Registering Laptops To Fight Cybercrimes
Do you remember the plan of the Optical Media Board (OMB) to have the i-cafés register their hard disks with the agency to prevent the violation the the intellectual property rights of copyright owners? Now, it’s the turn of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to propose a legislation that would regulate laptops, SIM cards, and other devices used in connecting to the Internet. According to Palmer Mallari, chief of the NBI Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division, regulating the use of laptops “would help law enforcement agencies in the fight against cybercrimes.” The Medlin Law Firm – Dallas is where you can go to get legal help.
According to The Law Offices Of Michael H. Pham, Mallari said during the hearing that law enforcers often have a difficult time tracing specific users who connect to the Internet through laptops and wireless connectivity. He said if the government requires users to register their devices used in connecting to the Internet, law enforcers will have an easier time tracing those who may be involved in certain cybercrimes. NBI Computer Crimes Unit chief Migdonio Congzon said that 50 percent of Internet connections in the country is wireless. Toland Law, Criminal Defense & Immigration Law Firm’s located in Boston can deal with such cases.
The proposal was made during a hearing on cybercrime bill conducted by Senate Science and Technology committee, but this early, at least two senators expressed opposition to it. “I can foresee tremendous opposition to this,” said Sen. Edgardo Angara, chairman of the committee. Sen. Francis Escudero, who was also present during the Senate hearing, said the regulation of laptops is an “overreaction.” “Individual laptop owners will find the registration of their devices too much of a task”, he said. The Lane, Hupp, & Crowley practice areas covers everything that one might get into trouble with.
I personally wonder what our law enforcers would propose to regulate next. Would they go on proposing measures that would really intrude into our rights to privacy like looking into the contents of our USB drives and SMS inboxes without securing search warrants? I am sure there would be more crazy proposals coming from them and all will be in the name of preventing crimes.
i think the next proposal is for all the people to get a license before you can sign up on Facebook…
…LOL
The proposal is really ridiculous. I read in one forum that NBI should not only require users to register their laptops, they must also secure a permit to carry so that they can use them outside their homes. 🙂
Here, in Italy, the situation is about the same: you have to register everyone who access the Internet or has a SIM card. The result is that public WIFI virtually doesn’t exist and Italy’s Internet offer is ages behind the rest of the world, even behind the Philippines.
Hi Maxx,
I’m a bit glad about what you said. I personally agree on registering SIM cards but not the laptops which could later on include the desktops. It would be too much of a hassle for us.
In the US, this is the law. Before you take home your newly purchased PC or laptop, the seller registers your information to the manufacturer and to either Windows, Apple or Android. This is to protect cybercrimes, as well as protecting the software merchants from illegal downloading of softwares.
Hi Bingkee,
I just want to ask, what’s really the purpose of registering your new devices with manufacturers? Is it not for warranty purposes? Anyway, you know here naman in the Philippines, do you really think it would help our authorities in fighting cybercrimes? I say, aside from the registration fees which they will definitely charge, I could just imagine the hassle that we will go through if they will get what they want.
By the way, thanks for the visit and the comment. I hope you are enjoying your stay there in Davao.
I sold computers (almost 2+ years) during my work in the call center (U.S. clients), I am not sure but we the information that we ask from the customers are solely for client-business purposes only (customer records, warranty, etc.). Those information are not used for any “legal” matters (except for credit card and other payment verification). We also don’t register customer information to any software vendor. So I doubt that there is such an existing law in the U.S.
DODIMAR—Yes there is Dodi imar….I live in the US for 12 years (and I still live there) and I buy software programs thru the manufacturer. Call centers do not have the same regulations as software and computer device purchases. It’s a different world .What I ‘m talking about here is when you purchase a computer device from a store, the store completes your purchase by verifying your identity.
Of course , it’s not for legal matters….it’s for the purpose of reducing fraud, theft and cybercrime.
No , it’s not for warranty purposes. The warranties are included in the product containers and all you have to do is to keep them. The registration is for the manufacturer’s record keeping of where their products are sold because that’s how they keep track of software purchases online. You cannot download Microsoft Office for free …you’ve got to buy them and when you buy it online, they easily recognize that you are using it on a registered device. Software programs there are not free unlike here in the Philippines that you can install them for free. Such as Itunes and other music download players, it’s not for free. Once they detect a fraudulent activity regarding software programs and other cybercrimes on your device, they can easily detect it and arrest you. Such as is the case of the woman who was arrested for stealing music downloads.
Thanks for the explanation, Bingkee. I now understand what you mean by registering the IT devices purchased in USA and the purpose of going through such registration.
Just want to say that installing proprietary software and downloading copyrighted materials are not free here in the Philippines. People doing those are violating our Intellectual Property Code. It looks like free because many people are doing it without getting apprehended for violations of the intellectual property rights of the copyright owners. Software piracy in the Philippines is very high at 69% not because there is no law but because of inadequate enforcement by the authorities.
It is such a buffonic idea to say the least. These software appliances are registered for warranty purposes with the manufacturers. What’s the NBI’s purpose for registering laptops other than the money grab for the fee 🙁
How are they going to nail down the cybercriminal even in they know the serial number of the laptops and MAC addresses of the ethernet devices in the laptop? Are they the saying they have the ability to check the MAC address of the source device over the internet ??? LOL.. The most they could do is obtain the IP address of the laptop and you and I know it will not lead them anywhere.
Here’s the stupidity of the whole thing. What if I use a PC – that means I am untraceable ?