Background on Singapore's political-websites-must-register-with-government rules: http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=singapore Thanks to D.R. for forwarding the below. -Declan ********* http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,1870,67711,00.html SEPT 1, 2001 Foreign websites that refuse to register 'can be blocked' Such sites can be screened out the way porn sites are, say experts By Tan Tarn How FOREIGN websites that will not comply with requests to register in Singapore as political websites are beyond the reach of Singapore law, experts say. But the Government can block such websites the same way it screens out pornographic sites, they added. Lawyer Sin Boon Ann, an MP for Tampines GRC, told The Straits Times: 'From a legal point, it's quite difficult to compel them to register.' Being hosted on computers overseas means they operate outside Singapore's jurisdiction. 'Our legislative theory is still on the basis of territorial supremacy,' he said. Mr Amolat Singh, a lawyer in private practice, agreed: 'I don't think the Government will be able to go after them.' But Internet-law expert Stanley Lai, of the law firm Lee & Lee, said the Government can go after the operators of foreign-hosted websites if they are Singapore citizens. They may be fined up to $20,000 and jailed for up to two years for refusing to register, he said. The issue came up in Parliament last month when Information and the Arts Minister Lee Yock Suan reaffirmed that the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) can require a political website to register under the regulator's licensing rules, even if the website is overseas. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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