http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/11/nation/8879884&sec=nation

In a move that goes against the MSC Bill of Guarantees of no internet censorship, the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry has instructed Malaysian internet service providers (ISPs) to block several file sharing websites. The Star reports that the sites were blocked due to violating the Copyright Act 1987.

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This is a video that has gone viral for the wrong reasons. I think the original video has been pulled by the artiste, but there are lots like this that put fake and obscene subtitles to the song. Be warned – it could get painful..

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Berita Minggu 23 Jan 2011

The weekend pullout of Berita Harian called Berita Minggu ran a huge headline titled “Blogger untung RM1 juta” which loosely translates as “Blogger earns RM1 million”. Fiona has kindly reproduced the article on her blog.

Pish pash! No mention that blogging is hard work (and not just writing too). No earnings breakdown like Darren Rowse – watch out Darren, I’m gunning for you.

To make money online, you can’t just blog. You need a plan. A business plan. Because a blog that makes money isn’t a hobby, it’s an online business. This is what I’m blogging about at The ClickStarter (it’s stalled for the moment while I’m working on my secret launch..)

Well anyway, that’s the state of blogging in Malaysia – it’s all about the money. Quick, easy money that doesn’t exist.

P.S. Bloggers can’t escape taxes too. See the accompanying story in the sidebar, LOL

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The Star star reports that the Recording Industry of Malaysia is pushing for the ISP Liability Act to be tabled in Parliament. This law is the local version of the graduated response approach that recording industry groups, most notably the infamous Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)  has been lobbying for in other parts of the world.

In summary the law would hold Internet Service Providers (ISPs) responsible for acts of copyright infringement or piracy committed by their subscribers. The law is also known as the “three strikes law” because ISPs must issue 2 warnings before cutting off internet access to their subscribers, i.e. three strikes and you’re out.

This is a bad development

I am strongly against this move by the recording industry for the following reasons:

1) Policing copyright infringement is not the job of ISPs. They should be focusing on providing the best internet connectivity so that Malaysians can compete in the internet economy. Malaysian ISPs already have a tough time providing decent internet connection, now you expect them to be the piracy police?

2) Systems that monitor ISP networks for copyright infringement are not foolproof, and generally track users on a per-IP basis. DSLReports highlights a story from the UK about how an ISP highlighted the absurdity of such a system by driving around a city and downloading / pirating copyrighted songs from unprotected WiFi hotspots. They are also expensive and will increase the price of internet access for Malaysians. ISPs in New Zealand who also have a similar law are not happy about it.

3) The consumer’s rights are eroded because of a lack of due process. Because the ISP want to avoid getting fined, they may tend to be a little too trigger happy when disconnecting their users. In other countries e.g. France where similar laws have been enacted, consumers have been falsely labeled as music pirates and disconnected. After being cut off by their ISP, they face a difficult battle to subscribe to a new ISP because they have been blacklisted.

4) There are no good alternatives for consumers to download music legally in Malaysia. The truth is that the Malaysian recording industry doesn’t want you to download. In today’s day and age where almost every mobile phone can play music, they would rather you buy old-fashioned CDs. What online music download service is supported by the Malaysian recording industry? I don’t believe there are any. Please let me know in the comments if you do. With a lack of choice of legal alternatives, is it a surprise that many opt for the simple way to get music online?

The ISP Liability Act isn’t about preventing piracy, it’s about maintaining old business models for the recording industry

There are other, more effective ways to prevent piracy. Reduce the price of music. Offer affordable, legal alternatives. Put the consumer’s interest before the recording industry. Don’t cripple the digital files that you do offer with DRM. These are just some suggestions off the top of my head.

And stepping even further back, there has been no hard evidence that proves “illegal online downloads have been cannibalising the legitimate sales of music, worldwide”.

I DO NOT condone piracy

My intention is not to promote piracy and illegal copyright infringement. I am merely highlighting the flaws of this proposed law and advocate consumer rights.

I feel that Malaysian internet users should do something to express our dissatisfaction and make our views heard about this proposed law before it goes into effect. Any ideas? Do let me know in the comments.

Related reading

See the comments on No more illegal downloads? at Daily Chilli

New Straits Times: Pirated DVD buyers let off

Niki Cheong: Will the real pirates please stand up?

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One of the projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on in AGENDA is the launch of the new Maybank2u.com, dubbed M2U 2.0.

M2U 2.0 homepage. You like? And works in Safari too!

