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Showing posts with label MCMC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MCMC. Show all posts

Friday, January 29, 2021

Watch out for WhatsApp scammers

MCMC: Beware of scammers trying to take over your WhatsApp account 

 MCMC issued a warning to alert the public to increasing reports of WhatsApp accounts being hijacked


MCMC said scammers often pose as friends or family members, using accounts that scammers had already successfully hacked into, to try to trick them into revealing their six-digit WhatsApp verification codes. — Bloomberg


The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has issued a  statement warning the public to be wary of increasingly inventive tactics employed by scammers trying to hijack a user’s WhatsApp account, due to increasing reports of fraud cases being committed through the app.

MCMC said scammers usually manage to take over victims’ WhatsApp accounts by tricking them into divulging their six-digit verification codes, which users will usually receive when there is an attempt to change the phone number associated to their account.

To do this, scammers have been known to contact potential victims while posing as a hapless individual or business claiming to have mistakenly keyed in the victim’s phone number while trying to complete an online transaction, explaining that as a result the authorisation code for the transaction had been sent to the victim’s phone and imploring them for help retrieving the code.

These appeals could even come from the victim’s family members or friends via accounts that scammers had already hijacked, said MCMC.

This tactic commonly misleads the victim into thinking they would be sending the scammer an unrelated TAC (transaction authorisation code) when in fact they would be handing over the six-digit verification code to the victim’s own WhatsApp account.

Those who have been duped into giving up their codes could end up having their accounts stolen by scammers, added MCMC.

MCMC said scammers have also impersonated WhatsApp employees to fool users into sharing their verification code, adding that there have also been instances where the scammer would deliberately fail at keying in the code several times in order to force an automated system by WhatsApp to call the user about their verification code.

In this instance, the scammer would also contact the user to ask for the code while pretending to be someone else. If the user did not answer the automated call by WhatsApp and it goes into the user’s voice mailbox, then the scammer would try to randomly guess at or ask for the user’s voice mailbox PIN code to access the recording, according to MCMC.

The regulatory body advised WhatsApp users to be suspicious of any attempts to procure their six-digit verification code, adding that it is absolutely imperative that users never reveal the code to anyone else to prevent their accounts from being hijacked.

It added that users should also enable two-factor verification on WhatsApp and utilise more complicated PIN numbers for their voice mailbox as additional security measures.

According to an  FAQ by WhatsApp, a user may be sent the verification code via SMS – even when one wasn’t requested – for a number of reasons.

WhatsApp said this could happen due to someone mistyping their own number, or a hacker attempting to take over the person’s account.

Without the code, the hacker will not be able to complete the verification process, which would prevent the account from being hijacked.

If your account has been stolen, you will have to sign into WhatsApp with your phone number and verify your phone number by entering the six-digit code you receive via SMS.

Once you enter the six-digit SMS code, the individual using your account will be automatically logged out.

You might also be asked to provide a two-step verification code. If you don’t know this code, the hijacker using your account could have enabled two-step verification.

You must wait seven days before you can sign in without the two-step verification code, according to WhatsApp.

Regardless of whether you know this verification code, the other person will be logged out of your account once you entered the six-digit code received via SMS.

In a separate FAQ about  stolen accounts, WhatsApp also advised the victim to inform family and friends if they suspect someone is impersonating them in chats.

Users whose WhatsApp accounts have been stolen are encouraged to file a complaint with MCMC or lodge a report at the nearest police station.

Source link

 

 

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Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Malaysia's Broadband Plans Not Up to Speed Yet

Still waiting: Some existing users are exasperated as they have yet to enjoy the higher broadband speeds promised by their service providers.

Broadband users also complain of not enjoying lower prices


PETALING JAYA: The telcos may have announced lower prices and faster Internet speeds, but many existing fixed broadband users are complaining that they have yet to enjoy these benefits.

On Sunday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced that Telekom Malaysia (TM), Maxis, Celcom and Time have introduced new entry-level plans below RM100 that are more than 30% cheaper.

But the price reduction and speed increase brought about by the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP), which was implemented on June 8, have yet to trickle down to consumers.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said in a statement he was aware that not all existing fixed broadband users are enjoying higher speeds and lower prices.

“I found that the packages do not lower the price of services to existing customers. This means that they cannot benefit from the new packages immediately,” said Gobind.

“I will meet with the telco representatives to discuss this matter in the near future. At the same time, I would also like to emphasise that telcos that have offered the new packages should ensure the services are actually implemented.”

Gobind said MCMC is required to monitor the implementation of the new plans and manage all complaints received and to take firm action where necessary to ensure that the services provided are in line with what was promised.

MaxisOne Home Fibre subscriber Leela Krishnan is disappointed that she has yet to receive any update from Maxis.

“No SMS, e-mail or call from the company to tell how MSAP would affect my monthly bill, or what new plans are available for me,” said the graphics designer, 44.

Maxis said the upgrade was not automatic for existing customers as they have to first pick one of two plans – 30Mbps at RM89 or 100Mbps at RM129 per month.

