photo has received a variety of funny comments, including a comment from Jambu:
"Return to religion so we live healthy." Jambu also screencaptures the photo and its caption,
and shares it on his open Facebook.

The photo finally becomes viral and some Facebook users claim that the photo is an insult to
Islam.

Kundang claims the photo is not meant to insult, furthermore his friends and followers do not
have any problem at all with it since it is considered simply a joke. He blames Jambu for causing
the photo to be spread to the public. But Jambu alleges that Kundang should at least delete the
photo from his Facebook and Instagram and apologise. Kundang should also plead to others
who spread it to delete it from their respective accounts.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

4. Ciku owns a blog cikuland.blogspot.com, which is a major hit among fashion designers and
critics. Her ideas and expressions are bold but fair to the audience who read her posts.

Due to the current trend of internet users resorting to social media for real time information,
Ciku finds it difficult to compete with other bloggers, especially those who are also active in
social media network. Despite being an active blogger, Ciku is not a keen social media user and
follower. She prefers to use her home desktop computers to update her blog and logs into
Facebook using her home internet connection.

In order to bring audience back to her blog, Ciku starts revising her writing style. Whenever
she comes to know about any controversial issue, she makes it a point to use captivative terms
and phrases from the issues in her posts. Most of the time the terms and phrases have no
relevance at all to the posting, but she simply put them there just for the purpose of search
engine indexing and to divert people to her blog.

Some of the internet users who stumble upon her blog feel that they have been cheated by her
misleading terms and phrases. They start to post offensive comments not only to her but also
to the people involved in the controversial issues. Some users who are not happy with the
comments have lodged a police report against Ciku, since they believe that she should moderate
the comments. If she delays in moderating them, it can be said that she abets to the actions.
However, since Ciku only uses the internet whenever she gets home, it is not possible for her
to update her posts and straight away moderate the comments.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

5. Rambai is the owner of Pinang, a company that supplies cloud storage to Android-powered
tablet users. He received a complaint from Nenas, network coordinator in Penang on Nona's
behavior, their service manager. Nenas claims Nona has done a side business by secretly
isolating some of their storage services at a cheaper rate.

When Nona is called to Rambai's room and informed of the complaint, she states that she does
not know about it because her computer has often been used by her other colleagues. Perhaps
some of those who are dissatisfied with her have betrayed her.

Rambai claims that this is impossible because Nona's computer can only be used by using ID
and password that only Rambai knows. But Nona replies that she has never changed the IDs
and passwords supplied by Nenas, and therefore there is no guarantee that Nenas has not given
the ID and password to others.

Nona also claims that the list of logs on her activities submitted by Nenas to Rambai is fake as
it has been printed from Nenas's computer.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

6. Manggis, a software business owner at Manggis Enterprise, has signed an agreement to supply
system software to Kelubi Sdn Bhd, a company which provides consultation and management
for electronic gaming events. One of the clauses in the agreement states that for the purpose of
certified true copy of the agreement, certification shall only be done by any Administrative
Officer of the National Sports Council. The agreement was signed by both parties on March 1,
2017, and will be operative for 5 years, with the option to renew before expiration.

On December 4, 2017, in a WhatsApp communication between Manggis and Durian, managing

director of Kelubi Sdn Bhd, Manggis informed that some of the A brand program listed in the
schedule of the agreement is no longer available because it is no longer released, and has to be
replaced with the B brand program.

When Kelubi Sdn Bhd acquires a project to manage a 3-week electronic gaming event in
Cyberjaya, the B brand program has been used to support the system software. Unfortunately
the quality of the program is not as expected as it affects the smooth running of the system
software, causing technical problems to some of the participants in the event.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

7. Keladi becomes furious when the computer software that he has recently purchased from
Kuskus.com does not meet his expectation. He has bought the software in order to clear the
virus in his computer, but after the software is installed, the computer becomes slow.

Keladi contacts the operator of Kuskus.com with the intention of getting a refund. However, he
is informed that no refund can be given because the sale is final. Kuskus.com also informs
Keladi that he should have used his due diligence before buying the software that may not
comply with specifications of his computer system. The problem is probably not caused by the
software, but his own computer system that is not able to accommodate the needs of the
software.

Kuskum.com nevertheless admits that the software is ad-enabled, and therefore there are times
when appearing ads can interfere with the smooth running of the software. But it is worth the
price. If Keladi wants ad-free software, he just has to pay more to get it.

