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Malaysia considered the establishment of an internet filter similar to the Green Dam project in China. Niluksi Koswanage, Malaysia Examines Internet Filter, Tougher Controls, Reuters, Aug. 6, 2009. Malaysia did not do it since it would hurt freedom and foreign direct investments. Razak Ahmad and Royce Cheah, Malaysia Backs off Internet Filter Plan, Reuters, Aug. 7, 2009. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, which issued the tender, said it was a study on Internet usage so as to boost Malaysian content on the Internet and that reports of a filter were “sensationalized”. But a copy of the tender documents, seen by Reuters, appeared to contradict that statement. Niluksi Koswanage and Razak Ahmad, Malaysia to Cancel Internet Filter, Reuters, Aug. 12, 2009.

(1) Malaysia is one of the negotiating partners of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. The intellectual property chapter of one of the drafts was published by WikiLeaks in November 2013. (2) It is clear that a notice and take down procedure is on the wish list of some countries. Article QQ.I.1 Malaysia, conform its current legislation, proposes that “Each Party shall limit the liability of, or the availability of remedies against, internet service providers.” (3) Malaysia opposes Canada’s proposal that “Eligibility for the limitations in the previous paragraph may not be conditioned on the internet service provider monitoring its service, or affirmatively seeking facts indicating infringing activity.”

The CMCF was established in February 2001 under the CMA 1998 to govern electronic content and address content related issues. Designated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on 29 March 2001, the CMCF is made up of six member categories: advertisers, audiotext hosting service providers, broadcasters, civic groups, content creators/distributors and Internet Access Service Providers in Malaysia.

The Code was officially registered with the MMCC with effect from 1 September 1, 2004. (1) Paragraph 6.4 Content Code states that apart from the relevant legislation under the CMA 1998, “all applicable Malaysian Laws including but not limited to sedition, pornography, defamation, protection of intellectual property and other related legislation are to be complied with.” (2) Paragraph 2.0 provides a definition of the innocent carrier concept, which corresponds to Sections 43B, C, D and E, in the sense that when code subjects provide access to any content but have neither control over the composition of such content nor any knowledge of such content they are deemed innocent carriers, therefore not responsible for the content provided. Nonetheless, this does not exempt such access providers from adhering to the General...

In 2012 Section 36(1) Copyright Act 1987 remains unaltered in the amendment (Act A1420) of 2012. However, Part VIB ‘Limitation of Liabilities of the Service Provider’ Sections 43B-I, was added which provides a safe harbor provision for internet intermediary liability for copyright infringement. The provisions are similar to the DMCA in the US in which ISPs and content aggregators are provided immunity from liability for copyright infringement if they protect copyright owners by removing or disabling access to infringing content. 43B. Interpretation A service provider is a person who provides services relating to, or provides connections for, the access, transmission or routing of data; or operates facilities for, online services or network access. 43C. Transmission, routing and provision of connections (1) A service...

This Act provides a legal mandate to defend a free and open internet. Malaysia is one of the only countries in the world where a free and open internet is mandated by law. This mandate is overseen by the Malaysian Multimedia and Communications Commission (MMCC), an independent regulator tasked with oversight of mobile and internet providers (see below). (1) Section 3(3) CMA 1998 states: “Nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting the censorship of the Internet.” (2) The CMA sets out the conditions for Malaysia’s objectives to create a national policy framework for the convergence industries. It establishes Codes of practice to self-regulate the content industries. (i) Section 213 CMA 1998 makes clear that a Content Code should be drafted in such a way as to provide model procedures for dealing with offensive...