RIYADH - The Shoura Council approved on October 9, 2006 Saudi Arabia’s first law to combat electronic crimes. The law was submitted to the Saudi Council by the Commission for Telecommunication and Information Technology, The Arab News Reported.
The law to combat electronic crimes specifies the penalties and fines that violators will be subject to for hacking into other people’s personal information or hacking websites and damaging their contents.
It also implies that defamation on the Internet is against the law and that violators will be punished accordingly. It specifies that those who use the Internet to acquire information illegally from public or private sources will be severely punished by fines or prison terms or both.
A prison term of one to ten years and a fine of SR500,000 to SR5 million may be imposed on the violators of the law.
The Commission for Investigation and Public Prosecution will be the authorized body to cooperate with security officials in the Kingdom during the apprehension of violators and the confiscation of their devices.
The law will be effective upon publication in the Official Gazette within 120 days.