Cyberlaw in Malaysia

Malaysian Internet users are expected to reach four million
(Long, 2000), a healthy precursor to the adoption of e-commerce
transactions, which is encouraged by the incumbent government.
These transactions executed between business to business on the
one hand, and business to consumer on the other hand
(e-commerce) take place in cyber space, which is a virtual
region that defies geographical boundaries and national laws.
Inevitably, cyber laws must be enacted to regulate the
authenticity and security of business transactions in virtual
space. In addition, it must ensure that the rights and duties
of interacting parties in cyberspace are determined and capable
of enforcement.

The Malaysian Cyber Law Act 1997 (referred to as the said Act)
which includes the Digital Signature Act 1997 (DSA), Computer
Crimes Act 1997 (CCA) and the Telemedicine Act 1997 (TA) was
enacted to facilitate, regulate and spur the growth of
e-commerce in Malaysia. Laws, regulations and advocacy
agencies do encourage the growth of e-commerce

Deficiencies are inherent in the said Act. Shortcomings of the
DSA are as follows: certification authorities are not
responsible to ensure security and confidentiality of the
private key which is used for authentication and validation
purposes as responsibility lies with the private key holder

Internet usage by Malaysian legal practitioners in Malaysia is
not widespread despite its vast potential in expediting
communication and research efforts

Exposure to the Internet does not have a significant positive
influence on legal practitioners' knowledge of cyber laws. The
reason perhaps lies in the fact that legal practitioners do not
use the Internet extensively for purposes other than accessing
information. During interviews with a number of lawyers, it was
revealed that most lawyers do not even have an e-mail address.

IT-related experience does not have a significant positive
influence on legal practitioners' knowledge of cyber laws. It's
important to note that this variable is measured on two
dimensions: familiarity with cases pertaining to cyber laws and
ability to use the technology that would be governed by cyber
laws. The reason for the finding could be the fact that in
Malaysia legal practitioners are just coming to grips with the
advent of IT. To date, litigation pertaining to computer
technology or computer-related technology has yet to become a
staple diet of the Malaysian legal practitioner. In addition,
if legal practitioners already suffer from technological
phobia, their knowledge of the application of information
communication technology is very much doubted.

Influence of Knowledge of Cyber Laws as an Intervening Variable
between the Independent Variables and Adequacy of Cyber Laws

Knowledge of cyber laws does not have an intervening effect on
the relationship between the independent variables and adequacy
of cyber laws. This could be attributed to the fact that the
results also show that legal practitioners have a low level of
knowledge pertaining to cyber laws. Lack of such knowledge
rests in many factors: legal practitioners were not involved in
the formulation of cyber laws; they have not taken up cases
dealing with cyber laws; and the), are not comfortable with the
use of IT-related technologies. In the absence of knowledge of
cyber laws as an intervening factor, the results show that
IT-related experience has a significant positive bearing on
legal practitioners' perception of the adequacy of cyber laws.