The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1

THE PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE

ARELLANO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

IT Law Journal E-LAW CENTER AND IT LAW SOCIETY

VOLUME 2, N UMBER 1

what’s
Inside
INCRIMINATING TEXT
by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
1I NCRIMINATING TEXT

2E DITORIAL

4 TD L A P
HE EGAL ROFESSION IN THE
IGITAL GE Moral lesson: Do not take text In this case, the SC noted that the

8C
9 MC
10 SC
11 C
V
O
ODERNIZATION
OURTS

14 L M
E-L
L
ITAL
NLINE

EGAL
F
OMPUTER
T
OMPUTERIZATION OF COURTS

OF

IBRARY : D ELIVERING
EGAL I NFORMATION

ORENSICS

INUTIAE ON E-MAILS
THE
messages lightly as they can be used
against you in court.

his was the painful lesson former

Court of Appeals employee Elvira Cruz-
Apao learned when the Supreme Court
found her guilty of grave misconduct and
dismissed her from public service for
extorting P1 million in exchange for a
favorable ruling from the appelate court.
complainant who was the recipient of said
messages and therefore had personal
knowledge thereof testified on their contents
and import.

According to the High Tribunal, Apao herself

admitted that the cellphone number
reflected in complainant’s cellphone from
which the messages originated was hers.

Apao was executive assistant II of the acting “Moreover, any doubt respondent may have
18 P2P:
T
P
PIRATE
OWARDS
EER
A
TO P IRATE
CTUAL P EER -T O -
Division Clerk of Court of the CA’s 5th
division.
had as to the admissibility of the text
messages had been laid to rest when she
and her counsel signed and attested to the
20 V IP: T
O
REGULATE
O REGULATE OR NOT TO
The complainant presented to the court text
messages sent by Apao by which the latter
veracity of the text messages between her
and complainant. It is also well to remember
asked for P1 million in exchange for a that in administrative cases, technical rules
23 G T
AMBLING HROUGH SMS
favorable decision of Zaldy Nuez’s case with of procedure and evidence are not strictly
the CA (Pagcor vs Nuez) which has been applied. We have no doubt as to the
24 GJ T
URISPRUDENCE IN CYBERLAW:
LOBE ELECOM VS. NTC pending for two years now. probative value of the text messages as
evidence in determining the guilt or lack
L
EXICON OF C YBERLAW
26 T ERMINOLOGIES According to the Supreme Court, the text
messages were properly admitted by the
thereof of respondent in this case,” the
Court held.
27 MJS -,GI
URISPRUDENCE IN CYBERLAW:
ETRO
TUDI OS
TUDIOS
O L D W Y N -M A Y E R
NC ., ET . AL . VS .
ad hoc investigating committee created by
the CA since the same are now covered by Nuez initially filed a complaint for extortion
GROKSTER LTR. AND SHERMAN Section 1(k), Rule 2 of the Rules on against Apao with the Presidential Anti-
NETWORKS LTD. Electronic Evidence which defines Organized Crime Commission–Special
ephemeral electronic communication as Projects Group (PAOCC -SPG) in
28 ACS DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON
YBERSEX , AUDIO-VISUAL SEX
CANDALS , AND C HILD
that referring to telephone conversations, Malacañang. This led to the conduct of an
PRONOGRAPHY: PROSECUTION text messages . . . and other electronic entrapment operation by elements of the
UNDER EXISTING P HILIPPINE forms of communication the evidence of Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task
LAWS, AND OTHER PROPOSALS AS which is not recorded or retained. Force (PAOCTF) on Sept. 28, 2004 when
A FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE
LEGISLATION
the supposed hand-over of the money was
Under Section 2, Rule 11 of the Rules on going to take place.
LEGALWEB: WWW.SEC.GOV.PH: Electronic Evidence, “Ephemeral electronic
66 MAKING THE PUBLIC MORE SECURE
communications shall be proven by the Apao was apprehended by the PAOCTF
testimony of a person who was a party to agents prompting then CA Presiding Justice
68 IT
L
LAW SOCIETY-SPONSORED
AGER NIGHT HELD the same or who has personal knowledge Cancio Garcia (now Supreme Court Justice)
ON IT LAW SOCIETY OFFICERS thereof. >> [ 3 ] Incriminating Text
AND MEMBERS

IT LAW JOURNAL WELCOMES 1

NEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I
t is not
uncommon that certain individuals
relate Information Technology to be
within the exclusive domain of
computers. It is neither uncommon that
certain individuals would shirk from the
alleged complexities of computers and
their systems while at the same time
awed and excited by the new PDA
features present in their mobile
phones. The sign that there is reduced
distinction between computers and
mobile phones, in fact, manifested
itself years ago by the notification in
the system tray icons in mobile
computers communicating with old
infrared-equipped mobile phones, i.e.
a message balloon indicating
“Computer found” and followed with
the mobile phone model. With
computer technology being extensively
adopted into mobile phones, and
mobile phone technology being
incorporated into computers, such as
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), it
would appear that future distinctions
between devices might be limited to a
contrast of size, and network linkage.
Further, the legal issues attendant to
said devices are similarly and
increasingly becoming common. This
is clear in the banner story entitled
“Incriminating Text” by Mary Ann Ll.
Reyes, the Journal’s new Editor-in-
Chief. She also wrote the articles
“VOIP: To regulate or not to regulate,”
“Gambling through SMS,” and “Globe
Telecom vs. NTC,” in this issue. Her
Editorial Board
C HAIRMAN
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Atty. Jaime N. Soriano, CPA, MNSA
E DITOR - IN -C HIEF
Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
C ONTRIBUTORS
Ailyn L. Cortez
Jhonelle S. Estrada
Peter Joseph L. Fauni
Carlyn Marie Bernadette C. Ocampo-
Guerrero
Michael Vernon M. Guerrero
Reynaldo M. Pijo
Ma. Cristina A. Ramos
Volume 2, Issue 1
© 2005. All Rights Reserved.
2
Editorial
profile is available at the Society’s
article “IT Law Journal welcomes new
Editor-in-Chief.”
This issue also highlights the relevance
of technology vis-a-vis the Philippine
government’s thrusts, especially those
of the judiciary. Justice Vitug’s speech
entitled “The Legal Profession in the
Digital Age” is reproduced herein. The
efforts of the Supreme Court (SC)’s
Management Information System
Office (MISO), led by Atty. Ivan Uy,
are described in Ma. Cristina A. Ramos’
article “SC E-Library: Delivering Vital
Legal Information Online” as well as
in the reproduction of the Court’s
Annual Report articles
“Computerization of Courts” and
“Modernization of the Courts.” An
overview of “Computer Forensics,”
relating evidence and the processes
employed by the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI), is provided by
Jhonelle S. Estrada’s article. The
website of the Philippine Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) is
featured in the LegalWeb section of
the Journal, which is now regularly
handled by Ms. Ramos.
An overview on the legal
consequences of e-mails is found in
the article of Atty. Jaime N. Soriano,
the e-Law Center’s director and the
Society’s moderator, entitled “Legal
Minutiae on E-Mails”; while the attitude
towards Peer-to-Peer technology is
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law
Journal is the official publication of the e-
Law Center and the IT Law Society of the
Arellano University School of Law. It is
published quarterly.
Contributions to the Philippine Quarterly IT
Law Journal express the views of their authors
and not necessarily the views of the Arellano
University School of Law.
For subscriptions, contact:
THE PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY
It Law Journal
e-Law Center
2/F Heilbronn Hall
Arellano University School of Law
Taft Avenue corner Menlo Street
Pasay City 1300 Philippines
Tels. +63 2 404-3089, 404-3090, 404-3091
http://www.arellanolaw.net
itlawjournal@arellanolaw.net
described in “P2P: Pirate to Pirate
towards actual Peer-to-Peer,” and the
Intellectual Property case against P2P
software manufacturers was outlined
by Ms. Estrada in “Metro-Goldyn-
Mayer Studios Inc. vs. Grokster Ltd.
and Sherman Networks Ltd.”
This issue’s featured article is entitled
“A descriptive study on Cybersex,
Audio-Visual Sex Scandals, and Child
Pronography: Prosecution under
existing Philippine Laws, and Other
proposals as a framework for future
legislation,” a paper submitted by Ailyn
L. Cortez, Carlyn Marie Bernadette O.
Guerrero, and Reynaldo M. Pijo in their
Advance Legal Writing class. The topic
was chosen and the article was written
in light of the dismissal of the
asianbabe.com case in Pampanga (a
cybersex den case) due to alleged lack
of laws to prosecute; the continuing
proliferation of sex videos of certain
celebrities, if not, unsuspecting
females; and the increase in the
number of adult websites featuring
roughly 18 Filipino teens.
With the release of this first issue of
Volume 2 of the Journal, and for your
continuing support; I, in behalf of the
officers and members of the Society,
and in the same jovial spirit manifested
in the Lager Night sponsored by the
Society last February, wish you “Buena
salud.” - Michael Vernon M. Guerrero
IT Law Society Officers
Michael Vernon M. Guerrero
PRESIDENT
Jhonelle S. Estrada
V I C E -P R E S I D E N T
Carlyn Marie Bernadette C. Ocampo-Guerrero
S E C R E TA R Y
Ailyn L. Cortez
TREASURER
Ma. Cristina A. Ramos
H EAD , R ESEARCH AND S EMINAR
Peter Joseph L. Fauni
H EAD , P UBLICATION
Aileen T. Forteza
H EAD , A DVOCACY

<< [ 1 ] Incriminating Text
to issue an order creating an ad hoc
investigating committee that will
investigate the case and recommend
the proper administrative sanctions
against her. The committee
recommended her dismissal from
service.
Nuez’s case was an illegal dismissal
case against Pagcor. Complainant filed
an illegal dismissal case against Pagcor
before the Civil Service Commission
(CSC) which ordered his reinstatement
but a writ of preliminary injunction and
a temporary restraining order was
issued by the CA in favor of Pagcor,
thus complainant was not reinstated to
his former job pending adjudication of
the case.
Since he wanted expeditious decision
of his case, Nuez sought the assistance
of Apao sometime in July 2004 and
the latter told him that a favorable and
speedy decision of his case was
attainable but the person who was to
draft the decision was in return asking
for P1 million.
When Nuez told Apao that he did not
have that kind of money since he had
been jobless for a long time,
respondent replied, “Eh, ganoon
talaga ang lakaran dito, eh. Kung wala
kang pera, pasensiya ka.” Respondent
even admonished complainant with
the words “Wala tayo sa palengke iho.”
when the latter bargained for a lower
amount.
Complainant then asked for time to
determine whether or not to pay the
money in exchange for the decision.
Instead, in August of 2004, he sought
the assistance of the television program
Imbestigador which accompanied him
to PAOCCF-SPG where he lodged a
complaint against respondent for
extortion.
Apao, in his meeting with Nuez
explained that the P1 million
guaranteed a favorable decision only
in the CA but did not extend to the
Supreme Court should the case be
appealed later. When respondent was
asked where the money will go, she
claimed that it will go to a male
researcher whose name she refused
to divulge. The researcher was
allegedly a lawyer in the CA 5th
Division where complainant case was
pending. She also claimed that she will
not get any part of the money unless
the researcher decides to give her
some.
The SC, in its decision, stressed that
by soliciting the amount P1 million
from complainant, respondent
committed an act of impropriety which
immeasurably affects the honor and
dignity of the judiciary and the people’s
confidence in it.
Meanwhile, in another case, the
Supreme Court ruled that computer
virus is not a valid excuse for delay in
the filing of a pleading.
The High Tribunal upheld on January
24, 2005 the Court of Appeals’ denial
of Helen Dagdagan’s second motion
for extension and dismissing her
petition for review for having been filed
out of time. The litigant asked for the
additional extension because a
computer virus had caused the deletion
of the entire draft of the petition.
“Deviations from the rules cannot be
tolerated. The rationale for this strict
attitude is not difficult to appreciate.
These rules are designed to facilitate
the orderly disposition of appealed
cases. In an age where courts are
bedeviled by clogged dockets, these
rules need to be followed by litigants
with greater fidelity. Their observance
cannot be left to their whims and
caprices. Moreover, rules of procedure
are tools designed to promote
efficiency and orderliness as well as
to facilitate attainment of justice, such
that strict adherence thereto is
required,” the court said.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
The SC noted that petitioner’s reason
was “not compelling” for it to be
granted. It said that petitioner’s counsel
would not have encountered a problem
if he had been systematic in his work
as he could have saved the encoded
petition in a diskette and printed it.
Rule 43, sec. 4 of the 1997 Rules of
Civil Procedure, as amended provides
that an appeal be taken within 15 days
from notice of the award, judgment,
final order, or resolution. The rule
allows only one motion for
reconsideration but the CA may grant
an additional period of 15 days within
which to file a petition for review “for
the most compelling reason.”
In this case, the Cordillera
Administrative Region of the
Department of Environment and
Natural Resources dismissed petitioner
Dagdagan’s letter-protest against the
townsite sales application of respondent
Marani Bacolod, holding that the public
land in dispute was alienable and thus
available for disposition.
Petitioner filed a motion for
reconsideration, but it was denied. She
then elevated her case to the Office
of the President, but then Executive
Secretary Ronaldo Zamora denied
petitioner’s appeal and affirmed the
decision of the DENR.
Consequently, petitioner’s counsel filed
a motion for extension of time to file a
petition for review under Rule 43 of
the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure with
the CA. The CA granted petitioner a
non-extendible period of 15 days
within which to file her petition for
review.
Petitioner’s counsel however filed an
“urgent ex-parte motion for extension”
of five days on the ground that his
entire draft of the petition was deleted
from the computer due to computer
virus. The CA denied petitioner’s
second motion for extension and
dismissed her petition for being filed
out of time.
3

THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN THE DIGITAL AGE
T The Legal Profession is 22
Centuries Old
he law profession
had its probable conception about 22
centuries ago when a group of
influential persons who called
themselves experts in the law were said
to have first appeared in ancient Rome
and then Greece well about 200 B.C.
Not much later, that conception saw
birth, then infancy towards adulthood
- thenceforth – to what ultimately would
become a great and noble calling.
The perception of nobility in the
profession though could have some
unhappy distortions at times. One
might take the case of a judge who,
according to an e-mail passed on to
us by the Public Information Office of
the Supreme Court, called the
contending lawyers to his chambers.
Once all were seated, the judge
confronted the two lawyers. “So”, he
blurted out, “ I have been presented,
by each of you, with a bribe.” The
lawyers were stunned, and they
squirmed uncomfortably in their seats.
“You, Attorney Cruz,” the judge
continued, “give me a check for P25,
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
000.00; and you, Attorney Santos,
gave me P20,000.00.” Forthwith, the
judge reached into his pocket and
pulled out a check. Handing it over to
Attorney Cruz, he remarked, “ Now,
then, here is a check for P5, 000.00,
and we are going to decide this case
solely on its merits.” I would have
wished that the story were only for a
good laugh. Unfortunately, the two
most publicized scandals in the world,
the Watergate and Enron, involved
lawyers.
4
Speeches
By Justice Jose C. Vitug
Senior Professor
Philippine Judicial Academy
The New Challenge
The lawyer of today and tomorrow
must now also meet the challenges of
cutting edge science and technology
and a borderless society.
Relatively recent events would tell us
that it is no longer possible for the
lawyer to content himself with just the
bare ways that he has heretofore
know. The lawyer of today and
tomorrow must now also meet the
challenges of cutting edge science and
technology and a borderless society.
The law is expected to evolve well
beyond traditional lines. Senior
Associate Justice Reynato S. Puno aptly
observes that technology interfaces with
science, and law inevitable enters the
equation. Mr. Justice Artemio V.
Panganiban, in his speech at the Manila
Overseas Press Club in March of
2000, has acknowledged the
inevitable interplay between technology
and the various aspects of the law. The
new era, however it might be called,
will impact in unprecedented levels and
in yet undefined proportions. The
onslaught by irresistible forces on the
legal profession is now indeed here
with us.
The Transition has Begun
Advances in science and technology
and the idea of globalization usher a
new era in the legal system
The new age that has started towards
the end of the last century promises a
system of law that, by sheer magnitude,
would be global and dominant in its
character.
Palakrishnan, the President at one time
of the Law Society of Singapore,
advises: “Ignoring technology will be
at our peril.”
The Academe
Programs for legal education must
consider a curriculum that is based on
a notion of comprehensive, rather than
an autonomous, legal system that
connects to linkage arrangements
On the academic front, Professor Chin
Tet Yung opines: Increasingly, the
bottom line would require law
graduates with the ability not only to
practise ‘transitionally’ or across
jurisdictions, but also to have a broad
understanding of world issues that may
be cultivated, if not taught, through an
interest in, and a familiarity with, all
social sciences along with modern
technology.
During the second quarter of last year,
the Philippines was among the
countries invited to attend the New
Orleans conference on legal
education, and an item which caught
the attention of most of us in that
meeting was a report on the virtual
disappearance of dedicated legal
mentors. Prof. John W. Reed, a senior
professor of the University of Michigan
has taken to task lawyers for their lack
of persevering loyalty to the academe,
likening them to a husband, when
asked if he has been faithful to his wife,
replied “ Frequently.”
Prof. W. Michael Reisman of Yate Law
School stresses that planning and
designing programs for legal education
that are, at once, professionally
relevant and intellectually enriching

must consider a curriculum that is
based on a notion of a comprehensive,
rather than an autonomous, legal
system that connects to linkage
arrangements
The Bench and the Bar
The response by the Bench and the
Bar must be prompt, appropriate and
revolutionary.
The Supreme Court has responded
well within its capability and fiscal
constraints. It has established, pursuant
to its Administrative Order No. 35-96,
on 16 March 1996, the Philippine
Judicial academy, to be at the core of
continuing judicial education. It is
fortunate that the educational arm of
the court has been able to count on
many friends to help it, financially and
in many other ways, carry out a good
number of its projects. The Academy
has received on 26 February 1998,
statutory recognition in Republic Act
No. 8557. Two years later, on the
recommendation of the court’s
Committee on Legal Education in
collaboration with the Integrated Bar
of the Philippines, the Association of
Law Schools (and law deans), the
association of Law Professors, and the
Commission on Higher Education, the
Supreme Court has approved at a
special session, called for the purpose
on 21 August 2000, the Mandatory
Continuing Legal Education for all
lawyers. It is, since then, being
vigorously implemented.
The Supreme Court has had its e-mail
facilities since 1991. It has put up its
own website, one of the most visited
websites in the country, since 1996.
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
undoubtedly the most reformed-
minded Chief Justice perhaps
anywhere else in the world, has
launched several technology-driven
projects for the judiciary, including a
pilot E-court, an E-Library and E-
Learning, and has lately directed the
Philippine Judicial Academy to put up
the initial foundations for an “On-Line
Academy”.
The adoption by the Supreme Court
of the Rules on Electronic Evidence has
re-written in good perspective its ruling
in the 1999 case of IBM vs. NLRC
(G.R. 117221, 13 April 1999) and
its 2001 decision in Asuncion vs. NLRC
(G.R. 129329, 31 July 2001).
The response by the legal profession
must be equally bold. Local law firms
might seriously undertake, add to a few
already there, to examine the
feasibility of developing arrangements
with off-shore law firms towards
becoming global legal service
providers. Different strategies might be
looked into and developed in order to
commensurate with and meet the
increasing needs of a world that knows
of no boundaries.
In an article, entitled “ The Legal
Profession in Twenty Years’ “ John
Tredennick, made a compilation of
feedbacks received via a forum
organized in the Internet. The
participants included such names as
Wells Anderson, the President of Active
Practice LLC and an ABA Tech show
Board Member; Robert Denny,
founder of the law firm specializing in
management and strategic planning
services; Ron Friedman, President of
PRISM Consulting; and a number of
others with similar credentials. Two
areas of concern were highlighted:
First, only law firms, with more than
1000 lawyers could have the scale to
be competitive and have the capability
to deliver systematized legal services
that clients would demand; and second,
computers would play a much larger,
but complementary, role for legal
service providers that would diminish
personal contacts with clients.
Law firms, like business enterprises,
would see themselves as leading to a
“one stop shop” model with offices in
countries around the world capable of
handling a wide variety of legal
services concomitant with the demands
of clients for a “seamless” universal
service. The legal profession would
have the globalized village as its venue
and an unconfined society as its
workplace.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Under the terms of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), trade and
services, including legal and other
professional services, my not much
longer be restricted by state borders.
I am not saying, at least momentarily,
that there would be no problems to
deal with. There are. The exercise of
profession is still confined to Philippine
citizens and subject to locally-obtained
academic qualifications. It is something
that we may have to address. Even
now, one might ask, should we treat
foreign law firms giving their legal
advice to transnational corporations
operating in this country, using the
Internet, as being an illegitimate law
practice in the Philippines?
In a paper presented at the 14th
Annual Meeting and Conference of the
Inter-Pacific Bar Association, in Seoul,
Korea, in May 2004, Steven C. Nelson
has observed that there two principal
barriers in this respect- (1) the
“qualification barrier” which relates to
the obstacle on cross-border legal
services due to the education and other
requirements generally imposed as a
condition to admission to the practice
of law, even by persons who have
already qualified in another country,
and (2) the “association barrier, ‘
referring to the prohibition found in
many countries against the entry
thereat by lawyers into partnership or
other forms of common enterprise with
anyone other than another lawyer of
those countries premised on an unduly
strict application of the rule of
professional conduct against legal fee
sharing.
Significantly, WTO members have
obligated themselves towards the road
for progressive liberalization of trade
in services. The International Bar
Association has identified two main
approaches to start the process: (a) full
licensing; and (b) limited licensing. In
the “full licensing” approach, the
foreign lawyers thus licensed are fully
assimilated into the domestic legal
profession. In “limited licensing,” the
scope of a foreign lawyer’s practice is
restricted to certain areas or under
5
 certain specified conditions or
constraints.
Keith Clark, the chairman of London’s
Clifford Chance which merged with
New York’s Rogers and Well and
Germany’s Pinder, Volhard, Weber
and Axsters “to create the world’s
largest law firm, ‘ explaining the
inevitable, has ratiocinated: The world
is becoming smaller and yet bigger at
the same time. Factors making the
world smaller include, reduced
barriers to entry, as well as
convergence of economies and
technological advances, which enable
business to view the world increasingly
as a single market. Indeed, time zones
and geographical differences are no
longer the obstacles they have once
been. The Internet is accelerating this
trend and rewriting the rules in a
manner that reflects the current move
from an industrial to a knowledge-
based society. The changes, as and
when or even before they occur, make
new demands on lawyers who will be
expected to help navigate legal shoals.
A decade ago or so, I have expressed
to say that I am seeing an emerging
new legal system that would have both
common law and civil law features
working hand-in-hand towards a
universal system. I have failed to
realize that the idea would begin to
become a reality even now. It should
be realistic to expect that the
enactment of specific laws by various
jurisdictions will not always be timely
or in cadence with the fast-moving
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
environment.
In the Philippines, the only significant
e-law that has been legislated is the
Electronic Commerce Act of 2000,
which means that the country is seen
to fall behind the times. Placing a
reliance on judicial precedents could
thus increasingly become frequent.
The dearth of enacted law will not
excuse a judge from resolving a case
before it; effectively, he, rather than
Congress, may bound to first confront
and tackle an issue in the same way
6
that common law would normally
work.
Allow me to momentarily break the
monotony by zeroing down to a few
familiar topics in the academe’s
drawing board.
The Family code allows a marriage
contact to be entered into by a man
and a woman, and not by persons of
the same sex. Would a marriage be
legally feasible if the “marriage” takes
place between a man and a woman,
who used to be a man, whose sexual
transformation according to medical
science, confirmed by medical experts,
has been so successful as to even allow
him, now her, to be impregnated by a
man.
The law requires in the celebration of
marriage, the man and the woman to
personally declare before the
solemnizing officer that they take each
other as husband and wife. The
statutory provision particularly the term
“ personally” has been so construed
as to disallow “proxy” marriages. The
thesis for the construction is not at all
hard to find. In the graduate school
discussion we have had just a few
weeks ago, here in San Beda, Dean
Doming Navarro has said that the
reason is clearly due to an obvious
danger that the proxy might, wittingly
or unwittingly, exceed his authority.
If a marriage has already been set, all
invitations have gone out all the
hundreds or so wedding sponsors have
been notified but the man would have
to suddenly leave for Hongkong on
medical advice to immediately
undergo an emergency knee
operation, it could be unthinkable for
the prospective couple to re-schedule
the marriage, and to wait even just a
week more. Would the contract be
valid if it were celebrated via and with
the help of the latest technology? A
video is set-up in Park Hotel in
Hongkong to link up in Manila that
would permit the “groom” to
personally say, “ I do, “ and the “ bride”
in Manila to say likewise in the full view
of each other, including the witnesses,
and of the solemnizing officer.
The age of cloning is also here. How
should the rules on filiation, parental
authority, support and successional
rights be re-structured; if not how
would the courts themselves initially
take on the matter? The statutory rule
of interpretation and construction that
makes legislative intent to be a primary
factor can here be obsolete not only
in theory, but likewise in actuality, for
when Emperor Napoleon ordered the
codification of both civil law and
commercial law neither he nor his
legal experts could have been aware
that one day cloning could become a
reality.
The Electronic Commerce Act of 2000
may have done much to recognize the
universal use of electronic transactions,
both commercial and non-
commercial, but it also has spawned
and will spawn new issues. It should
be expected that questions, whether
prescinding form, or the result of
obscure, contractual stipulations or
statutes, will be asked and will have to
be resolved, such as those referring
to fundamental personal and property
rights, the jurisdiction and venue of
courts, rules of procedure, situs of
transactions, applicability of tax and
regulatory laws, situs of crimes,
enforcement of judgments, and the
like, each of which would require
serious and special attention.
Electronic contracts, transcends
territorial boundaries that can affect,
observes Attorney Esmeraldo C.
Amistad in his article, “Charting the E-
Course of Philippine E-Laws”
(published in the Lawyer’s Review issue
of November 2002), even the basic
concept of consent and the theory of
cognition in the perfection of a
contract. He exemplifies: For instance,
there are issues relating to the so-
called shrinkwrap and clickwrap
licenses common to software and
certain websites. “Shrinkwrap”

agreements “are unsigned license
agreements which state that
acceptance on the part of the user of
the terms of the agreement is indicated
by opening the shrinkwrap packaging
or other packaging or other packaging
of the software, by use of the software,
or by some other specified
mechanism. “Clickwrap agreements,
on the other hand, work arise a user
comes to a website to locate and
download computer software and the
user can be required to review the
terms of any applicable license
agreement and to affirmatively assent
to those terms by clicking on a
keyboard button at the end of the
license before the software is
downloaded.
The use of DNA in court proceedings
has been gaining ground after getting
an early jurisprudential foothold in the
Philippines and in most countries of the
world. Among the latest cases in the
Philippines to recognize the use of DNA
in proving or disproving the
commission of a crime is the 2004
case of People vs. Yatar (G. R. No.
150224, 19 May 2004). Thus far, the
application of DNA has caused a
reversal of a number of final
convictions in the United State; and
elsewhere where postsentencing DNA
testing is allowed. The decision of the
Court in a petition for a writ of habeas
corpus by convicted prisoner Reynaldo
de Villa (G.R. 158802), decided last
17 November 2004, holding in sum
that DNA results would not constitute
newly discovered evidence, may
require, if it is minded, a statute or a
provision of the rules to adopt a post-
sentencing DNA testing.
The accuracy of the DNA method
depends much on the reliability of
DNA samples that could mean a
resurgence of an old issue of whether
a person can be compelled to provide
a DNA sample or to be taken from
him. Judging from might be invoked
as broad guideposts, an accused has
been required to submit to a test to
extract virus from his body (U.S. vs.
Teng, 23 Phil. 145), to undergo a
pregnancy test (Villaflor vs. Summers,
41 Phil. 62), to expectorate morphine
from his mouth (U.S. vs. Ong Sin Hong,
36 p.735), to accede to foot printing
test (U.S. vs. Salas, 25P. 337; U.S. vs.
Zara 42 P. 305) and to take part in a
police lineup (U.S. vs. Wade, 388 U.S.
T
218). These cases have been cited
with apparent approval by the
Supreme Court in People vs. Casinitto
(213 SCRA 777).
Can it thus be said that the tone has
already been set; i.e., that the ends of
justice might justify the means or that,
in the hierarchy of value, the cause of
justice can prevail over individual
rights? Or, should we invoke again the
so-called “balancing of interest” rule
or, using another term for it, the “pro
hac vice” approach. The intensity yet
increases, with the entry into the legal
arena of biometrics, brain
fingerprinting and other more recent
scientific discoveries.
Beyond the Digital age
All that we have is hope and our
humanity
It may yet be early to tell how the law,
as well as the bar and the bench, would
lend themselves to the inevitable; if,
today, we are still unsure, then there
is even greater uncertainty to aptly
grasp tomorrow’s complexity. The
things we can discuss are obvious
enough to see or to anticipate. The
other ninety-nine percent are yet to
be discovered, i.e., if we can. Marvin
Minsky, said to be the father of artificial
intelligence, has once bluntly
remarked, “we should be lucky enough
if the new machines would be willing
to keep us, human beings, as
household pets.”
I conclude by expressing the hope that
the legal profession will not allow itself
to become obsolete and a mere relic
of a bygone age; that it will have the
capability of recognizing, as well as
have the resolute will to survive, the
crossroad when it comes, all despite
his insatiable quest for the ultimate.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Contributions are Welcome
he Philippine IT Law
Journal welcomes the submission of
contributions with a view to publication,
which should be sent to:
The Board of Editors
The Philippine Quarterly
IT Law Journal
Arellano University School of Law
Taft Avenue, corner Menlo Street
Pasay City 1300 Philippines
Tels. (2) 404-3089 to 91
Fax. (2) 521-4691
eMail: itlawjournal@arellanolaw.net
as should all correspondence, books for
review, orders and other
communications.
The Board of Editors will only consider
material which complies with the
following:
1. The submission is an original,
unpublished work which is not
being submitted for publication
elsewhere.
2. The manuscript must be typed,
double-spaced, on one side only of
a uniform sized paper, and be
accompanied by the text on floppy
disk in a recognized software.
3. Footnotes must be numbered
consecutively throughout the article.
4. Authors may use graphs, tables,
figures, or mathematics only when
its application is necessary for
achieving the stated objective of the
paper. When mathematics is used,
the necessity for doing so should
be explained, and the major steps
in the argument and the conclusions
made intelligible to a non-
mathematical reader.
Authors are asked to refer to a recent
issue of the Philippine IT Law Journal for
style. More detailed guidance will be sent
on request. Authors are encouraged to
carefully edit their own works.
7

COMPUTERIZATION OF COURTS
I n 1989,
Supreme Court embarked on an
ambitious yet necessary project, the
-- from the Supreme Court down to
the Municipal Trial Courts and Shari’a
the
computerization of all Philippine Courts
Circuit Courts. This is one sure way to
combat delays in the judicial system. It
is one of the costliest judicial reforms,
but the Court believes that catching up
with innovations brought about by
computer technology will pave the way
to speedier dispensation of justice.
Overseeing the computerization of the
courts is the Committee on
Computerization composed of three
Associate justices, with Hon. Justice
Artemio V. Panganiban as
Chairman, Hon. Justice Consuelo
Ynares-Santiago and Hon. Justice
Antonio T. Carpio as Members.
The Committee on Computerization is
tasked with providing direction on
computerization as well as studying
policy issues that may arise from the
implementation of new technology on
established court practices and
procedure. It also recommends
guidelines to the Court on the proper
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
adoption of these technologies.
The Court has already adopted and
implemented several computerized
information systems through its
computer technology arm, the
Management Information Systems
Office (MISO) headed by Atty. Ivan
John E. Uy.
I. In-house Developed
Computerized Systems
The MISO continued the migration of
the major DOS-based applications to
GUI-based application such as Case
8
Technology and the Courts
Administration System (CAS), Case
Monitoring System (CMS), Electronic
System on Personnel Record Tracking
(ESPRT), the Payroll System, Personnel
Leave and Attendance Monitoring
System (PSALM) and Supplies and
Property Accountability Monitoring
System (SPAMS). These systems are
being reprogrammed to include some
functionalities requested by the users.
Additionally, the Systems will be more
user-friendly and aesthetically
improved, as these systems will
incorporate functionalities inherent to
Windows-based applications such as
icons, font types, styles, formatting and
sizes, buttons, pictures, etc.
II. Court Administration and
Management Information
System (CAMIS)
The MISO, in coordination with the
Project Management Office, extended
technical assistance in the development
of the CAMIS funded by the Canadian
International Development Agency
(CIDA). CAMIS aims to improve the
monitoring of the performance of
lower court judges. Statistical reports
on caseload and case disposal can be
generated by the system to facilitate
the evaluation of the performance of
judges. The system will be
implemented in OCA Court
Management Office. System testing is
tentatively scheduled in June 2004.
III. Case Flow Management
(CFM)
Funded by the USAID, the CFM project
aims to facilitate the monitoring of the
status of lower court cases, from filing
until disposal. The system was pilot-
tested in Pasay City in December
2003. The MISO, in coordination with
the Program Management Office,
extended technical assistance in the
design, development and maintenance
of the CFM.
IV. Information Systems
Strategic Plan (ISSP)
A Task Force on ISSP was created to
oversee the formulation of a five-year
plan that will identify the ICT
requirements of the Judiciary. The MIS
Office, together with the Program
Management Office and other key
offices of the Judiciary assisted the Task
Force in the formulation of the ISSP.
The ISSP defines the specifications and
design of the ICT systems,
infrastructure and resources to be
installed or implemented in the
Judiciary in the next five years. It
prescribes the different technologies
that maybe adopted to improve the
capacity of the Judiciary in managing
its physical, financial and human
resources and in addressing the
present problems of its frontline
services.
The ISSP was reviewed and approved
by the National Computer Center on
29 September 2003.
V. Computer Assisted Legal
Research (CALR)
The Computer Assisted Legal Research
(CALR) is being developed and
maintained by the MISO to provide the
Court with a tool that will aid in the
research of legal cases. Currently, the
MISO has updated the 1nfoBase on
Supreme Court jurisprudence from
May 1996 up to present. `[he Supreme
Court offices and the Office of the
Court Administrator, ,which are
connected to the local area network

can now access the full text of decisions
and resolutions promulgated during
this period.
VI. The Supreme Court Internet
Homepage
The MISO designed a homepage
Supreme Court for posting in the
Internet. The Supreme Court
homepage functions as a clearinghouse
for information originating from the
judicial branch of the Philippine
government.
The Supreme Court homepage
contains the following information:
• History of the Supreme Court of
the Philippines
• The list of incumbent Supreme
Court Justices
• The list of former Supreme Court
Justices
• The organizational structures of
the Judiciary and of the Supreme
Court
• The Supreme Court Jurisprudence
• Authorities promulgated by the
Court, i.e., Rules of Court and
Circulars and Orders
• Bar Matters and the Lawlist
• News and Information
The MISO maintains and regularly
updates the Supreme Court homepage
posted in the Internet. Newly
The Dynamo Within
Atty. Ivan John E. Uy is the Director
ofthe Management Information
Systems Office (MISO), and the Chief
Information Officer, of the Supreme
Court of the Philippines. He is also the
Chairman of the Court Technology
Department of the Philippine Judicial
promulgated decisions and resolutions
as well as administrative circulars and
orders issued by the Chief Justice and
the Court Administrator are posted in
the Supreme Court homepage for the
expeditious dissemination of
information. Press releases by the
Court through the Public Information
Office are likewise posted in the
homepage for the information of the
public.
Also added in the Supreme Court
website is a link to the PHILJA website
which contains information on training
programs and lectures conducted by
PHILJA.
The results of the 2002 Bar
Examinations were posted in the
homepage immediately after the listing
was released by the Office of the Bar
Confidant.
The Supreme Court Internet
homepage address is
www.supremecourt.gov.ph. It can be
accessed using any Internet facility.
VII. Computer Services and
Maintenance
The MISO conducted maintenance
services and repairs of computers in
the Supreme Court and the Lower
Courts. The MISO also conducted
remediation procedures to computers
Academy, and the Vice-Chairman of
the Sub-Committee on E-Commerce,
Committee on the Revision of the Rules
of Court. He pioneered the
introduction of technology in the entire
judicial system, specifically, those of
Computerized financial and
administrative systems, Case tracking
systems, Computer aided transcripts,
and Distance learning, among others.
He took his undergraduate studies at
the Ateneo de Manila University,
graduating in 1984 with a degree in
B.S. Business Management, Major in
Legal Management (Honors Program);
and took his law studies at the
University of the Philippines,
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
installed in the Supreme Court which
had been infected by computer viruses
and worms.
Besides the hardware and software
services, training and tutorials on
application software were also
conducted for the different offices of
the Supreme Court. Lower court
personnel were also trained on the use
of computer applications. Training was
conducted by the MISO personnel at
the Supreme Court for those courts
within the Metro Manila area while for
courts outside Metro Manila, training
sessions were conducted on site.
Technical assistance on computer
orientation and use of the legal
research facility were also extended
to lower court judges.
VIII. Computer Resources
In November 2003, the Court
purchased 500 computer sets and a
number of laser printers and dot matrix
printers for the Supreme Court and
selected lower court offices. The
computers purchased have installed
application packages such as MS Office
XP and Norton Anti-Virus. Training
sessions on computer operations,
Microsoft Windows and Microsoft
Word for Windows were likewise
provided to lower courts personnel
upon delivery of the computers to them.
graduating in 1988. He holds the
distinction of being the youngest person
to be appointed Chief of Office and in
1995 conferred the rank of Regional
Trial Court Judge in the history of the
Philippine Judiciary.
Notwithstanding the lucrative
opportunities in the private sector that
are available that would usually entice
professionals of such sterling
background , Atty. Uy remains with the
Judiciary, fueled by altruistic
motivations to contribute further,
through his know-how in technology
matters, to the development of the
Philippine legal system and to the
enhancement of judicial processes.
9

