Law to regulate online gambling under study

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) is studying a proposal to regulate electronic gambling on the Internet.

Its deputy minister Fadillah Yusof said yesterday the ministry was currently in its third phase of studies on the enforcement of law to bring down illegal gambling websites to prevent the public from becoming victims of electronic scams.

“We have set up a taskforce to deal with this issue and I’m one of the taskforce committee members. As far as cyberlaw is concerned, we are studying how to enforce it.

“Sometimes, the operators (of illegal gambling) can be outside Malaysia. It is a question of enforcement on the criminals,” he told reporters during a talk on cybercrime awareness by CyberSecurity Malaysia at the State Library here.

He said co-operation from international bodies was needed to deal with the problem.
When asked when the proposal would be finalised, he did indicate a date, but said the studies still had a long way to go.

“The proposal is yet to be submitted to the cabinet.

“The ministry is looking at the loopholes in the laws of Malaysia as far as cyber security is concerned,” he said.

He said the ministry would require feedback, especially from members of the public, industry players, human rights movements, the taskforce and consultants before
the proposal could be finalised.

Fadillah, however, said the present law was sufficient to protect the public from being cheated on the Internet, but the government would conduct detailed studies to safeguard public interest.