“Cam-Girls” Outlawed in The Philippines

The Filipino Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 outlawed cam-girls as well as hacking, identity theft and spamming.

A special unit that will supervise any activities that might fall under the Cybercrime category is being set up by the Filipino National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police.

The law not only targets cam-girls, whose “wilful engagement” in this activity, alone, is enough for a conviction, but all those who set up, administer or maintain the websites that the girls operate on.

Any “maintenance, control, or operation, directly or indirectly,” of these websites, is considered illegal, ArsTechnica reports.

The Filipino government plans to prosecute all those suspected of online crime in “special cybercrime courts manned by specially trained judges to handle cybercrime cases.” The “unit or center manned by special investigators to exclusively handle cases involving violations of this Act” will handle bringing those who commit the crimes to court.

Gaining “illegal access,” “illegal interception of data,” “cybersquatting,” and spam all fall under the “do and go to prison” category. Those who are found guilty will be serving jail time for up to six months. The minimum penalty for online troublemakers is 250,000 Philippine pesos ($6,000).

This could also affect those who chose to have online conversations in which they reveal private parts. The “lascivious exhibition” of body parts could get them fined or arrested, even without charging for it.

The new provision also outlaws online libel, suggesting that leaving libelous comments on blogs and social network websites falls under the Cyber-crime category. The maximum penalty for libel is 12 years of jail time, without the option of parole.

Media organizations in the Philippines are outraged, as they believe their right to free speech is being violated by the act.

The Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility made a strong and rather insulting statement on the matter, which read that this law shows “how restrictive rather than expansive is the mindset of the country's legislators.”