MODERNIZATION OF THE COURTS
T he mental picture
evoked in most persons by the term
"Supreme Court" or "Highest Tribunal
of the Land" is of fifty-year old, serious,
solemn, unsmiling, grim-visaged
individuals, clad in dark, conservative
togas, moving quietly down long
corridors or conferring with each other
in hushed tones and weighing every
word and expression, or otherwise
working in large, dimly lit offices, while
seated behind big, antique desks
surrounded by musty, thick books and
bulky records.
This may be true to a certain extent,
but as with all other human beings
these justices have lighter sides and
trifling moments. They are
conservative, indeed, but they are not
resistant to change. In fact, the
Supreme Court, as well as its various
offices, has been among the first to
use modern technology, and continue
to do so.
As early as 1989, the Supreme Court
geared itself towards the application
of computer technology to its various
functions. It initially created an ad hoc
Committee to determine policy
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
directions and a Management
Information Systems Office to provide
technical expertise on the formulation
of systems design studies, software
development, as well as technical
support on hardware, software and
peopleware. In 1991, the first Case
Administration System (CAS) was
installed and put in operation. An
updated version was set-up in 1995.
It computerized the docketing functions
of the Court to provide the justices with
information on the status of any
particular case pending in the Supreme
Court. The network connects the offices
of the justices, Clerks of Court, Court
Administrator, Judicial Records Office
10
Technology and the Courts
and Cashier. The CAS has relegated
as a thing of the past the tedious and
unreliable function of docketing by
hand in voluminous docket books every
major action in pending cases. Another
case administration system has been
developed for the lower courts to
monitor the status and development of
the cases handled by the trial judges.
Even earlier, the Court had installed
IBM S/38 main frame computer to
prepare the salary checks of
employees in the judiciary, numbering
some twenty-two thousand at the
moment, including the Justices and the
Judges. Thereafter, a new Judicial
Payroll System was developed to
replace the existing system. The new
cost efficient system and time saving
system will make access and encoding
easier with the installation of a network
connecting the Finance and
Accounting Offices. The Supreme
Court has entered into an agreement
with the Land Bank of the Philippines
for the payment of salaries through
ATM. In time, this will be used in all
lower courts.
The Court is also modernizing other
equipments. Its Medical Clinic has
acquired a "1-2-3 channel E.C.G."
machine. The Physiotherapy Section
of the Medical Clinic has one (1)
Armrex synchrosonic US/50
combination ultrasound/ LV stimulator,
an "infraphil machine (Philips NPN), a
"Birtcher Megason XVI ultrasonic
therapy" machine; a "Dickson home/
office paraffin bath" set, and a
"Midland whirlpool bath" machine, all
for the use of Justices, Judges and court
personnel. Additional Printing
Machines were acquired to meet the
ever increasing printing requirements
of justices, Judges and court officials
and personnel.
The Court Administration Information
System (CAIS) was also developed to
monitor the status of complaints filed
against Judges and court personnel;
the case load and dispositions of trial
court Judges; the movement of Judges
and court personnel and the
administrative clearing of retiring/
resigning Judges and court personnel.
The Court has to a large extent
replaced its manual and even electric
typewriters with personal computers or
word processors. It has acquired and
continues to acquire fax machines and
cellular telephones not only for the
justices and officers and employees of
the Supreme Court, but also for many
Regional Trial Courts. To make
research easier, it has also acquired a
full text retrieval system of decisions
of Supreme Court from 1901 to 1995
in compact discs known as Philjuris and
in CD-ROMS known as the
Jurisprudence and Lex Libris.
For the welfare of its employees, it has
acquired nine (9) large airconditioned
buses for their use in coming to and
from the office. It has also acquired
vehicles for its officials (e.g., Clerk of
Court, Assistant Clerk of Court and
Division Clerks of Court and their
Assistants, and Chiefs of Offices), as
well as for Members of the Court, the
Judicial and Bar Council and the
PHILJA.
At the same time, it is disposing of
obsolete and very old equipment such
as desks, chairs, filing cabinets, and
typewriters. It is also disposing of very
old cars and other vehicles which are
10 to 20 years old. Said cars are
hardly serviceable, well nigh obsolete
and useless, and very expensive to
maintain and repair. Disposition of
>> [65]Modernixation of the Courts

SC E-LIBRARY: DELIVERING VIT
IBRARY AL LEGAL INFO
ITAL
C onsistent with its role
of upholding the rule of law through
fair, expeditious and timely judicial
process and effective, efficient and
speedy administration of justice, the
Supreme Court of the Philippines in
October 2004 launched the e-library
to cater to information needs of the
Judiciary, justices, officials and staff of
the SC, and judges of the lower courts.
The proponents of the e-library
envision the project to be the model
law library of the Philippines by
maintaining the ‘highest standard and
services’ and creating an ‘information
highway that will provide the
communication linkages to enhance
the delivery of vital legal information’
not only within the Judiciary but to the
general public as well.
Accessible to the public, anytime,
anywhere
The major advantage of the e-library
is its being accessible to the general
public anytime of the day. Unlike the
non-electronic library, any person can
use and enjoy the library privileges in
front of their computers by simply
connecting to the Internet. The non-
electronic library privileges extends
only to the following:
1. Members of the bench and the
bar;
2. Government officials and
employees;
3. Representatives of the diplomatic
and consular services; and,
4. Other persons engaged in highly
legal or scientific research.
These users, however, are allowed to
use the library resources only within
the premises of the library. Borrowing
privileges in the non-electronic library
Technology and the Courts
RM
NFORM ATI
RMA ON ONLINE
TION
by Ma. Cristina A. Ramos
is limited to SC officials and employees
and the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
In addition to that, the non-electronic
library is open only 8 am to 12 noon
and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.
With the coming into being of the SC
e-library, anybody can now access the
library anytime he wants to. Not all
the contents of the e-library, however,
are available to the public for free.
The ‘free site’ includes SC decisions
and resolutions. This site, however, is
not provided with a ‘search tool.’ The
other parts of the e-library, particularly
those which are equipped with text
retrieval system, are available only to
subscribers. This is the ‘members only’
site.
Contents of the e-library
The e-ibrary resources include
jurisprudence, laws, court issuances,
executive issuances, references, and
memorabilia. These contents or
resources are searchable and search
instructions are available in a mouse-
click.
‘Jurisprudence’ includes SC decisions
and resolutions. Under it is a link to
information about the poject
COMUSDEC. The latter is an ongoing
project of the SC library to retrieve
missing SC decisions from 1901 to
1945. Majority of the original
decisions during the said period were
destroyed during World War II. These
are the unpublished decisions of the
SC. Project COMUSDEC aims to call
on the people concerned and the
public to help the Judiciary locate the
missing decisions to complete the
compilation of the SC decisions.
Under ‘Law ’” are the different
Constitutions of the land and various
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
legislative enactments. Aside from the
1935, 1873 and the 1987
Constitutions, the e-library also provides
access to the Malolos Constitution, the
1986 Freedom Constitution and a
comparison of the 1935, 1973 and
the 1987 Constitution.
Legislative enactments, on the other
hand, include 4,275 public acts (cited
as Act No.) enacted by the Philippine
Assembly from 1901 to 1935, 733
Commonwealth Acts passed from
1935 to 1946, 2035 Presidential
Decrees that were enacted from 1972
to 1986 and more than 9000
Republic Acts which include
congressional enactments from the
declaration of independence in 1946
until the declaration of Martial law in
1972 and also recent enactments of
Congress since the latter was organized
under the 1987 Constitution.
The Rules of Court, circulars and
administrative matters can be found
under ‘Court Issuances.’ The Rules of
Court therein provided includes the
1918 Rules of Court, the Rules of Court
of First Instance of 1919, 1940 Rules
of Court, 1964 Rules of Court, Rules
of Civil Procedure of 1901 (Act No.
190), 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure,
Rules of Criminal Procedure (1900,
1985, 1988 and 2000), Rules of
Evidence (1989) and Special
Proceedings.
Some of the administrative matters
contained in this section are the
following: 2004 Rules on Notarial
Practice, Code of Conduct for Court
Personnel, Proposed Guidelines on
Corporate Surety Bonds and
Conditions on the Commercial
Exploitation of Supreme Court
Decisions.
>> [ 65] SC E-Library
11

The National Bureau of
Investigation and Computer
Forensics
T
he National
Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is the
government agency that handles
computer crime cases. In 1996, the
name of its anti-fraud and action
division was changed to anti-fraud and
computer crimes division. At first, the
division’s mandate was to investigate
fraud cases, but due to the change of
name, the division now handles
computer crime cases for investigation.
In 2003, the State Department of the
United States gave several trainings for
examination of computer-related
evidence. Bureau personnel were
taught to use certain software such as
EnCase 2 and Forensics Toolkit (FTK).3
FTK is the software being used by the
NBI, but what is acknowledged as the
software being used by law
enforcement agencies, in general, is
the EnCase. After several trainings
sponsored by US State Department,
and in order for the knowledge learned
to be put into use, it was necessary for
the Bureau to have its own equipment
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
that can be used for examination;
otherwise the things learned through
seminars and trainings would have
been forgotten, rendering them
useless. In order for the Bureau to
have its own equipment, it solicited for
the acquisition of several equipment
in November 2003 through donation.
Six forensic workstations were
delivered to the Bureau by the US State
Department in January 2004, which
are now being used for examining
computer-related evidence. The
software donated with the equipment
was the FTK but there are plans to
include EnCase soon.
12
eLaw Enforcement
COMPUTER FORENSICS 1
by Jhonelle S. Estrada
Before the donation of said state-of-
the-art equipment, the NBI did not
usually examine computer-related
evidence. However, ff there is really
a need to do so, it was examined by
their EDP and, if not, the bureau
requests its counterpart from the
private industry to conduct the
examination. Personnel from the
Bureau even had to fly to Hongkong
to have evidence examined by the
experts there.
Computer forensics, defined
Computer forensics is the analysis of
data processing equipment to
determine if the equipment has been
used for illegal, unauthorized, or
unusual activities. It can also include
monitoring a network for the same
purpose. 4 It is the scientific
examination and analysis of data held
on, or retrieved from, computer
storage media in such a way that the
information can be used as evidence
in a court of law. The subject matter
includes (a) the secure collection of
computer data, (b) the examination of
suspect data to determine details such
as origin and content, (c) the
presentation of computer based
information to courts of law, and (d)
the application of a country's laws to
computer practice. 5
Gathering electronic evidence
If there would be a need to apply for a
search warrant, the Bureau’s agents
would first apply for one. If the judge
would grant the application for the
search warrant, the search warrant will
be implemented, and the
establishment where the staging point
for the computer crime was
committed, such as in case of hacking,6
would be raided. If during the raid,
the computer used was identified, it
will be confiscated and will be taken to
the forensics laboratory. Afterwards,
the search warrant will be returned to
the issuing court with the prayer to
allow the Bureau to conduct a forensic
examination. Evidence gathered will
not be examined immediately as the
approval of the court is necessary, so
as to avoid questions or issues involving
tampering of evidence. If the court
allows the examination, it will require
the complainant and representatives
of the respondent to witness the
examination. The examination of the
evidence will thereafter be scheduled.
In other cases, when there is a private
offended party, such as a company,
where the assistance of the Bureau is
requested, NBI agents would prepare
an image copy of the hard disk of the
computer machine which is alleged to
have been used in a computer crime
or in conducting an anomalous
transaction. The image copy will be
brought to the Bureau, and a mirror
copy of which would be examined.
This is for purposes of knowing of how
the offense was committed and if there
are existing files.
Once the evidence is secured, the
persons most knowledgeable about
the crime or the person who
discovered the offense will be
interviewed. In the process, the agents
would look for the owner of the
computer and the officers supposedly
responsible for the computer. The
agents may also use logbooks and
directories of computers, when they
run the computer per se. Sometimes,
when there were traces left, it would
give the NBI agents an idea of the
person who used the computer before
the discovery of the crime.

Electronic evidence
Electronic evidence has to be qualified
by the Rules on Electronic Evidence. 7
As far as documentation is concerned,
as part of the duties of the Bureau’s
agents, actions taken in order for them
to come up with the findings will have
to be mentioned in the report. The
software, hardware, and techniques
used should also be noted therein. The
preparation of report is the same as in
documentary evidence, it is in its
presentation that the variation comes
in.
Developments in the Philippines
In the Philippines, computer forensics
is still new. Bureau agents cannot really
be said to be experts in the field, as
they are still exerting all efforts to gain
expertise. They attend trainings in
forensics, computer crime
investigations, and incidents in smugs.
Although attending seminars and
trainings do not make anyone an
expert, expertise may be gained by
experience, through new computer-
related cases being assigned to the
agents. Their growing experience in
investigation will help them in future
and more complex cases that will be
assigned to them. Furthermore, there
has been a commitment from the US
State Department to upgrade the
knowledge of the Bureau’s agents
involved in computer forensics.
Since the pieces of equipment were
donated, at least 20 cases have been
examined. The tools have been
effective and efficient in all cases
wherein a computer is used, allowing
evidence coming from formatted hard
disks and systems with deleted files and
changed operating systems to be
secured and used for investigation. In
one case involving malicious electronic
mails(e-mails), the e-mail was traced
through domain check8 and trace
scouting. The moment the origin was
traced, the Bureau applied for a search
warrant and recovered the computer
used. In another case involving drug
trafficking, a raid upon a syndicate’s
premises allowed the recovery of a
computer, which maintained records
of its customers and suppliers.
Endnotes
1. Based on an interview with Agent Palmer
Mallari, Executive Officer of the Anti-
Fraud and Computer Crime Division
(AFCCD) of the NBI.
2. EnCase is a product of Guidance
Software. The integrated functionality
of EnCase allows the examiner to
perform all functions of the computer
forensic investigation process. EnCase's
EnScript, a powerful macro-
programming language and API
included within EnCase, allows
investigators to build customized and
reusable forensic scripts. EnCase (1)
supports the acquisition of virtually all
media that can be attached to a system:
hard drives, Zip disks, USB devices, flash
cards, Palm Pilots, etc.; (2) performs
media acquisitions by producing an
exact binary duplicate of data from the
original media, by generating MD5 hash
values of both the original media and
all data contained within the resulting
evidence file, and assigning a CRC value
for each 64K block of the evidence file;
(3) has an Optimized Search Engine,
wherein the latest algorithm gives
multiple-term keyword searches near-
identical throughput to single-term
keyword searches; (4) can read PST files,
the file format associated to Outlook,
whether having compressible encryption
and full encryption, and extract e-mail
for plain-text analysis; (5) features
multiple case management, allowing
investigators to simultaneously run
multiple cases on multiple media targets;
(6) fully supports Unicode, and thus
displays the characters in various
language correctly; (6) fully supports
Dynamic Disk Configurations, i.e.
Dynamic Disks being hard drives that
are upgraded to Dynamic Disks by
Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP using the
Disk Manager; (7) comes with both a
parallel-port lap-link cable for parallel-
port cable acquisitions and a crossover
network cable for crossover network
cable acquisitions; (8) stores evidence
files on shared media for either data
retention or examination at a later date;
(9) maintains complete records of all
keyword searches that have been
conducted including the time of the
search, the scope of media examined,
the keyword and GREP expression and
the number of search results, with
bookmarks being easily displayed and
incorporated into the final EnCase
report; (10) automatically generates a
customized report that details the
contents of the case, including relevant
evidence, investigator comments,
bookmarks, recovered images, search
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
criteria, search results and search
information such as when the search was
executed, length of search and more;
(11) provides powerful search and
analysis tools that allow investigators to
view many different types of files in plain-
text format, including registry files, e-
mail files, and more; (12) attempts to
interpret file structures and show a
representation of all files and folders,
supporting thusFAT12 (Floppy), FAT16,
FAT32, NTFS, HFS, HFS+, UFS, Sun
Solaris, EXT2, Reiser, Palm, CDFS, Joliet,
UDF and ISO 9660; (13) offers different
Views that quickly and easily allow the
investigator to find specific investigation/
case information, through (a) Table view,
where files can be sorted by name,
extension, file created date, logical file
size and other criteria in a spreadsheet-
style format, (b) Gallery view, which
displays images of BMPs, JPGs, GIFs,
and TIFFs, (c) Timeline view, which
allows the investigator to view a
calendar-style graphic of all file activity,
illustrating file attributes such as when
files were created, last written or deleted,
(d) Report view, wherein reports can be
generated on any file, folder, volume,
physical disk or the entire case; and that
reports typically include reference
information regarding the acquisition,
drive geometry, folder structures,
bookmarked files and bookmarked
images. Encase also has (1) an EnCase
Encrypting File System (EFS) Module,
which provides Encrypting File System
(EFS) folder and file decryption
capabilities, for locally authenticated
users; (2) an EnCase Virtual File System
(VFS) Module, which enables examiners
to mount computer evidence as a read-
only off-line network drive, which allows
further examination of the evidence
using Windows Explorer and 3rd party
tools; and (3) a Network Authentication
Server (NAS) Module, which provides
complete flexibility in EnCase software
licensing. NAS enables EnCase software
licenses to be utilized in 3 ways; local
on the Examiner computer, remotely
with Terminal Services, and across the
network using the License Manager. See
http://www.guidancesoftware.com/
3. Forensics Toolkit (FTK) is a product of
Access Data. Forensics Toolkit (FTK)
allows one to view over 270 different
file formats with Stellent's Outside In
Viewer Technology. Its FTK Explorer
allows one to quickly navigate through
acquired images. It can generate audit
logs and case reports. Its features include
(1) Advanced Searching, which includes
(a) Full text indexing powered by
dtSearch® yields instant text search
results, (b) Advance searches for JPEG
images and Internet text, (c) Locate
binary patterns using Live Search, (d)
Automatically recover deleted files and
partitions, and (e) Target key files quickly
>> [ 64] Computer Forensics
13

LEGAL MINUTIAE ON E-MAILS
E
T lectronic mail (or usually
known as ‘e-mail’) is one of the most
popular and widely used features of
present-day Internet technology. In
fact, it is dubbed as the “killer
application” of the Internet. Billions of
people send and receive e-mail
messages everyday. Many studies have
shown that the bulk of network traffic
in the Internet is e-mail related. This
technology has even posed a serious
threat to the viability, if not the
existence, of postal and facsimile
service systems.
It is understandable why e-mail is very
popular. It is fast because transmission
and exchange of information happens
in real time. It is cheaper compared to
other forms of communication
technology. It can accommodate large
streams of data in text and other forms
of multi-media, as attachments. It is
capable of sending messages and data
simultaneously to various recipients. It
is user friendly because it does not
require special technical skills or
knowledge to use e-mail. It can be
integrated, or capable of converging,
with other communication technology
like cellular phones. It is capable of
preserving and following the trail of
data or information transmitted
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
through the network. And it supports
the application of data protection and
security tools, like encryption,
password, cryptography, electronic
signature, and anti-virus software,
which would enhance integrity and
reliability of communication.
The E-Mail System
E-mail is the system of transmitting
computer-based messages over
telecommunications technology.
An e-mail can be a simple text
message, a hypertext (linked) message,
or it could include attachments of
14
Computing
by Jaime N. Soriano
documents, spreadsheets, graphics,
video, pictures, applications or
executable files, or it could be in the
form of encrypted message containing
classified information.
E-mail users must have an email
address consisting of two (2) parts
separated by the symbol @: the user
or account name and the domain
name (the Internet registered name for
the entity). Ex:
myname@domain.com.
The e-mail system is based on a
“client-server model”.
The e-mail client carries the user’s
interaction with the server. It can either
be: application-based (like Outlook or
Eudora) or web-based (like Hotmail or
Yahoo). E-mail clients carry other
functionalities like an address book and
an organized e-mail message display.
It also holds the account information
of the user, the IP (Internet protocol)
address and the e-mail server to which
it communicates in sending and
receiving electronic messages.
The e-mail server is the host computer
with a large storage capacity that
operates a combination of processes,
lists the users, defines rules and
protocols, and sends, receives and
stores electronic messages including
attachments without frequent user
intervention.
An e-mail server has one or more
unique TCP/IP (Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) address that
identifies the network address of the
machine or the domain represented
by 4 block numbers from 0 to 256
separated by dots. TCP/IP uses ports
to allocate different jobs for different
Internet services like file transfer,
browsing or email. The e-mail server
conducts e-mail services by running
these processes in the same machine:
POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) and
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).
These processes are linked by an
internal mail delivery system that
moves the mail between POP3 and
SMTP servers.
POP3 servers hold e-mails in a queue
and deliver them to the client when
requested. SMTP receives outgoing
e-mails from clients and sends and
receives e-mail from other SMTP
servers. In order for clients to collect
e-mail from e-mail servers, they also
use POP3 servers. Clients must supply
a username and password to the server
in order to log into their account or
POP3 mailbox. The e-mail server will
respond with the number of messages
waiting and the client can initiate a 'de-
queue' command to download the
queued e-mails. The messages will
either be deleted from the e-mail
server or marked as read so they are
not downloaded again.
IMAP (Internet Message Access
Protocol) may be used in lieu of POP3
for accessing e-mail stored on a server.
It is a protocol that allows users to
perform certain e-mail functions on a
remote server rather than on their local
computer. The fundamental difference
between accessing e-mail via IMAP as
opposed to POP3 is that the former
does not download the messages and
store them locally as POP3 does. All
message manipulation, such as
opening, closing and deleting, is
carried out on the server. This makes
backup simpler and security tighter
since no emails are actually stored
locally on the users’ personal
computer.
SMTP is the language that most mail
servers use to send messages between
each other. When a message is sent,
it uses DNS (short for ‘domain name

service’) to convert the domain part of
an email address (i.e. @domain.com)
to the TCP/IP network address of the
machine that maintains the domain. It
then connects to that IP address using
port 25 and communicate the sender's
and recipient's email addresses and the
body of the message. SMTP can only
transmit text. Thus, this creates a
problem when it comes to sending
images, video and other attachments
via e-mail. SMTP gets around this
problem by using two different
methods: Uuencode (Unix-to-Unix
encode) and MIME (Multi-Purpose
Internet Mail Extension).
Uuencode assumes that the file or
attachment contains binary information
(1s and 0s). It converts this binary
information into text using a simple
mathematic equation, similar to
encryption. Once UUencode has
converted an attachment into text, it
can now travel via SMTP. The need
for a system to translate the array of
constantly changing attachment
formats that could not be handled by
Uuencode led to the development of
MIME. The latter works in a similar
way as the Uuencode but creates a
header that it wraps around each
encoded attachment that permits the
encoding of sound and images. The
choice between using Uuencode or
MIME is normally dictated by the
sending email server.
E-mail servers could also be: a local
mail server or a web mail server.
A local email server provides a single
point where all e-mail traffic can be
monitored and controlled to prevent
the spread of viruses and other
potentially harmful content. Interaction
is application-based using an email
client.
A web mail server (like Hotmail or
Yahoo), on the other hand, has the
advantage of accessibility and
convenience. It is possible to provide
web mail services on a local e-mail
server that can be accessed from off-
site locations. Web mail does not have
the full feature set of an installed client,
such as Outlook or Eudora, but users
find that it fulfils the basic read, write
and reply services they require.
Generally, the use of third party web
mail is discouraged, unless the service
is properly controlled and monitored.
Legal Risk in Sending E-Mails
The following are the possible risks in
sending e-mail messages:
· the content of e-mail messages
could be the basis for a libel or
damage suit. Over an e-mail that
criticized her talk show and her
persona, television personality and
actress Kris Aquino filed a libel suit
claiming P80 million in moral
damages against GMA Channel
7 executives. 1
In October 2000, a disgruntled
ex-employee who made false
accusations against a former
employer through a series of e-
mails under a false name using a
hotmail account has been ordered
to pay £26,000 damages and
costs estimated at £100,000 in a
landmark ruling before the civil
courts in UK. Despite the denial
of having sent the e-mails, expert
evidence traced the e-mails back,
via the IP address, to a laptop used
to send the emails. The hunt for
for the ex-employee included
disclosure orders being issued
against ISP CompuServe and
Microsoft to force them to hand
over account information. 2
In another case on September
2001, two London lawyers faced
a lawsuit for sex and racial
discrimination over an e-mail in
which one of them asked for a
'busty blonde' as a replacement for
their black secretary. 3
· sending e-mail attachment of
copyrighted work could result in
infringement suit and criminal
prosecution. Under Section 172.1
of the Intellectual Property Code
(Republic Act No. 8293) certain
literary and artistic work are
protected from the moment of their
creation. This protection includes
musical composition and
computer programs. Reproduction
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
or distribution of these works as
attachments in e-mail messages
disseminated to the public under
circumstances defined in Section
177 of the law may constitute
infringement of copyright. Also,
Section 33 (b) of the E-
Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic
Act No. 8792) also penalizes
piracy, and unauthorized copying
and distribution of protected
materials.
· sending spam and unsolicited e-
mails could be an unfair business
practice. In October 2003, the
Santa Clara County Superior
Court in California ordered PW
Marketing and owners Paul Willis
and Claudia Griffin to pay $2
million in civil penalties in an anti-
spam lawsuit for violating state
laws prohibiting unsolicited
commercial e-mail, false
advertising and unfair business.4
The Philippines has no anti-spam
law at the moment.
· an e-mail message is admissible
as evidence in law as it has the
functional equivalent of a written
document and could establish a
right or extinguish an obligation
in our jurisdiction. With the
enactment of the Rules on
Electronic Evidence by the
Supreme Court, 5 an e-mail
message can be deemed as
electronic evidence and is
admissible as evidence in courts
and quasi-judicial bodies for civil,
criminal and administrative cases
provided it is competent, relevant
and can be authenticated in the
manner provided for by the Rules.
Legal Threats in Receiving E-
Mails
In receiving e-mails, the users are
exposed to a wide array of on-line
fraud, cyber crimes or potential harm
or damage to the users’ computer
systems, like the following:
· Phishing. On 10 January 2004,
a Citibank ‘phishing’ e-mail began
making the rounds, warning
Citibank customers of possible
15
 fraud affecting their accounts and
urging them to login to check the
status. "Phishing" is an e-mail scam
designed to defraud customers of
their credit card numbers and
other personal information that
can then be used for identity theft.
Typically, the email message
employs some kind of scare tactic
designed to entice users into visiting
a site and divulging their critical
financial and personal details.
Unsuspecting users of Internet
Explorer are duped into believing
they are on one website when in
fact they are on another. The
exploit involves inserting the hex
0x01 between the legitimate site's
address and the actual hosting
address. This causes the legitimate
website address
(www.citibank.com) to appear in
the address bar, but the actual site
being displayed is that of the
criminal, in this case a North
Korean website. 6
· Spam. Spam e-mail is generally
defined as the sending or
transmission of unsolicited e-mail,
usually to many people. A
message written for, and mailed
to, one individual that is known to
the sender is not spam, and a reply
to an e-mail is not spam, unless
the "reply" repeats endlessly.
Spammers intrude e-mail filtering
methods by using different email
address for each mailing, or the
most common, by forwarding his
email through an intermediary to
conceal the actual origin of the
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
mail. Spam is basically utilized as
a marketing tool for business. It
proliferates because of the
widespread use of e-mails. It
virtually costs nothing to send
emails and spammers find the lack
of adequate e-mail regulations as
a good recipe for exploitation. 7
The Philippines has no specific law
against spammers. But Article 19-
21 of the Civil Code on human
relations may be the basis to claim
damages subject to the issue of
jurisdiction over the violator.
· Viruses. Almost everyday, e-mail
users have to contend with
16
different computer viruses that
proliferate in the Internet. A ‘virus’
is a computer program that harms
and halts computer systems and
memory. It is capable of
transmitting itself across the
network without the knowledge of
the user even bypassing security
systems. At the moment,
computer viruses are easily
acquired through e-mails.
· Nigerian E-Mail Fraud. In this
scheme, the user will receive an
e-mail message from a stranger
purporting to have access to
millions of dollars of funds. The
bait is the fictional millions of
dollars described in the message
usually based on verifiable
historical facts. The goal of this
‘advance fee fraud’ is to get the
victim to come up with money for
the "expenses" required to transfer
those millions of funds The victim
thinks, a few hundred or a few
thousand dollars is trivial when
$31 million is at stake. Each
demand for more money is
claimed to be the very last
obstacle before the big money is
released. Sometimes, the victim
is lured to Nigeria, where even
worse things happen. E-mail
addresses are obtained in the
same way that spammers get
them. Perpetrators of this fraud
are normally ruthless and violent
criminals. 8
· Stealing Personal Data. In The
most common type of email fraud
include email messages sent to the
user for the purpose of stealing
personal and financial
information. These emails claim
to be from legitimate sources the
user use and trust and try to entice
him to provide different types of
personal and confidential
information including online ID's,
passwords, Social Security
number and bank account
numbers. In this jurisdiction,
Section 33 (a) of the E-
Commerce Act of 2000 (RA
8792) penalizes “hacking” or
“cracking” which refers to
unauthorized access into or
interference in a computer
system/server or information and
communication system; or any
access in order to corrupt, alter,
steal, or destroy using a computer
or other similar information and
communication devices, without
the knowledge and consent of the
owner of the computer or
information and communications
system.
Legal Protection in E-Mail Usage
There are various means available to
protect e-mail users from risk, legal
or otherwise. Some of these measures
include:
· Entities must adopt a “content
security policy” where employees
acknowledged that the web and
email system belong to the
company and may be monitored.
· Installing enforcement, blocking or
filtering tools” to block
communications with illegal,
malicious or spam messages.
· Adopting the use of “legal
disclaimers” in sending e-mail
messages.
· Implementating an “acceptable
use policy (AUP)” for e-mails
· Choosing a “reliable ISP” (Internet
Service Provider) to serve e-mail
requirements.
· Preferably, using an “application-
based e-mail client”.
· Keeping the “confidentiality of
passwords and other vital
information”.
· Installing reputable “anti-virus
programs” to screen all e-mails
messages and “anti-spyware or
adware application” when going
on-line.
· Installing “firewall” systems (both
hardware and software). Firewall
is a device that explicitly controls
network access to computer
network and allows the users to

monitor the type of traffic passing
in and out of the network and react
accordingly.
· Observing the proper “netiquette”
(or the etiquette-of-the-Net or the
appropriate behavior to follow
when communicating online,
particularly in e-mail).
· Exercising and observing proper
“caution in your language” when
sending, or replying to, e-mail.
· Adopting the use of “electronic
signature” (any distinctive mark,
characteristic and/or sound in
electronic form, representing the
identity of a person and attached
to or logically associated with the
electronic data message)
· Investing in the use “digital ID or
signature” or “cryptographic
systems” (devices to encrypt
messages into a secret code
provided by reputable so-called
certification authorities)
· Printing and keeping a file of the
printed copy of, vital e-mail
communication or messages.
· If available, obtaining “liability
insurance” policies for Internet
and e-mail.
The foregoing measures are by no
means exhaustive but their application
in computer systems would certainly
give ample legal protection to e-mail
users from unscrupulous individuals
and entities in cyberspace.
Other Legal Points in E-Mail
Usage
E-mail users must always remember
that there is a way to trace e-mail
identity even if anonymous e-mail
addresses are used. If users think that
they can hide under the cloak of
anonymity in the information
superhighway, they are mistaken.
Under Section 30 of the E-Commerce
Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792)
value-added service providers (like
ISPs, e-mail servers and certification
authorities) are generally exempt from
civil and criminal liabilities with respect
to electronic messages while acting as
a service provider
Finally, any person who obtained
access to any electronic key, electronic
data message, or electronic document,
book, register, correspondence,
information, or other materials are
bound by the rules on confidentiality
and cannot convey or share the same
with any other party under Section 32
of the E-Commerce Act of 2000.
A Final Word
E-mail is a great wonder of present-
day information technology. The
following article culled from the
Internet would verily explain why.
Thus:
“Email gave early users – and
still gives current users – a form
of equality. In a paper
published in 1978 by the
Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers, two of the
important figures in the
creation of the ARPANET, J C R
Licklider and Albert Vezza,
explained the popularity of
email: ‘One of the advantages
of the message systems over
letter mail was that, in an
ARPANET message, one could
write tersely and type
imperfectly, even to an older
person in a superior position
and even to a person one did
not know very well, and the
recipient took no offence.
Among the advantages of the
network message services over
the telephone were the fact that
one could proceed immediately
to the point without having to
engage in small talk first, that
the message services produced
a preservable record, and that
the sender and receiver did not
have to be available at the
same time.
Email still presents this equality
to users today; it is possible to
transcend barriers of race,
culture and wealth. Some
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
email users even find it bad
netiquette to include more than
the basic level of information
or content required in each
mail. Even so it is important to
realise that emails cannot be
considered to be private or
confidential and are subject to
both copyright and libel laws.
Emails should never be
intimidating, hostile or offensive
on the basis of sex, race,
colour, religion, national origin,
sexual orientation or disability.”9
Endnotes
1 Cruz, Marinel R. "Kris Aquino rejects
GMA 7 apology." Inquirer News Service,
14 July 2004. <http://www.inq7.net/
ent/2004/jul/15/ent_1-1.htm>
2 Morris, Pete. "Court makes landmark
email libel ruling." VNUnet.com, 13
October 2000. <http://
www.vnunet.com/news/1112449>
3 Harrison, Linda "‘Busty blonde’ email
lawyers face lawsuit." The Register, 6
September 2001. <http://
www.theregister.co.uk/2001/09/06/
busty_blonde_email_lawyers_face/>
4 "Attorney General Lockyer Wins First-
Ever State Lawsuit Against Spammer:
Court Curbs PW Marketing's Business
Practices and Requires Firm to Pay $2
Million." Office of the Attorney General,
State of Californiam 24 October
2 0 0 3 . < h t t p : / / w w w. a g . c a . g o v /
newsalerts/2003/03-130.htm>
5 A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC effective 1 August
2001
6 Landesman, Mary. "Citibank phishing
email." About.com, 28 March 2004.
<http://antivirus.about.com/cs/
allabout/a/citiphish.htm>
7 P. Lutus. The Anti-Spam Home Page
<http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/
antispam.html>
8 Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Nigerian Fraud
Email Gallery." <http://
www.potifos.com/fraud/>
9 How Wmail Works. British Educational
Communications and Technology
Agency (BECTA), September 2004.
<http://www.becta.org.uk/subsections/
f o i / d o c u m e n t s /
technology_and_education_research/
how_email_works.doc>
17

P2P: PIRATE TO PIRATE TOWARDS ACTUAL PEER-TO-PEER
T ransferring files over
the Internet have been normally been
made using email (SMTP) and file
transfer protocol (FTP), for smaller files
and larger files, respectively although
not exclusively. These methods use the
client-server model where
communication is relayed by servers
to clients. With email, data is
transmitted to the server for delivery,
transmitted to the destination between
servers, and is fetched later by the
receiving client. With FTP, data is
transmitted to the server for storage,
and is fetched by the receiving client
from said server. These were the
modes of file transfer before peer-to-
peer computer networks or internet-
based file-sharing networks became
popular.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
A peer-to-peer (P2P) computer
network is a network that mostly uses
direct connections between peer nodes
(clients). Such peer nodes
simultaneously function as both clients
and servers to other nodes on the
network. Any node, thus, is able to
initiate or complete any supported
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
transaction with any other node. Peer
nodes may vary in local configuration,
storage quantity, processing speed,
and network bandwidth. File sharing
networks such as FastTrack, FreeNet,
GNUtella, and OpenNap are
examples of such.1
P2P networks have become a popular
medium through which users share
huge amounts of data. The bandwidth
of all clients or nodes can be used fully
and that the available download
bandwidth may increase due to the
increase in the number of nodes. Such
networks also distribute the cost of
sharing data among peers (clients) in
18
Computing
by Michael Vernon M. Guerrero
the network, by aggregating the
resources of a large number of
independent nodes in P2P systems,
allowing applications to scale without
the need of powerful and expensive
servers, and thus reducing the cost of
sharing data unlike if servers would
be utilized.
Simply said, users of P2P networks
need not be aware of matters involving
server administration, but would
merely install P2P software in their
regular computer, for them to acquire
and share various media stored in their
shared folder. P2P users are further
allowed to download component parts
of a file they are interested in from
various users of a P2P network, instead
of relying on a single source or website
for the whole file. Anyone who has
used the first version of Napster and
the now popular Kazaa would have
an idea of how P2P networks work.
It was in 1984 that the phrase “peer
to peer ” was used, with the
development of the “Advanced Peer
to Peer Networking” architecture at
IBM. This referred to earlier research-
and business-oriented peer-to-peer
systems, which predated popular
internet-based file-sharing networks.
The first generation of Internet P2P
networks had a centralized file list,
which the courts of the United States
deemed to be infringement of
copyright. This generation includes the
first version of Napster. 2 After media
companies prevailed over Napster, a
new generation of P2P networks
emerged. They had decentralized file
lists, and had improvements like
distributed hash tables (DHT) and other
optimizations for decentralized search.
This generation includes GNUtella and
FastTrack (specifically Kazaa). As
anonymous P2P networks allow for
distribution of material with little or no
accountability for it, such demand for
such networks increased especially
after the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) clamped down on
individual P2P users in 2003. Such
generation of anonymous networks
includes Freenet, I2P, and GNUnet. 3
Underutilized and imperfect tool
Although regarded generally as file
sharing networks, most of the
commonly shared files are either
copyright-protected materials, such as
mp3 music files and DivX 4 movie files,
or adult-oriented media. The use of
P2P networks, therefore, is rendered
limited by such content; unlike non-
P2P tools, such as email, which has
cut across gossip, protected content,
and forwarded feel-good messages
towards legitimate and useful
communication purposes. The trend
does not appear to go to the other
direction with regard to P2P systems
as content demand remains towards
the illegal and titillating than on the
legitimate and “boring.” This trend
may not be overturned in the
immediate future until there is serious
initiative towards the legitimate use of
P2P networks, such as for academic
or research purposes, or even for
business purposes such as hiring. Such
turnabout is not farfetched, as the
Internet itself has been transformed
from academic and scientific to
proprietary over the years.
Considering that increased legitimate
use of P2P systems may be possible,
certain challenges must be overcome
before the potential of such systems
may be realized. For one, the scale of
the network and the autonomy of nodes
make it difficult to identify and distribute
the resources that are available. As the

system is dynamic, with nodes
constantly joining and leaving,
resources and resource demands are
constantly changing, making it difficult
to determine which resources are
indeed available. Further, some peers
may be malicious and, thus, peers may
receive inauthentic information or may
be victims of denial-of-service (DoS)
attacks. 5 Due to the anonymity of users
in certain networks or due to the ease
of changing profiles, it would be
difficult to pinpoint and report
malicious users at a given time. 6
Moderating the P2P threat
Due to the prevailing content provided
by nodes in P2P networks, such
networks pose grave threats to
established media companies. Thus,
these P2P networks have been targeted
by industry trade organizations, where
the latter spend large amounts of
money attempting to lobby lawmakers
for legal restrictions. Industry
organizations have not been successful
in its advocacy to subvert the operations
of P2P networks, but have been
relatively successful in protecting its
intellectual property rights before
Unted States courts, as may be seen
in the Napster case (infringement) and
recently involving Kazaa (as to
infringing users’ identities).
Due to the networks’ parallel
functionality as to other methods of file
transfer, such networks may also
collectively turn into an alternative
forum to malefactors, such as terrorists,
or may become a medium for the
dissemination of their propaganda.
Further, the networks are increasingly
becoming alternatives to websites
containing child pornography, which
are currently being effectively clamped
down.
Current file-sharing legislation
The following bills are, as of this writing,
pending in the United States Congress:
(1) Protecting Children from Peer-to-
Peer Pornography Act of 2003 [HR
2885], which seeks to prohibit the
distribution of peer -to-peer file trading
software in interstate commerce; (2)
the Government Network Security Act
of 2003 [HR3159], which seeks to
require Federal agencies to develop
and implement plans to protect the
security and privacy of government
computer systems from the risks posed
by peer-to-peer file sharing; and (3)
Piracy Deterrence and Education Act
of 2004 [HR4077].
Similar legislation are also pending with
the Philippine Congress, although
focusing more the general issues, such
as Internet piracy and child
pornography, through all Internet
protocols and not necessarily through
peer-to-peer networks only. Among
these are: (1) An act amending certain
provisions of Republic Act No. 8293,
entitled “An act prescribing the
intellectual property code and
establishing the intellectual property
office, providing for its powers and
functions and for other purposes,”
[HB00322] which seeks to amend the
Intellectual Property Code through the
integration of comprehensive, efficient
and adequate strategies designed to
respond to Internet piracy, among
others; and (2) An act seeking to
improve child protection against abuse,
exploitation and discrimination,
amending for the purpose Republic Act
No. 7610, as amended by Republic
Act No. 7658, otherwise known as the
“Special Protection and Discrimination
Act”, appropriating funds therefor and
for other purposes, [HB01961] which
seeks to impose penalty for child
pornography through the internet and
mandates the creation of a central data
bank to monitor abuses made by
foreigners against children and prevent
their reentry, among others.
Conclusion
Peer-to-peer systems are tools that
may serve legitimate purposes,
although they are currently being used
more extensively for less than legal
ends. Subverting said networks, in
general, would negate technological
advances as to avenues for Internet-
aided communication, especially as to
distributed file sharing. Shutting down
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
said networks would only highlight the
fact that there is a shortage of
ingenious solutions to prevent
transmission of prohibited media by
infringers and perverts. The solution
being proposed, i.e. closing the venue
of possible malefactors, is clearly and
arbitrarily desperate. For one, sharing
case digests over Kazaa or Limewire
is an interesting thought.
Endnotes
1 Other examples are those of Applejuice
(which includes Applejuice Client),
BitTorrent (which includes ABC, Azureus,
BitAnarch, BitComet, BitSpirit,
BitTornado, BitTorrent, BitTorrent++,
BitTorrent.Net, G3 Torrent, mlMac,
MLDonkey, QTorrent, SimpleBT,
Shareaza, TomatoTorrent, and
TorrentStorm), CAKE (which includes
BirthdayCAKE), Direct Connect (which
includes BCDC++, CZDC++, DC++,
NeoModus Direct Connect, and
JavaDC), eDonkey (which includes
aMule, eMule, LMule, MindGem,
MLDonkey, mlMac, Shareaza, and
xMule), ed2k or eDonkey 2000 (which
includes eDonkey, and eMule), FastTrack
(which includes giFT, Grokster, iMesh,
Kazaa, Kazaa Lite, K++, Diet Kaza,
CleanKazaa, Mammoth, MLDonkey,
mlMac, and Poisoned), Freenet (which
includes Entropy, Freenet, and Frost),
Gnutella (which includes Acquisitionx,
BearShare, Gnucleus, Grokster, gtk-
gnutella, Limewire, MLDonkey, mlMac,
Morpheus, Phex, Poisoned, Swapper,
Shareaza, and XoloX), Gnutella2 (which
includes Adagio, Gnucleus, MLDonkey,
mlMac, Morpheus, and Shareaza), Joltid
PeerEnabler (which includes Altnet,
Bullguard, Joltid, Kazaa, and Kazaa Lite),
Kademlia (which includes eMule,
MindGem, MLDonkey, and VarVar),
Manolito/MP2P (which includes
Blubster, Piolet, and RockItNet), Napster
(which includes Napigator, OpenNap,
and WinMX), WPNP (which includes
WinMX), among other networks
(including Akamai, Alpine, Ares Galaxy,
Audiogalaxy network, Carracho, Chord,
The Circle, Coral, Dexter, Diet-Agents,
EarthStation 5, Evernet, FileTopia,
GNUnet, Grapevine, Groove, Hotwire,
iFolder, konspire2b, MUTE , and
OpenFT). See Peer-to-peer. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer
2 For a digest of A &M Records Inc. vs.
Napster, see Volume 1, Issue 2, page 15
of the Philippine Quarterly IT Law
Journal.
3 Peer-to-peer. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia, supra.
4 DivX® is the brand name of the world’s
>> [65] P2P: Pirate to Pirate
19

