MALAYSIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Janet Toh, Irene Yong, Krystle Lui and Boo Cheng Xuan, Shearn Delamore & Co.
• The Electronic Government Activities Act 2007 (ECGA) provides for legal recognition of electronic messages in dealings between the government of Malaysia and the public, the use of electronic messages to fulfil the requirements and to enable and facilitate commercial transactions through the use of electronic means and other matters connect - ed therewith. The ECGA will apply to federal laws which are designated in accordance with Section 6 therein. Malaysian law recognises different concepts of “electronic signature” and “digital signature” based on its respective definitions: • “electronic signature” means any letter, char - acter, number, sound or any other symbol or any combination thereof created in an elec - tronic form adopted by a person as a signa - ture; • “digital signature” means a transformation of a message using an “asymmetric cryp - tosystem” (as defined in the DSA) such that a person having the initial message and the signer’s public key can accurately determine: (a) whether the transformation was created using the private key that corresponds to the signer's public key; and (b) whether the message has been altered since the transformation was made. The ECA recognises the use of an electronic sig - nature where the conditions prescribed therein are met. The ECA does not apply to the following transactions or documents: • power of attorney; • the creation of wills and codicils;
Where an electronic signature is a digital sig - nature as defined in the DSA, the provisions of the DSA must be complied with for that digital signature to be effective. The Digital Signature Regulations 1998 sets out a mandatory licens - ing scheme for certification authority (being the issuers of digital certificates), recognised reposi - tories and recognised date/time stamp author - ity in respect of digital signatures. Certification authorities licensed under the DSA issue certifi - cates which are computer-based records which: • identify the certification authority issuing it; • name or identify its subscriber; • contain the subscriber’s public key; and • are digitally signed by the certification author - ity. There are several pieces of legislation that regu - late gaming in Malaysia, the purpose of which being more to regulate gambling activities in Malaysia. While some forms of gambling are per - mitted (eg, licensed lottery under the Lotteries Act 1952), gambling activities (including those taking place online) are generally prohibited. Common Gaming Houses Act The Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 (CGHA) sets out offences relating to, among others, common gaming houses, gaming machines and public lottery. Under Section 2(1) of the CGHA, gaming is defined as the “playing of any game of chance or of mixed chance and skill for money or money’s worth and includes the playing of any game specified in Column 1 of the First and Second Schedules and the playing or operation of any gaming machine”. A “gaming machine” is defined to mean “any mechanical, electrical 9. Gaming Industry 9.1 Regulations
• the creation of trusts; and • negotiable instruments.
234 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook