My Experience as an Intern at RWL (now known as RWY) - Rachel Wong

I started my legal attachment with the firm on 29 June 2009. The first few days was daunting as I had to wake up real early to get to work. It took me awhile to get accustomed to the working hours. Moreover, I had to familiarize myself with the firm, the partners, the clerk and my colleague.

However, when the first week was done, I felt so at home in the firm. I remembered the second day of work, I had the opportunity to follow Mr. Richard to PJ Court for a criminal matter. I was so excited as it was my first experience witnessing a criminal trial.

Furthermore, I was so privileged to be able to follow Mr. Richard for Case Management in KL Court. I was impressed with the current system of Case Management.

My first experience in the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya was enlightening. To begin with, the building itself was quite a sight, but what really caught my attention was the solemnity inside the Court of Appeal. A lot of confidence is required when submitting, and this no doubt comes with experience.

Some days, I get to sit in office and draft Letters of Demand, letters to client, and Affidavits. Other days, I get to sit in meetings with clients. I get to see real work being done. I also did quite a bit of research for the partners. I was quite incompetent at first, and did not really enjoy doing it. However, gradually I saw the advantages of completing a research. With research comes knowledge, and knowledge is indeed a powerful tool. It kept me on my feet, and it made me think a lot.

I was given the opportunity to follow Mr. Richard for a client interview in Sungai Buloh prison. It was my first experience entering the confines of a maximum security facility and it was indeed an eye-opener.

Other than that, I had to call clients, banks, government departments, lawyers and the list goes on. I was quite intimidated at first, as I was not very experienced in conversing in a very business-like manner. More often than not, the line gets transferred, or it gets cut off. As time went by, I became more confident and competent, and dealing with phone calls did not seem as intimidating as before. I had a lot of help from my colleague Yip, and the clerk Miss Mala, as they were more than willing to teach me tasks like photocopying, faxing and drafting documents.

Then of course there’s Mr. Richard, whom I respect a lot. What I remember most and am most grateful, is the fact that he took time to teach me, incompetent as I was. I will always remember his words at my last day of work. He told me my strengths and weaknesses and the areas that require improvement. He also taught me how to carry myself as a lawyer (to be). When you are a lawyer, you talk the talk, and walk to walk of a lawyer.

Mr. Sunil, on the other hand, may seem a little quiet at first, but his intelligence is indisputable. He has this award winning smile which never fails to capture the hearts of people.

Then there is Ms Karen. She’s one lady I respect a lot, due to her discipline and enthusiasm for her job.

Of course, most importantly are the meals we had together. My love for pork grew as my love for the firm blossomed. Section 17, and Pork Burger will always bring back recollections of the firm.

I remember when I first joined the firm, I knew nothing about Malaysian Law, and I had no knowledge at all about the Dangerous Drugs Act. When I left, I could even point out the different sections for different drug offences. At the end of the day, I guess it’s not about the size of the firm, nor where you work. What matters is the satisfaction you get, the knowledge you acquired and doing what you enjoy. It was indeed an enjoyable experience. If there was one word I can use to describe the firm, the people, and my experience, it would be “memorable”.

By Rachel Wong

Cyber Crime : Offending posting on websites/blogs

S211 of the Communication & Multimedia 1988 (CMA) prohibits the postings of indecent or offensive postings on Blogs/website. A look at S211 states:-

211. Prohibition on provision of offensive content.

(1) No content applications service provider, or other person using a content applications service, shall provide content which is indecent, obscene, false, menacing, or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and shall also be liable to a further fine of one thousand ringgit for every day or part of a day during which the offence is continued after conviction.

Recently a news update from Bernama reported a case where a Bank officer was charged for posting an obscene blog title. He was charged under S233 of the CMA, a provision which we had blogged back in March 2009. The Malaysian Body regulating the Multimedia Industry is the Malaysian Communication & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and has useful comments on the said S233. Please see link where S233is referred as part of Laws against Spamming.

For extra reading, you may visit this Blog, www.xes.cx; where the author is a Malaysian Lawyer who is well versed in Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law. 

We would encourage you to apply your mind and thoughts to these provisions before you make any postings on any website and/or blog.

Cyber Crime - Identity Theft

Identity Theft can be described as one pretending to be someone else and misusing that identity. It is a crime to do so, but it is not a new crime. What is new however, if the way one's identity is stolen, and where the identity is misused.

Historically people would pretend to be someone else and (for example) walk into a shop to purchase an item using the credit of another. But now, the new place to steal one's identity is in the Internet.

The Internet in recent times have seen many cases of Identity Thefts. People receiving e-mails asking for your name and bank account no is a common way to steal your identity. These e-mails are hoax and one must be wary when receiving such a request.

Another recent problem is phising. When surfing and "reaching" a website, be more careful as that website may not be the website you think it is. Classic cases are website phising for your e-mail address.