They can do so at the Maxis page, bit.ly/2gacJxB, but will be recontracted for 24 months. Also, customers who break the new contract will incur a RM500 penalty.

Maxis said recontracting is necessary as it is providing a new router which is capable of maximising the higher speed for WiFi, and at no cost to the consumer.

Astro IPTV customers have also been left hanging on the status of their packages as the company has yet to announce anything.

Idzla Hafiz, 34, who is using the Astro IPTV 10 package, said he is paying RM148 for a mere 10Mbps broadband speed, and he has not received any updates.

“I hope I won’t be paying the same amount next month because that means I will be spending RM59 more than Maxis users and still get a lower speed,” he said.

An Astro spokesman told The Star that the company is still in discussion with its broadband partners – Time and Maxis.

“Discussions are progressing well and we hope our broadband partners will extend the same benefits to our Astro IPTV customers,” the spokesman said, adding that it hopes to make an announcement soon.

Meanwhile, TM’s free upgrade for existing users, which started in August, is expected to go on until the first quarter of next year, as it says it has over 800,000 subscribers to upgrade.

Unifi Home 20Mbps or lower subscribers will be upgraded to 100Mbps, 30Mbps to 300Mbps, 50Mbps to 500Mbps and 100Mbps to 800Mbps.

Public relations consultant Daniel Yao, a Unifi customer of seven years, said it is “ridiculous” that Unifi introduced a cheaper plan for new users but long-time users are still stuck in the same plans.

He said Unifi informed him that the only way to opt for the cheaper and faster plan is to terminate his current package and sign up for a new one.

“That means I need to sign a new contract and redo the whole thing at a TM office,” he added.

TM’s Streamyx customers, especially in the outskirts, have also been complaining to MCMC on Twitter that they are still not being upgraded to Unifi and are being forced to pay more for lower speeds due to lack of infrastructure.

“I found out that there are no suggestions provided to address the issues faced by existing Streamyx users, therefore this is something I need to tackle immediately,” said Gobind.

As at press time, TM has yet to respond to queries from The Star.

Celcom, which offers its Home Fibre plans only in Sabah, said it has upgraded all existing customers to the higher speeds and lower prices since September without recontracting.

All its Home Fibre users, starting from 10Mbps, were upgraded to 100Mbps, and their bill reduced to RM120 per month.

The telco said those who have yet to receive their upgrades can contact its customer service line at 1-300-11-3282.

Time also claims that it has upgraded all its existing users and notified them via e-mail.

The 100Mbps plan (RM149) was upgraded to 500Mbps (RM139) while the 300Mbps (RM189) and 500Mbps (RM299) plans were both upgraded to 1Gbps (RM189).

However, the new subscription fees will only be reflected in bills that are issued from Oct 15 onwards.

If users are still facing slow speeds, it recommends that they restart their router and perform another speed test.

It is best done via a desktop or laptop connected to the router via an Ethernet cable, as users may not be able to get the full speed via WiFi.

If nothing works, users can get in touch with Time via 1800-18-1818 or cs@time.com.my.

Source: The Star by angelin yeoh, mei mei chu, and sharmila nair

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Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Fake news, piracy and digital duopoly of Google and Facebook


“FAKE NEWS” has seemingly, suddenly, become fashionable. In reality, the fake has proliferated for a decade or more, but the faux, the flawed and the fraudulent are now pressing issues because the full scale of the changes wrought upon the integrity of news and advertising by the digital duopoly — Google and Facebook — has become far more obvious.

Google’s commodification of content knowingly, wilfully undermined provenance for profit. That was followed by the Facebook stream, with its journalistic jetsam and fake flotsam. Together, the two most powerful news publishers in human history have created an ecosystem that is dysfunctional and socially destructive.

Both companies could have done far more to highlight that there is a hierarchy of content, but instead they have prospered mightily by peddling a flat-earth philosophy that doesn’t distinguish between the fake and the real because they make copious amounts of money from both.

Depending on which source you believe, they have close to two-thirds of the digital advertising market — and let me be clear that we compete with them for that share. The Interactive Advertising Bureau estimates they accounted for more than 90% of the incremental increase in digital advertising over the past year. The only cost of content for these companies has been lucrative contracts for lobbyists and lawyers, but the social cost of that strategy is far more profound.

It is beyond risible that Google and its subsidiary YouTube, which have earned many billions of dollars from other people’s content, should now be lamenting that they can’t possibly be held responsible for monitoring that content. Monetising yes, monitoring no — but it turns out that free money does come at a price.

We all have to work with these companies, and we are hoping, mostly against hope, that they will finally take meaningful action, not only to allow premium content models that fund premium journalism, but also to purge their sites of the rampant piracy that undermines creativity. Your business model can’t be simultaneously based on both intimate, granular details about users and no clue whatsoever about rather obvious pirate sites.

Another area that urgently needs much attention is the algorithms that Silicon Valley companies, and Amazon, routinely cite as a supposedly objective source of wisdom and insight. These algorithms are obviously set, tuned and repeatedly adjusted to suit their commercial needs. Yet they also blame autonomous, anarchic algorithms and not themselves when neofascist content surfaces or when a search leads to obviously biased results in favour of their own products.

