Company X receives a complaint that an employee sends out a lot of pornographic pictures which offend lots of other users. Will it infringe Mr Employee's right to privacy if it accesses the employees computer to investigate the complaint? Would [...]
Is the sale of on-line products (for example software downloaded directly from a website) subject to taxation? South Africa previously had a predominantly source based tax system but adopted a resident based tax system some few years ago. The sale [...]
This is not expressly prohibited by any law, but may possibly amount to a contravention of the provisions of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978. Broadly speaking, copyright is the right given to the owner of a copyrighted work not [...]
When would a website provider be liable for mistakes in information which it provides online? Can it avoid that liability? The general principle is that a website provider must ensure that the content on the website is accurate and will [...]
Are South African residents permitted to use online casinos and betting websites? Is any regulatory consent or age, credit or other verification required? The Supreme Court of Appeal (the highest authority on all cases except cases relating to constitutional rights), [...]
Can a company open an employee's email whilst he is away on holiday or out of office? It depends. In the course of business Section 6 of our monitoring law, the Regulation of Interception of Communications & Provision of Communication-Related [...]
Online gambling is not permissible under the current legislation, but will soon be once the National Gambling Amendment Bill gets enacted. Currently gambling in South Africa is regulated concurrently by national and provincial legislation. The National Gambling Act 7 of [...]
If a website provider includes databases on its site, can it stop other people from using or reproducing data from those databases? Yes. A database is protected as a literary work under the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 whilst computer [...]
What are the rights of employees who previously carried out services that have been outsourced? Is there any right to consultation or compensation, do the rules apply to all employees within the jurisdiction? Where services are outsourced, the employer terminates [...]
Is the advertising or selling of financial services products to consumers or to businesses via the Internet regulated, and if so by whom and in what manner? Financial service providers need to register with the Financial services Board from which [...]
Are there any products or services that may not be advertised or types of content which are not permitted on the Internet? In terms of ASA, the following has been identified as unacceptable advertising: Advertisements that play on fear ( [...]
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) governs and regulates advertising in South Africa. It is an independent body set up by the marketing communications industry to regulate advertising through a system of self regulation. The Code of Advertising Practice is the [...]
