SW Radio Africa (London)
Lance Guma
6 August 2007
Last week Friday Robert Mugabe signed into law the Interception of Communications Bill, which in principle allows his government to spy on the private communications of ordinary citizens. As Zimbabweans debate the implications of the new law, it has emerged that many Internet Service Providers face possible collapse because of the huge financial costs of buying and installing monitoring equipment on their platforms. Under the law ISP's have to meet the costs themselves.
In an interview with Newsreel Monday Shadreck Nkala, the Chairman of the Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association (ZIPSA), said they had no option but to conform to the new law. He said they would be meeting government soon to discuss the cost implications. Any installations will require huge sums of foreign currency. Nkala said even if they disagreed with the law, 'we work within a regulated environment and are not in a position to take a stand.'
Mugabe on Friday signed a total of three bills - The Suppression of Foreign and International Terrorism Act and the Masvingo State University Amendment Bill - all joined the Interception of Communications Bill into law. The Masvingo state university act ratifies the change of name from Masvingo University to Great Zimbabwe University while the terrorism act has been dismissed as another smoke screen to justify targeting government opponents.
Although several countries worldwide have similar laws it is the motives and potential for abuse that differ from country to country. Zimbabwe is going through a massive political and economic crisis, giving credence to the view that any legislation of this nature is meant to help the regime deal with people perceived as problematic.
Despite the new law, experts say there continue to be ways for people to communicate via secure e-mail platforms that are often free, like Hushmail, S-Mail.com and KeptPrivate.com among others. It's not yet clear if the popular Yahoo and Hotmail platforms which connect directly to servers in the United States and United Kingdom can be tapped into using monitoring equipment.
According to the Reporters Without Borders 2005 Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents, people who own their own computers can install 'annonymising' software that shields their identity from any snooping. Those accessing their email via internet café's might not be able to enjoy this technology but can still use secure e-mail services.
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