Look at how Google games searches. A study reported in The Wall Street Journal found that in 25,000 random Google searches ads for Google products appeared in the most prominent slot 91% of the time. How is that not the unfair leveraging of search dominance and the abuse of algorithm? All 1,000 searches for “laptops” started with an ad for Google’s Chromebook — 100% of the time. Kim Jong Un would be envious of results like that at election time.

And then there are the recently launched Google snippets, which stylistically highlight search results as if they were written on stone tablets and carried down from the mountain. Their sheer visual physicality gives them apparent moral force. The word Orwellian is flagrantly abused, but when it comes to the all-powerful algorithms of Google, Amazon and Facebook, Orwellian is underused.

As for news, institutional neglect has left us perched on the edge of the slippery slope of censorship. There is no Silicon Valley tradition, as there is at great newspapers, of each day arguing over rights and wrongs, of fretful, thoughtful agonising over social responsibility and freedom of speech.

What we now have is a backlash with which these omnipotent companies are uniquely ill-equipped to cope. Their responses tend to be political and politically correct. Regardless of your own views, you should be concerned that we are entering an era in which these immensely influential publishers will routinely and selectively “unpublish” certain views and news.

We stumble into this egregious era at a moment when the political volume in many countries is turned to 10. The echo chamber has never been larger and the reverb room rarely more cacophonous. This is not an entirely new trend, but it has a compounding effect with the combination of “holier than thou” and “louder than thou.”

Curiously, this outcome is, in part, a result of the idealism of the Silicon Valley set, and there’s no doubt about the self-proclaimed ideals. They devoutly believe they are connecting people and informing them, which is true, even though some of the connections become conspiracies and much of the information is skimmed without concern to intellectual property rights.

Ideas aside, we were supposed to be in a magic age of metrics and data. Yet instead of perfect precision we have the cynical arbitraging of ambiguity — particularly in the world of audiences. Some advertising agencies are also clearly at fault because they, too, have been arbitraging and prospering from digital ambiguity as money in the ad business has shifted from actually making ads to aggregating digital audiences and ad tech, better known as fad tech.

And so, as the Times of London has reported, socially aware, image-conscious advertisers find themselves in extremely disreputable places — hardcore porn sites, neofascist sites, Islamist sites. The embarrassment for these advertisers juxtaposed with jaundice is understandable, but the situation is far more serious than mere loss of face.

If these sites are getting a cut of the commission, the advertisers are technically funding these nefarious activities. Depending on the type of advertising, it is estimated by the ad industry that a YouTube partner could earn about 55% of the revenue from a video. In recent years, how many millions of dollars have been channelled to organisations or individuals that are an existential threat to our societies?

Provenance is profound, and in this age of augmented reality and virtual reality, actual reality will surely make a comeback. Authenticated authenticity is an asset of increasing value in an age of the artificial — understanding the ebb and flow of humanity will not be based on fake news or ersatz empathy, but on real insight.

BY ROBERT THOMSON

Robert Thomson is the chief executive of News Corp, which owns The Australian and The Wall Street Journal. This is adapted from a speech he delivered on March 29 to the Asia Society in Hong Kong.


PETALING JAYA: The proliferation of fake news on social media has benefited publishers like Google and Facebook in terms of digital advertising market share at the expense of other media companies. News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson recently in his speech noted that Google and Facebook, for example, have close to two-thirds of the digital advertising market.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau estimates they accounted for more than 90% of the incremental increase in digital advertising over the past year, he said.

The only cost of content for these companies has been lucrative contracts for lobbyists and lawyers, he added, noting that the social cost of that strategy is far more profound.

Thomson said this during his speech to the Asia Society in Hong Kong on March 29.

News Corp is also the owner of The Australian and The Wall Street Journal. “Google’s commodification of content knowingly, wilfully undermined provenance for profit. That was followed by the Facebook stream, with its journalistic jetsam and fake flotsam.

Together, the two most powerful news publishers in human history have created an ecosystem that is dysfunctional and socially destructive,’’ he said.

Both companies, he said could have done far more to highlight that there is a hierarchy of content, but instead they have prospered mightily by peddling a flat-earth philosophy that doesn’t distinguish between the fake and the real because they make copious amounts of money from both.

“It is beyond risible that Google and its subsidiary YouTube, which have earned many billions of dollars from other people’s content, should now be lamenting that they can’t possibly be held responsible for monitoring that content. Monetising yes, monitoring no – but it turns out that free money does come at a price.

“We all have to work with these companies, and we are hoping, mostly against hope, that they will finally take meaningful action, not only to allow premium content models that fund premium journalism, but also to purge their sites of the rampant piracy that undermines creativity,” Thomson said.

In his speech, he also said although “fake news” has seemingly, suddenly, become fashionable but in reality, the fake has proliferated for a decade or more.

