Department of Journalism

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Browsing Department of Journalism by Author "Amoraal, Lezel"

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    Internet-regulering in Suid-Afrika : staat of internasionaal?
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003-04) Amoraal, Lezel; Rabe, Lizette; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Internet has become such an integral part of computer users' daily existence that it seems as if it has always been there. The Internet with its unique borders - or lack of borders - places an enormous burden on geographically based legal systems. Regulation, that has specifically been designed for the Internet, is a necessity because virtually every aspect of the law is challenged by the Internet and that many legal frameworks are inadequate to deal with the Internet. The other aspect which complicates the Internet even more, is that there is no specific organisation, business or government to whom the Internet belongs. Individuals and organisations have rights to the web pages that they own on the Internet, but there is no ownership of the Internet in its entirety. The development of the Internet in South Africa took place during a difficult time in the country's history. The apartheid era initially limited the growth of the Internet. Much of the existing legislation in South Africa has been partially adapted to accommodate the Internet, but the government could not envisage what the actual impact of the Internet would be and consequently they reacted when it came to the regulation of the Internet. In 2002 the Electronic Communication and Transaction Act 25 of2002 came into operation. In fact, the physical component of the Internet has already been regulated to a degree by the pure coincidence as a result of its physical presence. This is because the backbone of the Internet had not originally been created by the Internet, but by the telephone. There are a number of legislative Internet-organisations that are, among others, responsible for the technical standards of the Internet, dispute resolutions and in general what is important for the Internet community. Various international conventions regulate specific aspects of the Internet such as copyright, intellectual property rights, domain names, trademarks and cyber crime. The international conventions and agreements are an important step in the direction of standardised regulation. However, the lack of borders creates problems surrounding jurisdiction of the cyber space.