<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt"><br><div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">MAURITIUS COMPUTER MISUSE AND CYBERCRIME ACT 2003<br><br>Kelly O'Connell, Miami Attorney Email<br><br>Mauritius is an island located in the Atlantic near Southern Africa,<br>in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. It was first explored by<br>Portuguese sailors in the early in the 16th century. Later it was<br>controlled by the Dutch, French, and British until independence was<br>achieved in 1968. Given its inherent limitations of history, location,<br>and natural resources, the country has developed into an unmitigated<br>success, by anyone's standard.<br><br><br>The Government carefully
assembled the infrastructure for a large,<br>state-of-the-art cyber complex in the early 2000's which should prove<br>attractive to any company wishing for access to the Asian continent<br>within a business-friendly and highly modernized infrastructure. This<br>law is an attempt to protect any foreign or local businesses setting<br>up shop there.<br><br><br><br>To better understand the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act 2003; Act<br>No. 22 of 2003; Offense, found in Part II, these questions will be<br>answered: What is "Unauthorized Access to Computer Data"? What is<br>"Access with Intent to Commit Offences," or "Unauthorized Password<br>Disclosure"? What is "Unauthorized Access to and Interception of<br>Computer Service"? What is "Unauthorized Modification of Computer<br>Material", or "Damaging or Denying Access to Computer System"? What is<br>"Unlawful Possession of Devices and Data" or "Electronic Fraud"?<br><br><br><br>Mauritius island state has
staged an impressive economic evolution,<br>based upon its stable democracy, featuring a British system of regular<br>free elections and a positive human rights record, as the markets<br>transition from agriculture to building the industrial, financial, and<br>tourist sectors. The country has attracted considerable foreign direct<br>investments, earning one of Africa's highest average incomes, per<br>annum. The population is about one and a quarter million within a land<br>mass about ten times the size of Washington, DC. A serious approach to<br>property laws, in general, and Intellectual Property laws<br>specifically, is a major reason this well-ordered economy thrives.<br><br><br><br>What is "Unauthorized Access to Computer Data"?<br><br>This occurs when a person causes a computer to "perform a function,"<br>ie, enters with the intent of a going into a computer system to have<br>unauthorized access. Here, "Unauthorized" means either lacking
general<br>authority to enter a system, or without specific consent of the owner<br>of the equipment. The law does not differentiate whether the person<br>had intent to go after specific data or programming, or whether he was<br>simply accessing the device with a general intent to enter, without<br>any firm goal in mind beyond that. Those convicted of this crime will<br>be fined 50,000 rupees and/or be sentenced to "penal servitude" for no<br>more than 5 years. The act allows for a defense of a "reasonable<br>belief" of consent or authority. (Part II, Section 3)<br><br><br><br>What is "Access with Intent to Commit Offences," or "Unauthorized<br>Password Disclosure"?<br><br><br><br><br><br>"Access with Intent to Commit Offences" occurs when a person causes a<br>computer system to do an act for the purpose of accessing any program<br>or data found within a computer system, with intent to commit any<br>crimes listed under the rest of this same Act. It is
deemed irrelevant<br>whether the initial access was authorized, or unauthorized; or whether<br>the crime occurred at the same time, or at some period later. Those<br>convicted of this crime will be fined not exceeding 200,000 rupees,<br>and/or incarcerated not to exceed 20 years. (Part II, Section 4.)<br><br><br><br>"Unauthorized Password Disclosure" happens if anyone "knowingly<br>discloses any password, access code, or any other means of gaining<br>access to any program or data held in any computer system" to commit a<br>crime of theft, to damage files, or defame another, If convicted of<br>this crime, the person will be fined 50,000 rupees and/or incarcerated<br>not exceeding 5 years. (Part II, Section 8.)<br><br><br><br>What is "Unauthorized Access to and Interception of Computer Service"?<br><br>This occurs when anyone purposefully, and without permission or<br>authority, breaches a computer system for the end of obtaining<br>computer service to
intercepts "any function of, or any data within a<br>computer system." Those convicted of this crime will be fined not<br>exceeding 100,000 rupees and/or incarcerated not to exceed 10 years.<br><br><br><br>If such an act impairs or compromises the function of a computer<br>system, including disruption or excision of data delivery, Those<br>convicted of this crime will be fined not exceeding 200,000 rupees<br>and/or incarcerated not exceeding 20 years. It is irrelevant if the<br>breacher's intent was to harm the system or disrupt the flow of data.<br>(Part II, Section 5.)<br><br><br><br>What is "Unauthorized Modification of Computer Material", or "Damaging<br>or Denying Access to Computer System"?<br><br><br><br>This occurs when anyone purposefully acts to cause an "unauthorized<br>modification of data held in any computer system." Those convicted of<br>this crime will be fined not exceeding 100,000 rupees and/or<br>incarcerated not exceeding 10