But the faux, the flawed and the fraudulent are now pressing issues because the full scale of the changes wrought upon the integrity of news and advertising by the digital duopoly — Google and Facebook — has become far more obvious, he said.

Thomson also highlighted on the urgency of algorithms. Another area, he said that urgently needs much attention is the algorithms that Silicon Valley companies, and Amazon, routinely cite as a supposedly objective source of wisdom and insight.

“These algorithms are obviously set, tuned and repeatedly adjusted to suit their commercial needs.

“Yet they also blame autonomous, anarchic algorithms and not themselves when neofascist content surfaces or when a search leads to obviously biased results in favour of their own products,’’ he said.

A study reported in The Wall Street Journal found that in 25,000 random Google searches ads for Google products appeared in the most prominent slot 91% of the time.

“How is that not the unfair leveraging of search dominance and the abuse of algorithm?” he asked. All 1,000 searches for “laptops” started with an ad for Google’s Chromebook – 100% of the time.

And then there are the recently launched Google snippets, which stylistically highlight search results as if they were written on stone tablets and carried down from the mountain. Their sheer visual physicality gives them apparent moral force, he said.

“The word Orwellian is flagrantly abused, but when it comes to the all-powerful algorithms of Google, Amazon and Facebook, Orwellian is underused,’’ he said.

Thomson said: “What we now have is a backlash with which these omnipotent companies are uniquely ill-equipped to cope. Their responses tend to be political and politically correct.

Regardless of your own views, you should be concerned that we are entering an era in which these immensely influential publishers will routinely and selectively “unpublish” certain views and news.

He also faulted ad agencies as they have been arbitraging and prospering from digital ambiguity as money in the ad business has shifted from actually making ads to aggregating digital audiences and ad tech, better known as fad tech.

“Provenance is profound, and in this age of augmented reality and virtual reality, actual reality will surely make a comeback. Authenticated authenticity is an asset of increasing value in an age of the artificial – understanding the ebb and flow of humanity will not be based on fake news or ersatz empathy, but on real insight,’’ he added.

Sources: Starbiz

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Monday, April 10, 2017

How to Spot Fake News?



‘Essential to tackle fake news correctly’


KUALA LUMPUR: Your office is swamped by phone calls from impatient customers, asking why they have yet to receive their free plane tickets as promised for ha­­ving participated in a survey.

You find out later that they had completed the survey which was featured on a dubious website.

Or, when you come to work, you see a horde of unhappy customers waiting outside the building, demanding to know why they were not informed that they would have to pay a fee if they did not get their membership cards renewed by the month’s end.

Apparently, there had been a Facebook posting about the new fee ruling.

The above two incidents happened in Kuala Lumpur over the past year.

In the age of scams, fake news and “alternative facts”, such cases are getting more frequent.

A recent incident involved shoemaker Bata Primavera Sdn Bhd, which was accused of selling shoes with the Arabic word “Allah” formed in the pattern on the soles.

Bata ended up removing 70,000 pairs of the B-First school shoes from its 230 stores nationwide.

It was a step which cost them RM500,000 in losses.

The shoes were returned to the shelves only after Bata was cleared of the allegation by the Al-Quran Printing Control and Licensing Board of the Home Ministry on March 30.

In February, AirAsia came under unwanted attention when its brand name was used in a purported free ticket survey and fake ticket scam.

Back in 2014, the airline had also asked its customers to be wary of an online lottery scam which made use of its name to solicit personal information from them.

What is more astounding is that the e-mail highlighting the lottery had been circulating since 2011.

And in January last year, Public Bank saw a rush of customers crowding its branches to renew their debit cards.

A Facebook post that had gone viral claimed that they would be charged a RM12 fee if they did not renew it by Jan 31.

What are the dos and don’ts for companies under attack by fake news?

“A quick and concise response is the way to go,” said AirAsia’s head of communications Aziz Laikar.

“Be prepared. The more high profile the brand is, the quicker the response should be.”

The communications team have to be able to draw up a statement fast to deal with the issue head on before it grows to a full-blown crisis, Aziz said.

He listed out four steps that a company could take.

“Start by immediately responding with facts via a short statement to the media, as well as on social media platforms,” he said. Aziz also advised companies to lodge police reports and to make use of the chance to educate the public that they should always refer to announcements made via official platforms.

“Also, disseminate the information internally to your colleagues. Every employee should be a brand messenger.

“They are a powerful force to spread the correct message.

“The best way to effectively ma­­nage an issue is to make sure the entire company is aware of the situa­tion and able to communicate it correctly,” he said. Ogilvy account director Clarissa Ng said that loyal clientele and employees were usually a company’s “first line of defence” and must be treated well.

Ng, who has handled the case of a client hit by rumours of exploding phones, preferred a “low profile” approach in dealing with such fake news.

She opted by focusing on promo­ting the phone’s safety features.

The campaign reassured consumers that the phone underwent rigorous testing in their laboratories in Shenzhen, China, and how its electrical current would be cut off automatically to prevent the gadget from exploding.

“Sometimes, the more you explain, the public will demand more answers. How we handled it was to remain low profile,” she said.