Keladi is confused by the explanation because he thinks it is impossible for him to first check
the software because it is sold online, and therefore he relies entirely on the information on
Kuskus.com. But Kuskum.com states that the matter has been clearly stated in the terms and
conditions of the sale of the software. Keladi states that it is not possible for him as a layman
to understand those terms and conditions.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflict.

8. Nangka is the owner of the Kabelupukom website. His website is very popular as he supplies
the Kabelupukom anti virus (Kasi Bersih Lu Punya Komputer) and its own free software to
consumers. Realizing the increasing number of visits, Nangka started putting Adsense and
Nuffnang ads on his website to generate revenue. The ads were initially on the left side of the
web page, but when he started getting profit from the ads, he began placing ads everywhere on
his web site. One of his ads is an advertisement from Paylah!, an online account provider like
Paypal.

Tampoi, one of the users, is feeling very unhappy with the new approach of Nangka because it
is a problem for computer users. Furthermore, Nangka has imposed payment for Kabelupukom
anti-Virus. The anti virus is still labeled as free by Nangka, but when Tampoi downloads the
installer, he finds that he only downloads the trial version. The code for downloading the full
version will only be provided by Nangka to the user registering the account on Paylah!.
Minimum deposit amount on Paylah! is RM100.

Ara, Tampoi's close friend, really wants Kabelupukom Anti-Virus, so she then signs up for an
account on Paylah! However, she is surprised to find out that Paylah! requires a minimum
membership of 5 years, with a mandatory annual deposit of RM50. This condition only appears
after Ara has clicked on the "submit membership" button.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

9. Dr. Keriang is a popular activist for freedom of information in the virtual world. He often shares
his ideas on his official website and through online social media. He is a hardcore follower of
John Perry Barlow who fights for the freedom of cyberspace through the Declaration of
Independence of Cyberspace.

Dr. Keriang believes that the existing law cannot be applied in bulk against activities in the
cyber world. This is because cyberspace users should be subject to their own periodically
harmonised self-regulation.

Prof. Cerupu is an outspoken opponent of Dr. Keriang’s ideas. He thinks that the ideas are
nonsense because those will encourage users to be too free beyond the proper bounds. Thus the
legal control by the government is necessary. However, Dr. Keriang questions the extent to
which control is to be effective, since the cyber world is a world without borders, while control
of the legislature is subject to the limitations of a country that certainly would not be binding
on individuals in other countries.

Is it possible to resolve the disagreement between Dr. Keriang and Prof. Cerupu? Discuss.
10. Cempedak is the owner of the news portal Hey News at http://www.heynews.com. In addition
to obtaining the service of Bernama and Reuters for local and international news, Cempedak
also employs some journalists to get the latest news.

However, due to the fact that the salary is not commensurate, the journalists finally decide to
resign from Hey News. At first Cempedak only depends on Bernama and Reuters, but he notices
the decreasing visits to Hey News because it is then just like any other news portal. Hence,
Cempedak decides to seek the service of several freelance journalists.

Unfortunately almost all the journalists are not location reporters. They simply extract materials
from social media and edit those materials to make the news. Among the materials being
downloaded and later reuploaded on Hey News are photos and videos.

Langsat, who owns a Facebook account, becomes furious when he finds out that a large
collection of his Facebook photos and videos are now being displayed on Hey News. Langsat
immediately makes an official complaint to Cempedak, but Cempedak states that what is done
by the journalists is simply for news-reporting, and therefore there is nothing wrong for them
to share those photos and videos. After all Langsat is not a registered news agency like Bernama
news agency and Reuters. Furthermore Cempedak finds out that Langsat himself actually has
downloaded those photos and videos from many blogs before reuploading them to his Facebook
page.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

11. Genuak is a computer programmer at Petai Sdn. Bhd. He and his colleagues at the programming
unit are responsible for developing simple software for Petai's clients.

The term of reference of the contract with the clients explicitly states that Petai retains
ownership to any developed software. Customers only pay for the license for exclusive use.

Genuak has received an offer from Salak, one of Petai's clients to develop simple software for
them without going through Petai's red tape. Payment will be made directly to Genuak, but
Salak wants ownership of the software.

Genuak accepts the offer, but he is a bit worried because of the time given is only two weeks,
while Petai usually takes at least a month to develop simple software. But he knows that Petai
used to develop such software, but only at the source code level. He then copies the source code
from the computer at the programming unit and tries to develop the requested software from
the source code.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflicts.