These past couple of weeks I had been helping to organise an Exclusive Preview of the new site for selected bloggers. The Exclusive Preview took place this past Monday at Delicious @ Marc Residence in KL.

Despite running around like a headless chicken for most of the night–I was so busy!–I had lots of fun. I managed to finally meet a lot of bloggers and friends that I’ve gotten to know through their blogs and Twitter like LiewCF, David Lian and Erna.

Maybank is my company’s client, but I’m a Maybank2u user and so here’s my take on M2U 2.0.

M2U 2.0 also refers to the shift in Maybank’s approach to their internet banking business. The current site is a big mess and that’s the result of being business focused: the website team just threw up all the content the different divisions in Maybank told them to.

M2U 2.0 is all about being customer focused. Maybank is intent on putting its users squarely in the driver’s seat for their internet banking experience. This new approach guided the revamp of the site and will be the guiding principles for the site’s future strategy.

When I joined AGENDA I was extremely impressed that Maybank actually spent money to conduct usability testing. They invested in over 350+ hours to conduct usability tests with 125 people over a 3 month period. And all this before writing a single line of code or designing how the new site would look.

With the usability results in hand, Maybank2u.com was built from the ground up to

1. Show the user the most relevant content, when they want it
2. Be a standards-compliant website (XHTML, CSS and semantic code)
3. Lay the foundation for a Web 2.0 style banking portal

I’ve built more than a few sites myself and the scope of M2U 2.0 truly boggles the mind. I have so much respect for my colleagues at AGENDA and the work they’ve put into the site.

And at the risk of sounding like a Maybank mouthpiece, I also have to give props to the people driving M2U 2.0 internally at Maybank. M2U 2.0 represents a big change for Maybank, and big changes in big companies don’t always go well. But from all the meetings I’ve endured been in and interaction with the team, I can see that the guys in e-Channels and Customer Experience get it. Of course, lots of respect to Maybank’s new CEO Datuk Wahid Omar for being forward-looking and getting behind this.

Despite all the baggage and problems that plague large companies like Maybank, I’m rooting for them. I’ve seen not only M2U 2.0, but I’ve also caught a glimpse of Maybank 2.0, and that picture is promising indeed.

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Advertlets keeps on getting bad press. 

hmm..? link

In a few hours, a host of portals powered by SocialRank will be unleashed on to the blogosphere. SocialRank is an algorithm that monitors millions of blogs of a topic and determining the hottest posts of the day by monitoring the attention of the blogosphere. Basically, its Digg + del.icio.us + Technorati all rolled into one, happening automatically and democratically via an advanced mathematical algorithm. SocialRank has the potential to be one of the greatest technologies of the internet since Google’s PageRank.

To see an example portal powered by SocialRank, check out Malaysia DailyVoices which aggregates blog posts from across Malaysia and picks out the most attention grabbing ones. For a full list of the 30 portals launching on 1 Oct, check out the SocialRank website.

SocialRank is the product of MindValley, an internet startup based in Malaysia. Yep, SocialRank is a made-in-Malaysia product. A few months ago I had the opportunity to visit MindValley and meet up with their founders who shared with me some of their plans for SocialRank. I wish them all the best because while I love sites like Digg that help us find interesting news online, I think there’s lots of evidence to suggest that it can be gamed easily. I like MindValley’s approach because they make use of a super smart algorithm, and we all loved the algorithm-powered Google don’t we?

Edited 1 Oct for accuracy. 

Here’s a quick shout out to my web host Exabytes who won a prize in the Emerging SME category for the 2007 Golden Bull Awards. 

I’ve found Exabytes to provide great value and good service. Definitely one of the better web hosts in Malaysia. Keep up the great work and keep my sites up and running smoothly please!

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The Star featured a pull-out today on e-KL, the Malaysian Government’s attempt at an e-Government initiative. The initiative is being spearheaded by MAMPU, the Malaysian Administrative, Modernisation and Management Planning Unit.

“The public will now only need their mouse to navigate through government websites to run their daily official needs,” proclaimed The Star.

Wow, I thought. Maybe Malaysia would really be able to pull off its “no wrong door” policy after all. And since there was some official business I was planning to conduct at a government agency soon, I thought I would give this e-KL a try.

Here’s what I got:

Same thing on IE.

Try again, MAMPU. If you can’t even get the proper security certificates for your servers I’m not going to have the confidence to conduct my official needs online.

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