Source: By ADRIAN CHAN The Star

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  expertshttps://youtu.be/AkwWcHekMdoNews outlets have trained      staff and trump social media on factual accuracy Traditional media  contin...

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Beware of fake news! Traditional media still the best and credible, says experts


https://youtu.be/AkwWcHekMdo

News outlets have trained staff and trump social media on factual accuracy


Traditional media continues to be a reliable source of information for the public who have grown wary of fake news littering social media.

Paul Glader, an associate professor at the King’s College in New York, pointed out that traditional newsrooms often earn their brand value by their integrity and edito­rial practices.

“This means they have copy editors or copy desks to verify facts. It means they have seasoned journa­lists as editors who question and bullet proof big stories, sometimes running such stories by lawyers. It means they apologise for any errors by running corrections,” he said.

Glader said while social media can disseminate news more quickly at times than traditional media, it does not have the accuracy checks and the principle of verification.

One example of this, he said, was during the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. He said everyone in the United States had followed the incident via Twitter and many facts emerged before being reported in mainstream news outlets.

Worse, people in the crowd were accused of being the culprits while the real bombers were at large.

“Those identified by the mob were innocent and could have been badly hurt because of the false information,” he said.

Advertising industry veteran Khoo Kar Khoon said the public is bombarded with information over social media with no way of telling if it’s true or not.

Khoo, who is a non-executive director of publishing conglomerate Media Chinese International Ltd, said traditional media are licensed and had to be accountable, adding that journalists had to verify information with authorities.

Verifying information, he said, was important for issues which could impact public health, safety and the economy.

Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur’s (IUKL) Prof Dr Faridah Ibrahim said established media had a responsibility to sieve out the truth.

“Accuracy should not be compromised for speed, facts must be double and triple checked,” said Dr Faridah, the executive dean for IUKL’s Faculty of Arts, Com­muni­cation and Education.

The Communications and Multi­media Ministry recently advised social media users not to add fuel to fire, following the ongoing diplomatic row with North Korea.

This followed a false claim over Facebook of a massacre of Malay­sians in North Korea.

On Tuesday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) launched fact-checking website sebenarnya.my for the public to both check the authenticity of information.

Assoc Prof Dr Judith Clarke said that very often, information may go viral before anyone bothered to check it.

“They may quickly become accepted knowledge, whether true or not,” said Clarke, who is with Hong Kong Baptist University’s Department of Journalism.

“Some academics are calling for schools to teach news literacy cour­ses to build up the public’s news judgment,” she said.

Readership and circulation of The Star had increased following the assassination of Kim Jong-nam.

The Star Online saw its number of visitors surge to an all-time-high of 7.9 million.

The website also saw 5.7 million new users while the number of followers on its Twitter account surpassed 1.1 million people.

Source: by Neville Spykerman The Star  


Government launches ‘Tidak Pasti, Jangan Kongsi’ to stop spread of false information


CYBERJAYA: A fact-checking website, sebenarnya.my,, has been launched to curb the spread of fake news.

The website will allow members of the public to both check the authenticity of a news item or a piece of viral information. It will also submit the information if it is found to be false.

Multimedia and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said the website was much needed as many Malaysians had the habit of spreading information without verifying the news.

“They would share certain information and claim that this is dari group sebelah (from another group) and then say minta pencerahan (seeking clarification).

“They should verify first and only share if it’s true,” said Dr Salleh after launching the website at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) auditorium here yesterday.

The website’s tagline is Tidak Pasti, Jangan Kongsi (Do not share if unsure).

Asked if it was set up with the general election in mind, Dr Salleh said: “Not at all. In fact, if opposition members find fake news being spread about them, they can submit it to the website, too.

“The website belongs to all Malaysians. It does not belong to the Government.”

Malaysians, said Dr Salleh, should be discerning enough to tell between real and fake news.

“Spreading fake news will not only cause public confusion but can lead to unrest and cause unnecessary threat to the country’s security.”

MCMC, said Dr Salleh, discovered some 1,000 incidences of fake news that had gone viral on the Internet.

“This is also happening outside Malaysia,” he said.

A check on the sebenarnya.my website showed that there were 155 articles that had been uploaded, debunking various “news items” or social media posts.

The latest is that of a Facebook post about a soldier purportedly injured in a bomb explosion by terrorist groups, which the army later clarified to be a re-enactment during a training camp in Negri Sembilan.

Source: by Joseph Kaos Jr The Star

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SEBENARNYA.MY portal launched for checking validity of news

Friday, October 7, 2016

Internet addiction on the rise among Malaysian youths, Asians one of the most addicted to the Internet


Enough evidence to show links to anxiety, decreased job productivity, says expert.


CYBERJAYA: A 14-year-old boy loved gaming so much that he did not leave his home for half a year until his parents hauled him to therapy for Internet addiction.

This sounds like a story that happens in Japan, China or South Korea, where teenagers have died from binging on their computers. But this case happened right here in Kuala Lumpur.