years.<br><br><br><br>If such an act suppresses the system or modifies data, those convicted<br>of this crime will be fined not exceeding 200,000 rupees and/or<br>incarcerated not exceeding 20 years.<br><br><br><br>A "modification" is illegal if the person doing so "is not himself<br>entitled to determine whether the modification should be made;" and<br>has done so beyond the scope of authority, or without permission. It<br>is irrelevant if the damage or modification is temporary or permanent.<br>(Part II, Section 6.)<br><br><br><br>"Damaging or Denying Access to Computer System" is when any person<br>who, without consent or authority, causes "degradation, failure,<br>interruption or obstruction of the operation of a computer system; or<br>denial of access to, or impairment of any program or data storage,"<br>those convicted of this crime will be fined not exceeding 200,000<br>rupees and/or incarcerated not exceeding 20 years. (Part II,
Section<br>7.)<br><br>What is "Unlawful Possession of Devices and Data" or "Electronic
Fraud"?<br><br><br><br>This occurs when anyone "manufactures, sells, procures for use,<br>imports, distributes or otherwise makes available, a computer system<br>or any other device, designed or adapted primarily for the purpose of<br>committing any offence" under this Act. Also, to have such a computer<br>program in possession, is likewise a crime, unless with excuse or<br>justification. Those convicted of this crime will be fined not<br>exceeding 50,000 rupees and/or incarcerated not exceeding 5 years.<br>(Part II, Section 9.)<br><br><br><br>"Electronic Fraud" occurs when anyone "fraudulently causes loss of<br>property" to another by "any input, alteration, deletion or<br>suppression of data;" or interfering with a computer system, with<br>intent to commit this crime. Those convicted of this crime will be<br>fined not exceeding 200,000 rupees and/or incarcerated not exceeding<br>20 years. (Part II, Section 1)<br><br><br><br>MOROCCAN COPYRIGHT
LAW<br><br>Kelly O'Connell, Miami Attorney Email<br><br>Morocco has a rich French legal history, which included European<br>intellectual property law. The French law was set aside to make way<br>for the global economy represented by World Intellectual Property<br>Organization, which Morocco assented to the standards of, first in the<br>Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, or TRIPS<br>Agreement; and then, in the Law No. 2-00 on Copyright and Related<br>Rights of February 15, 2000. That Moroccan law is still influenced by<br>the old dahirs (laws).<br><br><br><br>To better understand Moroccan Copyright law, these questions will be<br>addressed: What are Copyright Protected Works, What are Their<br>Conditions? What Are Some Unusual Aspects of Moroccan Copyright Law?<br>How Does Copyright Ownership Work? What are the Formalities and<br>Documentation for Moroccan Copyright? Does the Law Treat as
Special<br>Moroccan National Folkways?<br><br><br><br>History of Moroccan Copyright Law:<br><br><br><br>Morocco, like the rest of the Muslim world, did not have a strong<br>history of protecting Intellectual Property (IP) rights. In fact,<br>until the 20th century, the concept was foreign to the law of this<br>country. Morocco did have better IP rights than neighbors since it<br>accessed French laws on the topic, resulting in the dahirs of 1916 and<br>1970, although application of these standards was hardly uniform.<br><br><br><br>Morocco decided to set aside the old French model and strive for a<br>global model after it chose to attempt to become a member of the World<br>Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This represented a bold,<br>non-typical deviation from the colonial model when they rejected the<br>regional model to pursue membership in 1993 (Morocco also attempted to<br>become an early member of the European Union, but were rejected out
of<br>hand for not technically being a European state). The Government was<br>given guidelines to follow, such as ratifying the Agreement on<br>Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, or TRIPS Agreement.<br>This transformed the intellectual property thinking in the state as<br>Morocco struggled to bring their legislation and regulations in<br>agreement with international standards and procedures.<br><br><br><br>Morocco, was classed a "developing country" and signed the TRIPS<br>Agreement, and was given a deadline of the year 2000 to redraft its IP<br>legislation to meet WIPO standards. This explains why the new IP law<br>was passed when it was, yielding Morocco Law No. 2-00 on Copyright and<br>Related Rights of February 15, 2000 was signed into effect.<br><br><br><br>What are Copyright Protected Works, What are Their Conditions?<br><br>"Protected work" in the Moroccan Copyright Law of 2000 are too<br>numerous to list, but Morocco accepts the