VOIP: TO REGULATE OR NOT TO REGULATE
V oice Over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) is taking the world by storm, not
only because it offers a cheaper
alternative to the voice calls made
through the traditional circuit switches,
but because many governments,
including the Philippines, do not have
a policy in place to deal with this new
technology.
Both the National Telecommunications
Commission and Congress are
currently looking into possible
regulatory frameworks for VoIP. The
Department of Transportation and
Communications as early as Nov. of
2003 directed the National
Telecommunications Commission
(NTC) to promulgate the necessary
implementing rules and regulations
and guidelines that will govern the
deployment and use of VoIP by
businesses and the general public.
More than a year since the DOTC
issued the directive, the NTC has yet
to come up with the appropriate
guidelines. The task is not easy – there
are the big telephone companies on
the one hand who want exclusive rights
to offer VoIP to the public, and there
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
are the Internet service providers and
other service providers on the other
hand who are pushing for a
deregulated approach to VoIP.
The issue however boils down to a
determination of the nature of VoIP
under Republic Act no. 7925 or the
Public Telecommunications Policy Act
of 1995 and a resolution of the
perplexing question of whether or not
there is legal basis to regulate VoIP.
The NTC itself admits that reconciling
the interests of government,
20
Telecommunications
by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
telecommunications players, new
entrants and the general public will not
be an easy regulatory task, particularly
because
VoIP does not fit neatly within the model
provided under Philippine law which
has traditionally treated voice and data
services differently.
“As the Internet becomes available over
virtually all technologies and platforms,
from traditional fixed copper lines to
satellites to mobile phones and to
cable, to name just the most obvious,
market dynamics are changing faster
than laws and rules,” the NTC said.
In a discussion paper circulated
recently, the NTC pointed out that in
coming up with VoIP guidelines, the
commission is guided by two principles.
The first is technological neutrality
which means that future VoIP
regulation, if at all, should neither
impose nor discriminate in favor of the
use of a particular type of VoIP
technology, especially considering that
various methods already exist, and
indeed, that other methods could still
be developed in the near future for
accessing a VoIP network. Second is
regulatory forebearance. The NTC
stressed that it must be careful when
deciding whether or not to regulate an
emerging technology or service like
VoIP. Given what is admittedly a slow
pace of regulatory change,
telecommunications, or more
appropriately, information technology
markets, can easily evolve as a result
not of technological innovation and
economic forces, but of regulation. This
possibility is one which the NTC is
seeking to avoid.
VoIP in a nutshell
The NTC in its paper defines VoIP as a
generic term that refers to all types of
voice communication using Internet
protocol (IP) technology, instead of
traditional circuit switched technology.
This includes use of packet
technologies by telecommunications
companies to carry voice at the core
of their networks in ways that are not
controlled by or apparent to end users.
It basically enables users from different
parts of the world to engage in voice
conversations, even long distance ones,
without having to pass through part or
all of the telecommunications facilities.
Using VoIP, a person could engage in
international voice conversations
without having to pass through – and
pay for the use of - the international
gateway facilities of telephone
companies who charge much higher
fees for the use of their networks.
Internet telephony, on the other hand,
is a specialized form of VoIP in which
a regular voice telephone call is
transmitted via the public Internet, thus
bypassing all or part of the public
switched telephone network (PSTN).
Internet telephony can occur between
computers, between a computer and
a phone, and between phones.
Legal and regulatory framework
According to NTC commissioner
Ronald Solis, whether or not VoIP should
be regulated and who should be
allowed to offer it would largely
depend on the determination of its
classification either as a basic
telecommunications service or a value-
added service (or enhanced service).
And Secretary Virgilio Pena, head of

the newly created Commission on
Information Communications and
Technology (CICT) to which the NTC
is now an attached agency, believes
that any set of rules that will ultimately
govern VoIP should be in consonance
with RA 7925, particularly on what
constitutes basic service and VAS.
There is no question that duly
enfranchised public
telecommunications entities (PTEs) can
and are allowed, under law, to offer
VoIP to the public. But in the context of
converging technologies and services,
it is now also possible for other non-
PTE entities such as cable companies
and ISPs to also offer VoIP services to
subscribers and the general public.
RA 7925, defines
‘telecommunications’ as any process
which enables a telecommunications
entity to relay and receive voice, data,
electronic messages, written or printed
matter, fixed or moving pictures, words,
music or visible or audible signs or any
control signals of any design and for
any purpose by wire, radio, or other
electronic, spectral, optical or
technological means.
Only PTEs, defined as any person, firm,
partnership or corporation,
government or private, engaged in the
provision of telecommunications
services to the public for compensation
may provide basic telecommunications
services.RA 7925 also requires all
persons or entities intending to
commence or conduct the business of
being a PTE to first obtain a legislative
franchise, and to apply for a Certificate
of Public Convenience and Necessity
(CPCN) from the NTC to engage in a
particular telecommunications service.
In the latter case, it must show that it
has the legal, financial and technical
fitness to operate the service.
Under the current legal regime,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are
not considered as PTEs. They are
categorized as value added service
(VAS) Providers, defined under RA
7925 as (entities) which, relying on
the transmission, switching, and local
distribution of facilities of the local
exchange and inter-exchange
operators, and overseas carriers, offer
enhanced services beyond those
ordinarily provided by such carriers.
Unlike PTEs, VAS providers cannot put
up their own networks, although they
are not required to obtain their own
franchise. They are merely required
to register with the NTC.
The nature of VoIP
In this context, the NTC said that the
main legal question that it must resolve
pertains to the legal nature of VoIP –
whether it should be considered as a
‘telecommunications service,’ or as a
‘value added service.’
The question is crucial because if VoIP
is classified a value-added or
enhanced service, then there would
virtually be no legal restrictions on ISPs
and potential providers other than PTEs
to offer VoIP as a separate and distinct
service for compensation to the public.
But if VoIP is deemed to be a
telecommunications service, on the
other hand, ISPs and potential
providers other than duly enfranchised
and authorized PTEs can be allowed
to offer VoIP for compensation, but only
by entering into separate agreements
with duly enfranchised PTEs.
Approaches of Other
Jurisdictions
The legal classification of VoIP is a
regulatory puzzle that is not unique to
the Philippines.
In the United States, Minnesota, New
York and Wisconsin have all found VoIP
to be subject to state
telecommunications regulation to some
degree. Minnesota in 2003 ruled that
Vonage’s VoIP offering is a
“telecommunications service” and that
accordingly, Vonage should comply
with all state telecom regulations. New
York found that a VoIP provider was
subject to access charges. And
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Wisconsin requested VoIP providers to
file an application for authority to
provide telecom services within the
state. In contrast, Florida passed
legislation largely exempting VoIP
services from regulation, but that
legislation did not address the
applicability of access charges to VoIP
offerings.
Canada, meanwhile, makes a
distinction between Internet data
applications, which are free from
regulation, and Internet applications
that provide an alternative to public
switched voice services, which are
regulated. IP telephony between
telephones, therefore, is subject to
regulation. IP telephony service
providers are treated like any other
telephony service providers and must
contribute to universal service funds,
but only if the service they provide is
between telephones.
In India, VoIP is allowed, but only for
communications from computer to
computer while Vietnam allows
outbound Internet-based calls from
computer to computer, and from
computer to telephone, but prohibits
inbound Internet phone calls.
The European Commission as taken
the position that Internet voice services
do not constitute voice telephony
unless: they are offered commercially
and separately to the public as voice
services; they are provided to and from
PSTN termination points; and, they are
offered in real time at the same level
of speech quality and reliability as
offered by the PSTN.
The EU presently holds that VoIP does
not fit the definition of
telecommunications because it does not
involve direct speech transport in real
time. However, recent improvements
in the quality of service and the growth
of the European VoIP market could
eventually induce the EC to review its
position.
The NTC has laid down several issues
that will have to be resolved in order
21
 that it may be properly guided in
coming up with an acceptable and
viable regulatory framework for VoIP.
Among these are:
* What, under Philippine law, is the
proper regulatory classification
for VoIP services
(telecommunications or value-
added)
* Who should be allowed to use,
provide and/or benefit from VoIP
in the Philippines?
* At this time, should the NTC issue
rules and/or guidelines for VoIP?
* From a regulatory standpoint,
should the various categories (PC
to PC, PC to phone, Phone to
phone IP telephony) be subject to
similar or different treatment?
Congress looks into VoIP
THE House committee on information
and communication technology has
formed a technical working group to
resolve the long standing debate on
who may deploy VoIP services in the
Philippines.
Committee Chairman and former
NTC commissioner Simeon Kintanar
said that the working group would
consolidate two bills filed in relation to
VoIP into one bill.
The dispute, he said, centers on
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
whether VoIP services should be
considered voice traffic or a value-
added service. Considering VoIP as
voice traffic would mean that only
telecommunications companies with a
congressional franchise to carry phone
calls could offer commercial VoIP
services.
He pointed out that the differing
interpretations of RA 7925 could be
resolved by amending the law. An
22
amendment would supersede any
guidelines issued by the NTC.
Telcos speak out
The Philippine Chamber of
Telecommunications Operators, whose
members include the Philippine Long
Distance Co. (PLDT), Globe Telecom,
Smart Communications Inc., Bayan
Telecommunications Inc., Digital
Telecommunications Phils. Inc., want
VOIP regulated.
They argued that VOIP cannot be
classified as a value-added service
(VAS) simply because VOIP is
marketed as a telephone service, a
service which is already being offered
by existing carriers who have complied
with the law to put up at least four
million fixed lines before they were
allowed to operate.
“The reality is that VOIP is marketed
as a telephone service, that is, a person
using a telephone set can talk over the
system to another person at the other
end using a telephone set. That is why
it is aptly called Internet Telephony. And
telephony is voice service…The
moment a VAS provider offers voice
service to the public in exchange for
compensation, such would be a clear
violation of law, absent compliance
with the clear statutory requirements,”
PCTO head and Globe senior vice
president Rodolfo Salalima said.
He pointed out that if the NTC allows
VOIP operators to operate freely,
without having to comply with the
service area scheme, then they would
be riding piggy-bank on the same
networks constructed by existing
carriers who have spent billions of
pesos to put up the necessary
infrastructures.
“To remove this constitutionally
mandated rules would be wholly
disadvantageous to those entities which
went through the mandated process,
and they would have no chance in
competing with a new breed which will
not be regulated and not required to
pay the numerous taxes and regulatory
fees to which PTEs now are subjected.
It would be not fair for the government
now, after requiring the huge
investments, to just say let another
alternative voice service take over
because it costs less. This alternative
service appears to cost less because it
will ride parasite-like on existing
infrastructure at very minimal
expense,” Salalima added.
But ISPs say otherwise
The Philippine Internet Services
Organization (PISO) maintains that as
a product of Internet technology and
as one which uses the Internet Protocol
instead of relying on the traditional
switching mechanism to exist, VoIP is
clearly not a traditional
telecommunication services but an
enhanced service and therefore a
value-added-service.
It stresses that the general public should
be allowed to use VoIP, in all its forms.
PISO has supported the clamor for a
set of rules that will govern VoIP
because according to its ISP members,
because of the uncertainty, incumbent
telephone operators are the only ones
benefiting from the technology. The
NTC, it said, should allow Internet-
based services to develop in an
environment of minimal regulation.
In a position paper submitted to the
NTC, the group added that it is
incorrect to state that
telecommunication companies will be
threatened by unfair competition by
VAS providers especially since
providers like ISPs and (hopefully) VOIP
providers, will always use an
incumbent telecommunication
operator for its infrastructure.

GAMBLING THROUGH SMS
T he country’s biggest
cellular phone service providers are
opposing an application by the
Philippine Amusement and Gaming
Corp. (Pagcor) with the National
Telecommunications Commission
(NTC) for access codes to engage in
text-based games of chance.
Pagcor told the NTC that it is applying
for special access codes (777 and 888
for authorized play and 787 and 878
for customer support) in order to
centralize and integrate existing text-
based games of chance, protect the
public by preventing illegal gambling
and text scams and eliminating
unregistered gaming providers, and
raise additional revenues for
government.
It is likewise asking NTC that it be
furnished a list of all registered value-
added service (VAS) licensees for
purposes of regulating and integrating
games of chance providers, even as
Pagcor pointed out that telcos engaged
in gaming activities under VAS are
currently not regulated.
Globe Telecom senior vice president
Rodolfo Salalima however accused
Pagcor of trying to secure access codes
from NTC not for the purpose of
regulating existing games of chance
but going into the business itself.
He likewise stressed that since there is
no public service involved but a mere
attempt of Pagcor to engage in text-
based gambling, then Pagcor should
not secure a special access code from
NTC but instead get a line from Globe
and enter into a commercial
relationship with the latter.
Telecommunications
by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
“It is the policy of Globe not to engage
in gambling or to lease its lines for
gambling purposes. Gambling is not
public service,” Salalima pointed out.
Smart Communications legal head
Rogelio Quevedo for his part
emphasized that they are opposing
Pagcor’s application since Smart will
not a llow its network to be used for
gambling.
While Pagcor representatives
maintained that its objective in applying
for special access codes it to regulate
text games and protect the consumers
and that it is not its intention to introduce
new text games but regulate and
monitor existing ones, they
nevertheless presented a proposed
Pagcor prepaid card called ‘e-game’
with denominations of P500, P1000,
and P5000. They said that the cards
will only be sold to adults (21 years
and above) and that the high card
denominations aim to discourage those
with limited disposable income from
participating.
They said that all players will be
required to register over the air through
texting with Pagcor and that winners
will personally have to claim their
prizes by presenting valid government
IDs indicating their age.
Pagcor said it is mandated under
Presidential De cree no. 1869 to
centralize and integrate the right and
authority to operate and conduct
games of chance. However, mobile
operators and even the Department
of Trade and Industry claimed that
Pagcor is overexpanding its authority
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
under the law since not all games of
chance involve gambling.
“It is only when there is betting involved
that there is gambling over which
Pagcor has authority to regulate.
Russian roulette is a game of chance.
Does this mean that Pagcor will have
to interfere with private lives. (Pagcor)
is overexpanding its authority under the
law but seeking to regulate all games
of chance when not all promos and
games of chance are gambling. Sales
promos for instance are under the DTI
while it is the NTC that has jurisdiction
over telcos,” Salalima noted.
As planned by Pagcor, all third party
application providers, games
proponents, and TV games and
interactive TV programs bef ore they
can offer text-based gaming will have
to seek the approval of Pagcor and
pass through a Pagcor internet and
mobile intermediation platform. Only
Pagcor-approved games will then be
able to use the lines of the telcos.
Salalima however emphasized that
there is nothing for Pagcor to regulate
since text-based gambling does not
exist. “If Pagcor wants to regulate text-
based gambling, then going into the
business itself is not the solution,” he
said.
He likewise castigated Pagcor for
accusing telcos of engaging in
gambling. “We are not engaged in
gambling and never will. Convict us
first instead of using us to get your
access code. Do not use the telcos to
get a line,” he said.
23

GLOBE TELECOM VS. NTC
(This section will be a regular feature of the
journal to highlight significant cases decided
in the Philippines and in foreign jurisdictions
relating to information technology)
by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes
Facts: The present petition dramatizes
to a degree the clash of philosophies
between traditional notions of
regulation and the au corant trend
towards deregulation.
Globe Telecom and Smart
Communications are both authorized
under their respective legislative
franchises to operate a cellular mobile
telephone system (CMTS) using the
global system for mobile
communication or GSM technology.
Among the inherent services supported
by the GSM network is the short
message service or SMS, also known
colloquially as texting which has
attained immense popularity in the
Philippines as a mode of electronic
communication.
On June 4, 1999, Smart filed a
petition with the National
Telecommunications Commission
(NTC), praying that the commission
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
order the immediate interconnection
of Smart’s and Globe’s GSM
networks, particularly their respective
SMS services. According to Smart,
Globe, with evident bad faith and
malice, refused to grant Smart’s
request for the interconnection of SMS
as required by law.
NTC then issued the order which is
the subject of the present petition
before the Supreme Court mandating
SMS interconnection, since SMS falls
squarely within the definition of “value-
added service” or “enhanced-service”
given in NTC Memorandum Circular
No. 8-9-95.
24
Jurisprudence in CyberLaw
G.R. No. 143964 July 26, 2004
The NTC also declared that both Smart
and Globe have been providing SMS
without authority from it, in violation
of the said MC which requires public
telecommunication entities or PTEs
intending to provide value-added
services (VAS) to secure prior approval
from NTC. It likewise directed the
parties to secure the requisite authority
to provide SMS within 30 days, subject
to the payment of fine in case of failure
to do so.
Globe filed with the Court of Appeals
a petition for certiorari and prohibition
to nullify and set aside the order and
to prohibit NTC from taking any further
action in the case. The company
claimed that NTC acted without
jurisdiction in declaring that it had no
authority to render SMS, pointing out
that the matter was not raised as an
issue before it at all.
In its memorandum, Globe also called
the attention of the appellate court to
the earlier decision of NTC pertaining
to the application of Isla
Communications (Islacom) to provide
SMS, allegedly holding that SMS is a
deregulated special feature of the
telephone network and therefore does
not require the prior approval of NTC.
Globe alleged that NTC’s departure
from its ruling in the Islacom case
constitutes a denial of equal protection
of the law.
On Nov. 22, 1999, the CA affirmed
in toto the NTC order. Interestingly, on
the same day Globe and Smart
voluntarily agreed to interconnect their
respective SMS systems, and the
interconnection was effected at
midnight of that day.
Yet, on Dec. 21, 1999, Globe filed a
motion for partial reconsideration with
the CA, seeking to reconsider only the
portion of the decision that upheld
NTC’s finding that Globe lacked the
authority to provide SMS and its
imposition of a fine. Globe reiterated
that it has been legally operating its
SMS system since 1994 and that SMS
being a deregulated special feature of
the telephone network may be
operated without prior approval of
NTC.
After the Court of Appeals denied the
motion, Globe elevated the
controversy to the Supreme Court.
Smart also now argues that SMS is not
VAS and that NTC may not legally
require either Smart or Globe to
secure prior approval before providing
SMS.
Issue: Is SMS a value-added service
that requires prior approval from the
NTC before it can be offered?
Held: In a decision penned by
Associate Justice Dante Tinga, the
Supreme Court held that there is no
legal basis under the Public
Telecommunications Act or the
memorandum circulars promulgated
by the NTC to denominate SMS as
VAS, and any subsequent
determination by the NTC on whether
SMS is VAS should be made with
proper regard for due process and in
conformity with the PTA.
It added that the NTC may not legally
require Globe to secure its approval
for Globe to continue providing SMS.
This does not imply though that NTC
lacks authority to regulate SMS or to
classify it as VAS. However, the move
should be implemented properly,

through unequivocal regulations
applicable to all entities that are
similarly situated, and in an even-
handed manner.
In arriving at its decision, the Court first
inquired into the PTA, the law that
governs all public telecommunications
entities in the Philippines as well as the
authority behind NTC’s cited
memorandum circular.
One of the novel introductions of the
PTA is the concept of a VAS which the
law defines as “an entity which relying
on the transmission, switching and local
distribution facilities of the local
exchange and inter-exchange
operators, and overseas carriers, offers
enhanced services beyond those
ordinarily provided for by such
carriers. Section 11 recognizes that
VAS providers need not secure a
franchise, provided that they do not
put up their own network. However, a
different rule is laid down for
telecommunications entities such as
Globe and PLDT. The section
unequivocally requires NTC approval
for the operation of a value-added
service.
Oddly enough, neither the NTC nor
the CA cited the above-quoted
provision in their respective decisions,
which after all, is the statutory premise
for the assailed regulatory action. This
failure, the SC said, is but a mere
indicia of the pattern of ignorance or
incompetence that sadly attends the
actions assailed in this petition.
It is clear that the PTA has left open-
ended what services are classified as
“value-added,” prescribing instead a
general standard, set forth as a matter
of principle and fundamental policy by
the legislature. The power to enforce
the provisions of the PTA, including the
implementation of the standards set
therein, is clearly reposed with the
NTC.
NTC relied on Section 420(f) of the
implementing rules of the PTA as basis
for its claim that prior approval must
be secured from it before Globe can
operate SMS.
The Court noted that instead of
expressly defining what VAS is, the
implementing rules defines what
“enhanced services” are, namely: “a
service which adds a feature or value
not ordinarily provided by a public
telecommunications entity such as
format, media conversion, encryption,
enhanced security features, computer
processing, and the like. Given that
the PTA defines VAS as “enhanced
services,” the definition provided in the
implementing rules may likewise be
applied to VAS. Still, the language of
the implementing rules is unnecessarily
confusing. Much trouble would have
been spared had the NTC consistently
used the term “VAS” as it is used in
the PTA.
The definition of “enhanced services”
in the implementing rules, while more
distinct than that under the PTA, is still
too sweeping. Rather than enumerating
what possible features could be
classified as VAS or enhanced services,
the rules instead focus on the
characteristics of these features. The
use of the phrase “the like,” and its
implications of analogy, presumes that
a whole myriad of technologies can
eventually be subsumed under the
definition of “enhanced services.” The
NTC should not be necessarily faulted
for such indistinct formulation since it
could not have known in 1995 hat
possible VAS would be available in the
future. The definition laid down in the
implementing rules may validly serve
as a guide for the NTC to determine
what emergent offerings would fall
under VAS.
Still, owing to the general nature of
the definition laid down in the
implementing rules, the expectation
arises that the NTC would promulgate
further issuances defining whether or
not a specific feature newly available
in the market is a VAS. Such expectation
is especially demanded if the NTC is
to penalize PTEs who fail to obtain prior
approval in accordance with Section
11 of the PTA. But the SC noted that
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
the NTC has yet to come out with an
administrative rule or regulation listing
which of the offerings in the market
today fall under VAS or “enhanced
services.”
Still, there is NTC MC No. 14-11-97,
entitled “Deregulating the Provision of
Special Features in the Telephone
Network.” Globe invokes this circular
as it had been previously cited by the
NTC as applicable to SMS.
An examination of MC No. 14-11-97
further highlights the state of regulatory
confusion befalling the NTC. Under the
said circular, the NTC deregulated the
provision of special features inherent
to the telephone network. Special
features shall refer to a feature inherent
to the telephone network which may
not be ordinarily provided by a
telephone service provider such as call
waiting, call forwarding, conference
calling, speed dialing, caller ID,
malicious call ID, call transfer, charging
information, call pick-up, call barring,
recorded announcement, no double
connect, warm line, wake-up call,
hotline, voicemail, and special features
offered to customers with PABXs such
as direct inward dialing and number
hunting, and the like; provided that in
the provision of the feature, no law,
rule, regulation or international
convention on telecommunications is
circumvented or violated.& nbsp;
Is SMS a VAS, “enhanced service,” or
a “special feature”? The SC noted that
even the NTC is unsure. It had told
Islacom that SMS was a “special
feature,” then subsequently held that
it was a “VAS.” More significantly, NTC
never required Islacom to apply for
prior approval in order to provide SMS,
even after the order to that effect was
promulgated against Globe and Smart.
This inaction, the Court held, indicates
a lack of seriousness on the part of the
NTC to implement its own rulings. Also,
it tends to indicate the lack of belief or
confusion on NTC’s part as to how SMS
should be treated. Given the abstract
set of rules the NTC has chosen to
implement, this should come as no
25
 surprise. Yet no matter how content the
NTC may be with its attitude of sloth
towards regulation, the effect may
prove ruinous to the sector it regulates.
In short, the legal basis invoked by NTC
in claiming that SMS is VAS has not
been duly established. The fault falls
squarely on NTC. With the dual
classification of SMS as a special
feature and a VAS and the varying
rules pertinent to each classification,
NTC has unnecessarily complicated the
regulatory framework to the detriment
of the industry and the consumers. But
does that translate to a finding that the
NTC Order subjecting Globe to prior
approval is void? There is a fine line
between professional mediocrity and
illegality. NTC’s byzantine approach to
SMS regulation is certainly inefficient.
Unfortunately for NTC, its actions have
also transgressed due process in many
ways.
The very rationale adopted by the NTC
in its order holding that SMS is VAS is
short and shoddy. Astoundingly, the
Court of Appeals affirmed the rationale
bereft of intelligent inquiry, much less
comment, the High Tribunal
emphasized.
The Court said that it usually accords
great respect to the technical findings
of administrative agencies in the fields
of their expertise, even if they are
infelicitously worded. However, the
above-quoted “finding” is nothing
more than bare assertions,
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
unsupported by substantial evidence.
The order that no deep inquiry was
made as to the nature of SMS or what
its provisioning entails. In fact, the Court
LEXICON
(This will be a regular section to acquaint law practitioners, students and researchers on legal
terms in IT law preferably from the Philippine context).
“Certificate” means an electronic
document issued to support a digital
signature which purports to confirm the
identity or other significant
characteristics of the person who holds
a particular key pair.(Section 1[c], Rule
2, Rules on Electronic Evidence)
26
is unable to find how exactly does SMS
“fits into a nicety” with NTC M.C. No.
8-9-95, which defines “enhanced
services” as analogous to “format,
media conversion, encryption,
enhanced security features, computer
processing, and the like.” The NTC
merely notes that SMS involves the
“transmission of data over [the]
CMTS,” a phraseology that evinces no
causal relation to the definition in M.C.
No. 8-9-95. Neither did the NTC
endeavor to explain why the
“transmission of data” necessarily
classifies SMS as a VAS.
In fact, if “the transmission of data over
MTS” is to be reckoned as the
determinative characteristic of SMS, it
would seem that this is already
sufficiently covered by Globe and
Smart’s respective legislative
franchises. Smart is authorized under
its legislative franchise to establish and
operate integrated
telecommunications/computer/
electronic services for public domestic
and international communications,
while Globe is empowered to establish
and operate domestic
telecommunications, and stations for
transmission and reception of
messages by means of electricity,
electromagnetic waves or any kind of
energy, force, variations or impulses,
whether conveyed by wires, radiated
through space or transmitted through
other media and for the handling of
any and all types of
telecommunications services.
It is clear that before NTC could
penalize Globe and Smart for
OF CYBERLAW TERMINOLOGY
“Digital Signature” refers to an
electronic signature consisting of a
transformation of an electronic
document or an electronic data
message using an asymmetric or
public cryptosystem such that a person
having the initial untransformed
electronic document and the signer’s
unauthorized provision of SMS, it must
first establish that SMS is VAS.
Thus, the order effectively
discriminatory and arbitrary as it is, was
issued with grave abuse of discretion
and it must be set aside. NTC may
not legally require Globe to secure its
approval for Globe to continue
providing SMS. This does not imply
though that NTC lacks authority to
regulate SMS or to classify it as VAS.
However, the move should be
implemented properly, through
unequivocal regulations applicable to
all entities that are similarly situated,
and in an even-handed manner.
The SC however emphasized that the
NTC will continue to exercise, by way
of its broad grant, jurisdiction over
Globe and Smart’s SMS offerings,
including questions of rates and
customer complaints. Yet caution must
be had. Much complication could have
been avoided had the NTC adopted a
proactive position, promulgating the
necessary rules and regulations to cope
up with the advent of the technologies
it superintends. With the persistent
advent of new offerings in the
telecommunications industry, the NTC’s
role will become more crucial than at
any time before. If NTC’s behavior in
the present case is but indicative of a
malaise pervading this crucial
regulatory arm of the State, the Court
fears the resultant confusion within the
industry and the consuming public. The
credibility of an administrative agency
entrusted with specialized fields subsists
not on judicial doctr ine alone, but
more so on its intellectual strength,
adherence to law, and basic fairness.
public key can accurately determine:
(i) whether the transformation was
created using the private key that
corresponds to the signer’s public key;
and (ii) whether the initial electronic
document had been altered after the
transformation was made. (Section
1[e], Rule 2, Rules on Electronic
Evidence)
>> [64] Lexicon of Cyberlaw Terminology

METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS, INC., ET. AL. VS. GROKSTER LTR.
AND SHERMAN NETWORKS LTD.
(This section will be a regular feature of the
journal to highlight significant cases decided
in the Philippines and in foreign jurisdictions
relating to information technology)
by Jhonelle S. Estrada
Facts: The plaintiffs in these
consolidated cases (copyright owners)
are songwriters, music publishers, and
motion picture studios or those ‘who
own or control the vast majority of
copyrighted motion pictures and sound
recordings in the United States.’
Defendants Grokster Ltd. and
Streamcast Networks, Inc., on the
otherhand are ‘software distributors.’
They are the companies that freely
distribute software that allow users to
share computer files with each other,
including digitized music and motion
pictures. Plaintiffs alleged that over
90 percent of the files exchanged
through use of the ‘peer to peer’ file-
sharing software offered by the
software distributors involve
copyrighted material, 70 percent of
which is owned by the copyright
owners. They contend that defendants
are liable for vicarious and contributory
copyright infringement, and that they
are entitled to monetary and injunctive
relief.
Defendants initially used the fast track
technology. But since StreamCast had
a licensing dispute with KaZaa, it now
uses its own branded ‘Morpheus’
version of the open-source Gnutella
code. StreamCast users connect to
other users of Gnutella-based peer-
to-peer file-sharing software.
Grokster and Streamcast both distribute
their software free of charge. Once
downloaded onto a user’s computer,
the software enables the user to
participate in the respective peer-to-
peer file-sharing networks over the
internet. The users of the software
Jurisprudence in CyberLaw
CV-01-08541-SVW (United States)
share digital audio, video, picture, and
text files. Some of the files are
copyrighted and shared without
authorization, others are not
copyrighted (such as public domain
works), and still others are copyrighted,
but the copyright owners have
authorized software users in peer-to
peer file-sharing networks to distribute
their work.
Plaintiffs claim that majority of the
information was exchanged in violation
of copyright law. The district court
ruled in favor of the defendants by
stating that such activities do give rise
to liability under the theory of
contributory copyright infringement
and vicarious copyright infringement
Issue: Whether or not the distributors
of peer-to-peer file-sharing computer
networking software may be held
contributorily or vicariously liable for
copyright infringement of the software
users.
Held: The decision of the district court
was affirmed.
A. Contributory Copyright
Infringement
The three elements required to prove
a defendant liable under the theory of
contributory copyright infringement
are: (1) direct infringement by a
primary infringer; (2) knowledge of
the infringement,;and (3) material
contribution to the infringement.
The element of direct infringement is
present in this case.
As regards to knowledge of
infringement, in order to analyze its
required element, the level of
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
knowledge required must be
determined. If the product at issue is
not capable of substantial or
commercially significant non-infringing
uses, then the copyright owner need
only show that the defendant had
constructive knowledge of the
infringement. In this case, the district
court found it undisputed that the
software distributed by each defendant
was capable of substantial
noninfringing uses. A careful scrutiny
of the record indicates that there was
no genuine issue of material fact as to
non-infringing use. Indeed, the
software distributors submitted
numerous declarations by persons who
permit their work to be distributed via
the software, or who use the software
to distribute public domain works. In
the case at bar, the software distributors
have not only shown that their products
are capable of substantial noninfringing
uses, but that the uses have commercial
viability. On the other hand, if the
product at issue is capable of
substantial or commercially significant
noninfringing uses, then the copyright
owner must demonstrate that the
defendant had reasonable knowledge
of specific infringing files and failed to
act on that knowledge to prevent
infringement. In this case, the software
design is of great import. Under both
StreamCast’s decentralized, Gnutella-
type network and Grokster’s quasi-
decentralized, supernode, KaZaa-type
network, no central index is
maintained. Indeed, at present, neither
StreamCast nor Grokster maintain
control over index files. And, as the
district court observed, even if the
software distributors ‘closed their doors
and deactivated all computers within
their control, users of their products
could continue sharing files with little
or no interruption.’
>> [64] Goldwyn case
27
 Featured Article

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON CYBERSE

YBERSE X, AUDI
SEX O-VISU
UDIO AL SEX SCANDALS, AND CHILD
ISUAL
PRONOGRAPHY: PROSECUTION UNDER EXISTING PHILIPPINE LAWS, AND
OTHER PROPOSALS AS A FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE LEGISLATION
by Ailyn L. Cortez, Carlyn Marie Bernadette C. Ocampo-Guerrero,
Michael Vernon M. Guerrero, and Reynaldo M. Pijo

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Part I. Understanding 1. Cyberporn / Non- III. MMS Clips 38
Pornography and an Overview Streaming Internet
of the Technology Available Pornography 31 IV. Child Pornography 39
Today a. BBS 31 A. Overseas Prosecution 40
b. WWW 31 B. Local Prosecution 41
I. Pornography vis-à-vis c. Usenet 32
Obscenity 28 d IRC 32 Part III.
A. Pornography 28 e. Peer-to-Peer 3 2 Prosecuting the Offenses 41
B. Obscenity 29 2. Cybersex / Streaming
Internet I. Criminal Law 41
II. Pornography vis-à-vis Prostitution; Pornography 32 1. In General 41
History of Pornography 29 B. Pornography in Optical 2. Cybersex and Child
Devices / VCD-DVD 32 pornography 42
III. Technology aiding the storage C. Pornography in Mobile A. Act 3815 42
and transmission of Phones / MMS Clips 32 B. RA 9208 42
pornography 29 D. Child Pornography in any C. RA 7610 45
A. Traditional media 29 medium 33 3. Sex Scandal optical discs and
B. Modern Media 30 sexually-explicit MMS clips 4 5
1. Storage devices V. National attitude on
used 30 pornography 34 II. Civil Damages 46
2. Consumer devices
used 30 VI. Offenses instrumental and III. Evidence 46
3. Non-physical transfer incidental to pornography 3 4
methods used 30 1. Sex Tourism 34 IV. Miscellaneous: Convention
a. Electronic 30 2. Sexual Exploitation and and Treaty obligations 48
b. Radio waves 3 0 Child Sexual Abuse 35
c. Infrared Radiation Part IV. Proposals 48
(IR) data Part II. The Philippine Experience
transmission 3 1 I. Cybersex 48
4. File formats used 31 I. Cybersex 35
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1

A. Organized 35 II. Sex Scandals and lewd

IV. Digital Pornography 31 B. Unorganized 37 MMS clips 49
A. Pornography in the
Internet 31 II. Sex Scandals 37 III. Child Pornography 49
I
U NDERSTANDING P ORNOGRAPHY AND AN O VERVIEW OF THE T ECHNOLOGY A VAILABLE T ODAY

I. Pornography vis-à-vis
Obscenity
A. Pornography
Pornography is the depiction of erotic
behavior intended to cause sexual
excitement. 1 It is “the sexually explicit
depiction of persons, in words or
images, created with the primary,
proximate aim, and reasonable hope,
of eliciting significant sexual arousal
on the part of the consumer of such
materials.” 2 In legal parlance,
pornography “refers to any
representation, through publication,
exhibition, cinematography, indecent
shows, information technology, or by
whatever means, of a person engaged
in real or simulated explicit sexual
activities or any representation of the
sexual parts of a person for primarily
sexual purposes.”3 The 1986 Attorney
General Commission on Pornography
of the United States defined it as
material that “is predominantly sexually
explicit and intended primarily for the

