Screenshots

Three days ago, October 1, Screenshots announced that board members of the MCMC shall convene to deliberate on regulatory issues affecting the industry on October 4, that's today.

Screenshots also promised you a YouTube that portrayed MCMC Chairman Dr Halim Shafie's commitment to deal with rogue celcos and their external content providers who repeatedly flouted industry guidelines tied to the provisions of CMA1998. Here it is

I hope, before today's Commissioners' meeting, the MCMC will play the YouTube, which was clipped from an NTV7 programme HAP ANDA) that highlighted the ins-and-outs of that SMS Scam that took place right under Halim's nose.

We do know that eminent people of the public had been appointed members of MCMC, led by chairman Dr Halim Shafie, are:

1. Dr Halim Man (Secretary-General at KTAK),


2. Dr Gan Khuan Poh (a retired director at EPU, Prime Minister's Department),


3. Raja Arshad Raja Tun Uda (an accountant and formerly executive chairman of PriceWaterhouseCoopers Malaysia),


4. C. Rajandram (executive deputy chairman of Rating Agency Malaysia),


5. Mohamed Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi (executive director at BinaFikir who is a former MCMC official now appointed a representative of the government in ICANN as the Chairman of the Government Advisory Committee (GAC), and


6. Abdul Hanan Alang Endut, Secretary General of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

We do know that The MCMC shares an advisor in businessman Zaki Azmi, an Umno insider who made history to become the first lawyer to be appointed directly to the Federal Court.

However, we do know if this Ramadan, the MCMC Commissioners shall deal with the SMS Scam scandal with a bold broad stroke, or make it an Oktoberfest with Halim Shafie doing the tap-dancing. See this:

We also really do NOT know if the celcos are confusing Halim, or Halim himself is confused?

MACRO KIOSK ROMPS AGAIN! For example, soon after the Maxis ad announcing the commissioning of spam-proof mechanism (CAUTION: Not spoof-proof preventive gateway) appeared in The Star, Screenshots was alerted to two cases of fresh complaints against unsolicited SMS, using shortcodes 33340 and 32996, which are both owned by Macro Kiosk.

SOURCE: Screenshots September 25 (Click the JPG to launch larger image)
SOURCE: Screenshots September 26 (Click the JPG to launch larger image)

From official records maintained by MCMC, Macro Kiosk had been faulted for repeated cases of non-compliance of industry guidelines involving multiple shortcodes, but were let off the hook by MCMC with light fines.

3 QUSTIONS FOR HALIM SHAFIE. In anticipation of the forthcoming Commissioner Meeting this Thursday, Screenshots has three simple questions for Halim Shafie to answer:

1. Will repeat offenders who scammed on unassuming be penaliised in accordance to the law?


2. Will these licensees be de-registered from the Register of Licensees, meaning having their licenses revoked?


3. Now that the MPG is installed and operation, with the mobile users transaction data ported over, will scammed mobile users be refunded across the board, dating to seven years prior?

So, again, we are asking Dr Halim: Who are you protecting? The rogue players or the consumers?