'Love Bug' a wake-up call for RP lawmakers

The ILOVEYOU virus may have damaged millions of computers around the world. But it is considered by many Filipino computer experts as a blessing in disguise for the local information technology (IT) industry.

Augusto Lagman, incoming president of the Philippine Computer Society, said the virus, which has come to be known as the "Love Bug," may serve as a wake-up call for the country's lawmakers to pass the long-overdue Electronic Commerce Bill.

"Maybe our congressmen will now realize that we have to have a law against hacking," said Lagman, who belongs to the first generation of computer programmers in the country.

"We don't have a law against hacking and even if we can prove that the author of the ILOVEYOU virus is a Filipino, we cannot punish him," he said.

Lagman has been lobbying for the passage of the E-Commerce Bill which declares hacking or the unauthorized accessing of secured computer data a crime.

The Senate passed its version of the bill last April 12 and the House of Representatives is at present deliberating on another version. A unified version of the measure is expected to pass through a committee composed of members from both chambers next month before it is signed into law by President Estrada.

Lagman said he expects the law to boost e-commerce in the country. "Many companies are afraid of going into e-commerce because of the security risks. This law will address that problem," he said.

Although he admits that the Philippine IT industry has lagged behind those in the United States and Europe, Lagman still believes that it is growing faster than many had expected.

He estimates that there are now about 700,000 computers in the country and half of them are connected to the Internet.

"It is definitely booming," he said. "The growth of the IT industry can no longer be stopped. Stop it and you'll die."

Lagman noted that the Philippines is actually benefiting from its being behind other countries in technological advances. He cited the case of the Year 2000 computer problem or the so-called Millennium Bug which hit computers around the world. "We were not affected because we are not that advanced," he pointed out.

Being also late in the industry affords Philippine companies to leapfrog to the latest technologies without passing through the already outmoded ones.

"In effect, we can easily join the front-runners because the newest technology is already available and is being sold at lower rates than the old ones," Lagman said.

Meanwhile, foreign Internet companies have kept their confidence in the Philippine market in spite of reports linking Filipinos to the ILOVEYOU bug.

Last Tuesday, Similan.com, a Singapore-based e-commerce firm, launched a local Web site for auction and online shopping.

Similan.com founder and CEO John Saliling, a Singaporean of Filipino descent, said he is not deterred by massive computer attacks from virus writers and other so-called cybercriminals.

"These are like shark attacks," he said. "We rarely have them but once an attack is reported, it gets sensationalized and everybody starts being afraid of going to the beach."

Saliling's company began only in September last year but has already spread in four countries, including Malaysia and Hong Kong. It is planning to expand to six other countries in the next two months.

"In the IT business, you have to expand fast or you'll lose position," he said. "You cannot afford to be sidetracked by so many fears."