28

purpose of sexual arousal.” 4
Soft-core pornography features naked
or scantily clothed persons, focusing
mainly on their breasts and genitalia
but shows no sexual intercourse. Hard-
core pornography includes various
forms of sexual penetration, forced and
unforced, between two or more
people. 5 Hard core pornography is
said to be “sexually explicit in the
extreme, and devoid of any other
apparent content or purpose.” 6
B. Obscenity
Obscenity, on the other hand, is “such
indecency as is calculated to promote
the violation of the law and the general
corruption of morals.” 7 The current
legal definition of obscenity is found in
the 1973 US Supreme Court case of
Miller v. California, 8 cited in the
Philippine Supreme Court case of Pita
vs. Court of Appeals. 9 According to
the Miller case, material is obscene if
all three of the following conditions are
met:
1. The average person, applying
contemporary community
standards, would find that the
work, taken as a whole, appeals
to the prurient interests.
2. The work depicts or describes, in
a patently offensive way, sexual
conduct specifically defined by the
applicable state (or federal) law,
and
3. The work taken as a whole, lacks
serious, artistic, political or scientific
value 10 .
The US Supreme Court ruled in the
Miller case, which was adopted by the
Philippine Supreme Court in the Pita
case, that a legal definition of obscenity
must meet the three-part test. It must
be determined, “(1) whether the
predominant theme or purpose of the
material, when viewed as a whole and
not part by part, and when considered
in relation to the intended and
probable recipients, is an appeal to the
prurient interest of the average person
of the community as a whole, or the
prurient interest of members of a
deviant sexual group, as the case may
be”; (2) whether the given material
“depicts or describes, in a patently
offensive way, sexual conduct – e.g.
ultimate sexual acts, normal or
perverted, actual or simulated;
masturbation; excretory functions; or
lewd exhibition of the genitals –
measured against contemporary
community standards; i.e whether it so
exceeds the generally accepted limits
of candor as to be clearly offensive”;
and (3) “whether the material, taken
as a whole, lacks serious literary,
artistic, political or scientific value.” 11
If it appeals, thus, to the prurient
interest, is patently offensive, and lacks
serious value (artistically, etc.) then the
material is considered obscene and is
illegal.
II. Pornography vis-à-vis
Prostitution; History of
Pornography
Prostitution – that is, “the practice of
engaging in sexual activity, usually with
individuals other than a spouse or
friend, in exchange for immediate
payment in money or other valuables”
12
, or in legal parlance, “any act,
transaction, scheme or design
involving the use of a person by
another, for sexual intercourse or
lascivious conduct in exchange for
money, profit or any other
consideration”13 – has existed since
time immemorial. Prostitution and
pornography are intertwined inasmuch
as pornography originally signified any
artwork or literature depicting the life
of prostitutes. Today, pornography
includes erotic and sexually explicit
imagery of ordinary persons, who may
even be unaware that they are
presented to the public in such a
manner. Pornography has grown
increasingly as a necessary offshoot
of prostitution, in light of the increasing
supply of cheap image capturing
devices.
Pornography has existed for centuries,
although imagery and literature of such
nature were not seen to be worthy of
preservation or transmission. Rare
images surviving to the present are
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
hand-drawn graphics originating from
India and Japan. 14 Some literature
which survived – although such are
being argued to be artistic and not
pornographic, depending on the
community standard being applied –
includes the Indian “Kama-Sutra” and
the Greek treatise “The Art of Love”
by Ovid, among others. With the
advent of printing in 1452,
pornography, existing in the fringes of
legitimate publishing, proliferated to
entertain as well as to arouse. The
development of photography in 1827,
through the individual efforts of Joseph
Nicéphore Niépce and Louis Jacques
Mandé Daguerre, 15 and the
development of moving pictures in
1867, through the individual efforts
of William Lincoln, Louis Lumière, and
the Edison Brothers, 16 although not
intended, contributed to the
proliferation of pornography, as did the
Internet, which grew out of the U.S.
Defense Department program called
ARPANET (Advanced Research
Projects Agency Network) established
in 1969.
III. Technology aiding the
storage and transmission of
pornography
Pornography exists in different media.
Explicit images and image sequence
may be stored in tangible and
electronic forms.
A. Traditional media
Pornography in tangible or traditional
media may be subcategorized as those
printed in paper or other surface
materials, and those captured in film.
Those printed in paper includes
photographs – either studio processed
or polaroids 17 – besides usual
pornographic publications. Those
stored in film includes those stored in
television and theatrical/cinema-grade
films, such as the Super 16 (16mm)
and the 35mm, respectively; film
positives or slides; outmoded media
such as Super 8 (8mm), 18 Betamax,19
VHS, 20 and Compact VHS, 21 among
others. Storage in these media, i.e.
printed or in film, may be bulky, and
29
 the cost of production and distribution
is average to high. The potency of
distribution is also limited.
B. Modern Media
Pornography in electronic or modern
media, on the other hand, may be
subcategorized – although said media
are identically binary 22 – according
(1) to the class of storage device used,
(2) to the class of consumer electronics
used, or (3) to the multimedia format
used.
23
1. Storage devices used
Electronic documents, especially
multimedia files, may be stored in disk
storage,24 magnetic bubble memory,
25
and flash memory 26 /memory card
27
or the solid-state semiconductor
memory type. Disk storage may be
classified further as optical disc 28 –
which comes in various formats: CD-
ROM, (through CD-R and CD-RW
media, i.e. writeable and rewriteable,
respectively),29 DVD (through DVD-R,
DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-
RAM media), 30 Blu-ray, 31 and
Minidisc 32 – magnetic (or hard discs),
33
removable magnetic such as floppy
34
and zip discs,35 and holographic.
36
Flash memory or memory cards are
available through different
manufacturers as CompactFlash I and
II,37 SONY Memory stick (Standard/
Duo/Pro/MagicGate versions), 38
Secure Digital, 39 MMC, 40
41 42
SmartMedia, xD, or USB
Keydrive43 a.k.a. Thumb drive. Most
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
multimedia files are stored in hard
discs, optical discs, removable
magnetic discs, and flash memory or
memory cards. Physical distribution
and transport of digital multimedia files
are usually made using optical discs
and flash memory or memory cards.
2. Consumer devices used
Storage of multimedia files is not
isolated to computers, where data
storage devices are widely used,
whether desktop or portable (laptop or
palmtop 44 ). Multimedia files are also
presently stored in Multimedia
30
Messaging System (MMS)45 -enabled
mobile telephones,46 digital audio
players 47 (DAP, sometimes also
recorder), digital cameras and
camcorders, digital recorders, 48
among other digital devices available
in the market. Transmission of such
multimedia files is a function no longer
in the exclusive realm of computers.
The ways to transfer multimedia files
increase exponentially as new classes
of digital devices are introduced in the
market.
3. Non-physical transfer
methods used
Multimedia files may be transferred
from one computer to another, directly,
through cables, radio, infrared, and
other analogous means. Such files
may be transferred through
intermediary storage devices, such as
optical discs, memory cards, and
removable magnetic discs.
a. Electronic
Multimedia files may be transferred
electronically through wires and
cables. Earlier methods of connecting
computers include parallel-to-parallel
port cabling (for one-to-one
connection) and Bayonet Neill-
Concelman (BNC)49 cabling (for Local
Area Network [LAN]) 50 which are now
passé, due to availability of cheaper
computers and computer network
peripherals such as hubs 51 and
routers. 52 Current connections
between computers are normally done
through USB-to-USB53 port link, and
LAN connections using RJ45
(Registered Jack 45) jacks and cables.
One LAN can be connected to other
LANs, or one remote computer can
be connected to one LAN, or one
remote computer can be connected
to another remote computer, over any
distance via telephone lines and radio
waves. 54 Multimedia files are
transferred in an Intranet55 through the
use of shared folders in individual
computers or allocated user folders in
the file server. Similar files have been
transferred from one remote
computer to another, prior to and
simultaneous to the widespread use of
the Internet, through Bulletin Board
Service (BBS).56
When a computer, or the LAN, is
connected to the Internet, various
methods may be utilized to transfer and
retrieved multimedia files on the
Internet or another peer’s computer.
Different protocols may be used, such
as HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
57
where the World Wide Web58 is
seen; Post Office Protocol version 3
(POP3) 59 or Internet Message Access
Protocol (IMAP),60 and Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (SMTP) 61 where
email is received and sent, and File
Transfer Protocol (FTP) 62 where large
files may be sent to an online
repository or an allocated user folder
in a destination server, Discussion
boards or Usenet,63 among others.
Multimedia files may be transferred
from one computer user to another
through Internet Relay Chat (IRC),64
or through Instant Messaging.65 Said
files may be transferred by
simultaneously connected computer
users using peer-to-peer66 software,
such as Kazaa, eDonkey, GNUtella,
and the like.
b. Radio waves
Wireless LAN (WLAN) uses radio
waves as its carrier, although the
network backbone remains to be
supported by wires and cables. Apple
Macintosh computers use the
pioneering WLAN product called
AirPort. 67 Apple and most Wi-Fi
(Wireless Fidelity) device
manufacturers follow IEEE 802.11 68
WLAN standard, while a few follow the
HomeRF 69 standard (2 Mbit/s,
intended for home use). “Wired” LAN
is preferred with desktop computers,
while WLAN/Wi-Fi is preferred with
mobile computers whether laptop or
personal digital assistant (PDA). WLAN
is more vulnerable to security breaches
because it enables any person with a
wireless-enabled computer or PDA to
connect to the network, else the
Internet, when in proximity of an
access point called a hotspot, if not
properly configured.

On the other hand, Bluetooth 70
provides a way to connect and
exchange information between devices
like personal digital assistants (PDAs),
mobile phones, laptops, personal
computers, printers and digital
cameras via a secure, low-cost,
globally available short range radio
frequency, as long as they are within
10 metres or 32 feet of each other.71
Bluetooth may be considered as
wireless USB, contradistinguished with
Wi-Fi, which may be considered as
wireless Ethernet.72 Bluetooth does not
use any telecommunication network
resources when files are transferred
from one computer or any other
device to a mobile phone, or vice versa,
or from one mobile phone to another.
Only when the mobile phone user/
subscriber utilizes the phone
company’s MMS service does he use
telecommunication network resources
for the transfer of the multimedia
material to another mobile phone
subscriber.
c. Infrared Radiation (IR) data
transmission 73
The use of infrared for data transfer
was common between portable
computers (laptops) and mobile
phones, among others, prior to the
popularity and affordability of Bluetooth
and subsequent to the use of serial
connections between the two (2)
devices. Normally, the portable
computer recognizes the mobile phone
device as another computer connected
to it. Integrity of connection, however,
was a drawback to this kind of
technology.
4. File formats used
Multimedia files come in different file
formats, and may be subcategorized
as pictures, video, and audio. Pictures
are usually in JPEG,74 GIF,75 and
BMP76 formats, but may also be in
PNG77 and any other format. Videos
are usually in AVI,78 MPEG,79 WMV,80
and RM81 formats. On the other hand,
audio or sound clips are usually in
MP3, 82 WAV,83 WMA,84 and RA85
formats.
IV. Digital Pornography
A. Pornography in the Internet
The Internet has been called the
network of networks. Over 9,400,000
host computers are linked worldwide
of which 60% are estimated to be in
the United States. It is further estimated
that over 40 million people access the
Internet around the world and that
figure grew to 200 million in 1999.
All Internet users have the ability to
communicate with one another through
various forums such as email, news
groups, and information posted on the
World Wide Web. Once material has
been placed on the Internet, it is
available to all other Internet users
worldwide and cannot be prevented
from entering any community 86 .
1. Cyberporn / Non-Streaming
Internet Pornography
With sex being indulged in more freely
these days, it is not surprising that
pornography, in a similar trend,
becomes highly available in various
media, especially Internet-connected
personal computers. This trend is
imminent inasmuch as the Internet has
become a vast myriad of
interconnected channels that provides
man with a gateway to the world. In a
relatively short time, the Internet’s
impact and influence on people’s daily
lives is immeasurable. There are
elements or enclaves within it that have
grown to become sources of
consternation within the society. Among
them is the pervasive availability of
pornography or more commonly
known Cyberporn. Cyberporn has
been the most controversial topic
arising from the use of the Internet in
recent years and for years to come.
Cyberporn includes hardcore pictures
and movies made available online.
Sexually explicit images can be found
on web pages (World Wide Web
[WWW]) and in news groups (Usenet),
and are far too easy for anyone of
any age to view. Even live sex acts can
be viewed by virtually anyone through
the Internet, through web-cameras on
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
online chat (Internet Relay Chat [IRC]).
Explicit contents may also be
transmitted through online messengers
– such as Windows Messenger, Yahoo
Messenger, and ICQ, among others –
or through peer-to-peer (P2P)
programs – such as Kazaa, among
others. What was only available to a
small number of people willing to drive
to the bad side of town can now be
viewed at any time in the privacy of
one’s home.87
In a case conducted by Carnegie
Mellon, entitled Marketing
Pornography on the Information
Superhighway, 88 the researchers
therein pulled together elaborate
computer records of online activity, and
found out that “during their 18- month
study, Carnegie Mellon researchers
found 917,410 sexually explicit
pictures, descriptions, stories, and clips.
On the Usenet newsgroups where
these digitized images are stored, they
found that 83.5% of the pictures were
pornographic.” 89 They found
individual consumers in at least 2000
cities, in all 50 states, and in 40
countries around the world; and found
out that 98.9% of the consumers of
porn are men, although women do
participate in “chat” rooms and other
bulletin boards. 90
a. Through Bulletin Board
Systems (BBS)
Nearly three fourths (71%) of the
sexually explicit images surveyed
originate from adult BBS attempting to
lure customers to additional collections
of cyberporn. There they can charge
monthly fees and take credit card
numbers for individual images. The
five largest adult BBS systems have
annual revenues in excess of $1
million. 91
b. Through World Wide Web
(WWW)
Cyberporn is largely available through
the World Wide Web (WWW) pages.
These range from pictures, short
animated movies, short and full actual
movies, to sound files and stories.
31
 Most premium adult WWW sites
require proof of age and payment by
credit card to access their materials.
92
Marketing webmasters for premium
adult websites, however, provide
samplings of adult materials in
unsecured webpages – i.e. without age
verification through credit card check
– in their individual Thumbnail Gallery
Posts (TGPs).
c. Through Usenet
There are more than 14,000 Usenet
discussion groups all around the world
but only around 200 groups are sex
related, and some of these relate to
serious and legitimate discussions,
such as about homosexuality or sexual
abuse. Still, sexually explicit forums are
the most popular areas on computer
online services. At one university, 13
of the 40 most frequently visited news
groups had names like alt.sex.stories,
rec.arts.erotica, and alt.sex.bondage.
93
d. Through Internet Relay Chat
(IRC)
The Internet, through Internet Relay
Chat (IRC) and online messaging,
makes it possible to discuss sex, see
live sex acts, and arrange sexual
activities from computer screens. Users
therein may exchange messages and
files in small groups or in private
channels Like the Usenet discussion
groups a small fraction of the IRC
channels are dedicated to sex..
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
e. Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
This method of file sharing allows
every individual running a peer-to-
peer client or program to acquire
sought multimedia files simultaneously
and in fragments from different users,
and share his own media without
having the technical knowledge that
would have been required in the older
client-server model. Although
copyrighted and adult materials are not
allowed to be transmitted in peer-to-
peer networks, according to the End-
User License Agreements that comes
with the software used as peer-to-peer
32
thirty
clients, most users do not abide by the
stipulation that prohibit such
transmission.
2. Cybersex / Streaming
Internet Pornography
Cyber sex, in its shortest and most
explicit definition is, a combination of
communication and masturbation. It is
a selfish gratification of one’s sexual
desires while sharing one’s most
intimate thoughts and fantasies with
someone else. It is nearly identical to
phone sex, the only difference being
the method of communication. As
computer networks become ever more
sophisticated and voice chat more
common, even this distinction fades.
The newest problem comes in the form
of video conferencing, which adds
visual images making the activity even
more addictive 94 .
Cyber sexual activity takes many
forms. One might download explicit
pictures, or explicit stories. One might
partake in the exchange of racy,
sexually suggestive e-mails. One might
view sexually arousing videos which
open up and play on one’s computer
screen, which may be either pre-
recorded or live. Webcams, cameras
interfaced with a computer so that one
might broadcasts live streaming images
of oneself, are increasingly common
in the use of cybersexual activity. Chat
rooms, whether general or private, are
as popular as ever and might often
lead to masturbation, cybersex, phone
sex, or actual meetings in the flesh95 .
Indeed, cybersex is a phenomenon
that is neither receding nor going away
by any stretch of the imagination.
Cybersex is a growing phenomenon,
with an all too rich and vibrant future.
B. Pornography in Optical
Devices / VCD-DVD
The popularity and the adaptation of
compact discs (CD-ROM) and digital
versatile discs (DVD), as media for
films and data storage, marked the
demise of tape videos – such as those
stored in Betamax and VHS – as media
suitable for such content. The marked
decrease in the price of CDs and DVDs
allow the proliferation of contraband
films, whether pirated Hollywood and
Filipino movies or sexually-explicit X-
rated movies whether foreign or
Filipino. With pornography in VCDs
fetching a price of mere twenty (PhP
20) pesos to fifty (PhP 50) pesos, it is
not uncommon that porn purchasers
would gravitate towards genre fixation
or towards pursuing novel themes,
some actively pursuing extreme
perversions while others passively
pursuing voyeurism or psuedo-
voyeurism, a genre that would include
the various sex scandal videos peddled
nowadays.
C. Pornography in Mobile
Phones / MMS Clips
As mobile phones are slowly being
transformed into converged
communication devices with
capabilities similar to computers,
contents normally prevalent in the
Internet and in personal computers shift
venue to mobile phones. The ease of
converting ordinary pictures and
movies in their original formats as
MMS content likewise aid to the
immediate shift of computer content
to mobile phones. Further, the
capability of mobile phones to access
the Internet directly allows download
of Internet content into the phone itself.
Other services such as messaging and
chatting, which may altogether swerve
towards adult context, or if not towards
solicitation, as practiced in the Internet
can find a sizeable niche in the mobile
phone market.
The problem does not stop with the
conversion of Internet/computer
content into MMS content but
aggravates with instances of production
of new content, using the built-in
camera of more advanced mobile
phones. It is thus easier to capture a
sexual pose or act, with or without the
subject(s)’ consent, by a click of a
button. The mobile phone may also
be used to capture images of prank
sensual images known as upskirting
and/or downblousing of anonymous

persons in public places. Inasmuch as
mobile phones are considered as
indispensable accessory to most users,
such phones can be easily taken in
places where various stages of
undressing is permitted, such as in
disco-bars, pool areas, beaches, and
spas; where images of a sinister context
may be easily taken, if the
management of such venues do not
implement strict measures or
parameters as to the use of such
devices in said premises.
D. Child Pornography in any
medium
The Optional Protocol on the Sale of
Children, Child prostitution and Child
pornography defines “child
pornography” as any representation
of a child engaged in real or simulated
explicit sexual activities or of the sexual
parts of a child for primarily sexual
purposes. Child pornography is a
visual recording of a crime being
committed and the children who
appear in such pictures are, at the time
the picture is being taken, subjected to
degrading, abusive and humiliating
acts of a criminal nature. 96
Although it is clear that sexually explicit
poses or acts of children, below the
usually accepted 18-year minimum
age threshold, are considered largely
as child porn, what altogether
constitutes child pornography remains
under debate. It is unclear whether
photographs of naked children would
ipso facto be considered as child
pornography. It is unclear whether the
child’s genitals require to be exposed
before images may be considered as
such. It is likewise unclear whether only
images and movies may be only form
of child pornography, or whether it
includes sounds and texts as well.
Further, it is unclear whether child
nudity, which is imbued with artistic
merit, would not be exempted from
such class of pornography.
Furthermore, it is unclear whether
simulated child pornography –
whether due to the convincing
appearance of non-underage females
to appear as if under 18, or whether
the image is completely computer-
generated without visual input taken
from an actual child – is included also.
The issue as to child pornography
becomes further muddled on the
definition of a child, in light of the
varying age of consent in countries,
such as the United Kingdom (16) and
Japan (13). Unless a national law
makes clear definitions and
delineations, what constitutes child
pornography would be varied
according to various perceptions,
different standards of morality, and
unclear application in light of
territoriality issues in International law.
In fact, various countries have different
interpretation as to what constitutes
child pornography. In the United
States, child pornography is defined
as visual depiction of minors engaged
in a sex act – such as intercourse, oral
sex, or masturbation as well as the
lascivious depictions of the genitals,
which do not require the genitals to be
uncovered. 97 Federal and state laws
differ whether mere nudity involving
minors comes under the definition of
child porn, or if it would necessarily
qualifies as obscene. Prohibitions
against simulated child pornography
have been found to be unconstitutional
in the United States – unlike in the
United Kingdom, Germany and the
Netherlands – for being overbroad.
98
In Canada, material that shows
someone who is or is “depicted as
being” under 18, and is engaged or
“depicted as engaged” in explicit
sexual activity, is classified as “child
pornography”. Materials judged to
have “artistic merit,” however, are
excluded. On the other hand, a written
text that advocates or counsels sex with
a child is also included. In Germany,
the definition does not differ from that
of conventional pornography. Sound
and text can also be considered
pornography. In the United Kingdom,
a “child pornography” image is an
“indecent photograph of a child”; there
is no specific requirement of sexual
content, as nudity is sufficient for an
image to be indecent. In Japan, child
erotica 99 only became illegal in 1999
following the country’s passing of its
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Protecting Children Online law 100
The degree of gravity, or hardness, of
child pornography ranges from
“0. Clothed or portrait.
“1. Naked, but not posed.
Many of these were nudist-
type photographs. The
children in these
photographs gave no sign
of being aware of the
camera and were usually
depicted engaged in other
activities such as swimming
or playing ping pong, etc.
“2. Naked and posing. The
children here were looking
at the camera or had
adopted a self conscious
pose.
“3. Naked with genital contact
or contact with another
body. These included
photographs where a hand
was in contact with the
genitals, and photographs
showing naked children
hugging or kissing each
other.
“4. Oral contact with sex
organs.
“5. Penetration, either anal or
vaginal.
“6. Bizarre. This last category
contained material with a
sadomasochistic character,
urine sex, and photographs
on which objects were
introduced into the body
orifices.” 101
For obvious underage girls, levels 2
to 6 are manifest instances where child
pornography exists. Level 1 provides
the gray area on the debate whether
such nudist-type photographs would
constitute child porn. The inclusion of
Level 0 as a degree of gravity of child
pornography in itself is debatable, as
some proponents distinguish between
33
 child pornography and prêt art. Pret
Art (Pre-teen Art) or Lolita Art is an
erotic form of art, in which clothed
adolescent or pre-pubescent girls pose
for photos or videos. 102 The fact that
models in Pret Art are not nude and
the poses are not overtly sexual or
otherwise harmful provides a fertile
ground for debate whether Pret Art
itself encourages pedophilia or
whether it only depicts attractive minors
similar to mainstream entertainment.
Experts cite several reasons why
individuals collect child pornography.
These are:
“1. Arousal and gratification:
Individuals use
pornography to stimulate
their sexual drive and to
aid in sexual stimulation.
Some may only fantasise
and others may use it as a
prelude to actual sexual
activity with minors.
“2. Validation and justification
of paedophile behaviour:
The paedophile uses
pornography to convince
him/her self that their
behaviour or obsession is
not abnormal, but is shared
by thousand of other
sensitive, intelligent and
caring people.
“3. To lower a child’s
inhibitions: Child abusers
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
use pictures of other
children having sex to assist
in the seduction of a child
and encourage reluctant
children to freely
participate. Images are
often used as a way to
show a child what the
offender wants the child
victim to do. Pornography
may be used under the
guise of “sex education” to
create sexual arousal in the
child.
“4. Preservation of the child’s
youth: Child pornography
34
ensures that there will
always be an image of the
child at the age of sexual
preference.
“5. Blackmail: Sexually explicit
images are used to ensure
the lifelong silence of the
victimised child by
threatening to show the
pictures to parents, peers
or others. Child victims will
not always report pictorial
records—even if they
report sexual abuse—
because they may be
ashamed of what
happened to them as well
as of their participation in
the pornography.
“6. A medium of exchange:
Child pornography is used
as a means of establishing
trust and camaraderie with
other paedophiles and
molesters and as proof of
their good intentions when
establishing contact with
other exploiters. It is a
medium of communication
with fellow exploiters in
public and private sex
markets.
“7. Access: Some exploiters
exchange pornography to
gain access to other
markets and to other
children.
“8. Profit: Although most do
not sell child pornography,
there are some
paedophiles and child
molesters who sell home-
made videos and photos
on a one-to-one basis.
Some child exploiters sell
their self-produced
materials to finance trips
overseas to popular sex
tourist destinations. 103
V. National attitude on
pornography
The attitudes of various nationalities
vary on the issue of pornography.
Western countries have relaxed
restrictions on pornography. The
sanctity of the freedoms of speech and
information in the United States, for
one, appear to be paramount, and
thus the Courts therein finds censorship
a greater threat than pornography. 104
Other countries, such as the
Philippines, largely relate pornography
with obscenity, and thus continue to
strictly regulate, if not totally prohibit,
such practice. 105 Still, child
pornography – or kiddie porn – is
almost universally prohibited, and faces
the disapproval of most members of
society.
Child pornography exists due to
production, distribution, and possession
of materials relevant thereto. Laws in
different countries differ on these
matters. Production and sale of child
pornography is generally illegal in
most countries. Mere possession,
however, is illegal in the United States,
United Kingdom, and Netherlands. In
contrast, downloading and possession
of child pornography is not specifically
prohibited in Russia. 106
VI. Offenses instrumental and
incidental to pornography
1. Sex Tourism
Sex tourism is “tourism, partially or fully
for the purpose of having sex, often
with prostitutes.” Legally, Sex Tourism
“refers to a program organized by
travel and tourism-related
establishments and individuals which
consists of tourism packages or
activities, utilizing and offering escort
and sexual services as enticement for
tourists. This includes sexual services
and practices offered during rest and
recreation periods for members of the
military.”107 Certain individuals seek
sex in another country or region,
possibly, due to (1) more relaxed
morality laws, (2) less rigorous
enforcement of laws, (3) cheaper

rates, (4) more anonymity / privacy,
(5) finding certain ethnic groups more
attractive, (6) preferring the “work
ethics” of foreign prostitutes to those
of one’s own country, or (7) finding
sex in tropical surroundings and a hot
climate more arousing, among others.
While most sex tourists only engage in
this activity with other adults, a small
percentage actively looks for
adolescent or even younger prostitutes.
108
2. Sexual Exploitation and
Child Sexual Abuse
Sexual Exploitation “refers to
participation by a person in prostitution
or the production of pornographic
materials as a result of being subjected
to a threat, deception, coercion,
abduction, force, abuse of authority,
I. Cybersex
Cybersex is sexual activity of arousal
through communication by computer;
and Cybersex-for-pay substantially
employs the Internet, and utilizes
computer cameras and microphones
that allow clients to see and talk to girls
doing the role play with or for them.113
Such form of Internet pornography
works when (1) an Internet surfer
accesses a certain website on sex and
chooses a woman through the photos
shown in the site; (2) the surfer then
contacts the operator to chat online with
the selected woman; (3) the operator,
through transactional tools in the adult
website, asks for the surfer’s credit
card number and the surfer will be
charged for anywhere from $2
upwards a minute; and (4) the surfer
thereafter asks the woman to perform
sexual acts to be shown on the screens
of the surfer’s, now subscriber’s,
computer.114
Philippine Senator Maria Ana Consuelo
“Jamby” Madrigal claims that Cybersex
has become a billion dollar
underground industry in the
Philippines, emphasizing that the
operator of the Orgasmic Ventures Inc.
debt bondage, fraud or through abuse
of a victim’s vulnerability.”109 Child
sexual abuse denotes sexual abuse of
or sexual activity with children. In
addition to activities that would be
considered sexual abuse between
adults, it includes (1) sex between
adults older than a predefined age of
majority and children below a
predefined age of consent (generally
between 12 and 18 years), (2) acting
as a pimp for child prostitution, (3)
inducing a child to behave sexually in
a performance, or to appear in child
pornography, and (4) lewd action
towards children, including
disseminating pornography to a minor.
110
Pedophilia, Ephebophilia, and
Infantophilia involve Chronophilia, i.e.
a paraphilia in which the paraphile’s
II
T HE P HILIPPINE E XPERIENCE
in Las Piñas arrested January 2005
was earning at least 100,000 dollars
a day. 115 Atty. Elfren Meneses Jr.,
chief of the NBI-AFFCD states that the
degree of the proliferation of internet
pornography in the country is doubly
increasing since year 2000. Financiers
or investors of such business, usually
foreign nationals, are investing largely
in the Philippines since they have
contacts already with some Filipinos
who will host the site.116 Senior Supt.
Rodolfo “Boogie” Mendoza, officer in
charge of the PNP Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group
(CIDG), identified the cities of Angeles
and San Fernando in Pampanga, Las
Pi¤as and Davao as cybersex “hot
spots.”117 It is also claimed that Internet
sex rings have spread all over the
country, with satellite centers in Visayas
and Mindanao, specifically in Cebu and
Surigao.118
A. Organized
1. John Bagcal; Pasay City (8
May 2003)
After a month of Internet and physical
surveillance by the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI)’s Anti-Fraud and
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
sexuoerotic age is discordant with his
or her actual chronological age and is
concordant with the age of the partner.
(1) Pedophilia, or pedosexuality, is the
condition of people whose primary
sexual attraction is toward
prepubescent children; and it is often
used informally to describe people
attracted to adolescents, or to describe
child sex offenders. (2) Ephebophilia,
or hebephilia, is the condition of adults
who are attracted to postpubescent
adolescents; pederasty if toward male
adolescents or lolita syndrome if toward
female adolescents. 111 (3)
Infantophilia, or nepiophilia, is the
sexual attraction of adults to small
children (0-5 years old), inasmuch as
interest in a 10-year old and a 2-year
old seem rather to be different
preferences. 112
Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD),
and on 8 May 2003, the NBI-AFCCD
raided three residential apartments in
Cliff Townhomes on Roberts Street,
Pasay City, owned by a John Bagcal
(37 years old, Filipino), due to alleged
operation of internet pornography. The
NBI-AFCCD team arrested around 15
pornography female models during
the raid, four of them caught in the
act of performing in front of Web
cameras, but not the Filipino owner,
who was said to be hiding in a province
near Manila. The team seized several
personal computers, digital cameras,
telephones, and sex toys such as
vibrators. Bagcal was arrested
subsequently.119
2. Asianbabes.com; Angeles
City, Pampanga (4 October
2004)
On 4 October 2004, the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group
(CIDG) agents arrested Roland Thys
(Belgian), Dean Punke Arthur
(American), Ali Dimanlao Bonjoc and
are pursuing other suspects – Morley
Arthur Everly, Simon Thorpe and other
still unidentified members of the
cybersex ring who escaped during the
35
 raid made on the houses of the
suspects. The policemen, armed with
14 search warrants issued by Judge
Maria Angelica Paras Quiambao of the
Angeles City Regional Trial Court,
swooped down on the houses located
at 115 Nile Street, barangay Anunas;
240 Narciso Street; 112-A Sarmiento
Street, Plaridel Subdivision, and Apple
corner Pear Streets, all in Angeles City;
and were able to rescue 23 “sex
goddesses,” including four minors. 120
On 2 November 2004, the
Department of Justice had ruled in a
resolution that mere possession of
accessories used in the illegal activity
was not enough to elevate the case
against the Belgian, Roland Thys, in
court. It is in the opinion of Senior Supt.
Rodolfo “Boogie” Mendoza, officer in
charge of the PNP CIDG that materials
like pictures and messages found in a
computer seized during a raid would
have to be “reconstituted” by police
authorities to actually prove that
someone is being used for trafficking
purposes .121
3. Eldon Lopez, et. al.; Angeles
City, Pampanga (8 November
2004)
As part of police’s operation
“Operation Magdalena” – a campaign
plan against prostitution – twenty (20)
persons (17 young women or so-
called “cybermodels,” an employee,
a computer technician, and the Internet
café operator-manager – were
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
arrested by police 8 November 2004
during a raid on a suspected cybersex
den in Angeles City, Pampanga. The
policemen belonging under the
Central Luzon police, in tandem with
agents of the Criminal Investigation and
Detection Group (CIDG), raided the
house owned by one Sol Mesias
pursuant to a search warrant issued
by Judge Maria Angelica Paras
Quiambao of the Angeles City Regional
Trial Court. The policemen confiscated
15 computers with video cameras,
communication devices and
pornographic material. Arrested were
Rocell C. Palo (27), Michelle M. Chua
(20), Merlinda A. Atibagos (18), Mary
36
Ann O. Galantes (21), Rose Mary P.
Quibec (24), Michelle V. Nuevo (18),
Monica M. Chua (19), Deanne C.
Duero (19), Jennifer Ellaine Pasay
(20), Marian Estrada (23), Jenny
Ompad (18), Raquel V. Abala (23),
Estephanie Agasite (18), Analiza R.
Rosario (22), Ivory Washington (Gay,
19), Kim
Cereno (25); Arthur Eric Javier (21);
Reynaldo Quillao, a computer
technician; Nestor Layda, a janitor-
employee; and Eldon Lopez,
reportedly the operator and manager
of the internet café. Charges of
violation of Republic Act (RA) 9208 or
the Anti-trafficking of Persons Act were
being prepared against the
suspects.122
4. Clifford Hacket, et. al.; San
Fernando, La Union (23
November 2004)
On 23 November 2004, Clifford
Hacket, 40, from Colorado, USA, and
his wife, Jaqueline, 24, along with
three of their female employees – most
of them minors: one was 15, another
was 16 – were arrested during a raid
on a rented house at Barangay
Catbangen, San Fernando, La Union,
where they had been operating the
cybersex den. Seized during the raid
were three computers with complete
accessories, three Web cameras and
speakers, assorted diskettes,
pornographic VCDs and CDs, a CD
writer, payrolls and the daily time
records of the Hackets’ employees.
The spouses were arraigned on 14
January 2005 at the Regional Trial
Court Branch 30, presided upon by
Judge Alpino Florendo. The two have
been transferred to the La Union
provincial jail from the Poro Point police
assistance center after they failed to
post bail. It was alleged that the
employees were paid only P50 for
working eight hours a day, and that
some of them posed nude and did
sexual acts in front of the computer
for their foreign customers abroad.
The couple pleaded not guilty. 123
5. Orgasmic Studios Inc.; Las
Pinas, Metro Manila (21
January 2005)
On 21 January 2005, Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group
(CIDG) agents rescued twenty (20)
persons engaged in live sex acts over
webcams in a raid of a cybersex shop,
located at apartment units A, D, F and
G on Lead st., and apartment D and F
Daisy st., Barangay Pilar, Las Piñas,
pursuant to a search warrant issued
by Judge Joselito Vibandor, of the
Regional Trial Court Branch 199. The
police agents arrested Aloysious
Galvez of the Orgarmic Studios Inc.,
along with nine employees, during the
raid and seized 23 computer units and
peripherals, compact discs, sex toys,
lingerie, and other paraphernalia (or
in other accounts, 30 computers and
100 cameras). Galvez reportedly
yielded a number of foreign and local
bank accounts that will be investigated
by the police.
The girls were distributed in fourteen
rooms that served as studios where
they performed various role playing
acts for clients, and sometimes did
live sex with a partner in front of a
camera, mostly from the United States
and Germany. Inside each studio at
Orgasmic was a bed and an air-
conditioned unit. The walls were
draped with multicolored, pastel
curtains. Each room had a distinct look,
like one was decorated with neon lights
and plastic flowers, while others were
made to appear like a typical girl’s
room. Scattered in some of the rooms
were sex toys, costumes and skimpy
lingerie. 124 Among the chat hosts,
Sherry Passion was able to hit the
longest video chat of two hours and
25 minutes on 14 Nov. 2004. As a
result, Sherry was entitled to an
additional 50% of her earnings as
incentive and to a clothing allowance
of $30. The incentive rate for best chat
hosts like Sherry Passion ranges from
50% to 100%. A daily earning from
$1,001 to $1,800 entitles a chat host
to an additional 50%; $1,801 to
$2,500 entitles her to 70%; and the
incentive for $2,501 up is 90%. The

