Welcome to the information age

This “column” in the Sowetan, dated 7 November 2007, leaves me somewhat speechless. It’s filed under “columnists: Ido Lekota”, but you’d swear it’s a news report written by Thuli Zungu. And while I admire the effort Barend Burgers Attorneys put into swindling the hapless writer into giving them free publicity, reporting the passage of a five-year-old law seems a little superfluous.

Cyber war intensifies
Thuli Zungu
07 November 2007
New law targets online criminals

When the world entered the 21st century technological reasoning power became increasingly sophisticated, and so did cyber-crime.

Online misdemeanour, commonly referred to as cyber-crime, is a new type of criminal activity which started rearing its ugly head in the early 1990s as the Internet became a common place for online users worldwide.

But the long arm of the law is catching up with those who commit cyber-crimes.

After many years of legal uncertainty, Parliament has enacted the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECT), which comprehensively deals with cyber-crimes.

If the “journalist” who wrote this rubbish had applied some of this 21st century technological reasoning power, and had bothered to do so much as glance at the actual legislation, they might have noticed it’s called Act 25 of 2002. Granted, that newfangled interweb thing is infested with terrifying cyber-criminals, but aren’t Sowetan reporters supposed to be fearless?

Anyone heard yet that Nelson Mandela was released from prison and has been elected president of South Africa? Remember, you read it here first.