At the International Society of Internet Addiction (Isia) Conference here, researchers said they were most worried that Malaysian youth were increasingly using the Internet in excess, with local studies revealing that 37% of Malaysian parents felt their children’s online life was interfering with their home and school obligations while 18% said their children were sacrificing basic social activities.

The research, led by child psychologist and Isia spokesperson Dr Norharlina Bahar, found that males under the age of 24, from the Klang Valley, Ipoh or Penang, were the most susceptible to Internet addiction in Malaysia.

“Most spend time on online games and browsing social media and there is enough evidence to show links to anxiety, depression, physical health problems, school disconnection, unemployment, decreased job productivity and social isolation,” she said.

Studies have also found frequent use of the Internet could translate to low self-esteem, depression, boredom and attention-deficit hyperactive disorder.

“There is no denying that Internet eases our life but when it affects your mental health capacity and interferes with your day-to-day work, then you need help,” she added.

In the case of the young boy, Dr Norharlina said he became irritable and angry when he was cut off from the digital world by his parents as part of the treatment.

“This is becoming a bigger problem now,” she said.

The challenge for the academic community is translating their data into tangible policies, as definitions of Internet addiction are still being worked out, she added.

That is something the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is seeking to address, by adapting research on Internet addiction into guidelines that can be used by school counsellors or pa­rents to identify addiction in adolescents, said MCMC advocacy and outreach senior director Eneng Faridah Iskandar.

“We want to know when is usage going to be a problem. When should I start regulating my child’s use of the Internet? We want to develop self-help tips that parents can use,” she said.

The conference was attended by 200 researchers and psychologists from 10 countries to present their findings on Internet wellness and discuss policies to address the effects of the digital world on users’ health.

Asians one of the most addicted to the Internet


CYBERJAYA: The Middle East, North America and Asia have the highest number of people addicted to the Internet, said Hong Kong University (HKU) Psychology. Department Associate Dean Prof. Dr Cecelia Cheng.

Dr. Cheng, who presented the findings of a HKU study on Thursday said that findings suggest that the more a country experiences traffic jams, air pollution and low life satisfaction, the more likely its citizens will be addicted to the Internet.

She added that out of 31 countries surveyed, European and South American nations had the smallest number of people addicted to the Internet. “Basically if the life satisfaction of a country is low, the people in that country are more likely to be addicted to the Internet, particularly gaming,” she said.

Speaking at the International Society of Internet Addiction (ISIA) conference here, Dr Cheng added that there was a link between countries that have high levels of air pollution and Internet addiction.

“The study suggests that the problem of Internet addiction could be linked with the external environment that drives people indoors. Low life satisfaction also suggests that people look to the Internet for escapism when they are dissatisfied with the outside world,” she said.

Dr Cheng pointed out that less people are addicted to the Internet in Europe because pollution and crime rates are generally lower.

“In Europe, and people there can afford to engage in more outdoor activities than those in the Middle East and Asia,” she said.

She added that improving the quality of environmental conditions might encourage residents to engage more in outdoor activities rather than relying solely on browsing the Internet at home for stress relief.

Malaysia was not surveyed in the HKU study, but local authorities suggested that Internet addiction was a rising trend here too. According to the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), 50.4% of children already have a smartphone by the age of 12 and Malaysians have a 100.4% penetration rate for Internet connectivity and a 143% penetration rate for cellular use.

An ISIA study led by Dr Norharlina Bahar also found that the prevalence of problematic Internet users in Malaysia could be as high as 49.2%, with people spending at least five-hours in front of screens daily.

In last year’s World Happiness Index which measures a country’s general wellbeing, Malaysia ranked 61 out of 161 countries, behind Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

By Nicholas Cheng The Star/ANN

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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Astro Astro to revise rates despite being urged to review price hike; Boycott threat looms!




Astro to go ahead with plans to revise rates from Monday

By RISEN JAYASEELAN and EUGENE MAHALINGAM starbiz@thestar.com.my  Friday July 8, 2011

PETALING JAYA: Despite all the brouhaha that has arisen following Astro's planned revision of its rates, indications are it will take effect this Monday as planned.

This is according to industry sources. Astro has yet to reply to e-mail questions on this at the time of writing.

Industry experts also said the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) did not prevent Astro from carrying out its price revisions.

Corporate lawyers familiar with the CMA pointed out that companies operating under the Act did not need the prior approval of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for price revisions.
 
“The same applies to all broadcasters and telecommunications operators. The Act doesn't require them to seek approval for any price changes.

“Telco's change their rates all the time as it is a dynamic industry. It would also not be feasible for these operators to seek the commission's approval for price changes every time,” a lawyer explained.

Another lawyer said that while the minister in charge had the right to intervene in the determination of rates of companies licensed under the CMA, as provided for by section 199 of the Act, that section should be read in the full context of the CMA.

“In particular, reference must be made to section 198, which determines the general guidelines for licensees to determine rates,” he said.

Section 198 of the CMA states among other things that rates must be fair and not unreasonably discriminatory and should be based on costs of the operator. It also states that rates should be structured at levels “set to attract” investment into the communications and multimedia industry.

