Internet café owners oppose OMB proposal to register hard disks

An organization of Internet shops in the country has expressed its opposition to a proposal by the Optical Media Board (OMB) to require the registration of hard disks in computers used by Internet cafe operators. Gener Luis Morada, national advocacy officer of I-Cafe Pilipinas, said in a press statement that the OMB is currently in the process of drafting an executive order for the disk registration. Morada said OMB executive director Cyrus Valenzuela disclosed the agency’s plan during the final deliberation of the implementing rules and regulations of the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 in Tagaytay City recently. The workshop was facilitated by the Department of Social Work and Development. Valenzuela argued that since hard disks have magnetic components, then it falls under the control of the OMB based on Republic Act No. 9239, also known as the Optical Media Act of 2003. Ed Zafra, a representative of I-Cafe Pilipinas who participated in the workshop, said the OMB’s proposal, if its pushes through, will set a “dangerous precedent" that may be expanded outside of the Internet café industry. “We were quite surprised of the statements made by Executive Director Valenzuela. If it is true, then it would bring the ICT industry as a whole back to the Ice Age," Zafra said in the same statement. He added: “In a country where the business community is already burdened by red tape and over regulation, such an imposition by the OMB would hamper growth and mean an additional burden on their operations." -- Melvin G. Calimag, GMANews.TV