four other top chat hosts in Orgasmic
Studios Inc., as listed on the bulletin
board were Lolita, who had earned
$1,856.38; Crissy Mae, $1,479.26;
Tanya, $1,186; and Sofia Paola,
$1,127. The names of 30 chat hosts
were listed in one of three status
reports as of 20 January 2005.125
The girls are said to be composed
mostly of high school students who
belong to rich and middle-class
families, after more documents were
recovered from the office of Orgasmic
Ventures upon the execution of a new
search warrant. Aside from the girls’
bio-data, contracts, vouchers and
financial statements, CIDG agents also
recovered notices of meetings of
stockholders, attesting that other people
were behind the syndicate.126
6. Unverified reports 127
Cebu: According to Senator
Madrigal’s group, prior to the raid in
La Union last 22 November 2004,
Cebu police allegedly swooped down
on a cybersex den. According to them,
the cybersex den had strong links with
the two Luzon-based cybersex
syndicates. They alleged that said case
allegedly did not even reach the
prosecutor’s office, inasmuch as the
suspects and the rescued girls were
released from police custody after an
influential politician allegedly
intervened. The senator’s office has
yet to complete the details about the
raid.
Surigao: According to Senator
Madrigal’s group, an Internet café
owner in Surigao has reported the
rampant cybersex operations there.
Makati City: According to Senator
Madrigal’s group, as early as two years
ago, an alleged cybersex den was
raided in an exclusive subdivision in
Makati City. They are now verifying
reports about another cybersex den in
another exclusive Makati village where
most of the chat girls reportedly drive
their own car and live in posh houses.
B. Unorganized
There are increasing incidents, on the
other hand, of individuals exposing
themselves to others for free or fee,
through web cameras, without the
benefit of a website exclusively made
for that purpose. Said exhibitionists are
found in most popular chatrooms such
as those of Yahoo! Chat. Inasmuch as
web camera access may either be set
by the broadcasting exhibitionist as
either open (free) or by permission, it
is possible to require payment before
permission is given. 128 Inasmuch as
these exhibitionists do not have
licensed credit card transaction facilities
of their own, the mode of payment is
made through “pasa-load” or “e-
load,” or similar methods of money-
remittances over mobile phones. The
price range goes as low as fifteen (PhP
15) pesos to the usual three hundred
(PhP 300) pesos. Others require pre-
paid phone cards access numbers of
certain phone load values or pre-paid
Internet access information of specified
value, before anyone interested may
be given permission to view the
exhibitionist exposing herself.
II. Sex Scandals
Generally, a sex scandal is a scandal
in which a public figure – usually movie
stars, politicians, or priests – becomes
embroiled in a situation where
embarrassing sexual activities or
allegations thereof are publicized. 129
However, in Philippine context, the
term “sex scandal” is usually associated
to videos and images clandestinely
acquired either of famous or even
ordinary persons. What is necessary
to constitute such videos as being
sexually scandalous is that the actors
therein are not aware that their acts
are being caught on tape, or that the
actors therein intended that the video
or images being generated remain for
the personal consumption of the
actor’s and not of the public but which
eventually leaked.
The title of the videos are generally
named according to the places where
the acts were committed, such as
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
“Cebu,” “Dumaguete,” “Mindoro,”
and the like. Others use prominent
school names, such as “La Salle” to
increase interest in the film inasmuch
as it would suggest degeneracy of
middle-class and higher-class
teenagers in the eyes of the masses.
The Mindoro Scandal appears to be
latest video that circulated in the
market. There are reports of other
video scandals involving persons from
St. Theresa College, University of San
Carlos, and the Philippine Amusement
and Gaming Corporation, among
others.
130
1. Dumaguete Sex Scandal
The Dumaguete Sex Scandal is a video
which shows three women having sex
with their boyfriends on different
occasions in a bunkhouse in
Dumaguete. This scandal, which
caught the ire of women in
Dumaguete, seemed to be a
connivance between the male partners
and the cameraman in taking the
video, with the girlfriends completely
unaware of the whole setup. The
Dumaguete Scandal video appears to
have been filmed as early as 1999.
At that time the film was taken, the
women were still single. One of them
tried to commit suicide, while the two
others have left the city with their
reputation torn or ruined. The women
were victims of their love for their boy
friends at that time, not knowing that
they were made mere commodities in
a business venture of merchandising
a pornographic video.
It appeared that the businessman who
runs the lodging house placed a hidden
camera in one room that he allowed
to be rented at a very low price or
discounted rate. This businessman
recorded the sexual acts of lovers
inside this room. In some occasions,
without the knowledge of the
businessman, his cameraman invited
male friends to bring their girlfriends
to do the sexual acts as the camera
rolled on. The cameraman and the
male friends then put several recorded
sessions together into one-hour shows,
duplicated and sold these initially in
37
 Mindanao. Four years later, the
pornographic videos had reached local
video shops. The popularity of the
video increased after politicians started
to denounce the video and started
investigating and charging people who
were believed to be responsible for its
production.
Subsequently, the city filed charges
against Engineer Jonathan Lim, owner
of the bunkhouse, Noli Banagudos
and Nicolas Siloterio, after a “vital
witness” surfaced. Witness Victor
Empleo – who claimed to be a close
friend of Engr. Jonathan Lim, the owner
of the house in Barangay Daro where
the sexual activities were supposedly
filmed – presented to the media some
revelations of the businessman’s
“operations” at the bunkhouse.
However, Empleo later withdrew his
affidavit. The case against Lim,
Banagudos, and Siloterio is pending.
Empleo, on the other hand, was
charged for perjury.
2. La Salle Sex Scandal 131 ,
also known as Secret of Makati
Two teenagers captured their sexual
tryst in a video. The usual circulated
copy contains 3 scenes, although the
1st and 2nd scenes are sometimes
taken as a single scene. The first
(combined) scene involves a bald guy
“Leo” and her girlfriend having sex in
a motel, while the second scene
involves a lesbian scene by the
girlfriend and another female, with
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
“Leo” outside of the room. The tape
runs for about 70 minutes. Some
unverified reports provide that there
is a third scene, which involves the two
teenagers again but now inside the
guy’s room. The tape was meant for
the couple’s enjoyment, not for mass
consumption. The video was said to
have been videotaped in 2001, and
was allegedly sold for P35,000.
The identity of the actors and actresses
are not known publicly. The public
assumes the actors to be students of
La Salle when the video was taken. A
popular rumor is that the male was a
student of DLSU-St. Benilde while the
38
main female was from St. Scholastica.
Some believed that the video was first
uploaded on the Internet inasmuch as
a couple of yahoogroups or e-groups
had a copy of such video before the
video pirates in Quiapo and Greenhills
got hold of it. Another account provides
that the video, supposedly in the private
collection of “Leo,” along with other
pornographic materials, was
mistakenly lent to a friend, who
circulated the video to the public. There
are conflicting rumors whether the
main actress actually committed
suicide, or not, after the scandal broke
out.
3. Boarding House Scandal, 132
also known as Cebu Scandal or
Bisaya Bang-Bang
The show Correspondent exposed the
secret porn activities of a father-
daughter team. The daughter would
invite her classmates over at their place
for a swimming party or a cozy retreat
(“tambayan”), making sure they were
couples. Couples get lustful and do it
in the bathroom while taking shower,
or in the bedroom. The father films
the whole thing from peepholes; the
videos becoming part of the private
collection of the father. The modus
operandi of the father was exposed
when the friends of the daughter heard
movements in the next room, when
they were assured that they were
alone in the house. The friends called
upon neighbors who apprehended the
father, while attempting to escape by
climbing a wall, and after he has tossed
a bag-full of pornographic tapes over
the fence. Tricycle drivers got hold of
VHS tapes, and these were sold to
enterprising video pirates who mass-
produced them.
4. Quezon City Scandal 1 to 3
133
This scandal comes complete with cast
and crew, starring GROs, shot in KTVs
in and around Metro Manila and
produced by Silverado Entertainment.
The videos appear to have long been
in circulation, except that it is only now
that it proliferates in increased rates
due to CD technology, the Internet, and
the resourcefulness of video pirates.
III. MMS Clips
The widespread use of mobile phones
with image/video-capturing
capabilities; the technology shift
towards Multimedia Messaging System
(MMS), which provides messaging of
dynamic content, over the usual Simple
Messaging System (SMS), which only
provides text messaging; and the
adoption of the Bluetooth technology
as a standard feature in mobile
phones; provide the latticework for the
increased incidents of sexually-explicit
content that are transmitted among
mobile phone subscribers.
1. Diana Zubiri MMS clip
The Diana Zubiri MMS clip circulated
in late 2004 and was the first to
generate interest as to the use of the
mobile phones as a conduit of such
kind of content. The short video
appears to have been clandestinely
captured through a video-capturing
enabled mobile phone by one of the
crew participating in a photo-shoot,
featuring Diana Zubiri, possibly for a
calendar or a magazine. The camera
showed the layout of the studio and
focused mainly on the breasts and
pubic areas of Miss Zubiri.
2. Francine Prieto MMS Clip
The Francine Prieto MMS clip
circulated not long after Diana Zubiri
MMS clip circulated in late 2004. The
video features segments of the photo-
shoot of Francine Prieto that was made
in South Korea. The individual who
circulated the clip to Philippine mobile
phone users even incorporated music
to the video.
3. The Mahal MMS Clip
The Mahal MMS clip circulated soon
after, with Mahal (a midget actress)
sitting on the toilet bowl. Mahal
appears to be aware of the camera as
she waved to it. A lot of media
practitioners and showbiz personalities

lambasted the circulation of the clip in
the market, emphasizing that it was
“outrageous, not delicious.”
4. Ethel Booba MMS Clip(s)
The Ethel Booba MMS clip circulated
widely early February 2005, with an
image of Ethel Booba (although her
hands and arms were covering her
face for most of the video) stimulating
herself with her fingers. Other clips
appear to be less circulated, such as
those which show Alex Crisano, with
his prominent tattooed arm, lying
beside Ethel Booba. The video(s)
circulated allegedly after Crisano had
his phone repaired in Greenhills,
where the technician handling it
discovered, took, and circulated the
videos to other people.134
IV. Child Pornography
The claim, that the Philippines is the
fourth largest producer of child
pornography, 135 however, is open to
debate, inasmuch as that it is not
supported by any accurate empirical
data. Sales figures for this particular
genre of porn is hard to come by as
sales thereof is largely informal
inasmuch as mainstream
pornographers in developed countries
do not involve themselves in producing
such genre, in light of regulations
imposed upon the adult entertainment
industry. In the United States
particularly, it would not be good
business sense for established and
upcoming adult entertainment firms to
branch out to child pornography as
such will deny them the usual harbor
found in the First Amendment of the
US Constitution and expose them to
countless and expensive legal hassles,
136
if not the total deprivation to
exercise their industry. Such criticism
of the claim, which is limited to its
accuracy, should not be construed to
dissuade any effort to curb child
pornography.
In the Philippines, child pornography
– along with sex tourism and child
prostitution – thrive because of
widespread poverty, public tolerance
of prostitution and pornography, sex
tourism, availability of advanced
communication technology, lack of
stringent laws against child
pornography, and inefficient
prosecution of perpetrators. Advances
in technology, especially the Internet,
have made it possible for the easier
production, reproduction and
dissemination of pornographic images
of children. 137 Sexual exploitation of
minors is frequent, in the form of child
prostitution, child pornography, and sex
tourism. Crimes related to sex tourism
are difficult to prosecute because they
originate or transpire outside the
geographic borders and legal
jurisdiction of the Philippines. 138
The phenomenon is aggravated as it,
more than not, involves family and
close friends. The findings released
by End Child Prostitution, Child
Pornography and Trafficking of
Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT),
which support this conclusion, are
based on the detailed study of 74 cases
of former and active child prostitutes
across the country, the total number
of which is estimated to be around
60,000 child prostitutes (ECPAT
1996). Recruiters – immediate family
members [or] people known to family
and friends – often justify getting
children into the sex trade by saying
that they are “helping” them and their
families. Preventing child prostitution
is hindered by a code of silence that
rules the sex trade and by ineffective
law enforcement. The fight against
child prostitution is further hampered
by the victims’ reluctance to testify and
the inexperience of prosecutors. 139
In 2002, a series of articles published
in the People’s Journal narrated the
extent of child pornography in the
Philippines, and in effect, boldly
exposed the country as a leading
producer and distributor of child
pornography, particularly on the
Internet. The Philippine Senate took
notice of this phenomenon but it
resulted only in several committee
hearings, a resolution for further study
of the issue, and a Senate Bill authored
by the then Sen. Loren Legarda. 140
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
The Online Protection Act for Children
was pushed by Senator Tessie Aquino-
Oreta in 2003 but it never passed the
Senate. 141 Although similar bills have
been submitted in the present House
of Representatives and Senate, it must
be noted, to emphasize the time such
issue has been a continuing concern,
that an international conference on
pornography has been held in Manila
as early as 1995, calling for
committed and effective law
enforcement to combat the growing
abuse and exploitation of children and
the pornography that is a integral part
of it. 142
The issues on child prostitution, child
pornography, and sex tourism is shared
by the Philippines with neighboring
Southeast Asian countries, such as
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,
and Indonesia.
An observation of circulating child
pornography on the Internet – utilizing
the search tool in the Peer-to-Peer file-
sharing program “Kazaa,” from
Sharman Networks, or its competing
version “Kazaa Lite Resurrection,”
from Filesharing.com, and using
pedophiliac search keys would point
to the fact that an average of 1 out of
10 would involve Asian teenagers (the
other 9 in the ratio involving
Caucasians), and that an average of
1 out of 10 of those Asians would
involve non-Japanese. Most of the
Caucasian child pornography files
available would appear to have been
created in the 1970s and the 1980s,
more likely before developed countries
overwhelmingly condemned child
pornography as illicit. It can be
concluded from the above that Filipino
child pornography is not circulated
freely and substantially in open
networks. It would be more likely that
Filipino child pornography is circulated
in exclusive peer groupings, or else,
taken only for personal gratification as
if in the form of a souvenir shot.
Definitive statistics, as to the volume of
Filipino child porn, may further be
muddled by confusion arising from the
similarity of the features of Thais and
Indonesians to those of the Filipinos.
39
 Ephebophiliac images and movies, or
Asian adults simulating to appear
ephebophiliac, on the other hand, are
available freely on the Internet, through
hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and
not necessary confined to peer-to-peer
(P2P) networking. A sampling of
pornographic images, largely involving
Filipino and Thai females, would easily
be found at explicit image thumbnail
(TGP) websites. The thumbnail site
does not require age authentication to
prevent minors from viewing its
contents.
A. Overseas Prosecution
Accounts of perpetrators charged due
to child pornography are found in
various online newspapers from
Australia, United States, and the United
Kingdom. Among them are
1. In October 1995, Anthony
Richard Carr, 43 years old from
Seaforth, New South Wales,
Australia, was the first person
charged under the Child Sex
Tourism Law of Australia for
offenses committed against a 5-
year old girl in the Philippines.
Carr was initially arrested for
offenses committed in Australia.
A search of his home by the police
yielded child pornography
involving children in the
Philippines. A joint Australian and
Philippine investigation team found
that Carr visited the Philippines to
have sex with children and had
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
paid money to a man to use his 5
year old niece in a pornographic
video. Carr was sentenced to 6
years in jail by an Australian court
for offenses committed in the
Philippines and Australia. 143
2. On 10 January 2001,
Durham Wragg, 56 years old
from Sheffield, United Kingdom,
was convicted in the England for
indecency and smuggling obscene
material for 30 months. It
appeared that, in 2000, he used
Home Office headed paper,
belonging to the former prime
minister, Sir Edward Heath, to type
40
a letter for Philippines immigration
officials stating he was of good
character and was going abroad
to get married. He instead went
to a resort outside Manila and
filmed boys between 8 and 16 in
his hotel bedroom. Wragg was
caught at Manchester airport in
May 2000 when police, searching
his bag, found a camcorder. 144
3. On 7 June 2002, Raymond
Colin Smith, of New South
Wales, Australia, was convicted
under the child sex tourism law
for committing 3 sexual acts with
two (2) 6-year old girls in the
Philippines. Smith traveled to the
Philippines on the Christian Charity
the Mercy Ship. He sexually
molested 2 girls and produced
pornography. Smith’s manager
discovered this abuse and sent him
back to Australia for prosecution
fearing Smith may receive a death
sentence if prosecuted in the
Philippines. Smith was sentenced
by an Australian court to 3 years
jail and will be eligible for parole
after 21 months. 145
4. In October 2002, Bernard
Lawrence Russell, a resident of
San Diego, California, USA,
traveled to the Philippines with the
intent to engage in sexual activity
with minors and, while in the
Philippines, produced child
pornography for the purpose of
importation into the United States.
On 3 December 2003, he was
charged in California with
traveling in foreign commerce
with intent to engage in a sexual
act with a juvenile, producing child
pornography, and possessing child
pornography for importation into
the United States. He faces up to
45 years imprisonment if
convicted on all counts. In
addition, he is subject to a fine of
$250,000, a mandatory special
assessment of $100.00, and a
three-year term of supervised
release per count.146
5. In April 2003, Gordon
Thomas, 29 years old from Glen
Burnie, Baltimore, USA was
arrested after investigators
discovered he’d made a sexually
explicit videotape of a child who
lived next door to him., a child he
was baby-sitting at the time.
Investigators also found that he’d
ordered child porn videos from the
Philippines and had thousands of
images on his computer. He
pleaded guilty in June 2003 to
sexually exploiting a minor by
producing child pornography. He
faces 10-year term in federal
prison for producing child
pornography, and is to serve three
years of supervised release after
he gets out of prison, when he will
have to register as a sex offender.
147
6. In October 2003, John W.
Seljan, 85 years old, was
arrested in Los Angeles,
California, USA as he attempted
to board a flight to the Philippines.
The Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) began its probe
in August 2003 after border
inspectors intercepted
correspondence to two Philippine
girls with ages 9 and 12 indicating
that he planned to have sex with
them there. At the time of his
arrest, Seljan was found to have
pornographic materials, sexual
aids, and nearly 100 pounds of
chocolates in his luggage. On 19
November 2004, Seljan was
convicted on a total of 6 counts.
Sentencing is scheduled for March
2005. Seljan faces a maximum
sentence of 270 years in
prison.148
7. In July 2004, Ronald Morris
King, 54 years old from Nelson
Bay, New South Wales, Australia
was arrested by the Armed Forces
of the Philippines (AFP) and
charged with 8 offenses, including
6 child sex tourism offences and
offences relating to the importation
of child pornography. The charges
involve the alleged sexual abuse

of two Filipino girls which
allegedly occurred during a recent
trip to the Philippines. King was
first identified at the airport on his
return from the Philippines with a
range of photographic material in
his luggage. He was later arrested
after his home was searched and
explicit photographs were found.
King was refused bail and is due
to face court. 149
8. On 19 November 2004,
Edilberto Datan, 60 years old,
was indicted on child sex tourism
and charges of producing,
importing and possessing child
pornography. He was arrested on
4 November 2004 as he returned
from a two-month trip to the
Philippines. Four (4) memory
sticks, taped inside a jeans pocket
of Datan’s luggage, were found
by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection officers at Los Angeles
International Airport and were
I. Criminal Law
Act No. 3815, or the Revised Penal
Code (RPC), was promulgated way
back in 1930, decades before the
advent of computers and the Internet
and before the proliferation of cheap
image capturing devices, such video
recorders and cameras. A number of
special laws have provided means to
protect both children and women from
exploitation, such as Republic Act No.
7610, otherwise known as the “Special
Protection And Discrimination Act,” as
amended by Republic Act No. 7658
and Republic Act No. 9231, and
Republic Act No. 9208 or the “Anti-
Trafficking of Persons Act of 2003,”
among others.
1. In General
The Revised Penal Code provision
applicable in common to cybersex, sex
scandal, MMS sex clips, and child
pornography is Article 201, which
provides:
found to contain approximately
100 sexually explicit images of
Filipino boys. A search of Datan’s
home later revealed an extensive
child pornography collection.
Datan denied any inappropriate
sexual contact with them.150
B. Local Prosecution
In July 2004, seventy (70) children,
aged 5 to 14, were rescued from a
child pornography ring during a raid
in Los Banos, Laguna, resulting in the
arrest of seven people, including a
Japanese national, 151 a certain
Noritaka Ota, alias Tony. The
children were lured into having an
excursion, where thirty (30) children
were later separated from their
chaperons and were being filmed. The
children were made to believe that they
were modeling and are being paid
P10,000. Only 6 nude pictures were
taken but were sufficient to prove that
the perpetrators were into illegal trade.
III
P ROSECUTING THE O FFENSES
Article 201. 154 Immoral
doctrines, obscene
publications and exhibitions
and indecent shows. — The
penalty of prision mayor 155 or a
fine ranging from six thousand to
twelve thousand pesos, or both
such imprisonment and fine, shall
be imposed upon:
1. Those who shall publicly
expound or proclaim
doctrines openly contrary to
public morals;
2.
a. The authors of obscene
literature, published
with their knowledge in
any form; the editors
publishing such
literature; and the
owners/operators of
the establishment
selling the same;
(emphasis supplied, for
production of pornographic
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
152
This incident prompted the
Representative to the Philippines of the
United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) to issue a statement
highlighting the widespread reality of
child pornography in the Philippines.
Still, according to Alex Ramos, a
member of the technical working group
pursuing the bill being introduced by
Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby”
Madrigal – to mete stiffer penalties on
people caught distributing, creating,
and purveying child pornography in
the Philippines in various media
including the Internet – many cases
involving child pornography have
been dismissed; and claimed that
more than 20 cases involving child
pornography that have been dismissed
by courts in the last three years. Most
of the courts’ ruling implied that mere
possession of child pornography is not
illegal.153
materials, including child
pornography, and
distribution of which,
especially in optical disks)
b. Those who, in
theaters, fairs,
cinematographs or any
other place, exhibit,
indecent or immoral
plays, scenes, acts or
shows, whether live or
in film, which are
prescribed by virtue
hereof, shall include
those which
1. glorify criminals or
condone crimes;
2 . serve no other
purpose but to satisfy
the market for
violence, lust or
pornography;
(emphasis supplied, for
exhibition in the practice
41
 of cybersex and other
forms of streaming
pornography)
3. offend any race or
religion;
4. tend to abet traffic in and
use of prohibited drugs;
and
5. are contrary to law,
public order, morals,
and good customs,
established policies,
lawful orders, decrees
and edicts;
3. Those who shall sell, give
away or exhibit films, prints,
engravings, sculpture or
literature which are offensive
to morals. (emphasis
supplied, for production and
distribution of pornographic
materials, especially in
optical disks)
In case Article 201, by certain
circumstances, does not apply; Article
200 of the Revised Penal Code
provides:
Article 200. Grave scandal.
– The penalties of arresto mayor
and public censure shall be
imposed upon any person who
shall offend against decency or
good customs by any highly
scandalous conduct not expressly
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
falling within any other article of
this Code.
2. Cybersex and Child
Pornography
A. Act No. 3815, the Revised
Penal Code
Article 201, else Article 200, of the
Revised Penal Code likewise applies
as to the photographs and videos that
may have been produced and
distributed in the commission of child
abuse. The minors depicted therein
are properly victims in the crime, even
if they may have been willing in
42
participating in such, as they lack
maturity and lack legal capacity to
provide legal consent.
In contrast, chat hosts (cybersex
models), who are above 18 years old
and who conduct themselves in such
practice in a lewd or lustful manner,
although there may be no physical
sexual intercourse at all, are within the
purview of Article 202 (5) of the
Revised Penal Code, which provides:
Article 202. Vagrants and
prostitutes; penalty. – xxx
xxx
5. Prostitutes. — For the
purposes of this article,
women who, for money or
profit, habitually indulge in
sexual intercourse or
lascivious conduct, are
deemed to be prostitutes.
Any person found guilty of any
of the offenses covered by this
articles shall be punished by
arresto menor156 or a fine not
exceeding 200 pesos, and in
case of recidivism, by arresto
mayor in its medium period to
prision correccional 157 in its
minimum period or a fine
ranging from 200 to 2,000
pesos, or both, in the discretion
of the court.
Persons who are responsible in
employing or inducing these persons
into prostitution may be pursued
through Article 341 of the Revised
Penal Code:
Article 341. 158 White slave
trade. — The penalty of prision
mayor in its medium and
maximum period shall be
imposed upon any person who,
in any manner, or under any
pretext, shall engage in the
business or shall profit by
prostitution or shall enlist the
services of any other for the
purpose of prostitution.
Persons who are responsible in
employing or inducing minors into
prostitution may, in addition, be
pursued through Article 340 of
the Revised Penal Code.
Article 340. 159 Corruption
of minors. — Any person who
shall promote or facilitate the
prostitution or corruption of
persons underage to satisfy the
lust of another, shall be punished
by prision mayor, and if the culprit
is a public officer or employee,
including those in government-
owned or controlled corporations,
he shall also suffer the penalty of
temporary absolute
disqualification.
Other acts of lasciviousness, which may
have been committed in line with child
abuse, may also be penalized as
provided by Article 339 of the Revised
Penal Code, which states:
Article 339. Acts of
lasciviousness with the
consent of the offended
party. — The penalty of arresto
mayor shall be imposed to punish
any other acts of lasciviousness
committed by the same persons
and the same circumstances as
those provided in Articles 337
and 338.
B. Republic Act 9208
Section 3(a), of Republic Act No. 9208
(RA 9208, or the Anti- Trafficking of
Persons Act of 2003) provides that
“Trafficking in persons” shall mean the
recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harbouring or receipt of persons, by
means of the threat or use of force or
other forms of coercion, of abduction,
of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of
power or of a position of vulnerability
or of the giving or receiving of
payments or benefits to achieve the
consent of a person having control
over another person, for the purpose
of exploitation. Exploitation shall
include, at a minimum, the
exploitation of the prostitution of

others or other forms of sexual
exploitation, forced labour or
services, slavery or practices similar
to slavery, servitude or the removal of
organs.160 (emphasis supplied)
Various acts and circumstances in RA
9208 are specifically penalized. First,
Section 4 of said Act enumerates the
acts constituting trafficking in persons,
particularly involving prostitution,
pornography and sexual exploitation,
as
Section 4. Acts of Trafficking
in Persons. - It shall be unlawful
for any person, natural or
juridical, to commit any of the
following acts:
(a) To recruit, transport, transfer;
harbor, provide, or receive
a person by any means,
including those done under
the pretext of domestic or
overseas employment or
training or apprenticeship,
for the purpose of
prostitution, pornography,
sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery, involuntary
servitude or debt bondage;
(b) To introduce or match for
money, profit, or material,
economic or other
consideration, any person or,
as provided for under
Republic Act No. 6955, any
Filipino woman to a foreign
national, for marriage for the
purpose of acquiring,
buying, offering, selling or
trading him/her to engage in
prostitution, pornography,
sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery, involuntary
servitude or debt bondage;
(c) To offer or contract
marriage, real or simulated,
for the purpose of acquiring,
buying, offering, selling, or
trading them to engage in
prostitution, pornography,
sexual exploitation, forced
labor or slavery, involuntary
servitude or debt bondage;
(d) To undertake or organize
tours and travel plans
consisting of tourism
packages or activities for the
purpose of utilizing and
offering persons for
prostitution, pornography or
sexual exploitation;
(e) To maintain or hire a person
to engage in prostitution or
pornography;
(f) To adopt or facilitate the
adoption of persons for the
purpose of prostitution,
pornography, sexual
exploitation, forced labor,
slavery, involuntary servitude
or debt bondage;
xxx
A violation of any act enumerated in
Section 4 penalizes the person guilty
of committing said act(s) to suffer “the
penalty of imprisonment of twenty (20)
years and a fine of not less than One
million pesos (P1,000,000.00) but not
more than Two million pesos
(P2,000,000.00).”161
Second, Section 5 of the same Act
enumerates the acts that promote
trafficking in persons, to wit:
Section 5. Acts that Promote
Trafficking in Persons. - The
following acts which promote or
facilitate trafficking in persons,
shall be unlawful:
(a) To knowingly lease or
sublease, use or allow to be
used any house, building or
establishment for the purpose
of promoting trafficking in
persons;
(b) To produce, print and issue
or distribute unissued,
tampered or fake counseling
certificates, registration
stickers and certificates of any
government agency which
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
issues these certificates and
stickers as proof of
compliance with government
regulatory and pre-departure
requirements for the purpose
of promoting trafficking in
persons;
(c) To advertise, publish, print,
broadcast or distribute, or
cause the advertisement,
publication, printing,
broadcasting or distribution by
any means, including the use
of information technology
and the internet, of any
brochure, flyer, or any
propaganda material that
promotes trafficking in
persons;
(d) To assist in the conduct of
misrepresentation or fraud
for purposes of facilitating the
acquisition of clearances and
necessary exit documents
from government agencies
that are mandated to provide
pre-departure registration
and services for departing
persons for the purpose of
promoting trafficking in
persons;
(e) To facilitate, assist or help in
the exit and entry of persons
from/to the country at
international and local
airports, territorial boundaries
and seaports who are in
possession of unissued,
tampered or fraudulent travel
documents for the purpose of
promoting trafficking in
persons;
(f) To confiscate, conceal, or
destroy the passport, travel
documents, or personal
documents or belongings of
trafficked persons in
furtherance of trafficking or
to prevent them from leaving
the country or seeking redress
from the government or
appropriate agencies; and
43
 (g) To knowingly benefit from,
financial or otherwise, or
make use of, the labor or
services of a person held to a
condition of involuntary
servitude, forced labor, or
slavery.
Any person found guilty of committing
any of the acts enumerated in Section
5 of RA 9208 “shall suffer the penalty
of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years
and a fine of not less than Five
hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000.00) but not more than One
million pesos (P1,000,000.00).”162
Third, Section 6 of the same Act
enumerates the ways how trafficking
in persons may be deemed qualified,
to wit:
Section 6. Qualified Trafficking
in Persons. - The following are
considered as qualified trafficking:
(a) When the trafficked person
is a child;
(b) When the adoption is
effected through Republic Act
No. 8043, otherwise known
as the “Inter-Country
Adoption Act of 1995” and
said adoption is for the
purpose of prostitution,
pornography, sexual
exploitation, forced labor,
slavery, involuntary servitude
or debt bondage;
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
(c) When the crime is committed
by a syndicate, or in large
scale. Trafficking is deemed
committed by a syndicate if
carried out by a group of
three (3) or more persons
conspiring or confederating
with one another. It is
deemed committed in large
scale if committed against
three (3) or more persons,
individually or as a group;
(d) When the offender is an
ascendant, parent, sibling,
guardian or a person who
44
exercises authority over the
trafficked person or when the
offense is committed by a
public officer or employee;
(e) When the trafficked person
is recruited to engage in
prostitution with any member
of the military or law
enforcement agencies;
(f) When the offender is a
member of the military or
law enforcement agencies;
and
(g) When by reason or on
occasion of the act of
trafficking in persons, the
offended party dies, becomes
insane, suffers mutilation or
is afflicted with Human
Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) or the Acquired
Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS).
Any person found guilty of qualified
trafficking under Section 6 suffers “the
penalty of life imprisonment and a fine
of not less than Two million pesos
(P2,000,000.00) but not more than
Five million pesos (P5,000,000.00).”
163
Lastly, Section 7 of the same Act
provides for the protection of the right
of privacy of trafficked persons and
the accused, to wit:
Section 7. Confidentiality. -
At any stage of the investigation,
prosecution and trial of an
offense under this Act, law
enforcement officers,
prosecutors, judges, court
personnel and medical
practitioners, as well as parties to
the case, shall recognize the right
to privacy of the trafficked person
and the accused. Towards this
end, law enforcement officers,
prosecutors and judges to whom
the complaint has been referred
may, whenever necessary to
ensure a fair and impartial
proceeding, and after considering
all circumstances for the best
interest of the parties, order a
closed-door investigation,
prosecution or trial. The name
and personal circumstances of the
trafficked person or of the
accused, or any other information
tending to establish their identities
and such circumstances or
information shall not be disclosed
to the public.
In cases when prosecution or trial
is conducted behind closed-
doors, it shall be unlawful for any
editor, publisher, and reporter or
columnist in case of printed
materials, announcer or producer
in case of television and radio,
producer and director of a film
in case of the movie industry, or
any person utilizing tri-media
facilities or information
technology to cause publicity of
any case of trafficking in persons.
Any person who violates Section 7 of
the law suffers “the penalty of
imprisonment of six (6) years and a
fine of not less than Five hundred
thousand pesos (P500,000.00) but not
more than One million pesos
(P1,000,000.00).” 164
Certain persons, natural or juridical,
are meted additional penalties or
limitations when they violate RA 9208,
that is:
1. C o r p o r a t i o n ,
partnership, and other
juridical persons
If the offender is a
corporation, partnership,
association, club,
establishment or any juridical
person, the penalty shall be
imposed upon the owner,
president, partner, manager,
and/or any responsible
officer who participated in
the commission of the crime
or who shall have knowingly
permitted or failed to prevent
its commission.165

The registration with the
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) and
license to operate of the
erring agency, corporation,
association, religious group,
tour or travel agent, club or
establishment, or any place
of entertainment shall be
cancelled and revoked
permanently. The owner,
president, partner or
manager thereof shall not be
allowed to operate similar
establishments in a different
name.166
2 . Foreigners
If the offender is a foreigner,
he shall be immediately
deported after serving his
sentence and be barred
permanently from entering
the country.167
3 . Government employees
or officials
Any employee or official of
government agencies who
shall issue or approve the
issuance of travel exit
clearances, passports,
registration certificates,
counseling certificates,
marriage license, and other
similar documents to
persons, whether juridical or
natural, recruitment
agencies, establishments or
other individuals or groups,
who fail to observe the
prescribed procedures and
the requirement as provided
for by laws, rules and
regulations, shall be held
administratively liable,
without prejudice to criminal
liability under RA 9208. The
concerned government
official or employee shall,
upon conviction, be
dismissed from the service
and be barred permanently
to hold public office. His/her
retirement and other benefits
shall likewise be forfeited. 168
4 . Adopter
Conviction by final judgment
of the adopter for any
offense under RA 9208 shall
result is the immediate
rescission of the decree of
adoption.
5 . Person who engages
services of trafficked
persons
Any person who buys or
engages the services of
trafficked persons for
prostitution shall be
penalized, on his/her first
offense for six (6) months of
community service, as may
be determined by the court,
and a fine of Fifty thousand
pesos (P50,000.00). On
his/her second and
subsequent offenses, such
person may be penalized to
imprisonment of one (1) year
and a fine of One hundred
thousand pesos
(P100,000.00).169
C. Republic Act 7610
In addition, Article V, Section 9, of
Republic Act No. 7610 establishes that
“Obscene Publications and Indecent
Shows” involves
“Any person who shall hire,
employ, use, persuade or coerce
a child to perform in obscene
exhibitions and indecent shows,
whether live or in video, pose, or
model in obscene publications or
pornographic materials or to sell
or distribute the said materials
shall suffer the penalty of prison
mayor in its medium period.
If the child used as a performer,
subject or seller/distributor is
below twelve (12) years of age,
the penalty shall be imposed in
its maximum period.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Any ascendant, guardian, or
person entrusted in any capacity
with the care of a child who shall
cause and/or allow such child to
be employed or to participate in
an obscene play, scene, act or
movie shall be imposed a penalty
of prison mayor in its medium
period.” 170
3. Sex Scandal optical discs
and sexually-explicit MMS clips
Article 201, or Article 200 of the
Revised Penal Code, are the provisions
applicable to these forms of
pornography. It is only by certain
circumstances, such as that a
pornographic material is included to
an otherwise ambivalent statement,
that Articles 355 and 359 of the
Revised Penal Code may attach, as the
issue as to “imputation” is emphasized.
Article 355 provides:
Article 355. Libel means by
writings or similar means. —
A libel 171 committed by means
of writing, printing, lithography,
engraving, radio, phonograph,
painting, theatrical exhibition,
cinematographic exhibition, or
any similar means, shall be
punished by prision correccional
in its minimum and medium
periods or a fine ranging from
200 to 6,000 pesos, or both, in
addition to the civil action which
may be brought by the offended
party.
Article 359, on the other hand, of the
Revised Penal Code provides:
Article 359. Slander by
deed. — The penalty of arresto
mayor in its maximum period to
prision correccional in its
minimum period or a fine
ranging from 200 to 1,000
pesos shall be imposed upon any
person who shall perform any act
not included and punished in this
title, which shall cast dishonor,
discredit or contempt upon
another person. If said act is not
of a serious nature, the penalty
45
 shall be arresto menor or a fine
not exceeding 200 pesos.
II. Civil Damages
Civil damages, clearly, may be had
for sex clip leakages that occur with
sex scandal optical disc and MMS clips
distribution.
The right to dignity, and the right to
privacy of communication and
correspondence, are rights protected
by the Constitution. Section 11 of
Article II of the 1987 Constitution
(Declaration of Principles and State
Policies”states that the
“The State values the dignity of
every human person and
guarantees full respect for human
rights.”
Section 3(1) states that the
“privacy of communication and
correspondence shall be
inviolable except upon lawful
order of the court, or when public
safety or order requires
otherwise, as prescribed by law.”
In consonance to these, Article 26 of
the Civil Code provides that
“every person shall respect the
dignity, personality, privacy and
peace of mind of his neighbors
and other persons. The following
and similar acts, though they may
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
not constitute a criminal offense,
shall produce a cause of action
for damages, prevention and
other relief:
(1) Prying into the privacy of
another’s residence;
(2) Meddling with or disturbing
the private life or family
relations of another;
(3) Intriguing to cause another to
be alienated from his
friends;
46
(4) Vexing or humiliating another
on account of his religious
beliefs, lowly station in life,
place of birth, physical
defect, or other personal
condition.”
Article 32 of the Civil Code, in turn,
provides that
“Any public officer or employee,
or any private individual, who
directly or indirectly obstructs,
defeats, violates or in any manner
impedes or impairs any of the
following rights and liberties of
another person shall be liable to
the latter for damages:
xxx
(11) The privacy of
communication and
correspondence;
xxx
In any of the cases referred to in
this article, whether or not the
defendant’s act or omission
constitutes a criminal offense, the
aggrieved party has a right to
commence an entirely separate
and distinct civil action for
damages, and for other relief.
Such civil action shall proceed
independently of any criminal
prosecution (if the latter be
instituted), and may be proved by
a preponderance of evidence.
The indemnity shall include moral
damages. Exemplary damages
may also be adjudicated.
The responsibility herein set forth
is not demandable from a judge
unless his act or omission
constitutes a violation of the Penal
Code or other penal statute.”
III. Evidence
The Rules on Electronic Evidence 172
was made effective on 1 August 2001
and initially applied to civil, quasi-
judicial and administrative proceedings
pending after the date of effectivity,
and was a direct result of the enactment
of Republic Act No. 8792173 , or the
Electronic Commerce Act. The
Supreme Court notes at the head of
the Rules (Administrative
Memorandum No. 01-7-01-SC) that
Acting on the Memorandum
dated 18 June 2001 of the
Committee on the Revision of the
Rules of Court to Draft the Rules
on E-Commerce Law [R.A. No.
8792] submitting the Rules on
Electronic Evidence for this
Court’s consideration and
approval, the Court Resolved to
APPROVE the same.
The Rules on Electronic Evidence
shall apply to cases pending after
their effectivity. These Rules shall
take effect on the first day of
August 2001 following their
publication before the 20th of
July in two newspapers of general
circulation in the Philippines.
(17th July 2001.)174
The Rules were amended on 24
September 2002 to include criminal
cases in its coverage, effective 24
October 2002.175 Section 2, Rule 1,
of AM No. 01-7-01-SC, now reads
as
Section 2. Cases covered. -
These Rules shall apply to the
criminal and civil actions and
proceeding, as well as quasi-
judicial and administrative
cases.176
Electronic document is defined by
Section 1 (h), Rule 2, of the Rules on
Electronic Evidence as
(h) “Electronic document” refers to
information or the
representation of information,
data, figures, symbols or other
modes of written expression,
described or however
represented, by which a right is
established or an obligation
extinguished, or by which a fact
may be proved and affirmed,

which is received, recorded,
transmitted, stored, processed,
retrieved or produced
electronically. It includes digitally
signed documents and any
print-out or output, readable by
sight or other means, which
accurately reflects the electronic
data message or electronic
document. For purposes of
these Rules, the term “electronic
document” may be used
interchangeably with “electronic
data message”.
In relation thereto, “Electronic data
message” is defined by Section 1 (g),
Rule 2, of the same Rules as
(g) “Electronic data message” refers
to information generated, sent,
received or stored by electronic,
optical or similar means.
On the other hand, “Ephemeral
electronic communication,” is defined
by Section 1(k), of the same Rule,
which provides
(k) “Ephemeral electronic
communication” refers to
telephone conversations, text
messages, chatroom sessions,
streaming audio, streaming
video, and other electronic
forms of communication
the evidence of which is not
recorded or retained.
(emphasis supplied)
Electronic documents are functional
equivalents of paper-based
documents, as provided by Section 1,
Rule 3 of the said Rules, to wit:
Section 1. Electronic
documents as functional
equivalent of paper-based
documents. – Whenever a rule
of evidence refers to the term of
writing, document, record,
instrument, memorandum or
any other form of writing, such
term shall be deemed to include
an electronic document as
defined in these Rules.
and the fact that a privilege
communication is in the form of an
electronic document does not lose the
confidential character, as provided for
by Section 3, of the same Rule:
Section 3. Privileged
communication. – The
confidential character of a
privileged communication is not
lost solely on the ground that it is
in the form of an electronic
document.
Electronic documents are admissible
as evidence, according to Section 2,
Rule 3 of the said Rules, which
provides:
Section 2. Admissibility. – An
electronic document is admissible
in evidence if it complies with the
rules on admissibility prescribed
by the Rules of Court and related
laws and is authenticated in the
manner prescribed by these
Rules.
Particularly, the manner audio, video
and similar evidence is made
admissible is provided by Section 1 of
Rule 11, of the Rules on Electronic
Evidence, to wit:
Section 1. Audio, video and
similar evidence. – Audio,
photographic and video evidence
of events, acts or transactions
shall be admissible provided it
shall be shown, presented or
displayed to the court and shall
be identified, explained or
authenticated by the person who
made the recording or by some
other person competent to testify
on the accuracy thereof.
Section 2 of Rule 11, of the said Rules,
on the other hand, provides for the
admissibility of ephemeral electronic
communications, to wit:
Section 2. Ephemeral
electronic communications.
– Ephemeral electronic
communications shall be proven
by the testimony of a person who
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
was a party to the same or has
personal knowledge thereof. In
the absence or unavailability of
such witnesses, other competent
evidence may be admitted.
A recording of the telephone
conversation or ephemeral
electronic communication shall be
covered by the immediately
preceding section.
If the foregoing communications
are recorded or embodied in an
electronic document, then the
provisions of Rule 5 shall apply.
Electronic videos, audios and images,
whether in electronic or optical
medium, although strictly not
“Electronic documents” according the
first sentence of Section 1(h), Rule 2,
may be argued by technologically-
inclined professionals to be within its
context in light of the second sentence
of said section in relation to Section 1
(g) of the same Rule, inasmuch as basic
electronic formats of written
documents, images, audio files, and
video remain in binary 177 and
ASCII178 modes (the latter with proper
file format identifiers at the start of its
code), which are merely interpreted
as user-viewable text, sound, images,
and videos by appropriate computer
programs or applications. This
argument, however, may result to the
same outcome as to the issue as to the
definition of “hacking,”179 which favors
a legal conclusion without
consideration to technical persuasion.
It thus may be said that electronic
video, images and audio, and similar
forms are not “Electronic documents”
although they constitute “Electronic
evidence” nonetheless; in the same
manner that photographs, videos, and
phonographic records are not
considered as part of such class of
evidence which are documentary, but
rather are included as object evidence.
The question remains whether the
application of the Rules of Electronic
Evidence is limited to cases based on
its original context, that which relates
to the Electronic Commerce Act and
47
 thus which involves purely business
transactions, but which has been
extended to include criminal cases; or
whether the application of the Rules of
Electronic Evidence is to be broadly
applied to be deemed an extension of
Rules 128 to 134 of the Revised Rules
of Court, and thus the Rules apply to
criminal cases even those without
business complexion. A perusal of
Section 1, Rule 1 of the Rules of
Electronic Evidence – which provides
Section 1. Scope. – Unless
otherwise provided herein, these
Rules shall apply whenever an
electronic document or electronic
data message, as defined in Rule
2 hereof, is offered or used in
evidence.
– and a perusal of the general
definitions of electronic data message
and electronic documents in Section 1
(g) and (h) of Rule 2, respectively – as
quoted earlier – do not suggest data
transmission to be exclusively confined
to business transactions, and thus favor
the second conclusion as to the
Dealing with computer-related crimes
in the Philippines is still in its infancy.
The law enforcement agencies and the
judicial system are still ill-equipped to
handle high-tech cases, both in terms
of experience and equipment. As
computer-related crimes exist across
borders, technical assistance is
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
necessary among countries, with
equipment and training being provided
by more developed countries. For
one, the United States of America set
up a computer crime unit in the
Philippines in 2003. Atty. Ivan John
E. Uy, chairman of the subcommittee
on e-commerce of the Rules of Court
committee and Director of the
Management Information System
Office of the Supreme Court, said that
the computer crime unit was envisioned
to supervise all computer-related
crimes that will be manned by
Philippine government officials skilled
in computer crime investigation and
48
applicability of the Rules.
IV. Miscellaneous: Convention
and Treaty obligations
The Philippines is a signatory of the
United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child and thus is obligated
to protect children from all forms of
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
Article 34 of said Convention requires
that parties must protect children from
being coerced to engage in any
unlawful sexual activity, from being
exploited in prostitution, and from
being used in pornographic
performances and materials. Article
34 of the Convention specifically
provides:
“States Parties undertake to
protect the child from all forms
of sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse. For these purposes, States
Parties shall in particular take all
appropriate national, bilateral
and multilateral measures to
prevent:
IV
PROPOSALS
prosecution. 182 The question of
enforcement is a constant, and the
outcome of such relies upon the
political will of public authorities. The
question of the existence of law should
never laxly taken, and should be
revised and reconciled with the reality
of the situation, inasmuch as the ones
who aim to violate the law are active
and crafty in finding ways to bend, if
not break, or go around the law.
I. Cybersex
The prominence of organized
cybersex business, with the recent raid
on Orgasmic Studios Inc., highlighted
the need for stricter laws against
obscenities. 183 Although certain
senators, such as Senate President
Franklin Drilon and Senator Mar
Roxas, claim that there are enough
laws to prosecute prostitution and
sexual exploitation through the
(a) The inducement or coercion
of a child to engage in any
unlawful sexual activity;
(b) The exploitative use of
children in prostitution or
other unlawful sexual
practices;
(c) The exploitative use of
children in pornographic
performances and
materials.”180
In addition to this, the Philippines also
ratified in 2002 the “Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography,”
181
which calls for governments to
ensure that adults involved in the
exploitation of children are punished,
and that children who have been
sexually exploited, abused, or
trafficked receive services to allow for
their full social reintegration and their
physical and psychological recovery.
Internet, in light of the anti-trafficking
law, certain sectors remain to see them
as inadequate and lax. Still, there is
an agreement that proper agencies
should pursue the drive against
cybersex vigorously. Supplementary to
this, legislators propose that said
agencies should be adequately
equipped in terms of technology,
human resources, state-of-the-art
equipment and the necessary facilities
and logistics. 184
Certain measures are proposed
herein:
1. There should be stricter fines
against operators of organized
cybersex business, and effectively
classify such operators in the same
level as other participants in
organized crime.

