Cabanga Magazine

THE Interception of Communications Act, signed into law by President Robert Mugabe last week, is unconstitutional and can be successfully challenged in the courts, legal experts said yesterday. The government will find it difficult to adequately monitor communications, particularly e-mails and other internet communications, they said. The law authorises the government to set up an interception centre to eavesdrop on telephone conversations, open mail, and intercept e-mails and faxes. But legal experts told The Standard yesterday the law was an unwarranted infringement on people's rights. David Coltart, secretary for legal affairs in the pro-Senate faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the law was unconstitutional and will have serious repercussions on people's rights and freedom of expression. "There is no independent review of any interception of a person's communication," said Coltart. "It (the law) is an unjustifiable invasion of a pers...

Zimbabwean Internet service providers (ISPs) are struggling to install costly equipment to monitor the flow of information in the southern African country, according to online activist Web site Kubatana. President Robert Mugabe formally signed the Interception of Communications Act earlier this month. It enables the government to intercept phone calls, e-mails and faxes with the intention of protecting national security. The law stipulates ISPs are under mandatory obligation to pay for and install the monitoring equipment. “The law now stipulates that licensed Internet access providers and their ISPs must install the lawful interception equipment at their own cost,” says Shadreck Nkala, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Internet Service Provider Association (ZISPA). The Act further states an ISP that fails to provide assistance in terms of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years. Nkala says there is a need for di...

Registered Internet Service Providers Africa Online, Arachnid Design, Cyberplex Africa, Design@7, Ecoweb, E-World, Earth Internet, Global Internet, Goldnet, Harvey Micro Systems (HMS), MANGO, MWEB Zimbabwe, Reliant Computers, Roach Web Design, Taurai Zimbabwe, Telco Internet, Utande Internet Services, Venekera Works Technologies, Webdev, Web Solutions, Yo!Africa, Zambezi Net, ZARNet, Zimbabwe Internet Mail, Zimbabwe Online (ZOL), Zimbabwe Business Network (Zimbiz), Zimlink, ComOne, and PowerTel. Do you know how many internet providers there are in Zimbabwe . Zimbabwe ’s Internet Space is a platform for commerce and development, whose use has been increasing rapidly in recent years. A combination of technology innovation and services delivery within the ICT Industry world over, has affected even “small” Zimbabwe in enormous ways, resulting in Quality of Service for the Corporate and Home Internet Consumer. As at September 2006, there are 30 Registered Internet Service Providers...