As e-commerce grows, and Internet quickly turning into the main method of registration etc, registering one's identity on the Internet will be the conduit for people to register oneself for more and more things. Things like buying stuff, confirming air tickets etc etc, can all be done through the internet.

The current laws in Malaysia to stem out Identity theft, in our view is still lacking. TheCommunication & Multimedia Act does not have specific provisions to deal with this problems, though in some of my personal meetings with Officers from Malaysian Communication & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) & Cyber Security; the people in charge of policing the Internet in Malaysia; are well aware of this problem and are looking into this.

In the interim, we share some interesting website for your knowledge and further reading on this area of Information Technology Law.

- News of an Ivy League Graduate who was seduced by money stolen from using other people's identity.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451944,00.html

- An American view on Identity Theft

http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/BankingInsuranceFinancialServices/IdentityTheftStateStatutes/tabid/12538/Default.aspx

- A specific website for Identity Theft from UK

https://www.identitytheft.org.uk/

- A Malaysian Context

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/LearningCurve/20080419163016/Article/index_html

Cyber Crime - Computer Crimes Act 1997

The Computer Crimes Act 1997, is amongst the few Statutes on Cyber Crime.

Under Section 3 CCA 1997, any person who secures access (hacking) without authority can be liable for an offence, which carries the punishment of :-

a. Fine not more than RM50,000, or;

b. Imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or;

c. both.

Section 4 CCA makes it an offence if a person commits an offence under S3 above; but this time with intention to commit fraud or act dishonestly (hacking with intent to commit fraud etc). The penalty?

a. Fine not more than RM150,000;

b. Imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or

c. both.

Section 5 CCA relates to offences of carrying out an act which will lead to the modification of computer contents. Basically this can be described as the Computer Virus offence. If you send a virus to someone else, you may be guilty of this offence.

S5 carries the penalty of:-

a. Fine not more than RM100,000

b. imprisonment of not more than 7 years or both

If a person causes the modification as per S5 above but with intent to commit an offence(s ) under Penal Code; the penalty is enhanced to:-

a. Fine not more than RM150,000

b. Imprisonment of not more than 10 years, or both.

Section 6 CCA makes it an offence to pass on a code or password to a Computer, to an unauthorised person. You can be imposed a fine of RM25,000 or imprisonment of not more than 3 years.

Look out for more blogging on these offences.

My Experience as an Intern at RWL (now known as RWY) - Yip XiaoHeng

The past 3 months have been a very good one for me. The 3 months internship program at Richard Wee Lopez (RWL) was a memorable one for me, and I will surely miss the moments I spent in the firm with the partners, clerk and other interns. I must say that I made the right choice to come back to this firm again this year because I learnt so much. I am also blessed to have masters who are so willing to teach me even though they are busy with their everyday work.

The moments of working, playing, shopping and eating together will always be cherished in my heart, unforgettable moments I should say. The firm is like one big family, which encompasses of people of differing cultures and styles but we could all work under one roof and make things happen.

I learnt to do everyday clerical work in the firm, on top of that, I was involved with legal work such as drafting letters of demand, filing of suits and cause papers, preparing affidavits, preparing bundles of authorities for a full trial, researching important point of laws and case laws, preparing for a plea in mitigation and so much more which would go on and on. Meetings with clients were interesting too; it was a chance to meet people from all walks of life. Not forgetting, I got to travel along with my master, Mr Richard for a criminal trial in Marang, Terengganu. It was an eye-opening experience to visit the other side of the Peninsular of Malaysia. I would definitely remember the trips we made there and the moments we spent in the airport waiting for our flight back.

Besides learning legal stuff, I must say that I have learnt to be a better person too. The optimism of Mr Richard, Mr Sunil’s calmness and Ms Karen’s hardworking attitude, will I try to emulate.

Well, to conclude, I would say it was really a wonderful and memorable experience working in RWL.

By Yip Xiaoheng

Cyber Crime

Cyber Crimes would probably be the new frontier in policing crime, in the near future. For over 15 years now, Lawyers have mention that Cyber Space will be the new battle ground to stamp out criminal activities, and that comment is still not out of line, after all these years.

With internet becoming the new 'necessity' in modern life, the need to police and stamp out criminal activities in cyber space becomes more acute by the day.

In Malaysia, there are a few Statutes which deals with cyber crime. The traditional Statutes would be the Penal Code and Computer Crimes Act 1997 (CCA 1997).

However the Communications & Mulitimedia Act 1998 (CMA 1998) has many provisions which criminalizes certain activities in the internet.

The CCA 1997 basically deals with Computer Hacking, whilst the CMA 1998 deals not only with criminal activities in the internet; but is a far reaching Statute governing the organisations dealing with internet, the operation of the internet etc etc.

We would be blogging on this area, zooming on specific provisions for discussion.

Thank you.

Richard Wee