2. There should be better system of
facilities inspection to determine
whether a cybercafe, indeed
operates for the benefit of public,
or is being used as a front to cater
to private indulgences.
3. There should be a central registry
of all mobile phone numbers,
whether pre-paid or post-paid, to
determine the identity of the
person who used said SIM card in
the perpetuation of prohibited acts.
Said registry should also include
transaction dates of transfer of
SIM.
4. There should also be proper
regulations as to the operation of
money transfers over mobile
phones, inasmuch as mobile
phones may be utilized to acquire
remote remittance of money
generated by illicit means, in a
degree lesser than what may be
placed within the purview of the
money laundering law.
5. There should be proper mapping
of Philippine websites, featuring
adult content, even if such do not
espouse the .ph domain.
Pornography is not condoned
within Philippine jurisdiction, and
thus there is no reason to mitigate
or qualify the issue with arguments
involving financial viability, or
implication as to lost taxes.
6. There should be a central registry
of all MAC addresses for
computers (and similar devices) to
determine the identity of the user-
owner of the computer which may
be used in the perpetuation of
prohibited acts. Said registry
should also include transaction
dates of sale of the computer (and
allied devices).
II. Sex Scandals and lewd MMS
clips
The penalty of prision mayor or a fine
ranging from six thousand to twelve
thousand pesos or both is obviously
inadequate to impose upon a violator
of Article 201 of the Revised Penal
Code. Stiffer fines should be made
inasmuch as the reputation and dignity
of those who took part in the film,
particularly the women, are forever
ruined. Producers and distributors of
such film or videos should be fined
more harshly inasmuch as they have
the financial means and the boldness
to mass produce the films, and
therefore magnifies the damage that
would be inflicted upon the ad hoc porn
actors depicted in the video/film/clip.
Further, some other measures are
proposed herein:
1. Further regulation must be made
in the proper use of
telecommunication networks,
especially as to the transmission
of objectionable content.
2. There should be a central registry
of all computer peripherals and
consumer devices which are able
to transfer electronic data into
optical media. A system to
determine the relation, or impose
the determination of a relation,
between the optical disc writer
(CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R,
DVD-RW, and DVD+RW) and the
optical disc written, should be
made.
3. There should be an tailor-fit article
within the Revised Penal Code as
to crimes against honor that would
shield persons from dishonor,
discredit, or contempt, even
without manifest imputation by
words or writing, but by imputation
by analogous deed (such as
unconsented distribution). Stiff
penalties should be imposed
against persons who leak personal
sexual documents, which
incriminates other persons besides
the distributor himself/herself, to
the public.
4. There should be a law imposing
higher penalties against people
who install hidden cameras and
other paraphernalia to spy upon
people in their intimate moments.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Thus, there should be an
equivalent law to the Wire Tapping
Law – as the latter dwells solely
on sound recordings – that would
apply to videos and pictures. This
is necessary inasmuch as a
University instructor in Bacolod
City, to illustrate, installed
surveillance equipment or a
hidden camera inside his boarding
house’s bathroom.185
5. Proper laws must be made in
preventing voyeurs from utilizing
any camera-like devices to acquire
images of strangers, especially for
malicious reasons (such as
downblousing and upskirting), in
public places and communal
spaces.
6. Proper laws must be made to
strengthen the rights of people to
dignity and privacy.
7. Laws regulating data handling by
technicians, whether as to
computers, mobile phones or
analogous devices, must be in
place.
III. Child Pornography
The disturbing fact involving websites
containing Filipino teens is that this
conclusively shows that pornography
involving Filipino females exists, and
the volume of which is increasingly
growing. The other disturbing fact is
that the models appearing therein,
especially in the Filipina 18 and Manila
18 websites, are in the borderline of
legal, depending on the proper
appraisal of the models’ age. The
costumes use by the models, i.e. high
school uniforms, provide a confusing
assessment as to the real age of such
models, taking into mind that most high
school students graduate usually at the
age of 17 to 18. 186 The two
conclusions that can be made from the
images are that (1) the models are by
themselves underage, or that (2) the
models simulate to appear to be
underage. Such dilemma provides a
good debate ground, therefore,
whether child pornography would
49
 him to take flight from the Philippines,
and to make him liable to his crime in 7. That proper laws be made or
necessary include simulated child
the Philippines even if his native country strengthened to effectively prevent
pornography.
has acquired custody of the perpetrator foreigners who committed
and has punished him accordingly with criminal acts in the Philippines
Although child pornography may be
their laws. from leaving the country, and that
prosecuted according to Article 201
stiff sanction be given to other
of the Revised Penal Code and
Thus, in fine, the following are being individuals who advice, aid, or by
Republic Act 7610, the laws are
proposed: such analogous act, the felon to
obviously inadequate to specifically
take flight.
handle such evil. It is necessary that a
1. That simulated child pornography
specific law pertaining to child
should be included in the class of 8. That Philippine courts be given
pornography should be promulgated,
pornography determined to be jurisdiction, through the enactment
to distinguish such phenomenon from
child pornography. of the proper law, over instances
regular pornography, and to provide
of publication of child
harsher measures against those who
2. Registration of computer users in pornography, whether stored in
indulge in it, in light of the clear
Internet cafés should be servers outside the country, as long
vulnerability of children to such illicit
mandatory, to facilitate the as the individual depicted therein
practice. The law should include
apprehension of law offenders is a Filipino. (A proposal to
simulated child pornography as part
who transmit illicit materials enforce global jurisdiction, which
of child pornography. Arguments as
through anonymous webmail is recognized in acts enumerated
to valid role-playing cannot even be
accounts through these facilities. in Article 2 of the Revised Penal
taken into consideration inasmuch as
Code.)
pornography, and not just child
3. That stiff penalties be made against
pornography, is illegal in our
adults who distribute pornographic 9. That proper laws be made to curb
jurisdiction; such materials being
materials or encourage the the current situation that the
obscene and do not easily attach to
viewing of such materials to Philippines is made a prime
the concept of freedom of expression
minors. destination due to sex tourism.
as in the United States. The law should
provide the proper penalties for its
4. That stiffer penalties be made 10. That extradition treaties with
production, possession, and/or
against pedophiles who take developed countries, especially
distribution; not necessarily as a
theatrical and photographic Australia, United States, and the
compound act but such acts taken
mementos of the children that they United Kingdom, be strengthened
individually; but with proper provisions
ravish, and that further stiffer fines to acquire jurisdiction over
to provide consideration to child abuse
be made against pedophiles who foreigners who, although remotely
investigators, enforcers, and legitimate
distribute these pornographic done in their respective countries,
researchers. The penalty should be
materials to other individuals. are cultivating child and women-
more than prision mayor, or a Php
related crimes in the Philippines.
6,000 to Php 12,000 fine. The penalty
5. That mere possession of child
should be per count of illicit material
pornography be made to 11. That the culpability of foreigners
and not as a lump sum of all the acts.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1

constitute a crime, and that who have taken flight from the
Our present laws pale in comparison
production and distribution be Philippines from crimes committed
to the penalties provided to similar
considered as separate counts of within Philippine jurisdiction
cases in the United States. 187
committed crime. remain even if the foreigner has
been charged in their own country
It is also necessary to provide certain
6. That civil penalties be determined for violation of their laws, and
laws or amendments 188 to existing
not by the lump sum of confiscated thereby be subjected to extradition
laws to strengthen and further facilitate
materials but per piece of after they have served their
the successful acquisition of the custody
photograph (and its electronic sentence in their country, if not yet
of the perpetrator, especially if the
equivalent), and per determined dead.
perpetrator is a foreigner, and prevent
duration for videos.

Endnotes w w w. b r i t a n n i c a . c o m / e b c / “Pornography.” Encyclopedia of Ethics.

1 Prostitution. Britannica Concise
Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 27,
2005 from Encyclopædia Britannica
Premium Service. <http://
article?tocId=9376014>. New York: Garland Publishing. <http:/
2 Hogg, Charles. What is Pornography? /www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/
Pornography and the Internet in the fall1999/www_presentations/c_hogg/
United States. Citing the definition of define.htm>
VanDeBeer, Donald. 1992. 3 Section 3(k), Republic Act 9208. RA 9208

50

is entitled “An Act to Institute Policies to
Eliminate Trafficking in Persons
especially Women and Children,
establishing the necessary institutional
mechanism for the protection and
support of trafficked persons, providing
penalties for its violations, and for other
purposes.” See the Philippine Laws and
Jurisprudence Databank - The Lawphil
Project. <http://www.lawphil.net/
statutes/repacts/ra2003/
ra_9208_2003.html>.
4 Anderson, Kerby. The Pornographic
Plague. Probe Ministries. Citing the
Final Report of the Attorney General’s
Commission on Pornography, ed.
Michael McManus (Nashville, Tenn.:
Rutledge Hill Press, 1986), 8. <http://
www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/
pornplag.html>
5 Olson, Jeff. When A Man’s Eye Wanders.
What is pornography? Retrieved 10
February 2005 from RBC Ministries.
<http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/ds/
cb991/page1.html>
6 Anderson, Kerby. The Pornographic
Plague. Probe Ministries. Supra, see
note 4.
7 Legal Definition of Obscene, Obscenity.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from The
Lectric Law Library’s Lexicon <http://
www.lectlaw.com/def2/o002.htm>
8 See the case of Miller vs. California,
decided by the Supreme Court of the
United States (413 U.S. 15). See FindLaw
for Legal Professionals - Case Law,
Federal and State Resources, Forms, and
Code. <http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/
scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=413&
invol=15>
9 See the case of Pita vs. Court of Appeals,
decided by the Philippine Supreme
Court (GR 80806, 5 October 1989.) See
the Philippine Laws and Jurisprudence
Databank - The Lawphil Project <http:/
/www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1989/
oct1989/gr_80806_1989.html>
10 Anderson, Kerby. The Pornographic
Plague. Probe Ministries. Supra, see
note 4.
11 Legal Definition of Obscene, Obscenity.
Supra, see note 7.
12 Pornography. Britannica Concise
Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 27,
2005 from Encyclopædia Britannica
Premium Service. <http://
w w w. b r i t a n n i c a . c o m / e b c /
article?tocId=9375674>.
13 Section 3(c), RA 9208. Supra, see note
3.
14 Samples of Japanese and Indian erotic
art may be found in the following
websites: Kama Sutra. Rotten dot com:
An archive of disturbing illustration.
<http://www.rotten.com/library/sex/
kama-sutra/>, Semans, Anne. Your
Guide to Sexuality. Sexuality: The Kama
Sutra; A Peek Inside the Classic Pillow
Book. About Inc. <http://
s e x u a l i t y. a b o u t . c o m / c s /
sexualtechnique/a/kamasutra.htm>,
Strom, Leslie. Sex Manuals in
Relationship Hell. Get Lost Magazine
.Com <http://
www.getlostmagazine.com/reviews/
1999/9904relbooks/eroticbooks.html>,
and The Art of Loving. Shunga -
Japanese Erotic Art. <http://
www.theartofloving.ca/art.asp>
15 Bellis, Mary. “History of Photography and
the Camera - Pinhole Camera to
Daguerreotype.” Retrieved January 27,
2005 from About, Inc. <http://
inventors.about.com/library/inventors/
blphotography.htm>
16 Bellis, Mary. “The History of the Motion
Picture.” Retrieved January 27, 2005
from About, Inc. <http://
inventors.about.com/library/inventors/
blmotionpictures.htm>
17 Polaroid® (a trademark of the Polaroid
Corporation) is “the name of a type of
synthetic plastic sheet which is used to
polarise light,” while a Polaroid camera
is “a type of camera with self-developing
film usually called an ‘instant camera’.
The invention of modern instant
cameras is generally credited to
American scientist Edwin Land, who
unveiled the first commercial instant
camera, the Land Camera, in 1947, 10
years after founding the Polaroid
Corporation.” (Polaroid, and Polaroid
Camera. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaroid> and
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Polaroid_camera>,respectively)
18 Super 8mm film is “a motion picture
film format that was developed in the
1960s and released on the market in
1965 by Eastman Kodak as an
improvement of the older 8mm home
movie format.” (Super 8mm film.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. < http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Super_8mm_film>) Super 8
quickly became the accepted amateur
and home movie standard and would
remain so until the advent of the home
video camera.” (Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Joey Brunton’s website. Super
8 – History. < http://
members.tripod.com/~bruntonj/
history.html>)
19 Sony’s “Betamax” is the 12.7 mm (0.5
inch) home videocassette tape recording
format derived from the earlier,
professional 19.1 mm (0.75 inch) U-matic
video cassette format. (Betamax.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Betamax>)
20 The Video Home System, better known
by its acronym VHS, is a recording and
playing standard for video cassette
recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC and
launched in 1976. VHS officially stands
for Video Home System, but it initially
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
stood for Vertical Helical Scan, after the
relative head/tape scan technique.
Several improved versions of VHS exist,
most notably S-VHS, an improved analog
standard, and D-VHS, which records
digital video onto a VHS form factor
tape. (VHS. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS>)
21 VHS-C (C for compact) is used in some
camcorders. Since VHS-C tapes are
based on the same magnetic tape as full
size tapes, they can be played back in
standard VHS players using an adapter.
(VHS. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/VHS>)
22 Binary, in mathematics, is “Base two;
i.e. a number representation consisting
of zeros and ones used by practically all
computers because of its ease of
implementation using digital electronics
and Boolean algebra.” (Binary -
definition by Dict.die.net <http://
dict.die.net/binary/>, citing the
definition by the Free On-line Dictionary
of Computing (10 October 2003). <http:/
/wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/>)
23 Sample images of Memory Cards may
be found at the following websites/
webpages: (1) Secure Digital Card, at
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Secure_Digital_Card>; (2)
Memory stick, at Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_stick>;
Multi Media Card, at Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Multi_Media_Card>; Flash Memory
Card - CompactFlash. Retrived 10
February 2005 from Lexar Media Inc.
h t t p : / / w w w. l e x a r. c o m / d i g f i l m /
compact_flash.html>; Keydrive, at
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Keydrive>; XD-Picture Card, at
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/XD-Picture_Card>; SmartMedia,
at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. < http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/SmartMedia>. A note of memory
cards, as a subset of data storage
devices, was necessary as memory sticks
were used in the physical transport of
child pornography in the Datan case in
November 2004; an overview of what
transpired is available in the next chapter
“Philippine Experience” under the
heading “Child Pornography.”
51
 24 Disk storage is “a group of data storage
mechanisms for computers; data is
transferred to planar surfaces or disks
for temporary or permanent storage.”
(Disk storage. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_storage>)
25 Bubble memory is “a type of computer
memory that uses a thin film of a
magnetic material to hold small
magnetized areas, known as bubbles,
which each store one bit of data. Bubble
memory was a very promising technology
in the 1970s, but flopped commercially
when hard disks came to proliferate in
the 80s.” (Magnetic Bubble Memory.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Magnetic_bubble_memory>)
26 An EEPROM (E²PROM or Electrically-
Erasable Programmable Read-Only
Memory), is “a non-volatile storage chip
used in computers and other devices.
Unlike an EPROM, an EEPROM can be
programmed and erased multiple times
electrically. It may be erased and
reprogrammed only a certain number
of times, ranging from 100,000 to
1,000,000, but it can be read an
unlimited number of times. Flash
memory is a later form of EEPROM.”
(EEPROM. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEPROM>)
27 Memory cards are “solid-state electronic
flash memory data storage devices used
with digital cameras, handheld and
laptop computers, phones, music players,
video game consoles and other
electronics. They offer re-recordability,
power-free storage, small form factor
and rugged environmental
specifications.” (Memory Card.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Memory_card>)
28 An optical disc, in computing, sound
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
reproduction, and video, “is a flat,
circular, usually polycarbonate disc
whereon data is stored. This data is
generally accessed when a special
material on the disc (often aluminum) is
illuminated with a laser diode. The
information on an optical disc is stored
sequentially on a continuous spiral track
from the innermost track and
outwardmost track.” (Optical Disc.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Optical_disc>)
29 The CD-ROM (“Compact Disc Read-
Only Memory” (ROM)) is “a non-volatile
optical data storage medium using the
same physical format as audio compact
discs, readable by a computer with a
CD-ROM drive. A CD-ROM is a flat,
52
plastic disc with digital information
encoded on it in a spiral from the center
to the limit, the outside edge.” A CD-R
(Compact Disc-Recordable) is “a thin
(1.2 mm) disc made of polycarbonate
with a 120 mm or 80 mm diameter that
is mainly used to store music or data.
Unlike conventional CD media, a CD-R
has a core of dye instead of metal.”
Compact Disc Rewritable, or CD-RW, is
“a rewritable version of CD-ROM.
Whereas standard prerecorded compact
discs have their information permanently
stamped into an aluminium reflecting
layer, CD-RW discs have a phase-
change recording layer and an
additional aluminium reflecting layer.”
(CD -ROM, CD -R, and CD-RW.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/CD-ROM, http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/CD-R, and http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/CD-RW, respectively.)
30 DVD is “an optical disc storage media
format that is used for playback of movies
with high video and sound quality and
for storing data. DVDs are similar in
appearance to compact discs. The DVD
format was a result of the unity of two
high density optical storage standards
in development; one was the
Multimedia Compact Disc (MMCD),
backed by Philips and Sony, and the
other was the Super Disc (SD), supported
by Toshiba, Time-Warner, Matsushita
Electric, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric,
Pioneer, Thomson and JVC. The official
DVD specification was initially released
in September 1996 and is maintained
by the DVD Forum, formerly the DVD
Consortium. ‘DVD’ was originally an
initialism for ‘digital video disc’; some
members of the DVD Forum believe that
it should stand for ‘digital versatile disc’,
to indicate its potential for non-video
applications.” A DVD-R (properly
pronounced as DVD R or DVD Dash R,
not DVD Minus R) is “an optical disc with
a larger storage capacity than a CD-R,
typically 4.7 GB (4.4 GiB) instead of 700
MB, although the original capacity of
the standard was 3.95 GB. A DVD-R can
be written to only once, whereas a DVD-
RW is rewritable.” The DVD-R and the
DVD-RW formats wer developed by
Pioneer in autumn of 1997 and
November 1999, respectively . DVD-R
and DVD-RW are supported by over 90%
and 75% of today ’s DVD players,
respectively, and both are approved by
the DVD Forum. A competing format is
DVD+R (also DVD+RW for the
rewritables). The DVD+R and the
DVD+RW formats were developed by a
coalition of corporations, known as the
DVD+RW Alliance (which include
Philips), in mid 2002 and late 1997,
respectively. Although both DVD+R and
DVD+RW have not yet been approved
by the DVD Forum, DVD+R and
DVD+RW discs are playable in 87%-
95%, and 3/4 of today’s DVD players,
respectively. Hybrid drives that can
handle both formats, often labeled
DVD±R are very popular since there is
no universal standard yet for recordable
DVDs. All DVD discs are composed of
two 0.6 mm thick polycarbonate discs,
bonded with an adhesive to each other.
One contains the guiding groove and is
coated with the recording dye and
aluminum reflector. The other one (for
single-sided discs) is an ungrooved,
uncoated “dummy ” disc to assure
mechanical stability of the sandwich
structure, and compatibility with the
compact disc standard geometry which
requires a total disc thickness of about
1.2 mm. Double-sided discs have two
grooved, recordable disc sides, and
require the user to flip the disc to access
the other side (unless a dual-pickup
drive is used). (DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW,
DVD+R, DVD+RW. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD, http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-R, http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-RW, http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_plus_R,
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
DVD_plus_RW, respectively.)
DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc –-
Random Access Memory) is “a disc
specification presented in 1996 by the
DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable
DVD-RAM media and the appropriate
DVD writers. DVD-RAM media are used
in computers as well as camcorders and
personal video recorders since 1998.
Compared with other DVDs, DVD-RAM
is much more similar to a harddisk, as it
has concentric tracks instead of one long
spiral track. Unlike the competing
formats DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW and
DVD-RW, you do not need special DVD
burning software to write or read DVD-
RAMs on a computer. DVD-RAMs can be
accessed like a usual floppy disk or hard
drive.” (DVD-RAM. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. < http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-RAM>)
31 Blu-ray Disc is “a next-generation optical
disc format jointly developed by a group
of leading consumer electronics and PC
companies called the Blu-ray Disc
Association (BDA), which succeeds the
Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF). Because it
uses blue lasers, which have shorter
wavelengths than traditional red lasers,
it can store substantially more data in
the same amount of physical space as
previous technologies such as DVD and
CD. One single-layer Blu-ray Disc can
hold about 25GB or almost four hours of
HDTV audio and video, and the dual-
layer disc can hold approximately 50GB.
The data transfer rate is 36Mbps, but 2x

speed prototypes with a 72Mbps transfer
rate are now in development.” (Blu-ray
disc. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. < http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Blu-ray_disk>)
32 A MiniDisc (MD) is a “disc-based data
storage device for storing any kind of
data, usually audio. The technology was
introduced in 1992. Along with Philips’
Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) system,
MiniDisc was targeted as a replacement
for analog cassette tapes as the
recording system for Hi-Fi equipment.
What became a very brief format war
ended when DCC was phased out in
1996. MD Data, a version for storing
computer data was announced by Sony
in 1993, but it never gained significant
ground, so today MDs are used primarily
for audio storage.” (Minidisc. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidisc>)
33 A hard disk (or “hard disc” or “hard
drive” or “hard disk drive”) is “a
computer storage device, that uses rigid
rotating platters. It stores and retrieves
digital data from a planar magnetic
surface. Information is written to the disk
by transmitting an electromagnetic flux
through an antenna or write head that
is very close to a magnetic material,
which in turn changes its polarization
due to the flux. The information can be
read back in a reverse manner, as the
magnetic fields cause electrical change
in the coil or read head that passes over
it.” (Hard Disc. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk>)
34 A floppy disk is “a data storage device
that comprises a circular piece of thin,
flexible (hence “floppy ”) magnetic
storage medium encased in a square or
rectangular plastic wallet. Floppy disks
are read and written by a floppy disk
drive or FDD.” (Floppy disc. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk>)
35 The Zip drive is “a removable disk
storage system, introduced by the
Iomega company in late 1994.” In the
Zip system, “a set of read/write heads
mounted on a linear actuator flies over
a rapidly spinning floppy disk mounted
in a sturdy cartridge, and a simplified
drive design that reduced its overall cost.
This resulted in a disk that has all of the
3.5” floppy’s convenience, but holds
much more data, with performance that
is much quicker than a standard floppy
drive.” (Zip drive. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. < http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_drive>)
36 Holographic storage uses two laser
beams, a reference and a data beam to
create an interference pattern at a
medium where the two beams intersect.
This intersection causes a stable physical
or chemical change which is stored in
the medium. This is the write sequence.
During reading, the action of the
reference beam and the stored
interference pattern in the medium
recreates this data beam which may be
sensed by a detector array. The medium
may be a rotating disk containing a
polymeric material, or an optically
sensitive single crystal. Since it involves
no moving parts, holographic data
storage will be far more reliable than
existing hard disk technologies. IBM has
already demonstrated the possibility of
holding 1GB of data in a crystal the size
of a sugar cube and of data access rates
of one trillion bits per second.
(Holographic Data Storage System
(HDSS). Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDSS>)
37 CompactFlash (CF) was originally a type
of data storage device, used in portable
electronic devices. As a storage device,
it typically uses flash memory in a
standardized enclosure, and was first
specified and produced by SanDisk
Corporation in 1994. CF devices are
used in handheld and laptop computers
(which may or may not take larger form-
factor cards), digital cameras, and a wide
variety of other devices, including
desktop computers. As of 2004,
CompactFlash cards are available in
capacities from about 8 megabytes to
about 8 gigabytes. (CompactFlash.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/CompactFlash>)
38 Memory Stick is “a format for removable
flash memory data storage devices,
created by Sony in October 1998 as an
alternative to CompactFlash, Secure
Digital, Multi Media Card, and
SmartMedia for use in their own devices.
While Sony uses the format almost
exclusively, it has not proved popular
with other manufacturers. Poor sales and
adoption have forced Sony to license
the technology to other makers, leading
to a small drop in prices. The original
Memory Stick interface could only
address 128 MB of memory physically
due to design flaws. This led to the
introduction of Memory Stick PRO
variant with faster transfer speeds and a
capacity of 256 MB and higher. Sony is
slowly phasing out the old purple and
white Memory Sticks, replacing them
with comparable technology based on
the MS PRO specs.” (Memory stick.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Memory_stick>)
39 Secure Digital (or SD), is “a flash
memory data storage device based on
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Toshiba’s earlier Multi Media Cards
(MMC). Measuring 32mm by 24mm by
2.1mm, SD is slightly thicker, and
includes features that allow the secure
exchange of data, enabling usage
restrictions such as copyright protection.
As of October 2004, SD is the most
popular flash memory format, having
overtaken the older and larger Compact
Flash. PDA devices such as Pocket PCs
and Palm-powered devices frequently
feature SD slots. PalmOne, HP, Dell,
Toshiba, and other PDA manufacturers
have made SD a standard on all of their
PDAs. SD is fairly well supported in the
digital camera industry as well, used in
all Kodak cameras. A smaller version of
the SD card has been developed. The
miniSD card measures 21.5mm by
20mm by 1.4mm and is backward-
compatible with the SD card via an
adapter. Currently available capacities
(as of December 2004) range up to 512
MB. It can be use with Kodak Easyshare
and similar SD compatible cameras.”
(Secure Digital Card. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Secure_Digital_Card>)
40 A Multi Media Card (MMC) is a solid
state disk or flash memory data storage
device. It is based on Toshiba’s NAND-
based flash memory, and is therefore
much smaller than earlier systems based
on Intel NOR-based memory such as
Compact Flash. MMC is about the size
of a postage stamp: 24mm x 32mm x
1.5mm. MMC is a popular storage
medium for very small electronic
devices, like mobile phones, PDAs and
digital audio players (MP3 players). It
comes in 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB,
256MB, 512MB, and 1GB sizes as of
2004. Most of the Nokia smartphones in
2004 use a smaller version of MMC cards
called Reduced Size MMC, or RS-MMC.
They are half the height of a normal
MMC card: 24mm x 16mm x 1.5mm.”
(Multi Media Card. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Multi_Media_Card>)
41 SmartMedia is “a trademark of Toshiba
Corp. for flash memory. SmartMedia
cards provide mobile data storage in a
small interchangeable format.
Originally named Solid State Floppy
Disk Card (SSFDC), a SmartMedia card
consists of a single NAND flash EEPROM
chip embedded in a thin plastic card. It
can be used for storage in many digital
systems including PDAs, Olympus digital
cameras, pagers and MP3 digital music
players. SmartMedia cards are limited
to 128MB. The format has been
superseded by the smaller and higher
capacity XD-Picture Card format.
Nevertheless, major manufacturers
continue to produce SmartMedia cards
53
 as of 2004 due to the large number of
users.” (SmartMedia. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmartMedia>)
42 xD-Picture Card is “a format of flash
memory data storage device developed
and introduced to the market in July
2002 by Olympus and Fujifilm, and
manufactured by the Toshiba
Corporation. xD cards are designed for
the digital photography market, and are
an alternative to and competitor of
formats such as Compact Flash (CF),
Sony Memory Sticks, and microdrives.
xD-Picture Cards are available in a
range of sizes, from 16 MB to 512 MB.
Fujifilm’s marketing department note
that the name “xD-Picture Card” was
inspired by the phrase “eXtreme
Digital”. (XD-Picture Card. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XD-
Picture_Card>)
43 A keydrive is “a small removable data
storage device that uses flash memory
and a USB connector. Keydrives are also
known as keychain drive, pen drive,
pocket drive, thumb drive, jump drive,
USB flash drive, USB flash memory
drive, USB key, USB memory key, USB
stick, Piripicho (primarily in Spanish), and
Kikinou (primarily in French) Keydrives
are typically small, lightweight devices,
around 50 mm long and weighing only
around 100 grams. A keydrive consists
of a small printed circuit board encased
with a robust plastic casing, making the
drive sturdy enough to be carried around
in a pocket, as a keyfob, or on a lanyard
around the owner’s neck. Only the USB
connector protrudes from this plastic
protection, and this is often covered by
a removable plastic cap. Keydrives are
active only when powered by a
connection to a computer, and require
no external power source or battery
power when not in use.” (Keydrive.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Keydrive>)
44 Personal digital assistants (PDAs or
palmtops) are “handheld devices that
were originally designed as personal
organizers, but became much more
versatile over the years. A basic PDA
usually includes a clock, date book,
address book, task list, memo pad and a
simple calculator. One major advantage
of using PDAs is their ability to
synchronize data with desktop, notebook
and desknote computers.” (Personal
Digital Assistant. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 16 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Personal_digital_assistant>)
45 Multimedia Messaging System (MMS) is
54
“the logical evolution of the Short
Message Service (SMS), a text-only
messaging system for mobile networks.
MMS-enabled mobile phones enable
subscribers to compose and send
messages with one or more multimedia
(digital photos, audio, video) parts.
Mobile phones with built-in or attached
cameras, or with built-in MP3 players
are very likely to also have an MMS
messaging client — a software program
that interacts with the mobile subscriber
to compose, address, send, receive, and
view MMS messages.” (Multimedia
Messaging System. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Multimedia_Messaging_System>)
46 Certain MMS-enabled mobile phones
have palmtop capabilities – the so-called
converged mobile devices – such as
Sony Ericsson’s P910 series, P802, and
R380 series phone models, among
others; and Nokia’s 9500
Communicator, 9300, and 9210i
Communicator phone models, among
others. Nokia claims to have adopted
the Series 60 platform, away from the
conventional palmtop technology. Nokia
claims that Series 60 is a feature rich
software platform for smartphones with
advanced data capabilities, inasmuch
as the platform has a ready-made user
interface that can be adapted to suit
different needs, and a rich set of
applications, and a common user
interface components and development
tools for implementing new applications.
Nokia implemented Series 60 in its 7710,
6681, 6680, 6670, and 6630 Smartphone
models, among others, and licensed it
to other phone manufacturers such as
LG Electronics, Lenovo, Panasonic,
Samsung, Sendo and Siemens. Sony
Ericcson’s and Nokia’s websites are
available as http://www.
sonyericsson.com, and http://
www.nokia.com, respectively.
47 A digital audio player (DAP) is “a device
that stores, organizes and plays digital
music files. It is more commonly referred
to as an MP3 player (because of that
format’s ubiquity), but DAPs often play
many additional file formats. Some
formats are proprietary, such as MP3,
Windows Media Audio (WMA), and
Advanced Audio Codec (AAC). Some of
these formats also may incorporate
digital rights management (DRM), such
as WMA DRM, which are often part of
paid download sites. Other formats are
patent-free or otherwise open, such as
Vorbis, FLAC, and Speex (all part of the
Ogg open multimedia project).” One
of the most popular models was Diamond
Multimedia’s PMP300 introduced in
1998, which popularized DAPs. The
current market leader is Apple’s iPod.
Other models include those of Dell
(Digital Jukebox), Creative (Nomad/
Zen), and IRiver. (Digital Audio Player.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Digital_audio_player>)
48 The personal video recorder (PVR), also
called digital video recorder (DVR), is a
consumer electronics device that records
television shows to a hard disk in digital
format. Many models are now also
offering the facility to record onto DVDs.”
This makes the “time shifting” feature
much more convenient, and also allows
for “trick modes” such as pausing live
TV, instant replay of interesting scenes,
and skipping advertising. Most PVR
recorders use the MPEG format for
encoding analog video signals. The most
popular PVRs on the market are the TiVo
and DNNA’s ReplayTV, although most
home electronics manufacturers – such
as Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, and
Samsung – now offer models. Many
satellite and cable companies are
incorporating PVR functions into their
set-top boxes. (Personal Video Recorder.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Personal_video_recorder>) TiVo
and DNNA’s ReplayTV websites are
available as http://www.tivo.com and
http://www.replaytv.com, respectively.
49 Bayonet Neill-Concelman is “a type of
RF connector used for terminating
coaxial cable. The BNC connector is one
of a larger class of “bayonet connectors”,
named after the resemblance to the
standard twist-on attachment for a
bayonet. It was commonly used on
10base2 thin Ethernet networks, both
on cable interconnections and network
cards.” (BNC Connector. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
BNC_connector>)
50 A local area network is “a computer
network that spans a relatively small
area. Most LANs are confined to a single
building or group of buildings. Most
LANs connect workstations and personal
computers. Each node (individual
computer ) in a LAN has its own CPU
with which it executes programs, but it
also is able to access data and devices
anywhere on the LAN. This means that
many users can share expensive devices,
such as laser printers, as well as data.
There are many different types of LANs
Ethernets being the most common for
PCs. Most Apple Macintosh networks are
based on Apple’s AppleTalk network
system, which is built into Macintosh
computers.” (What is local-area
network? - A Word Definition From the
Webopedia Computer Dictionary. A
word definition from the Webopedia
Computer Dictionary. Retrieved 10
February 2005. http://
w w w. w e b o p e d i a . c o m / T E R M / l /

