Malaysian government washes hands of computing bill, wants industry to fix it
The Malaysian government has abandoned consultations with stakeholders over a law to regulate the information technology (IT) industry, telling the private sector to “sort it out among yourself first,” before making any further decision on the matter.
The science, technology and innovation ministry (Mosti) has not amended the controversial draft of the Computing Professionals Bill 2011 (CPB2011) that surfaced in December nor held any meetings with stakeholders after opening the proposed law up to the public for a month ending in mid-January.
Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili told The Malaysian Insider that Putrajaya has instead decided to “let the private sector drive it and, when [they] are ready, come back to us.” “We just gave (the draft) back to them; after all, it was drafted by them. We said sort it out with your own gang and then come back to us when you are ready,” he said in a recent interview.