The Interception and Monitoring Bill, a controversial piece of legislation that has been languishing in Parliament since last year, has been delayed further as Cape Town finds itself concentrating on various battles around crossing-the-floor legislation.
The Bill was expected to go to the National Assembly before Parliament went into recess, but the deadline came with it still under discussion, and reconstruction, by the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development.
The original Bill raised fears of Internet censorship and Big Brother control over electronic communications. Those fears were mostly dispelled, but Internet service providers (ISPs) and their ilk are still concerned about the cost implications.
If the Bill becomes law, all ISPs and telecommunications operators will have to foot the bill for equipment to be used when law enforcement agencies receive permission to intercept certain communications. For ISPs this means installing and maintaining connections to government central monitoring centres.
The original Bill would also make it illegal to provide any telecommunications service that cannot be intercepted by government.
In public submissions last year a number of bodies expressed concern about the Bill, warning that it could lead to telecommunications networks being designed with monitoring inherent in their design, the bankruptcy of small ISPs and that it leaves much room for abuse.
However, members of the Justice Committee say substantial changes to the Bill are under consideration. These include technical alterations, creating public records of any interception that was undertaken and putting a retired judge in charge of vetting any law enforcement requests for permission to monitor.
The cost issue has not yet been resolved, and government agencies will only be liable for the cost of establishing and maintaining their monitoring centres.
The Bill is expected to go to the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces only some time after the Parliamentary session resumes at the end of July.
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