local_area_network_LAN.html.
www.webopedia.com. Copyright, 2004
Jupitermedia. All rights reserved.)
51 In general, a hub is a centre point; and
specifically in computing, a hub is “a
computer networking device that
connects multiple Ethernet segments
together making them act as a single
segment. When using a hub, every
attached device shares the same
broadcast domain and the same
collision domain. Therefore, only one
computer connected to the hub is able
to transmit at a time. Depending on the
network topology, the hub provides a
basic level 1 OSI model connection
among the network objects
(workstations, servers, etc). It provides
bandwidth which is shared among all
the objects, compared to switches, which
provide a dedicated connection between
individual nodes.” (Hub. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved 11
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hub>)
52 A router is “a computer networking
device that forwards data packets toward
their destinations through a process
known as routing. Routing occurs at layer
3 of the OSI seven-layer model. Routing
is most commonly associated with the
Internet Protocol, although other less-
popular routed protocols remain in use.
In recent times many routing functions
have been added to LAN switches,
creating “Layer 2/3 Switches” which
route traffic at near wire speed. Routers
are also now being implemented as
Internet gateways, primarily for small
networks like those used in homes and
small offices. This application is mainly
where the Internet connection is an
always-on broadband connection like
cable modem or DSL. These are not
“routers” in the true sense, but the
terminology has been confused with
network address translation.” (Router.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 11 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Router>)
53 Universal Serial Bus (USB) provides a
serial bus standard for connecting
devices, usually to a computer, but it
also is in use on other devices such as
set-top boxes, game consoles and PDAs.
A USB system has an asymmetric design,
consisting of a host controller and
multiple devices connected in a tree-
like fashion using special hub devices.
There is a limit of 5 levels of branching
hubs per controller. Up to 127 devices
may be connected to a single host
controller, but the count must include
the hub devices as well. A modern
computer likely has several host
controllers so the total useful number of
connected devices is beyond what could
reasonably be connected to a single
computer. There is no need for a
terminator on any USB bus, as there is
for SCSI and some others. USB can
connect peripherals such as mice,
keyboards, scanners, digital cameras,
printers, hard disks, and networking
components. For multimedia devices
such as scanners and digital cameras,
USB has become the standard
connection method. For printers, USB
has also grown in popularity and started
displacing parallel ports because USB
makes it simple to add more than one
printer to a computer. As of 2004 there
were about 1 billion USB devices in the
world. (Universal serial bus. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 11
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Universal_serial_bus>)
54 A system of LANs connected in such a
manner is called a wide-area network
(WAN). (What is local-area network? -
A Word Definition From the Webopedia
Computer Dictionary. A word definition
from the Webopedia Computer
Dictionary. Retrieved 10 February 2005.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/l/
local_area_network_LAN.html.
www.webopedia.com. Copyright, 2004
Jupitermedia. All rights reserved.)
55 An intranet is “a local area network
(LAN) used internally in an organization
that is sometimes access restricted.
Sometimes the term refers only to the
most visible service, the internal web
site. The same concepts and
technologies of the Internet such as
clients and servers running on the
Internet protocol suite are used to build
an intranet. HTTP and other internet
protocols are commonly used as well,
especially FTP and email. There is often
an attempt to use internet technologies
to provide new interfaces with corporate
‘legacy’ data and information systems.
There does not necessarily have to be
any access from the organisations’s
internal network to the internet itself.
Where there is, there will be a firewall
with a gateway through which all access
takes place. (Intranet. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 11 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Internet_Relay_Chat>)
56 A bulletin board system (BBS) is a
“computer system running software that
allows users to dial into the system over
a phone line and, using a terminal
program, perform functions such as
downloading software and data,
uploading data, reading news, and
exchanging messages with other users.”
It was the precursor to the modern form
of the World Wide Web (WWW) and other
aspects of the Internet, and was popular
from the late 1970s to the late 1990s.
(Bulletin Board System. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. < http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Bulletin_board_system>)
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
57 HTTP (for HyperText Transfer Protocol)
is “the primary method used to convey
information on the World Wide Web.
The original purpose was to provide a
way to publish and receive HTML pages.
Development of HTTP was co-ordinated
by the World Wide Web Consortium and
working groups of the Internet
Engineering Task Force, culminating in
the publication of a series of RFCs, most
notably RFC 2616, which defines HTTP/
1.1, the version of HTTP in common use
today. HTTP differs from other TCP-based
protocols, in that connections are usually
terminated once a particular request (or
related series of requests) has been
completed. This design makes HTTP
ideal for the World Wide Web, where
pages regularly link to pages on other
servers.” (HTTP. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP>)
58 The World Wide Web (“WWW”, or
simply “Web”) is “an information space
in which the items of interest, referred
to as resources, are identified by global
identifiers called Uniform Resource
Identifiers (URI, the superset of the more
commonly-known Uniform Resource
Locator [URL] used for website
addressing).” The Web is made up of
three standards: The Uniform Resource
Locator (URL), which specifies how each
page of information is given a unique
“address” at which it can be found;
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP),
which specifies how the browser and
server send the information to each
other, and Hyper Text Markup Language
(HTML), a method of encoding the
information so it can be displayed on a
variety of devices. (World Wide Web.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/World_wide_web>)
59 Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) is
an application layer Internet standard
protocol used to retrieve email from a
remote server to a local client over a
TCP/IP connection. Nearly all individual
Internet service provider email accounts
are accessed via POP3. POP3 and its
predecessors are designed to allow end
users with intermittent connections such
as dial-up connections to retrieve email
when connected, and then to view and
manipulate the retrieved messages
without needing to stay connected.
Although most clients have an option to
leave mail on server, email clients using
POP3 generally connect, retrieve all
messages, store them on the user’s PC
as new messages, delete them from the
server, and then disconnect. In contrast,
the newer, more capable IMAP email
retrieval protocol supports both
connected and disconnected modes of
operation. Email clients using IMAP
generally leave messages on the server
55
 until the user explicitly deletes them.
(Post Office Protocol. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Post_Office_Protocol>)
60 The Internet Message Access Protocol
(commonly known as IMAP, and
previously called Interactive Mail Access
Protocol) is an application layer Internet
protocol used for accessing email on a
remote server from a local client. IMAP
and POP3 (Post Office Protocol version
3) are the two most prevalent Internet
standard protocols for email retrieval.
Both are supported by virtually all
modern email clients and servers,
although in some cases in addition to
vendor-specific, typically proprietary,
interfaces. (Internet Message Access
Protocol. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Internet_Message_Access_Protocol>)
61 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is
the de facto standard for email
transmission across the Internet. SMTP
is a relatively simple, text-based
protocol, where one or more recipients
of a message are specified (and in most
cases verified to exist) and then the
message text is transferred. Since this
protocol started out as purely ASCII text-
based, it did not deal well with binary
files. Standards such as MIME were
developed to encode binary files for
transfer through SMTP. Today, most
SMTP servers support the 8BITMIME
extension, permitting binary files to be
transmitted almost as easily as plain text.
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 10 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol>)
62 The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is “a
software standard for transferring
computer files between machines with
widely different operating systems. It
belongs to the application layer of the
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Internet protocol suite. FTP is an 8-bit
client-server protocol, capable of
handling any type of file without further
processing, such as MIME or Uuencode.
However, FTP has extremely high
latency; that is, the time between
beginning the request and starting to
receive the required data can be quite
long, and a sometimes-lengthy login
procedure is required.” (File Transfer
Protocol. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File_transfer_protocol>)
63 Usenet is “a distributed Internet
discussion system that evolved from a
general purpose UUCP (Unix to Unix
Copy Protocol) network of the same
name. Users read and post e-mail-like
56
messages (“articles”) to a number of
distributed newsgroups, categories that
resemble bulletin board systems in most
respects. Newsgroups are often
arranged into hierarchies, theoretically
making it simpler to find related groups.
The term top-level hierarchy refers to
the hierarchy defined by the prefix prior
to the first dot. The most commonly
known hierachies are the usenet
hierarchies. So for instance newsgroup
rec.arts.sf.starwars.games would be in
the rec.* top-level usenet hierarchy,
where the asterisk (*) is defined as a
wildcard character. There were seven
original major hierarchies of usenet
newsgroups, known as the “Big 7”: (1)
comp.*—Discussion of computer-related
topics, (2) news.*—Discussion of Usenet
itself, (3) sci.*—Discussion of scientific
subjects, (4) rec.*—Discussion of
recreational activities (e.g. games and
hobbies), (5) soc.*—Socialising and
discussion of social issues, (6) talk.*—
Discussion of contentious issues such as
religion and politics, and (7)misc.*—
Miscellaneous discussion—anything
which doesn’t fit in the other hierarchies.
(Usenet, and Newsgroups. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet> and <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Newsgroup>, respectively.)
64 Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of
instant communication over the Internet.
It is mainly designed for group (one-to-
many) communication in discussion
forums called channels, but also allows
one-to-one communication. IRC is an
open protocol that uses TCP and
optionally SSL. An IRC server can
connect to other IRC servers to expand
the IRC network. Users access IRC
networks by connecting a client to a
server. There are many client and server
implementations. Most IRC servers do
not require users to log in, but a user
will have to set a nickname before being
connected. IRC is a plaintext protocol,
which means that it is fully possible
(though quite inconvenient) to use IRC
via a basic byte-stream client such as
netcat or telnet. However, the protocol
only uses a slightly modified version of
ASCII, and does not originally provide
any support for non-ASCII characters in
text, with the result that many different,
incompatible character encodings (such
as ISO 8859-1 and UTF-8) are used.
(Internet Relay Chat. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Internet_Relay_Chat>)
65 An instant messenger is “a computer
application which allows instant text
communication between two or more
people through a network such as the
Internet. An instant messenger is a client
which hooks up to an instant messaging
service. Instant messaging differs from
e-mail in that conversations happen in
realtime. Also, most services convey an
“online status” between users, such as if
a contact is actively using the computer.
Generally, both parties in the
conversation see each line of text right
after it is typed (line-by-line), thus making
it more like a telephone conversation
than exchanging letters. Instant
messaging applications may also include
the ability to post an away message, the
equivalent of the message on a telephone
answering machine. Popular instant
messaging services on the public
Internet include Jabber, AOL Instant
Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, .NET
Messenger Service and ICQ. These
services owe many ideas to an older
(and still popular) online chat medium
known as Internet Relay Chat (IRC).”
(Instant messenger. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Instant_messenger>)
66 A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer
network is “any network that does not
rely on dedicated servers for
communication but instead mostly uses
direct connections between clients
(peers). A pure peer-to-peer network
does not have the notion of clients or
servers, but only equal peer nodes that
simultaneously function as both “clients”
and “servers” to the other nodes on the
network. This model of network
arrangement differs from the client-
server model where communication is
usually relayed by the server.”
File sharing networks such as FastTrack,
FreeNet, GNUtella, and OpenNap are
examples of peer-to-peer networks.
Other examples are those of Applejuice
(which includes Applejuice Client),
BitTorrent (which includes ABC, Azureus,
BitAnarch, BitComet, BitSpirit,
BitTornado, BitTorrent, BitTorrent++,
BitTorrent.Net, G3 Torrent, mlMac,
MLDonkey, QTorrent, SimpleBT,
Shareaza, TomatoTorrent, and
TorrentStorm), CAKE (which includes
BirthdayCAKE), Direct Connect (which
includes BCDC++, CZDC++, DC++,
NeoModus Direct Connect, and
JavaDC), eDonkey (which includes
aMule, eMule, LMule, MindGem,
MLDonkey, mlMac, Shareaza, and
xMule), ed2k or eDonkey 2000 (which
includes eDonkey, and eMule), FastTrack
(which includes giFT, Grokster, iMesh,
Kazaa, Kazaa Lite, K++, Diet Kaza,
CleanKazaa, Mammoth, MLDonkey,
mlMac, and Poisoned), Freenet (which
includes Entropy, Freenet, and Frost),
Gnutella (which includes Acquisitionx,
BearShare, Gnucleus, Grokster, gtk-
gnutella, Limewire, MLDonkey, mlMac,
Morpheus, Phex, Poisoned, Swapper,
Shareaza, and XoloX), Gnutella2 (which

includes Adagio, Gnucleus, MLDonkey,
mlMac, Morpheus, and Shareaza), Joltid
PeerEnabler (which includes Altnet,
Bullguard, Joltid, Kazaa, and Kazaa Lite),
Kademlia (which includes eMule,
MindGem, MLDonkey, and VarVar),
Manolito/MP2P (which includes
Blubster, Piolet, and RockItNet), Napster
(which includes Napigator, OpenNap,
and WinMX), WPNP (which includes
WinMX), among other networks
(including Akamai, Alpine, Ares Galaxy,
Audiogalaxy network, Carracho, Chord,
The Circle, Coral, Dexter, Diet-Agents,
EarthStation 5, Evernet, FileTopia,
GNUnet, Grapevine, Groove, Hotwire,
iFolder, konspire2b, MUTE, and
OpenFT). (Peer-to-peer. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved 10
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer>)
67 AirPort is “a wireless networking protocol
from Apple Computer designed for both
Macintosh and PC computers. It is based
on the IEEE 802.11b (also known as Wi-
Fi) standard and has been certified to
be compatible with other 802.11b
devices. According to Apple, AirPort is
capable of speeds up to 11 megabits
per second and distances of 150 feet
from the base station. The current version
support encryption up to 128 bits. AirPort
Extreme is the new generation of AirPort,
and is based on the IEEE 802.11g
specification, and is fully compatible with
all 802.11b and 802.11g devices, with
speeds up to 54 megabits per second.”
(AirPort. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. < http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort>)
68 IEEE 802.11 (or Wi-Fi) “denotes a set of
Wireless LAN standards developed by
working group 11 of IEEE 802. The term
is also used to refer to the original 802.11,
which is now sometimes called
‘802.11legacy.’ The 802.11 family
currently includes six over-the-air
modulation techniques that all use the
same protocol, the most popular (and
prolific) techniques are those defined
by the a, b, and g amendments to the
original standard; security was originally
included, and was later enhanced via
the 802.11i amendment. Other
standards in the family (c–f, h–j, n) are
service enhancement and extensions, or
corrections to previous specifications.
802.11b was the first widely accepted
wireless networking standard, followed
(somewhat counterintuitively) by
802.11a and 802.11g. 802.11b and
802.11g standards use the unlicensed
2.4 GHz band. The 802.11a standard
uses the 5 GHz band. Operating in an
unregulated frequency band, 802.11b
and 802.11g equipment can incur
interference from microwave ovens,
cordless phones, and other appliances
using the same 2.4 GHz band.” (IEEE
802.11. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11>)
69 HomeRF operates at the 2.4 GHz
Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM)
band. It supports all CLASS features such
as caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding,
and distinctive ringing allowing it to
support standard phone features that
users are familiar with. HomeRF supports
up to 8 toll-quality voice connections, 8
priority-based multimedia streams, and
access to data at a rate of 10 Mb/s in
version 1.0 of the standard and as high
as 20 Mb/s in version 2.0 of the standard.
Transmission range is about 100 meters
but can be extended at the cost of the
data rate. HomeRF also supports low
power modes and secure
communications using 128 bit encryption
against eavesdroppers and denial of
service attacks. (HomeRF Overview.
<http://nesl.ee.ucla.edu/courses/
ee206a/2001s/homeworks/
hw1_submits/vadim/hw1_p2.htm>
70 Bluetooth is “an industrial specification
for wireless personal area networks
(PANs) first developed by Ericsson, later
formalized by the Bluetooth Special
Interest Group (SIG), which was
established by Sony Ericsson, IBM, Intel,
Toshiba and Nokia, and joined by other
companies.” Bluetooth is “a wireless
radio standard primarily designed for
low power consumption, with a short
range (up to 10 meters and with a low-
cost transceiver microchip in each
device. It can be used to wirelessly
connect peripherals like printers or
keyboards to computers, or to have
PDAs communicate with other nearby
PDAs or computers. The standard also
includes support for more powerful
longer-range devices suitable for
constructing a wireless LAN. Every
Bluetooth device can simultaneously
maintain up to 7 connections, but only
one active connection at the time. These
groups (maximum of 8 devices: 1 host
and 7 slaves) are called piconets. The
Bluetooth specification also enables the
possibility to connect two piconetworks
together, with one master device acting
as a bridge. These devices have yet to
come, though are supposed to appear
within the next two years. Every device
can be configured to constantly
announce its presence to nearby devices
in order to establish a connection. It is
also possible to password protect a
connection between two devices so that
no one can listen in.” (Bluetooth.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 11 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Bluetooth>)
71 Ibid.
72 Ethernet is “a frame-based computer
networking technology for local area
networks (LANs). It defines wiring and
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
signaling for the physical layer, and
frame formats and protocols for the
media access control (MAC)/data link
layer of the OSI model. Ethernet is
mostly standardized as IEEE’s 802.3. It
has become the most widespread LAN
technology in use during the 1990s to
the present, and has largely replaced
all other LAN standards such as token
ring, FDDI, and ARCNET.” (Ethernet.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 11 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Ethernet>)
73 Infrared (IR) radiation is
“electromagnetic radiation of a
wavelength longer than visible light, but
shorter than microwave radiation.
Infrared radiation spans three orders of
magnitude and has wavelengths
between 700 nm and 1 mm.” IR data
transmission is “employed in short-range
communication among computer
peripherals and personal digital
assistants. These devices usually conform
to standards published by IrDA, the
Infrared Data Association. Remote
controls and IrDA devices use infrared
light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to emit
infrared radiation which is focused by a
plastic lens into a narrow beam. The
beam is modulated, i.e. switched on and
off, to encode the data. The receiver
uses a silicon photodiode to convert the
infrared radiation to an electric current.
It responds only to the rapidly pulsing
signal created by the transmitter, and
filters out slowly changing infrared
radiation from ambient light.” (Infrared.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 11 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Infrared>)
74 In computing, JPEG is a commonly used
standard method of compressing
photographic images. The file format
which employs this compression is
commonly also called JPEG; the most
common file extensions for this format
are .jpeg, .jfif, .jpg, .JPG, or .JPE
although .jpg is the most common on all
platforms. The name stands for Joint
Photographic Experts Group. JPEG itself
specifies only how an image is
transformed into a stream of bytes, but
not how those bytes are encapsulated in
any particular storage medium. A further
standard, created by the Independent
JPEG Group, called JFIF (JPEG File
Interchange Format) specifies how to
produce a file suitable for computer
storage and transmission (such as over
the Internet) from a JPEG stream. In
common usage, when one speaks of a
“JPEG file” one generally means a JFIF
file, or sometimes an Exif JPEG file.
There are, however, other JPEG-based
file formats, such as JNG. JPEG/JFIF is
the most common format used for storing
and transmitting photographs on the
World Wide Web. It is not as well suited
57
 for line drawings and other textual or
iconic graphics because its compression
method performs badly on these types
of images (the PNG and GIF formats
are in common use for that purpose;
GIF, having only 8 bits per pixel is not
well suited for colour photographs, but
PNG may have as much or more detail
than JPEG). (JPEG. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 February
2005 from Wikipedia. < http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG>)
75 GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is
“a bitmap image format that is widely
used on the World Wide Web, both for
still images and for animations. The
format was introduced in 1987 by
CompuServe in order to provide a color
image format for their file downloading
areas, replacing their earlier RLE format
which was black and white only. GIF
became popular because it used LZW
data compression, which was more
efficient than the run-length encoding
that formats such as PCX and MacPaint
used, and fairly large images could
therefore be downloaded in a
reasonable amount of time, even with
very slow modems.” (GIF. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved 12
February 2005 from Wikipedia. < http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gif>)
76 .BMP or .DIB (device-independent
bitmap) is a bitmapped graphics format
used internally by the Microsoft Windows
graphics subsystem (GDI), and used
commonly as a simple graphics file
format on that platform. Images are
generally stored with a color depth of 2
(1-bit), 16 (4-bit), 256 (8-bit), 65,536 (16-
bit), or 16.7 million (24-bit). An alpha
channel (for transparency) may be stored
in a separate file, where it is similar to a
greyscale image. 8-bit images can also
be greyscale instead of color. BMP files
are usually not compressed, so they are
typically much larger than compressed
image file formats for the same image.
The typical true-color bitmap size in
bytes can be calculated as: (width in
pixels)×(height in pixels)×3. So an
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
800×600 image will occupy almost 1.5
megabytes. As such they are generally
unsuitable for transferring images on the
Internet or other slow or capacity-limited
media. Compressed imaged employ RLE
algorithm. (Windows Bitmap. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 12
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP>)
77 PNG (Portable Network Graphic),
sometimes pronounced as “ping”, is a
relatively new bitmap image format that
is becoming popular on the World Wide
Web and elsewhere. PNG was largely
developed to deal with some of the
shortcomings of the GIF format and
allows storage of images with greater
color depth and other important
information. The motivation for creating
the PNG format came in early 1995,
58
after Unisys announced that it would be
enforcing software patents on the LZW
data compression algorithm used for GIF.
PNG uses a non-patented lossless data
compression method known as deflation.
This method is combined with prediction,
where for each image line, a filter
method is chosen that predicts the colour
of each pixel based on the colours of
previous pixels and subtracts the
predicted colour of the pixel from the
actual color. An image line filtered in
this way is often more compressible than
the raw image line would be. On most
images, PNG can achieve greater
compression than GIF, but some
implementations make poor choices of
filter methods and therefore produce
unnecessarily large PNG files. (PNG.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 12 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/PNG>)
78 AVI, an acronym for Audio Video
Interleave, is “a file format designed to
store both audio and video data in a
standard package to allow its
simultaneous playback. It was
introduced by Microsoft in November
1992, as part of the Video for Windows
technology. It is a special case of the
Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF),
which divides the file’s data up into data
blocks called “chunks”. Each “chunk” is
identified by a FourCC tag. An AVI file
takes the form of a single chunk in an
RIFF formatted file, which is then
subdivided into two mandatory “chunks”
and one optional “chunk”. By way of the
RIFF format, the audio/visual data
contained in the “movi” chunk can be
encoded or decoded by a software
module called a codec. The codec
translates between raw data and the data
format inside the chunk. An AVI file may
therefore carry audio/visual data inside
the chunks in almost any compression
scheme, including: Full Frames
(Uncompressed), Intel Real Time Video,
Indeo, Cinepak, Motion JPEG, Editable
MPEG, VDOWave, ClearVideo /
RealVideo, QPEG, MPEG-4, and others.”
(AVI. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 12 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Avi>)
79 The Moving Picture Experts Group
(MPEG) is a small group charged with
the development of video and audio
encoding standards. Since its first
meeting in 1988, MPEG has grown to
include approximately 350 members
from various industries and universities.
MPEG’s official designation is ISO/IEC
JTC1/SC29 WG11. MPEG has
standardized the following compression
formats and ancillary standards: (1)
MPEG-1: Initial video and audio
compression standard. Later used as the
standard for Video CD, and includes the
popular Layer 3 (MP3) audio
compression format. (2) MPEG-2:
Transport, video and audio standards for
broadcast-quality television. Used for
over-the-air digital television ATSC,DVB
and ISDB, digital satellite TV services
like DirecTV, digital cable television
signals, and (with slight modifications)
for DVD video discs. (3) MPEG-3:
Originally designed for HDTV, but
abandoned when it was discovered that
MPEG-2 was sufficient for HDTV. (4)
MPEG-4: Expands MPEG-1 to support
video/audio “objects”, 3D content, low
bitrate encoding and support for Digital
Rights Management. A new (newer than
MPEG-2 Video) higher efficiency video
codec is included (an alternative to
MPEG-2 Video), see H.264. (5) MPEG-
7: A formal system for describing
multimedia content. The MPEG codecs
use lossy data compression using
transform codecs. In lossy transform
codecs, samples of picture or sound are
taken, chopped into small segments,
transformed into a frequency space, and
quantized. The resulting quantized
values are then entropy coded. The
moving picture coding systems such as
MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 add an
extra step, where the picture content is
predicted from past reconstructed
images before coding, and only the
differences from the reconstructed
pictures, and any extra information
needed to perform the prediction, are
coded. (MPEG. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG>)
80 Windows Media Video (WMV) is a
generic name for the set of streaming
video technologies developed by
Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media
framework. WMV is not built solely on
Microsoft in-house technology. From
version 7 (WMV7), Microsoft has used its
own non-standard version of MPEG-4.
The video stream is often combined with
an audio stream of Windows Media
Audio. WMV files are customarily played
by Windows Media Player on Microsoft
Windows and Macintosh systems. Some
third-party players also exist, such as
MPlayer for Linux, which play back WMV
by using the FFmpeg implementation of
the WMV codecs. Raw WMV video is
packed into an AVI or Advanced
Streaming Format (ASF) container. The
resulting files may be named .avi if it is
an AVI-contained file, or .wmv or .asf if
it is an ASF file, but .wmv files are to be
ASF files with audio/video content only.
WMV is usually found in the AVI file
container when encoded with
Microsoft’s Windows Media Video 9 VCM
software for Windows. Microsoft’s
Windows Media Player for the Mac does
not support all WMV encoded files since
it supports only the ASF file container.
(Windows Media Video. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. Retrieved 12

February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Windows_Media_Video >)
81 RealMedia is a digital sound (RA) and
video (RM) file format that is the
registered trademark of RealNetworks.
This format is typically used to stream
media through the net. It is played with
the RealOne player. (Real Media.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 12 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. < http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/RealMedia>)
82 MP3 (or, more precisely, MPEG-1/2
Audio Layer 3) is “an audio compression
algorithm capable of greatly reducing
the amount of data required to
reproduce audio, while sounding like a
faithful reproduction of the original
uncompressed audio to most listeners.
In the first half of 1995, MP3 files, file
representations of MPEG-1 Audio Layer
III data, began flourishing on the
Internet. Its popularity was mostly due
to, and interchangeable with, the
successes of companies and software
packages like Nullsoft’s Winamp,
mpg123 and the now Roxio-owned
Napster. MP3 bitrate is 128 kilobits per
second (kbit/s), a little inferior to CD
quality audio but with a compression
ratio of approximately 11:1.” (MP3.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved 12 February 2005 from
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/MP3>)
83 WAV (or WAVE), short for WAVEform
audio format, is a “Microsoft and IBM
audio file format standard for storing
audio on PCs. It is a variant of the RIFF
bitstream format method for storing data
in “chunks”, and thus also close to the
IFF and the AIFF format used on
Macintosh computers. It takes into
account some peculiarities of the Intel
CPU such as little endian byte order.
The RIFF format acts as a “wrapper” for
various audio compression codecs. It is
the main format used on Windows
systems for raw audio. Though a WAV
file can hold audio compressed with any
codec, by far the most common format
is PCM audio data. Since PCM uses an
uncompressed, lossless storage method
which keeps all the samples of an audio
track, professional users or audio experts
may use the WAV format for maximum
audio quality. WAV audio can also be
edited and manipulated with relative
ease using software.” (WAV. Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 12
February 2005 from Wikipedia. <http:/
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAV>)
84 Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a
proprietary compressed audio file format
developed by Microsoft. It was initially a
competitor to the MP3 format, but with
the introduction of Apple’s iTunes Music
Store, it has positioned itself as a
competitor to the Advanced Audio
Coding format used by Apple. It is part
of the Windows Media framework. An
initial reason for the development of
WMA might have been that MP3
technology is patented and has to be
licensed from Thomson for inclusion in
the Microsoft Windows operating system.
A WMA file is almost always
encapsulated in an Advanced Systems
Format (ASF) file. The resulting file may
have the filename suffix “wma” or “asf”
with the “wma” suffix being used only if
the file is strictly audio. The ASF file
format specifies how metadata about the
file is to be encoded, akin to the ID3
tags used by MP3 files. ASF is also
patented in the United States. Files in
this format can be played using Windows
Media Player, Winamp (with certain
limitations, DSP plugin support and
DirectSound output is disabled using the
default WMA plugin) and many other
alternative media players. The FFmpeg
project have reverse-engineered and
reimplemented the WMA format to allow
its use on POSIX compliant operating
systems such as Linux. Windows Media
Audio supports digital rights
management using a combination of
elliptic curve cryptography key
exchange, DES block cipher, a custom
block cipher, RC4 stream cipher and the
SHA-1 hashing function. (Windows
Media Audio. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Windows_Media_Audio>)
85 Real Media. Supra, see Note 81.
86 Ross, Mark. “Cybersex and the Law.”
Brief for the petitioner, William L. Elvert,
v. The United States of America. Case
No. 96-3342, Pending in the US
Supreme Court in 1996. <http://
www.apc.net/maross/Cybersex1.htm>
87 Anderson, Kerby. The Pornographic
Plague. Probe Ministries. Supra, see
note 4.
88 “Marketing Pornography on the
Information Superhighway: A Survey of
917,410 Images, Description, Short
Stories and Animations Downloaded 8.5
Million Times by Consumers in Over
2000 Cities in Forty Countries, Provinces
and Territories” by Marty Rimm was
published in The Georgetown Law
Journal. The research project, and the
resulting publications – including the
Time Magazine article “On a Screen
Near You: Cyberporn” by Philip Elmer-
Dewitt, which used the results of Marty
Rimm’s research – set off a avalanche
of criticism on the manner the study was
conducted, the methods used, and the
reliability of the data generated.
Debunking the results of the Rimm
Methodology and the Dewitt article,
Donna L. Hoffman and Thomas P. Novak
of Vanderbilt University created a
comprehensive site, “The Cyberporn
Debate” (http://elab.vanderbilt.edu/
research/topics/cyberporn/index.htm).
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Even if the accuracy of the results is
questioned, Hoffman and Novak admits
still that “pornography exists and is
transmitted through many media,
including cable television, books and
magazines, video tapes, private “adult”
bulletin boards, the postal mail,
computer networks, interactive media
like CDROM, fax, and telephone, to
name a few.”
89 Anderson, Kerby. Cyberporn. Retrieved
from the website of Probe Ministries.
< h t t p : / / w w w. l e a d e r u . c o m / o r g s /
probe/docs/cybporn.html>
90 Ibid.
91 Ibid.
92 Johnson, Jarvis; Quinn Johnson, Danny
Page, and Sekou Richen. Cyberporn.
Georgia State University College of Law.
Citing the The Meese Commission
Report, in 1986, provides evidence that
pedophile offenders and child
pornographers had begun to use
personal computers and computer
networks for communication and
distribution of materials. See Attorney
General’s Commission on Pornography:
Final Report, 2 vols. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Office, July
1986 [The Meese Commission] at page
629. <http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/lawand/
p a p e r s / f a 0 1 /
johnson_johnson_page_richen/>
93 Anderson, Kerby. Cyberporn. Probe
Ministries. Supra, note 89.
94 Allen, Kenneth. Cyber-Sex: A Review
and Implications of the Situation. Notre
Dame Seminary. <http://
home.earthlink.net/~philoska/cyber/>
Citing “Definition of ‘Cyber’,” in Cyber
Sex Chat Addicts Anonymous (accessed
by said author, 27 November 2001 at
[ w w w. c y b e r a a . c o m / D e f i n i t i o n /
definition.html]; no longer available).
95 Allen, Kenneth. Cyber-Sex: A Review
and Implications of the Situation. Notre
Dame Seminary. <http://
home.earthlink.net/~philoska/cyber/>
Citing René J. Molencamp, Ph.D, and
Luisa M. Saffiotti, Ph.D., “The
Cybersexual Addiction,” Human
Development, Volume 22, Number 1,
Spring 2001 ( Chicago : Jesuit
Educational Center for Human
Development, 2001) 5-6.
96 Leaño , Peter James V . What ’s
Happening: UPCIDS-PST conducts
Rapid Appraisal of Child Pornography
in the Philippines. June 2004. Retrieved
8 January 2005 from Child Protection in
the Philippines. <http://
w w w. c h i l d p r o t e c t i o n . o r g . p h /
w h a t s h a p p e n i n g /
whtbits1_mayjun04%5B1%5D.html>
97 See the case of United States vs. Stephen
A. Knox, decided by the United States
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,
No. 92-7089. See FindLaw for Legal
Professionals - Case Law, Federal and
State Resources, Forms, and Code.
< h t t p : / / l a w s . f i n d l a w. c o m / 3 r d /
59
 940734p.html>
98 See the case of Ashcroft, Attorney
Gerneral, et. al. vs. Free Speech
Coalition. et. al. decided by the Supreme
Court of the United States. 535 U.S. 234
(2002) See the Legal Information Institute
of the Cornell University Law School,
Ashcroft vs. Free Speech Coalition. <
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/
html/00-795.ZS.html>
99 Child erotica is “any material relating
to children that serves a sexual purpose
for a given individual.” Kenneth V.
Lanning, Child Molesters: A Behavioural
Analysis 26 (1992).
100 Child Pornography. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 December
2004 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Child_pornography>
101 Schuijer, Jan and Benjamin Rossen. “The
Trade in Child Pornography”. Retrieved
15 January 2005 from IPT Journal,
Institute for Psychological Therapies.
< h t t p : / / w w w. i p t - f o r e n s i c s . c o m /
journal/volume4/j4_2_1.htm>
102 Pret Art. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 December
2004 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pret_art>
103 Child Pornography: An International
Perspective; citing U.S. Senate Report;
Kenneth V. Lanning, Child Molesters: A
Behavioural Analysis, 10-12. Retrieved
8 January 2005 from Computer Crime
Research Center. <http://
www.csecworldcongress.org/PDF/en/
Stockholm/Background_reading/
T h e m e _ p a p e r s /
Theme%20paper%20Pornography%20
1996_EN.pdf>
104 See the case of Hustler Magazine vs.
Falwell, decided by the Supreme Court
of the United States (485 U.S. 46). See
the Legal Information Institute of the
Cornell University Law School, Ashcroft
vs. Free Speech Coalition. < http://
supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/
h i s t o r i c s /
USSC_CR_0485_0046_ZS.html>
105 See the case of Pita vs. Court of Appeals.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Supra, note 9.
106 Child Pornography. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Supra, note 100.
107 Section 3(e) of RA 9208. Supra, note 3.
108 Sex Tourism. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 December
2004 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_tourism>
109 Section 3(f), RA 9208. Supra, see note 3.
110 Sexual Abuse. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 December
2004 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_abuse >
111 Pedophilia. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 December
2004 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia>
112 Infantophilia. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 December
2004 from Wikipedia. <http://
60
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantophilia>
113 Carvajal, Nancy. 19 girls rescued from
cyber exploitation. 22 January 2005.
INQ7.net News. <http://
n e w s . i n q 7 . n e t / m e t r o /
index.php?index=1&story_id=25123>
114 Perez, Maria Patricia Anne L., NBI raids
suspected internet porn operators. 20
May 2003. i.t. matters. <http://
itmatters.com.ph/news/
news_05202003h.html>
115 Oliva, Erwin Lemuel. Senator to push
for stiffer penalties on child porn on Net.
6 February 2005. INQ7.net. <http://
news.inq7.net/infotech/
index.php?index=1&story_id=26636>
116 Perez, Maria Patricia Anne L., NBI raids
suspected internet porn operators.
Supra, see note 114.
117 No law vs cybersex, PNP laments. 28
January 2005. Asian Journal Online
<http://www.asianjournal.com/cgi-
b i n /
view_info.cgi?code=00009164&category
=TN>
118 Erediano, Arnold. Cybersex dens: Now
showing nationwide. 3 February 2005.
People’s Tonight. <http://
w w w. j o u r n a l . c o m . p h /
news.asp?pid=1&sid=1&nid=20464&
month=2&day=3&year=2005>
119 Perez, Maria Patricia Anne L., NBI raids
suspected internet porn operators.
Supra, see note 114. Also, Cybersex
ladies get P1M a month. 23 January
2005. Manila Headlines. <http://
manilaheadline.net/News/01-05/23/
cybersex_ladies_get_p1m_a_month.htm>
120 20 more fall in drive against cybersex in
Angeles. 10 November 2004. ABS-CBN-
News. <http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
NewsStory.aspx?section=Provincial&oid
=63169>
121 No law vs cybersex, PNP laments. 28
January 2005. Asian Journal Online.
<http://www.asianjournal.com/cgi-
b i n /
view_info.cgi?code=00009164&category
=TN>
122 20 more fall in drive against cybersex in
Angeles. Supra, see Note 120. Also
Navarro, Chris. “Cops arrest 20 in
‘cybersex’ den raid”. 10 November 2004.
Sun Star Network Online <http://
www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2004/
1 1 / 1 0 /
cops.arrest.20.in.cybersex.den.raid.html>
123 Cybersex a billion-dollar industry, says
Madrigal. 17 January 2005. Prov’l Gov’t
of LA UNION Forums citing an undated
Philippine Star article. <http://
members.lycos.co.uk/launiongov/
viewthread.php?tid=25> Also
Cybersex girls come in the open. 28
January 2005. Manila Headlines.
<http://manilaheadline.net/News/01-
0 5 / 2 8 /
cybersex_girls_come_in_the_open.htm>
124 Africa, Raymond. Cybersex shop raided.
23 January 2004. Malaya- The National
Newspaper. <http://
w w w. m a l a y a . c o m . p h / j a n 2 3 /
metro4.htm> Also Carvajal, Nancy.
19 girls rescued from cyber exploitation.
Supra, note 113.
125 Cybersex ladies get P1M a month.
Supra, see Note 119. Also, Cyber sex
den raided in Manila. 23 January 2005.
Manila Headlines <http://
manilaheadline.net/News/01-05/22/
cyber_sex_den_raided_in_manila.htm>
126 Cybersex girls come from rich families.
24 January 2005. Manila Headlines
<http://manilaheadline.net/News/01-
0 5 / 2 4 /
cybersex_girls_come_from_rich_fa.htm>
127 Erediano, Arnold. Cybersex dens: Now
showing nationwide. Supra, see Note
118.
128 The original article includes samples of
Cybersex (pre-explicit) screenshots.
129 Sex Scandal. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 13 February
2005 from Wikipedia. <http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_scandal>
130 Daily Star People and Events. 2003: Sex,
bikini scandals rock NegOr. 6 January
2004. The Visayan Daily Star, Electronic
edition. <http://
w w w.visayandailystar.com/2004/
January/06/people.htm>
131 FHM, August 2004 issue. Also
Greenarcher.net Forums – DLSU Sex
Scandal. <http://
g r e e n a r c h e r. y e h e y. c o m / f o r u m s /
archive/index.php/t-10736>
132 FHM, August 2004 issue.
133 Ibid.
134 Belen, Crispin. Celebrity World: Ethel
Booba’s sex video controversy rages on.
The Manila Bulletin Online. <http://
w w w . m b . c o m . p h /
ENTR2005021528791.html>
135 Child porn in RP a US$1-B business:
senator. Retrieved 8 January 2005 from
SunStar Network Online. <http://
www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2005/
01/20/child.porn.in.rp.a.us$1.b.
business.senator.html>
136 The case United States v. X-Citement
Video, Inc., 513 U. S. 64 (1994), involving
the underage American porn actress
Traci Elizabeth Lords (real name is Nora
Louise Kuzma) provides an illustration.
The full text of the US Supreme Court
Decision may be found, among others,
at FindLaw for Legal Professionals - Case
Law, Federal and State Resources,
Forms, and Code. <http://
c a s e l a w. l p . f i n d l a w. c o m / c g i - b i n /
getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=
u10337>
137 UNICEF condemns child pornography
in the Philippines. Retrieved 8 January
2005 from United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF). <http://
www.unicef.org/philippines/archives/
october_04/news/news_2.html>.
138 Philippines. The International
Encyclopedia of Sexuality. Retrieved 8
January 2005 from Humboldt-Universität
of Berlin. <http://www2.hu-berlin.de/