Berne Convention, which does<br>have a long, but incomplete listing.<br><br><br><br>Protected works presume several characteristics. First, the work being<br>protected must be an "original", which is not a well-developed<br>definition in the Moroccan Copyright Law of 2000. The old 1970 dahir<br>and French law in general define an original as "when its<br>characteristic features and its form, or its form alone, make possible<br>the identification of its author." The new law refers to "originality"<br>as "works that are original intellectual creations in the literary and<br>artistic field." The test for originality, then, will be one of a<br>common sense persuasion through examples and proofs.<br><br><br><br>Second, the work cannot be simply an idea, but an original idea that<br>has been worked-up into some sort of model. Third, there must be an<br>author. This means, according to the law in Article 47, is the person<br>who is shown, via "display on each
of the copies the name, pseudonym<br>or mark of the author." Therefore, a model work with a name on it,<br>were it unique, would translate to authorship, and all rights accrued<br>therein, as explained in Article 38. An anonymous, pseudonimical or<br>unknown work is "authored" by the publisher of such.<br><br><br><br>What Are Some Unusual Aspects of Moroccan Copyright Law?<br><br>While not completely unique, Moroccan copyright law follows the<br>French, as opposed to U.S. standard, and does not require copyrighted<br>articles be fixed on material support for copyright. This is<br>undoubtedly to help preserve Moroccan folksongs as IP.<br><br><br><br>Also, the 2000 Copyright law does not recognize "compilations", again<br>unlike its U.S. counterpart. This has created an interesting situation<br>where computer databases are not treated typically within the 2000<br>law, but case law (Coprosa decision) and legislation (1985 law)<br>developed to grant
databanks original protection, and to help with<br>this void, given as a 'right of extraction and reuse', although the<br>protection has not gone beyond 15 years. Databases are classed<br>derivative works, in Article 5(b), but with no details as to scope and<br>term of the protection.<br><br><br><br>How Does Copyright Ownership Work?<br><br>In Article 1, paragraph (1), the new law states an author of a work is<br>"the natural person who created the work," and "He or she is the first<br>owner of the moral and economic right in the work," according to<br>Article 31. Proof is that "his or her name appears visibly on the<br>work," according to Article 38. Yet this name, according to Article 1,<br>paragraph (1), might not be the real author or person who commissioned<br>it. The law only applies to "real persons," not legal entities --<br>although the case law disagrees with this point -- and protection<br>lasts a lifetime plus fifty years, according to
(Article 26).<br><br><br><br>What are the Formalities and Documentation for Moroccan Copyright?<br><br>Formalities:<br><br><br><br>For Copyright registration formalities, and unlike U.S. copyright, the<br>Moroccan Copyright Law of 2000 and the decree of 8 March 1965 do not<br>gave a particular manner of registering copyright or an stipulation to<br>deposit of works. While there is a stipulation in the dahir of 7<br>October 1932 that says four copies of any work produced in number and<br>put in circulation on Moroccan territory26 must be deposited with the<br>General Library and Archives (BGA) in Rabat. Strangely, this rule has<br>no relation to copyright, since this is registered nowhere else. The<br>Moroccan Copyright Office relies upon a procedure of declaration and<br>the admissibility of such on the Report of the Authentification<br>Commission to then accept them.<br><br><br><br>Documentation:<br><br><br><br>Again, for Moroccan texts, there is no
documentary evidence needed to<br>attest to authorship of a work, or any body set up for such a purpose.<br>But the dahir of 7 October 1932 stipulates that on legal deposit, when<br>a work is put into circulation in Morocco, four copies shall be handed<br>over to the BGA, and a formal document is then issued in return. The<br>article gives the name and status of the author referring to 'claims',<br>not unlike copyright forms of the American and Canadian Copyright<br>Offices. But Article 12 of the dahir of 7 October 1932 does not create<br>copyright, nor constitute any kind of certificate of ownership, or a<br>defensible certificate of entitlement regarding such rights.<br><br><br><br>Does the Law Treat as Special Moroccan National Folkways?<br><br>Yes. Morocco has an extremely rich cultural heritage, expressed in<br>dance, song, and art. The old dahirs protected these works, naming<br>indigenous art and invention as, "folklore", being "unpublished
works<br>where the identity of the author is unknown but where there is every<br>ground to presume that he is or was a Moroccan national," according to<br>dahir 29 of the 1970 code. Article 7, "Protection of Expressions of<br>Folklore" makes the fixing of folklore works under approval of the<br>Moroccan Copyright Bureau.<br>_______________________________________________<br>AfrICANN mailing list<br><a ymailto="mailto:AfrICANN@afrinic.net" href="mailto:AfrICANN@afrinic.net">AfrICANN@afrinic.net</a><br><a href="https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann" target="_blank">https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann</a><br><br><br><br><br>-- <br>becky<br><br>beckyit.blogspot.com<br></div><br></div></div></div><br>__________________________________________________<br>Do You Yahoo!?<br>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around <br>http://mail.yahoo.com </body></html>