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ABSTRACT Adapted from the UK's Computer Misuse Act 1990 from which it borrowed three types of offences (mere unauthorized access, access with ulterior motive and modification of the contents of a computer), the Singapore Computer Misuse Act 1993 (CMA) boasted innovative features of its own: intercepting a computer service, abetting of offence, the making of a compensation order against the wrongdoer, and, until recently, admissibility of evidence. The CMA has been tested in the courts with increasing regularity. This Article seeks to review the impact of that law. Section 1 presents the conceptual basis of the law with a view to throwing light on some of the inconsistencies and difficulties unveiled in practice. Section 2 summarises the scope of CMA. Section 3 examines the recent amendments to the law. Section 4 then traces developments in the application of the CMA. The Conclusion summarises the experiences in Singapore in combating computer misuse and the attempt to modernise the law for that purpose. It suggests further pointers for reform in light of the shifting nature of the problem of computer misuse and the necessity of continuous adjustment of the law.
Introduction
The range of activities that might be considered 'computer misuse' has been expanding in Singapore, just as everywhere else. On the one hand, as Mr Peter Chan, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore, revealed in his speech at a January 1998 seminar on 'INFO Security 98: IT Security Is Everyone's Responsibility', 'From four cases of unauthorized computer access in 1996, it has risen to 27 cases in 1997.'1 On the other hand, new forms of 'computer misuse' have arisen in the last few years in connection with computer networks and the attempt of subscribers to use the Internet in particular as a means of downloading information (some of which may not be legally acceptable in Singapore), or accessing foreign sites for illegitimate purposes. An early instance of the 'misuse' of Internet connection was a discovery, supposedly without opening the relevant files but by looking at their sizes and names alone, of pornographic material downloaded by a user of Technet, a network dedicated to research and academic establishments in Singapore.2 The National Science and Technology Board, which funded and oversaw Technet, reportedly...