In an advertorial published in major newspapers yesterday, Astro clarified that its price adjustment was in essence “a rationalisation of its existing packages, with the specific intention of creating more value for the customer.”

“Under the previous structure, prices were based on an add-on rate. Under the revised price structure, the more packs purchased, the greater the discount.

“Depending on the choice of package, customers could either save, experience a price increase or remain unaffected by the new price revision,” Astro said.

Astro also said the rationale for the new price structure was due to escalating global and local content costs.

“In 2007, our total content cost was at RM760mil and this figure escalated to a staggering RM1.3bil this year. Where premium content is concerned, the increase has been as high as 300% with every renewal of content rights.

“While Astro has absorbed escalating content costs over the years, it can no longer do so without compromising on the quality of its services,” it said.

Meanwhile, an analyst who used to cover the stock when Astro was listed said the rate increase was justified to cover its rising content cost.

“With rising content cost, it makes sense to raise prices. Of course, passing it on to customers is not the best way to do it, but it's the only way,” she said.

The analyst said Astro had been trying to “re-jig” the cost of its packages over the years to ensure that it was not a burden on the lower-income group of customers.

“The prices of its basic packages have not changed for many years.” She said it made business sense to raise rates or it would be difficult to sustain profitability.

“Content cost has been going up over the years and the only way to combat it is by increasing rates.”
Another analyst said Astro had been investing a lot in upgrading its facilities, adding that a price hike was necessary.

“When they started offering their packages in high-definition, content cost naturally went up.”

He also said from his understanding, in the past, Astro only needed to inform the MCMC about potential rate hikes and that no approval was necessary.

Astro urged to review price hike 

By Karen Arukesamy , newsdesk@thesundaily.com July 1, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob urged local pay-television giant Astro to be sensitive to consumers' needs and review its price increase.

Saying that the price increase will indeed burden the people, especially middle and low-income subscribers, he said Astro's price revision should be in line with the government's initiative to reduce prices.

"Astro should rethink about increasing the price for its service channels. "Not just Astro but all other corporate companies should be more sensitive to the needs and burdens of the people," Ismail told a press conference today after launching the National Consumers Month 2011 at KL Sentral here.

Noting that Astro is under the purview of the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry, Ismail Sabri said he will engage with Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to ensure that the people are not burderned by the price hike.

"It is not under my jurisdiction and my ministry cannot take action against it but I have advised Astro about my concern and the concerns of the people on the price revision," he added.

He stressed that it is "inappropriate and wrong" for Astro to state that its price hike is "inevitable" despite Rais's reminder that it has to first get the approval of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) before increasing the subscription fee.

He said the consumers have the right to demand for a reasonable price for the goods and services they purchase.

Reiterating the theme of the programme "Consumers Rights Are Your Responsibility", Ismail Sabri said consumers can lodge reports on any unsatisfactory service or products with the Consumer Tribunal.

On recent calls by various consumer associations to boycott Astro by freezing payment for three consecutive months due to its price hike, he said: "It is their right to boycott."



Ismail said consumers have a choice and they can choose to boycott satelite pay-television and revert to the local television channels which are free.

On June 15, Rais said the ministry would discuss with Astro on the issue and the notice issued by Astro that from July 11, Astro customers may experience increases ranging from RM1 to RM15 per month was considered invalid as it did not obtain the approval from the MCMC.

However, Astro chief operating officer Henry Tan had in a statement on June 22 said that the hike was imminent and inevitable because the content costs had increased to RM1.3 billion in 2011 from RM760 million in 2007.

The company, however, will maintain the price of its Family Pack at RM37.95 per month with access to 38 channels.

The price adjustment effective July 11 is based on the subscribers' package selection. Some subscribers may be charged an increase of between RM1 and RM15 per month, while some would enjoy a reduction of between RM4 and RM14.95 per month.

Boycott threat looms over Astro


KUALA LUMPUR (June 27, 2011): Consumer associations urged Astro subscribers to boycott the pay-television giant for its decision to increase prices from July despite the government’s pending review.
The Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association (PPIM), along with over 70 NGOs including the Consumers Association of Penang and Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations, have urged all Astro subscribers to stop payments for three months.
PPIM chairman Tunku Azwil Tunku Abdul Razak said that this is in view of Astro chief operations officer Henry Tan’s statement that the price hike is “imminent and inevitable”.
“Since Astro did not take heed of consumers’ demands made in a statement on June 17, PPIM urges all subscribers to boycott its services until it fulfils consumer demands to reduce the price and enhance its quality,” he said at The Mall here today.
He said the NGOs will also be calling for a boycott of all products that are advertised on Astro in order to demonstrate consumer power.
He said PPIM has set up a secretariat to monitor complaints on Astro’s price increase and services, and to take note of companies advertising with it.
He said that the NGOs are not against Astro but want the company to be more responsible and adhere to customers demands.
“We regret that Astro is not being considerate with the public’s complaints, and dissatisfaction over its price hike and deteriorating service quality that is not in line with the government’s motto of People First; Performance Now.”
He said thousands of complaints have been received from consumers via an online survey and more was coming in through Twitter, Facebook and phone calls.
Tunku Azwil was disappointed to note that Astro had denied that the public was against the increase when the association had submitted its customer demands on June 17.
He said that the 70 NGOs comprising consumer groups and non-consumer groups have three million supporters.
Tunku Azwil urged the government to pay heed to this boycott by ensuring that consumer demands are fulfilled.
“We call on the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and Information, Communications and Culture Ministry, to protect consumer rights.”
He said the government should stop monopolies.
From July 11, Astro customers may experience increases ranging from RM1 to RM15 a month but this will be balanced by savings of RM4 to RM14.95 a month in subscriptions.
The company, however, will maintain the price of its Family Pack which gives access to 38 channels at RM37.95 a month.

