Prohibition on the provision of content applications service
(1) Subject to such exemptions as may be determined by the Minister by order published in the Gazette, no person may provide a content applications service unless—
(a) the person holds a valid individual licence granted under this Part to provide the content applications service; or
(b) the content applications service is subject to a valid class licence under this Part.
(2) A licence obtained under this section does not exempt any person from the obligation to obtain a licence under any other relevant section of this Act.
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both and shall also be liable to a further fine of one thousand ringgit for every day or part of a day during which the offence is continued after conviction.
Compliance with licence conditions
(1) The relevant standard conditions of every licence, granted under this Part, shall be in accordance with the Schedule.
(2) Any special or additional conditions of a licence may be declared by the Minister and included in the licence.
(3) A content applications service provider shall not provide any service except in accordance with the conditions of the licence granted to that licensee under this Chapter or the conditions of a class licence to which such content applications service provider is subject.
Closed content applications service
(1) The Minister may determine the definition of a “closed content applications service” for the purposes of this Act.
(2) In the absence of such determination, a closed content applications service shall be—
(a) a content applications service confined to a single dwelling; or
(b) a content applications service provided only to the employees or officers of a single body corporate.
(3) The provision of any closed content applications service shall be exempt from the provisions of this Part.
Exemptions for incidental content
(1) An applications service provider is exempted from the provisions under section 205 to the extent that the content in question is content incidental to the service provided.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the Minister may determine guidelines to clarify the meaning of “content incidental to the service provided” (“incidental content”) and all matters related to it.
(3) The guidelines determined by the Minister shall be published by the Commission, in the manner it deems appropriate, and shall be registered in the register as soon as practicable.
Limited content applications service
(1) A person providing a limited content applications service is not required to hold an individual licence but he may be subject to a class licence.
(2) A limited content applications service provider to which no class licence applies shall be deemed to be exempted from all the provisions under this Part.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the Minister may determine guidelines which clarify or add to the criteria used in defining the term “limited content applications service” and all matters related to it.
(4) The guidelines determined by the Minister shall be published by the Commission, in the manner it deems appropriate, and shall be registered in the register as soon as practicable.
Opinion on category of service
(1) A person may apply to the Commission to decide whether a content applications service is considered a limited content applications service or whether the content is incidental content.
(2) The Commission shall provide its opinion within thirty days from the date of receipt of the application.
(3) The Commission shall take into account any relevant Ministerial guidelines and any previous opinions given under this Chapter before giving its opinion.
(4) The opinion shall be binding on the Commission and all affected parties for a period of three years from the date that the opinion is provided under subsection (2).
(5) Notwithstanding subsection (4), the Commission may withdraw an opinion if it is satisfied that the nature of the service has changed materially.
(6) The Commission shall maintain a register of opinions in accordance with Chapter 6 of Part V.
Chapter 2 — Content Requirements
Prohibition on provision of offensive content
(1) No content applications service provider, or other person using a content applications service, shall provide content which is indecent, obscene, false, menacing, or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person.
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and shall also be liable to a further fine of one thousand ringgit for every day or part of a day during which the offence is continued after conviction.
Content forum
The Commission may designate an industry body to be a content forum for the purposes of this Part.
Content code
(1) A content code prepared by the content forum or the Commission shall include model procedures for dealing with offensive or indecent content.
(2) The matters which the code may address may include, but are not limited to—
(a) the restrictions on the provision of unsuitable content;
(b) the methods of classifying content;
(c) the procedures for handling public complaints and for reporting information about complaints to the Commission;
(d) the representation of Malaysian culture and national identity;
(e) public information and education regarding content regulation and technologies for the end user control of content; and
(f) other matters of concern to the community.
Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).