12. Markisa is the owner of an e-book store. His website can be reached at www.markisa.com. He
sells a collection of e-books of his own writing.

However, he only receives lukewarm response to his e-books. Therefore, he decides to also
advertise e-books written by others. He copies the information of those e-books from other
people's site and advertises them on www.markisa.com. Unfortunately, he has never asked for
permission from the original authors of the book.

Betik who realises that his e-book has been advertised on www.markisa.com becomes furious
since Markisa has never asked his permission. When he asks Markisa to remove his e-book
from the list of advertised e-books, Markisa refuses, explaining that what he is really doing is
for Betik's own benefit. Indirectly, this is a form of promotion to Betik's work. This is because
if anyone wants to purchase the e-book, they still need to get in touch with Betik. Markisa
claims that he only advertises, and has never uploaded any e-books written by others. In fact,
he even advertises the name of the authors to be contacted by parties interested in buying those
e-books.

Betik is still not satisfied because he considers Markisa as fishing in troubled waters. Although
Markisa does not directly sell books, he still gains profits through the commission from the
commercial ads on www.markisa.com.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflict.

13. Duku is a blogger at duku.blogspot.com. His blog is a commentary on IT software and
hardware, including tablets and smart phones.

Duku comes to know that Ciku, the owner of dokong.blogspot.com has copied articles from his
blog. Duku asks Ciku to delete the articles, but Ciku claims that he has done nothing wrong.
This is because Ciku has never stated that the articles are his, even Ciku has cited a reference
to the original source of the article, namely Duku's blog.

Duku is not satisfied with Ciku's explanation because the original source is not specified in each
article. Instead, it is only contained in the Disclaimer placed on the right side of Ciku's blog
menu, provided that the blog visitors click on that link. The link itself is not clear because Ciku
uses a small font; moreover the link is always blocked from view by pop-up ads on the right
hand side of the blog.

Duku urges Ciku to change the name of his blog because it confuses visitors who has difficulty
distinguishing between the original and artificial blog. Furthermore Ciku's blog logo resembles
his logo. He claims that Ciku has been making illegal money out of the advertisements in his
blog. Ciku becomes furious because he feels that Duku has no right to tell him what to do. He
also accuses Duku of performing a remote access to his blogger account because some files are
missing from his blog's folder.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflict.

14. Kelapa is freelance programmer providing services to small and medium enterprises in
Malaysia. His enterprise, Kelapa IT Solution Sdn Bhd is quite popular among the enterprises
due to his speedy work progress and quality of the software that he designs for them.

Due to high demand, Kelapa has engaged another programmer, Cermai to assist him with the
programming work. Cermai has been assigned with the tasks of coding, betas testing and bench
marking with popular software in the market. However, the indolent Cermai always resort to
shortcuts; instead of doing the tasks herself, she alternatively uses cloud based free computer
software and web services to do the tasks on her behalf. Some of the websites from which she
obtains the service appear to have untrusted connection or certificates.

Although the programming work is completed according to schedule, the quality of the software
is not up to the standard. Kelapa has to redo the coding to make sure that the software does not
crash. However, the effect of the redo makes the software not durable for long term
performance. This is only realised by the clients after months of using the software.

Some of the enterprises (clients) come to know that Cermai has been sharing the information
about the programming work with others through the free web services that she uses. They
complain that whatever being shared is prejudicial to their interest as clients to Kelapa IT
Solution Sdn Bhd.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflict.

15. Kapal, an airline company has been campaigning for promotions of their flight tickets in
physical and online media. Although Kapal is officialy based in Kuala Lumpur, the company
has subsidiaries operating overseas such as in Indonesia, Japan, Sokovia and Krypton.
Therefore, the promotion campaign is also being carried out in those countries. Kapal has also
shared information of their registered members with their affliate, namely Terbang, a tourism
company.

Ceri, one of Kapal members, finds her email inbox full of promotional ads sent not only by
Kapal Malaysia, but also from Kapal Sokovia, Krypton and others. She also receives a lot of
complaints from her previous landlord since many flyers and brochures have been sent to her
old rental house in which she no longer resides since she has moved to a new address.

Meanwhile, Terbang has been emailing tour packages to all Kapal members and making phone
calls to market packages that they provide. Most Kapal members consider the emails and
phones calls as disruption of their privacy.

Discuss the legal issues arising from the above conflict.