Sundaily

Friday, June 17, 2011

Tackling cyber piracy needs careful planning; Hackers mainly locals





Friday Reflections - By B.K. Sidhu


So much has been said and written about the blocking of sites and hacking the past few days.
But one phrase that keeps popping up is “freedom of information.'' The blocking of sites is seen as going against freedom of information even though it is part of the fight against piracy.

Over the past few days some businessmen in the country have received calls from their counterparts abroad asking if Malaysia was indeed coming on strong on censorship of the Internet.

Internet has become such a powerful tool for many people, be it for work, education, play and entertainment. Sending the wrong message can of course trigger a lot of thoughts of safety to stability especially when we as a country need foreign direct investments.

The question here is not about what the Domestic Ministry or Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) can or cannot do. It is about why they blocked the sites and why those particular sites.

When it is done without proper explanation, it only creates mayhem and doubts in people's minds. One must remember that a lot of people the world over download stuff for free and anyone who has a broadband connection can assume that free downloads is a given because he is paying for the connection.

Then the question of enforcement comes to play. If you want to fight piracy on the web then fight it on the streets too, why allow pirated DVDs to be sold but sites are blocked.

If there are roadblocks then there should be on both ends or else the question of who we are protecting - the copyright holders or someone else - will arise.

To recap - the telecoms industry regulator, MCMC, ordered ISPs to block 10 file sharing sites at the request of the Domestic Ministry in the name of fighting piracy. These sites are used for file sharing to download music, songs, games, homework, and to do business.

One ISP did as it was told by the regulator but little did they know that they would get so much flak for that action. To explain, it posted the MCMC letter. This letter was meant to be confidential to the ISPs but it landed on the net and was circulated widely.

It did not take much time for the cyber community to retaliate over the blocking of sites and to vent their frustrations they lambasted the Government via the net. To them it was a privacy intrusion and against the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantees which states that the Government will not censor the Internet.

So angry were they that a Facebook account - “1M Malaysians Don't Want Block File Sharing Websites'' - was created for people to air their grouses. “What they did was akin to using a mega bomb to kill one terrorist,'' someone said of the blocking of the 10 sites.

The sites were blocked because there was an element of pirated content and according to some experts, this is a lucrative business especially for certain parties as they host the free content but some do charge VPN services to “cloak'' the content.

Ironically, the IP addresses of those sites were from the same place and 40% of IP transit traffic out of Malaysia is said to land there and the blocking action could have hurt someone's rice bowl.

The whole blocking episode and all the grouses caught the eye of hackers who threatened to hack government sites in retaliation.

They did so on Wednesday night and 41 sites were compromised. This is not the first block or hack, and it would not be last in the Internet era. Internet has both good and bad sides. It is up to the policy makers to take heed of what the users want; don't brush them aside as social media has somewhat become an avenue for people to air their grouses.

Today they can block 10, 20 or even 30 sites, but there will be an equal number of proxy sites which will offer free downloads. So while an explanation is needed for the blocking of sites, there also is a need to take Internet users on an educational journey to explain what is legal and illegal, what is piracy and what is downloadable, what is cyber security and how to safeguard.

One cannot assume everyone knows all that.Also, not many are willing to pay for content because there is free content out there.

Without a well thought out plan on how to tackle piracy, any effort will be futile and users will be left frustrated.

Deputy news editor B.K. Sidhu is glued to The World Is Flat.


90% of hackers attacking govt, private websites are locals

PUTRAJAYA: Ninety per cent of the hackers who attacked 200 government and private websites in the past four days were locals, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili on Friday.

He said the police and the relevant agencies were now in the process of identifying them. "We have come to know that most of the hackers were locals, not from, abroad," he told a press conference here.

He said this when asked to comment on the group calling itself 'Anonymous', which claimed to be based abroad and threatened the attack the government's official portal, www.malaysia.gov.my.

Maximus said that as the head of the ministry that promoted the safe use of the Internet and handled the infrastructure that dealt with cyber security, he appealed to Malaysians to use the Internet professionally for education and the development of the country.

"Because you cannot go very far when you want to do criminal activities within cyberspace itself," he added.

Asked whether the Cabinet had made any decision to form a special task force to solve this problem, he said he could not confirm that yet. - Bernama

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