sexology/IES/philippines.html>
139 Family and friends push children into
prostitution. 11 November 2004.
Retrieved 28 December 2004 from
AsiaNews (Italy). <http://
w w w . a s i a n e w s . i t /
view.php?l=en&art=1884>
140 Leaño , Peter James V . What ’s
Happening: UPCIDS-PST conducts
Rapid Appraisal of Child Pornography
in the Philippines. June 2004. Retrieved
8 January 2005 from Child Protection in
the Philippines. <http://
w w w. c h i l d p r o t e c t i o n . o r g . p h /
w h a t s h a p p e n i n g /
whtbits1_mayjun04%5B1%5D.html>
141 Oliva, Erwin Lemuel G., “Law vs online
child porn to be lobbied anew—
sources”. 6 July 2004. Retrieved 8
January 2004 from the Philippine
Inquirer (INQ7.net). <http://
www.inq7.net/inf/2004/jul/07/inf_1-
1.htm>
142 Cullen, Fr. Shay, SSC. Reflections:
Pornography the Root of Sexual
Violence. Retrieved 28 December 2004
from People’s Recovery, Empowerment
and Development Assistance
Foundation, Inc. <http://
www.preda.org/archives/1993-94-95-
96/r9501221.htm>. The article was first
printed 22 January 1995 issue of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer.
143 Child Sex Tourism Charges. Retrieved 8
January 2005 from the “End Child
Prostitution, Child Pornography and
Trafficking of Children for Sexual
Purposes (ECPAT)” website. <http://
www.ecpat.org/prosecutions.html>
144 Davies, Nick and Jeevan Vasagar.
Global child porn ring broken; Britons
face jail after raids on internet
paedophiles. Retrieved 28 December
2004 from Guardian Unlimited, Archive
search. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/
A r c h i v e / A r t i c l e /
0,4273,4115701,00.html>
145 Child Sex Tourism Charges. ECPAT.
Supra, see note 143.
146 News Release. Retrieved 8 January 2005
from the United States Department of
Justice. <http://www.usdoj.gov/
criminal/ceos/Press%20Releases/
RussellPR.pdf>
147 SOC-UM – 2003 Updates. Retrieved 8
January 2005 from SOC-UM (Save Our
Children).org <http://www.soc-
um.org/updates/updates16.html>
148 ICE Fact Sheet - Child Sex Tourists.
Retrieved 24 January 2005 from US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) of the US Department of Homeland
Security. <http://www.ice.gov/
graphics/news/factsheets/
sextourists.htm>
149 Child Sex Tourism Charges. ECPAT.
Supra, See Note 143.
150 ICE Fact Sheet - Child Sex Tourists.
Supra, see Note 148.
151 Recent News. Child Lust Recovery.org:
Recovery from Child Pornography Use.
Retrieved 8 January 2005 from The
Institute for Dynamic Living, Inc. <http:/
/ w w w. c h i l d l u s t r e c o v e r y. o r g /
index.html>
152 Women – 22 September 2004 journal.
Retrieved 28 December 2004 from the
Senate of the Philippines. <http://
w w w. s e n a t e . g o v. p h / c o m m i t t e e /
spot_report/Women%20%20September
%2022,%202004%20journal.pdf>
153 Oliva, Erwin Lemuel. Senator to push
for stiffer penalties on child porn on Net.
Supra, note 115.
154 Article 201, Revised Penal Code, as
amended by Presidential Decrees Nos.
960 and 969.
155 Arresto mayor has the duration of one
month and one day to 6 months
(Paragraph 5, Article 27, Revised Penal
Code of the Philippines).
156 Arresto menor has the duration of one
day to thirty days (Paragraph 6, Article
27, Revised Penal Code of the
Philippines).
157 Prision correccional has the duration of
six months and one day to six years
(Paragraph 4, Article 27, Revised Penal
Code of the Philippines)
158 Article 341, Revised Penal Code, as
amended by Batas Pambansa Blg. 186.
159 Article 340, Revised Penal Code, as
amended by Batas Pambansa Blg. 92.
160 Section 3(a), RA 9208. Supra, see note
3.
161 Section 10 (a) of Republic Act 9208. Ibid.,
see Note 3.
162 Section 10 (b) of Republic Act 9208. Ibid.,
see Note 3.
163 Section 10 (c) of Republic Act 9208.
Supra., see Note 3.
164 Section 10 (d) of Republic Act 9208.
Supra., see Note 3.
165 Section 10 (e) of Republic Act 9208.
Supra., see Note 3.
166 Section 10 (f) of Republic Act 9208.
Supra., see Note 3.
167 Section 10 (g) of Republic Act 9208.
Supra., see Note 3.
168 Section 10 (h) of Republic Act 9208.
Supra., see Note 3.
169 Section 11 of Republic Act 9208. Supra.,
see Note 3.
170 Republic Act 7610 is entitled :An Act for
Stronger Deterrents and Special
Protection against Child Abuse,
Exploitation and Discrimination,
Providing Penalties for its violation and
for Other Purposes.” See the Philippine
Laws and Jurisprudence Databank - The
Lawphil Project. <http://
www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/
ra1992/ra_7610_1992.html>.
171 Libel is defined by Article 353 of the
Revised Penal Code as “a public and
malicious imputation of a crime, or of a
vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any
act, omission, condition, status, or
circumstance tending to cause the
dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a
natural or juridical person, or to blacken
the memory of one who is dead.”
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
172 See Rules on Electronic Evidence (A.M.
No. 01-7-01-SC), See the Philippine
Laws and Jurisprudence Databank - The
Lawphil Project. <http://
www.lawphil.net/courts/supreme/am/
am_01-7-01_2001.html>.
173 Republic Act No. 8792 is entitled “An
Act Providing and Use of Electronic
Commercial and Non-Commercial
Transactions, Penalties for Unlawful Use
Thereof, and other purposes.” See the
Philippine Laws and Jurisprudence
Databank - The Lawphil Project. <http:/
/www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/
ra2000/ra_8792_2000.html>
174 Rules of Electronic Evidence. Supra, see
Note 172.
175 Soriano, Jaime N. “The Philippine Rules
on Electronic Evidence: An Outline.”
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal,
Volume 1, Number 1, p. 7.
176 Re: Expansion of the Coverage of the
Rules on Electronic Evidence. Retrieved
20 February 2005 from Disini and Disini.
<http://www.disini.ph/res_sc_am_1-7-
01.html>
177 Binary. Supra, see Note 22.
178 ASCII (American Standard Code for
Information Interchange), generally
pronounced ass-key, is “a character set
and a character encoding based on the
Roman alphabet as used in modern
English and other Western European
languages. It is most commonly used by
computers and other communication
equipment to represent text and by
control devices that work with text. The
printable characters in the correct order
are !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>
?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW
XYZ[\]^_'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
{|}~ with a blank space in front.”
(ASCII. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. Retrieved 20 February
2005 from Wikipedia. < http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII>)
179 Guerrero, Michael Vernon M.,
“’Hacking’ the Mercantile Law Bar Exam
Questions.” The Philippine Quarterly
IT Law Journal, Volume 1, Number 1, p.
1.
180 See the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights. <http://
w w w. u n h c h r. c h / h t m l / m e n u 3 / b /
k2crc.htm>.
181 See the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child
on the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography. Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights.
<http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/
6/crc/treaties/opsc.htm>.
182 Perez, Maria Patricia Anne. US plans to
setup a computer crime Unit in RP. 10
June 2003 i.t. matters. <http://
itmatters.com.ph/news/
news_06102003b.html>
183 Various House Bills have been submitted,
currently pending, and aimed to provide
necessary legislation relevant to
61
 pornography, which may well include
child pornography 1:
* HB01278 (An Act Prohibiting the
Publication, Sale or Distribution,
Production, Importation and
Exhibition of Obscene and
Pornographic Materials and the
Demonstation, Performance or
Exhibition in Public Indecent and
Sexual Acts and Providing Penalties
for violation thereof) was filed 8 July
2004 by Congressman Emmanuel Joel
J. Villanueva, which declares that “it
a State policy to safeguard the
morality of society, particularly the
youth and women, against the
eroding influence of immoral
doctrines, obscene and pornographic
publications and indecent shows. It
seeks to prohibit the public
demonstration of sexual acts, the
distribution, sale and production of
pornographic materials and provides
penalties for violations.” It is currently
pending with the Committee on
Public Information since 2 February
2005.
* HB02031 (An Act Prohibiting the
Publication, Sale, Distribution,
Importation and Exhibition of
Obscene and Pornographic Materials
and the Performance or Exhibition of
Indecent Acts in Public and Providing
Penalties for violation thereof) was
filed 10 August 2004 by
Congresswoman Eileen Ermita-
Buhain, aiming to prohibit “the
following acts: a) the publication,
sale, distribution and importation of
obscene and pornographic materials;
b) the portrayal, depiction,
performance and exhibition of any
indecent act in public; and c) the
coercion of another person to listen,
read or view obscene and
pornographic materials in public
places.” It is currently pending with
the Committee on Public Information
since 1 February 2005.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
* HB02887 (An Act Prohibiting and
Penalizing the Production, Printing,
Publication, Importation, Sale,
Distribution and Exhibition of
Obscene and Pornographic Movies
and Materials, and the Exhibition of
Live Sexual Acts, amending for the
purpose Article 201 of the Revised
Penal Code) was filed 20 September
2004 by Congressman Bienvenido M.
Abante Jr., aiming to penalize “the
following acts: a) the production,
importation, distribution, showing and
sale of obscene or pornographic
movies; b) the printing, publication,
importation, sale or distribution of any
magazine or comic book containing
obscene or pornographic materials;
c) the writing of obscene or
62
pornographic articles; and d) the
performance of live sex acts for public
viewing.” It is currently pending with
the Committee on Public Information
since 2 February 2005.
Various House Bills have been submitted,
currently pending, and aimed to provide
necessary legislation relevant to
cybercrimes, which may well include
electronically transmitted child
pornography 2:
* HB00337 (An Act Preventing and
Penalizing Computer-Related Crimes,
further amending for the purpose
Certain Provisions of Act No. 3815,
as amended, otherwise known as the
Revised Penal Code) was filed on 1
July 2004 by Congresswoman Imee
R. Marcos, on the premise that “The
proliferation of advanced and state-
of-the art technologies necessitates
the enactment of laws to regulate
human conduct in this fast changing
world. The bill seeks to supplement
and update the Revised Penal Code
(RPC) to cover computer-related
offenses which are not much different
from crimes classifically punished
under the RPC.” It is currently pending
with the Committee on Revision of
Laws since 27 July 2004.
* HB01246 (An Act Preventing and
Penalizing Computer Fraud, Abuses
and other Cyber-Related Fraudulent
Activities, and creating for the purpose
the Cyber-Crime Investigation and
Coordinating Center, Prescribing its
Powers and Functions, and
appropriating funds therefor) was
filed on 7 July 2004 by Congressman
Eric D. Singson, on the premise that
“The bill seeks to protect and
safeguard the integrity of computers,
computer systems, computer
networks, computer servers,
database, and information and data
stores from computer users who resort
to computer fraud, abuses and other
cyber-related fraudulent activities, by
providing penal sanctions to the
perpetrators. It creates a coordinating
body, the Cyber-Crime Investigation
and Coordinating Center (CICC),
which shall coordinate, collate and
synergize efforts of all law
enforcement agencies in combating
cyber crimes.” It is currently pending
with the Committee on Information
Communications Technology since 12
January 2005.
184 Senators alarmed by cybersex business.
25 January 2005. Manila Headlines.
<http://manilaheadline.net/News/01-
05/24/senators_alarmed_by_cybersex_
bus.htm>
185 City to bring to Congress concerns on
hidden cams. 11 November 2003.
SunStar Bacolod. <http://
www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bac/2003/
1 1 / 1 1 / n e w s /
city.to.bring.to.congress.concerns.on.
hidden.cams.html>
186 The original article includes sample
screen shots of pre-explicit materials
from various websites featuring Filipina
teens.
187 In the United States, the receipt,
distribution, or possession of child
pornography, which includes the
downloading of child pornography from
the Internet, is a violation of Title 18, US
Code, Section 2252. Persons convicted
of child pornography offenses face
criminal penalties of up to 15 years in
prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
ICE Arrests Campus Minister on Child
Pornography Violations. Retrieved 8
January 2005 from the US Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
website. <http://www.ice.gov/
graphics/news/newsreleases/articles/
arrest010604.htm> The US Code Title
on Obscenity may be found at US Code
Collection of the Legal Information
Institute of the Cornell University Law
School. <http://
assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
h t m l / u s c o d e 1 8 /
usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_71.html>.
188 Present efforts to curb Child
Pornography, including proposed
legislation in Congress, include:
A. Organizational
* The Program on Psychosocial
Trauma and Human Rights Center
for Integrative and Development
Studies of the University of the
Philippines (UPCIDS-PST) began
the Rapid Appraisal of Child
Pornography in the Philippines, the
purpose of which was to give a
comprehensive appraisal of the
issue of child pornography in the
Philippines. It aimed to consolidate
literature that has been written on
the issue; investigate how the
internet and globalization aid in
perpetuating this, and conduct
interviews and focus group
discussions with key informants
from government and non-
government organizations, the
media, electronic commerce
practitioners, and actual victims of
child pornography. 1 Participating
organizations, forming the steering
committee for the Child Protection
in the Philippines (Philippine
Resource Network), include The
Advisory Board Foundation, Arci
Cultura e Sviluppo, Ateneo Human
Rights Center-Adhikain Para Sa
Karapatang Pambata, Center for
the Prevention and Treatment of
Child Sexual Abuse (http://
www.cptcsa.org/), Council for the

Welfare of Children, Department
of Social Welfare and Development
( h t t p : / / w w w. d s w d . g o v. p h / ) ,
ECPAT-Philippines,
Protection Unit (http://
www.childprotection.org.ph/),
Save the Children (UK) Philippines
(www.oneworld.org/scf), UNICEF-
Manila (www.unicef.org/
philippines), and the UP Center for
Integrative and Development
Studies-Psychosocial Trauma &
Human Rights Program.
* The Philippine Senate Committee
on Youth, Women and Family
Relations has provided a spot
report on 22 September 2004
pertaining to the issue of Child
Pornography and Pedophilia. As an
abstract, the report provides “Child
Pornography and Pedophilia is long
overdue, and although there are
already laws to address the same,
such as R.A. 7610- Law Against
Child Abuse, Exploitation and
Discrimination; R.A. 9208 - Anti
Trafficking in Persons Act ; and R.A.
9231 – Elimination of All Forms of
Child Labor.” 2
B. Legislation
* Various House Bills have been
submitted, currently pending, and
aimed to amend certain provisions
of Republic Act 7610, or the Special
Protection of Children against Child
Abuse, Exploitation and
Discrimination Act 3 :
* HB00371 (An Act Amending
Republic Act No. 7610
otherwise known as the
Special Protection of Children
against Child Abuse,
Exploitation and
Discrimination Act, and for
other purposes) was filed on
1 July 2004 by Congressman
Roseller Barinaga, on the
premise that “the cases of
child rape and sexual
molestation remain unabated
despite the enactment of RA
7610. The manner in which
government agencies and law
enforcement officers handle
these cases are outrageous.
To correct the situation, the
bill seeks to amend RA 7610,
as follows: a) cause a
mandatory hold departure
order for these accused on
cases involving children below
12 years old; and b)make law
enforcers and government
officials criminally culpable
Child for willfully abetting these
crimes or causing or assisting
in the plight of the accused.”
It is currently pending with the
Committee on Social Services
since 27 July 2004.
* HB01296 (An Act amending
Republic Act No. 7610
otherwise known as ‘The
Special Protection of Children
against Child Abuse,
Exploitation and
Discrimination Act’, and for
other purposes) was filed on
8 July 2004 by
Congresswoman Darlene
Magnolia R. Antonino-
Custodio, on the premise that
“This bill enumerates
additional remedial measures
to correct the deplorable
manner by which local
government and law
enforcement officials, as well
as members of the justice
sector, handle cases of child
rape and sexual molestations
and child prostitution
involving minors below the
age of twelve (12). It provides
for the issuance of an
automatic hold order for those
accused to prevent them from
fleeing abroad. Furthermore,
it imposes the maximum
penalty on law enforcers and
members of the Judiciary
Department found guilty
including willfully abetting
these crimes or causing or
assisting in the plight of those
accused.” It is currently
pending with the Committee
on Social Services since 2
August 2004.
* HB01961 (An Act seeking to
Improve Child Protection
against Abuse, Exploitation
And Discrimination,
amending for the purpose
Republic Act No. 7610, as
amended by Republic Act No.
7658, otherwise known as the
“Special Protection And
Discrimination Act”,
appropriating Funds therefor
and for other purposes) was
filed on 30 July 2004 by
Congressman Robert Ace S.
Barbers, on the premise that
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
“The bill bans and penalizes
the employment of children
in all forms of hazardous
occupations and aims for
“greater participation of local
social workers and law
enforcers.” Imposes penalties
for child pornography
through the internet.
Mandates the creation of a
central data bank to monitor
abuses made by foreigners
against children and prevent
their reentry.” It is currently
pending with the Committee
on Social Services since 9
August 2004.
* HB00731 (An Act Increasing
the Penalties for Child Abuse
and Exploitation, thereby
declaring it as Heinous
Crime, amending for the
purpose Republic Act No.
7160 as amended, otherwise
known as The “Special
Protection Of Children
Against Child Abuse,
Exploitation and
Discrimination Act”, and for
other purposes) was filed on
1 July 2004 by
Congresswoman Judy Syjuco,
on the premise that “The bill
seeks to impose the penalty
of reclusion perpetua TO
DEATH for the crimes of child
trafficking and child
prostitution.” It is currently
pending with the Committee
on Revision of Laws since 28
July 2004.
* HB03468 (An Act amending
Republic Act No. 7610, as
amended, otherwise known as
The Special Protection of
Children against Child
Abuse, Exploitation and
Discrimination) was filed on
8 December 2004 by
Congresswoman Imee R.
Marcos, on the premise that
“The bill imposes the penalties
of reclusion temporal in its
medium term to reclusion
perpetua for acts that are
either preparatory to or per
se amounts to child
pornography and
prostitution.” It is currently
pending with the Committee
on Social Services since 14
December 2004.
63
 << [ 26] Lexicon of Cyberlaw Terminology
“Digitally signed” refers to an
electronic document or electronic data
message bearing a digital signature
verified by the public key listed in a
certificate. (Section 1[f], Rule 2, Rules
on Electronic Evidence)
“Electronic signature" refers to any
distinctive mark, characteristics and/
or sound in electronic form.
Representing the identity of a person
and attached to or logically associated
with the electronic data message or
electronic document or any
methodology or procedure employed
or adopted by a person and executed
or adopted by such person with the
intention of authenticating, signing or
approving an electronic data message
or electronic document. For purposes
of these Rules, an electronic signature
includes digital signatures. (Section 1[j],
Rule 2, Rules on Electronic Evidence)
“Electronic key” refers to a secret
code which secures and defends
sensitive information that crosses over
public channels into a form
decipherable only with a matching
electronic key. (Section 1[i], Rule 2,
Rules on Electronic Evidence)
“Asymmetric or public
cryptosystem” means a system
capable of generating a secure key
pair, consisting of a private key for
creating a digital signature, and a public
key for verifying the digital signature.
(Section 1[a], Rule 2, Rules on
Electronic Evidence)
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
“Key Pair ” in an asymmetric
cryptosystem refers to the private key
and its mathematically related public
key such that the latter can verify the
digital signature that the former
creates. (Section 1[m], Rule 2, Rules
on Electronic Evidence)
“Private Key” refers to the key of a
key pair used to create a digital
signature. (Section 1[n], Rule 2, Rules
on Electronic Evidence)
“Public Key” refers to the key of a
key pair used to verify a digital
signature. (Section 1[o], Rule 2, Rules
on Electronic Evidence)
64
<< [ 27] Goldwyn Case
With respect to their current software
distribution and related activities,
defendants do not materially contribute
to copyright infringement. The
software distributors do not provide the
‘site and facilities’ for infringement,
and do not otherwise materially
contribute to direct infringement.
Infringing messages or file indices do
not reside on defendants’ computers,
nor do defendants have the ability to
suspend user accounts. Also as found
out, the software distributors here are
not access providers, and they do not
provide file storage and index
maintenance, but rather, it is the users
of the software who, by connecting to
each other over the internet, create
the network and provide the access.
Plaintiffs failed to present evidence that
defendants materially contribute in any
manner.
B. Vicarious Copyright
Infringement
Three elements are required to prove
a defendant vicariously liable for
copyright infringement: (1) direct
infringement by a primary party; (2) a
direct financial benefit to the
defendant; and (3) the right and ability
to supervise the infringers.
<< [ 13] Computer Forensics
by creating custom file filters; (2) E-mail
& Zip File Analysis, which includes (a)
support for Outlook, Outlook Express,
AOL, Netscape, Yahoo, Earthlink,
Eudora, Hotmail, and MSN e-mail, (b)
viewing, searching, printing, and
exporting e-mail messages and
attachments, (c) Recover deleted and
partially deleted e-mail, and (d)
Automatically extract data from PKZIP,
WinZip, WinRAR, GZIP, and TAR
compressed files; (3) Known File Filter™
(KFF™), which (a) Identify and flag
standard operating system and program
files, (b) Identify and flag known child
pornography and other potential
evidence files, (c) Includes hash datasets
from NIST and Hashkeeper; and (4)
Registry Viewer™, which (a) Access and
decrypt protected storage data, (b) View
independent registry files, (c) Report
generation, and (d)Integrates with
AccessData's forensic Tools. Supported
File formats include NTFS, NTFS
The elements of direct infringement
and direct financial benefit, via
advertising revenue, are undisputed in
this case.
With regard to the right and ability to
supervise, it does not appear from the
records that either of the defendants
has the ability to block access to
individual users. Grokster nominally
reserves the right to terminate access,
while StreamCast does not maintain a
licensing agreement with persons who
download Morpheus. However, given
the lack of a registration and log-in
process, even Grokster has no ability
to actually terminate access to file
sharing functions, absent a mandatory
software upgrade to all users that the
particular user refuses, or IP address
blocking attempts. It is also clear that
none of the communication between
defendants and users provides a point
of access for filtering or searching for
infringing files, since infringing
material and index information do not
pass through defendants’ computers.
The sort of monitoring and supervisory
relationship that has supported
vicarious liability in previous cases is
totally absent in this case. Unlike in the
case of Napster, Grokster and
StreamCast do not operate and design
an integrated service.
compressed, FAT 12/16/32, and Linux
ext2 & ext3. Supported image formats
include: Encase, SMART, Snapback,
Safeback (up to but not including v.3),
and Linux DD. See http://
www.accessdata.com/
4. Computer Forensics. Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Computer_forensics
5. Computer Forensics. DIBS USA Inc.
http://www.dibsusa.com/methodology/
methodology.html
6. Hacking is taken herein in its general
and legal, and not technical, meaning.
7. The Rules of Electronic Evidence, A. M.
No. 01-7-01-SC, approved by the
Supreme Court En Banc on 20 July 2001.
For an outline of the Rules, see Volume
1, Issue 1, page 7 of the Philippine
Quarterly IT Law Journal.
8. An example online tool is available at
Anti-fraud.com. See http://
www.antifraud.com/ipcheck.htm

<< [19]P2P: Pirate to Pirate
most popular video compression
technology. At its core, DivX is a codec
(short for compression/decompression)
- a piece of software that compresses
video from virtually any source down to
a size that is transportable over the
Internet without reducing the original
video’s visual quality. What is DivX?
DivXNetworks, Inc. http://
www.divx.com/divx/whatisdivx.php
5 A “denial-of-service” attack is
characterized by an explicit attempt by
attackers to prevent legitimate users of
a service from using that service.
Examples include (1) attempts to “flood”
a network, thereby preventing legitimate
network traffic, (2) attempts to disrupt
connections between two machines,
thereby preventing access to a service,
(3) attempts to prevent a particular
individual from accessing a service, and
(4) attempts to disrupt service to a
specific system or person. CERT/CC
Denial of Service. CERT Coordination
Center, Software Engineering Institute,
Carnegie Mellon University. http://
w w w. c e r t . o r g / t e c h _ t i p s /
denial_of_service.html
6 Peer-to-Peer Research at Stanford.
Mayank Bawa, Brian F. Cooper, Arturo
Crespo, Neil Daswani, Prasanna
Ganesan, Hector Garcia-Molina,
Sepandar Kamvar, Sergio Marti, Mario
Schlosser, Qi Sun, Patrick Vinograd,
Beverly Yang of the Computer Science
Department, Stanford University. http:/
/dbpubs.stanford.edu:8090/pub/
showDoc.Fulltext?lang=en&doc=2003-
38&format=pdf&compression=
<< [ 11] SC E-Library
The e-library also contains executive
issuances. Other references such as
Benchbooks, Journals Catalogues and
Index are likewise available. Lex libris
is also accessible through the
‘members only site.’
A special site of the e-library, the
Memorabilia Room is devoted to the
Honorable Justices of the Supreme
Court from the first Chief Justice to the
newly-appointed Associate Justices.
This section contains the picture, brief
biography, decisions and articles,
speeches by and about each Justices.
The Supreme Court e-Library may be
accessed through http://
www.supremecourt.gov.ph/Web-
Library/home.htm
<< [10]Modernization of the Courts
unserviceable properties are being
made in accordance with rules of the
Commission on Audit. The Court is also
disposing of old, bulky records of cases
that have long been terminated and
records of personnel who had long
retired.
The most ambitious infrastructure
project undertaken by the Supreme
Court started in 1999 when it began
the construction of the Centennial
Building, a modern edifice at the corner
of Taft Avenue and Padre Faura
Streets. The building has seven floors.
The foundation and its shell structure
was completed in 2001. Immediately
thereafter, its Interior-Fit-out started
and was finished in May 2002. The
Supreme Court Centennial Building
now houses the judicial and Bar
Council, the PHILJA (Manila Office),
the SC Administrative Offices, the
Office of the Chief Attorney, the Office
of the Reporter, the Program
Management Office, the Committee
on Halls of Justice, and the Presidential
Electoral Tribunal.
The need for parking spaces and
additional office, prompted the Court
to embark on another construction
project, i.e., the Supreme Court, Court
<< [68] On Officers and Members
Prado, John Ivan Tablizo, John Michael
Timbre, and Marc Villanueva.
Additional members are expected to
be included further at the advent of
the next semester from pending
applications and subsequent
recruitment.
Most incumbent officers are incoming
fourth year students enrolled in the
four-year regular program. Among
the Society’s officers and members,
Cortez, Guerrero, Lock, Ocampo-
Guerrero, Ramos, and Reyes are
members of the Order of the Flaming
Arrows, the school’s organization of
honor students.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
of Appeals Multi-Purpose Building. The
building stands on a lot belonging to
the Court of Appeals but built with funds
supplied by the Supreme Court.
In order to avoid expensive rentals
during summer sessions in Baguio City,
the Court built additional two cottages
and a duplex adjacent to the SC offices.
The two cottages are for the 14th and
15th Members of the Court, while the
duplex are for the court staff scheduled
during summer sessions.
At more than 100, the Supreme Court
is a combination of old and new,
conservative but avantgrade. While in
the exercise of its judicial power, it
always considers the trodden path since
precedents represent the wisdom of
the past, it is not averse to explore new
avenues in search of the truth. Old
management schemes and practices
that have stood the test of time continue
to be used but the dysfunctional aspects
of the system are being discarded.
Accordingly, the Office of the Court
Administrator has undergone a
massive reorganization to improve the
management climate of the Judiciary.
Receptive of new ideas and ever
willing to initiate new procedures, the
Supreme Court continues to cope with
the realities of modern society.
<< [ 68] Lager Night
each month, benefiting regular or
weekday students. The Lager Night,
starting school year 2005-2006, will
be held alternately on a Friday in one
month and on a Saturday in the next
month.
The Society would like to extend its
gratitude to the School Administration
under Dean Mariano Magsalin Jr. for
providing this opportunity for student-
faculty interaction; Mr. Florentino
Cayco III for his generosity; the various
staff members of the Dean’s Office,
the IT Center, and Maintenance
Department in facilitating the Society’s
requests, whether pertaining to
paperwork, audio-visual equipment, or
venue maintenance.
65

WWW.SEC.GOV.PH:
This section is a continuing series of articles
featuring various websites which may be
relevant to legal practitioners, legal
A researchers, and law students.
dapting to
the needs of the changing times, the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) maximizes the benefits of
Internet technology by making
information available online and by
offering online transactions. The SEC
is now one of the most advanced
agencies of the government in terms
of compliance with the mandate of
Republic Act no. 8792 or the Electronic
Commerce Act.
The SEC’s website, following a
functionalist design, provides on its
main menu well- classified submenus
for easier access. The menu consists
of ‘Main,’ ‘Online Transactions,’
‘What`s New,’ ‘Investor Info,’ ‘About
SEC,’ ‘Archives,’ ‘Publications’ and
‘Downloads.’ ‘Main’ provides the
access to the html files of the Securities
Regulation Code (Republic Act No.
8799), its implementing rules and
regulations, as well as memorandum
circulars and notices issued by the SEC.
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
Basic information about the
commission is found in ‘About SEC.’
This section provides information on
the accomplishment, history,
management, mission and vision,
organizational setup, powers and
functions, location and directors of the
SEC. It also has a link to a separate
site of one of the offices of the SEC,
the compliance and enforcement
department.
‘Archives’ meanwhile contains market
reports, other circulars, speeches, IT-
related materials, seminars,
announcements, examination results,
66
LegalWeb
MAKING THE PUBLIC MORE SECURE
by Ma. Cristina A. Ramos
and concluded public consultations
while ‘Publication’ provides access to
the SEC primer on IAS, SEC in the
News, Citizen’s Manual and Philippines
5000.
Online Transactions
By using information technology, the
SEC offered a solution to the
bureaucratic red tape usually
associated with transactions with
government. People who want to
transact with the SEC can now avoid
the slow moving traffic along EDSA.
Moreover, they do not have to fall in
line and spend the whole day falling
in line or waiting for their names to be
called inside the SEC’s office, and then
wait another week to get results. Now,
people can do business with the SEC
through the computer any time of the
day.
Transactions that usually take a day or
two, or even a week, can now be
finished in just several clicks of the
mouse. For example, prospective
registrants of corporations or
partnerships who want to find out
whether their desired corporate or
partnership name are still available can
do it in just two mouse clicks. They
simply have to visit the website of the
SEC, click ‘Search Reserved/Registered
Companies’ under ‘Online
Transactions,’ enter the desired
corporate or partnership name in the
space provided, and press enter.
Another online service that the SEC
website offers is the ‘Search for
Registered Names.’ This facility allows
a person to know whether or not a
given corporation or partnership is
registered with the SEC in accordance
with the Corporation Code of the
Philippines. However, the fact that a
certain corporate or partnership name
is indeed registered with the SEC is
not an assurance that the identified
corporation is authorized to sell to the
public securities or other investment
instruments.
SEC-iRegister
Probably the most valuable service that
the SEC offers is the SEC-iRegister. It
is a web-based company registration
system of the SEC. The commission
describes this service as ‘quick,
affordable, and user-friendly.’ It is
available to the public 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
SEC-iRegister allows SEC’s clients to
do the following online:
· Verify the availability of the desired
name for corporation or
partnership;
· Reserve the verified name;
· Accomplish and print the
registration from online without
the need to buy the SEC forms;
· On-line registration of business
organizations, whether a stock or
non-stock corporation or a
general, limited, or professional
partnership;
· Deposit the paid-up capital online;
· Pay the appropriate registration
fees online, and;
· Receive notice of approval within
the same day.
This facility has been made available
to the public even before June 30,
2002, the deadline set by RA 8792,
otherwise known as the E-Commerce
Act. At present, the SEC uses version
2 of the SEC i-Register system, an
enhanced version of the original I-

Register system. The new version has
the following features:
· Enhanced Name Verification. This
feature provides for a list of
reserved and registered
companies that is similar to a
proposed company or partnership
name.
· Cancel Reservation Facility. This
allows the user to change his
reserved company name. The
client only has to cancel the
reserved company name and
reserve a new one again.
· Endorsement Listing. For the
guidance of the public, a list of
selected industries that require
endorsement from government
agencies is provided.
· Search Industry. This feature
makes the selection of industry
easier and faster.
For easier computation of fees, the site
also provides an online calculator.
Public Beware
For public safety and convenience, the
SEC provided in its website, under the
menu ‘Investor Info,’ the following:
SEC Advisory, SEC Orders, Settlement
Offers, Companies with Cease and
Desist Order, and Corporations with
Revoked Certificate of Registration.
The link to corporations with revoked
certificates of registration is available
from 8 am to 9 pm Monday through
Friday except holidays. All the lists are
in PDF files. The lists of companies that
have CDOs issued against them or
CDOs that became permanent after
the effectivity of the SRC are likewise
available from 8 am to 9 pm Monday
through Friday except during holidays.
The files are downloadable in PDF
format.
More on Investor’s Info
The website also provides listings of
registered entities, market participants,
and issuers of registered commercial
papers/bonds, equity securities, and
securities to the public.
The list of market participants, as posted
in the SEC’s website, are classified as
follows:
· Broker/Dealer (PSE Trading
Participants)
· Investment Company Adviser
· Transfer Agent
· Other Market
Participants
· Investment
Houses -
Associated
Person
· Investment
Houses
· Underwriter of
Securities
· Dealers in
Government
Securities.
However, in the
matter of registered
entities, the SEC made it clear that the
inclusion of any company in the list
does not mean that any or all of those
listed is being endorsed by the SEC to
solicit, take, receive, or hold
investments from the public. According
to the SEC, the decision of anyone to
place one’s investment on any
company in whatever form is an
individual decision based on one’s own
judgment Thus, SEC suggests that
anyone interested to invest in any of
the companies listed herein or in any
other company should study all publicly
available materials that have been
issued by the company following the
full disclosure principle.
Downloadable Annexes and
Forms
The site also offers downloadable
annexes and forms. The following are
some of the annexes in zip files that
are available for download.
· Registration of Securities
· Definition of Terms Used In Full
Disclosure Forms
· Non-Financial Disclosure
Requirements
· Information Relating to Possession
or Control Requirements Under
SRC Rule 49.2-1
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
· Formula for Determination of
Reserve Requirements 1of Broker
Dealers Under SRC Rule 49.2-1
· Explanation of Books and Records
Rule
· Customer Account Information
Form
Forms that are available for sale in
the SEC are now downloadable for
free. This can be found under the
menu ‘Downloads.’ Some of the forms
available for download are the
following:
· Notice of Exempt Transaction
· Application for Confirmation
· Registration Statement Under the
Securities Regulation Code
· Annual Report
· Current Report
· Notification of Suspension of Duty
to File Reports
· Tender Offer Report
· Proxy Statement
· Initial Statement of Beneficial
Ownership of Securities
· Statement Of Changes In
Beneficial Ownership Of Securities
· Application For Registration as a
Salesman or Associated Person of
a Broker Dealer and Amendments
Thereto
· Application for Broker Dealer
Registration Renewal
· Application for Registration
Renewal of Investment Houses,
Underwriters of Securities and
Government Securities Eligible
Dealers
67

IT LAW SOCIETY-SPONSORED
LAGER NIGHT HELD
by Peter Joseph L. Fauni
O n 5 February 2005, the IT
Law Society sponsored the schoolwide
Lager Night. It serves as an opportunity
to foster closer relationship between
law students and law professors, and
is a welcome breather to law students
in light of the rigors of law studies.
The February 2005 Lager Night
provided an opportunity to make the
Society visible to the studentry, and to
show a wholly different side to its
normal serious self. The event also
served as an avenue to announce the
creation of the Bar Operations
Commission for the 2005 Bar Exams
in September, by the Continuing Legal
Education and Research (CLEAR)
office, and solicit involvement from
students subsequent thereto. The event
was marked by spirited discussions
between students from various
batches, on academic topics or
otherwise, casual conversations
IT LAW JOURNAL WELCOMES
NEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The Philippine Quarterly IT Law Journal :: Volume 2, Number 1
T he e-Law
Center and the IT Law Society have
been active in sourcing talents among
law students in the Arellano University
School of Law, especially those
oriented to journalism. As part of the
constant effor for improvement of the
IT Law Journal, the individuals behind
it endeavor to develop an optimized
production system for the publication,
the first step being the installation of a
formal editorial board. As a token step
towards that direction, the IT Law
Journal welcomes its new Editor-in-
Chief, Mary Ann L. Reyes.
68
The Center and the Society
between faculty members and
T
students, and for the more courageous
ones, attempts to exhibit their singing
prowess using the videoke machine. It
was held at the College garden fronting
Donada street.
The Lager Night is a project initiated
by the Dean’s Office, with the Office
of the College Secretary having an
active participation in its
conceptualization and initial
implementation. The project, or event,
was first implemented during the start
of the school year 2004-2005, and it
is sponsored by a different school-
accredited student organization every
month. It is the first time that the event
was held on a Saturday to benefit
Executive students, or students who are
enrolled in the weekend study
program. The event has been held
previously during the last Friday of
>> [65] Lager Night
Mary Ann L. Reyes is a Business
columnist of the Philippine Star, one
of the major daily newspapers in the
Philippines. She is the editor of the Real
Estate Section and also the
Telecommunincations and IT Reporter
of the said newspaper. She is an
incoming fourth year student of the
Arellano University School of Law,
enrolled in the five-year executive
program, and is currently the Vice-
President of the Order of the Flaming
Arrows, the school’s organization of
honor students. She holds a degree in
BS Math and a Masters degree in
Business Administation from the
University of the Philippines (Diliman
campus).
ON IT LAW SOCIETY
OFFICERS AND
MEMBERS
he IT Law Society,
which was established on 10 January
2004, maintained its roster of officers
for the next school year. Michael
Vernon M. Guerrero remained as
President, Carlyn Marie Bernadette C.
Ocampo-Guerrero as secretary, Ailyn
L. Cortez as Treasurer, Peter Joseph
L. Fauni as Publication chairperson and
Ma. Cristina A. Ramos as Research and
Seminars chairperson. Jhonelle S.
Estrada was installed as Vice President
for the Society during the middle of
school year 2004-2005 and shall
continue in such capacity. Mary Ann
L. Reyes has been installed as the
Journal’s Editor-in-Chief.
The incumbent officers, however, are
in the process of promulgating the
Society’s Constitution and By-laws,
which would effectively streamline the
structure of the organization. Among
the changes expected are: (1) the
position of the Vice-President and the
chairperson for the Publication
Committee being combined in the
person of the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief,
(2) the position of Chairperson for the
Website Committee being integrated
to the position of Public Relations
Officer, and (3) the positions of
chairperson for Research and
Seminars Committee and chairperson
for Advocacy Committee being
combined into the position of
chairperson for Research and
Advocacy Committee and integrated
to the position of Auditor.
Neophyte members, on the other
hand, have been introduced into the
Society during the last semester. Among
these are Katherine Austria, Ma.
Theresa Japos, Chalyz Odessa
Lagdameo, Roberto Lock, Cristine
>> [65] On Officers and Members