I just read "Petition for the immediate withdrawal of the Licensing Regime". Up to now, 151 blogs/website had been listed, staging the #freemyinternet black out.
When I saw the link was shared in Facebook, I wanted to find out more about it. I heard about this new 'Licensing Regime' on the TV news but do not know the details. I support freedom of speech. Freedom to read whatever we want, wherever we want. What is the point of reading controlled news or even 'edited' information? It will be a step backwards, to be like certain countries that actually control their news or history.
When I continue to read the petition page, I felt some parts were written with a little bit of biasing and tries to change the reader mindset. I became hesitant in signing the petition. I will prefer the page to be written as general as possible and let one decide whether he agree to sign the petition or not. But well, if I am the one starting the petition, I guess I will want people to support my act.
"Even though MDA said that blogs do not fall under the licensing scheme, this is not reflected in the wording of the legislation. It leaves the door open for blogs or any other site to be forced to license in the future without any change in the law." - http://www.petitions24.com
I do agree with the above statement that if the law is written in the way it is (refer to the web or wherever you can find), bloggers are not exactly being protected. The law can actually used against any website easily when someone find them an eyesore. haha...
"Authorities have said that online news sites must also be subjected to the same kind of accountability and responsibility as "offline" news media. Authorities added that the new rules are not a clamp-down, as websites can continue as per normal because they are subjected to the same content standards as before.
Only 10 sites come under the new regime -- they mainly belong to the mainstream media." - CNA, 6 June 2013
Only time will tell if this 10 will increase rapidly over the next few months/years...
Other Related Articles:
#FREEMYINTERNET
CNA - New licensing regime will not limit public discourse: Yaacob Ibrahim
CNA - Bloggers stage 24-hour "blackout" to protest new MDA licensing regime
TodayOnline : New MDA licensing regime is still 'light touch regulation': Yaacob
MalaysiaToday : New licensing regime will not limit public discourse: Yaacob Ibrahim
Business Time (via Singapore Law Watch): Yahoo!: New online rules are redundant