Commencement of the Cybercrimes Act
The President has proclaimed the commencement of the lion’s share of the Cybercrimes Act, No 19 of 2020, with effect from the 1st of December 2021. The sections omitted from commencement are largely related to the implementation of enforcement mechanisms, and are presumably omitted so as to allow the necessary administrative arrangements to be made. more...
Cybercrimes Act
After an extended period in Parliament, the Cybercrimes Act has finally been signed into law by the President. The purpose of the Act is to bring South Africa into line with international jurisprudence on the detection and prosecution of crimes which are either specific to computers, or which are perpetrated using computers. This is a more...
PAIA Manuals – Time is Running Out
It has sneaked up on us, but it looks like the long-delayed PAIA manuals must finally be compiled. POPIA is also clamouring to be included in the manuals. End of Exemption from Compiling a PAIA Manual The Promotion of Access to Information Act No. 2 of 2000, better known as PAIA, commenced in March 2001. more...
Commencement of POPI
1st of July 2020 is the date of commencement of the bulk of the remaining sections of POPU. Anyone processing personal information in South Africa will have one year in which to become compliant with the Act.
Virtual Sports Events
We are slowly emerging from lockdown and the cabin fever is abating. We can leave our homes now, but can only lumber our lonely way about, hoping not to crash into a pole when our glasses fog up from wearing a mask. And we can never, ever, exercise with anyone else. Athletic competition in groups more...
Does the Developer Own that Software I Paid For?
Disputes over ownership of software often cross my desk. The story is almost invariably the same: someone has paid a software developer to write code, and there is no written agreement dealing with who owns that code. Then the developer decides that he owns the code and won’t hand over the source code.
COVID-19 Communications Regulations
On the 26th of March 2020 the Minister of Communications gazetted regulations under the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002. The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that digital technologies are used to their fullest extent to assist with combating the COVID-19 outbreak.
Working from Home – Some Legal Concerns
During the current COVID-19 crisis, many employers will have chosen to allow their employees to work from home. While most employers already have a communications policy that regulates how employees use communications infrastructure in the workplace, it is important to bear a few points in mind when many or most employees are working remotely.
Software Development and Copyright.
1. Introduction Some years ago, I wrote a guide for software developers to briefly explain how copyright law applied to software development. Little has changed since I wrote that guide - the legislative landscape remains much as it was and the South African courts do not deal with copyright in software a great deal. more...
Amendment of .za Alternative Dispute Regulations
Since 2006 it has been possible to challenge the lawfulness of domain name registrations in the .co.za second level domain in terms of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations promulgated under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002. The ambit of these regulations was subsequently expanded to cover the .net.za, .web.za and .org.za second more...
Mobile App End User Licence Agreements (EULAs)
Smartphones are incredibly useful things, and part of that usefulness comes from being able to download mobile applications (apps) to them. What’s so special about an App? Mobile apps are typically simpler than desktop applications, and commonly interact with a server to provide a service to the user, rather than having the processing taking place more...
Online Promotional Competitions
This article is about promotional competitions, which are widely used as a form of marketing for goods and services. I do not intend to discuss the church raffle, the national sea rescue draw, or other fund-raising initiatives for non-profit organisations. What is a promotional competition? Promotional competitions are regulated by the Consumer Protection Act 68 more...