Lawyer Presents New Book on Internet Law
A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Akinkunmi Akinwunmi, last week presented to the general public, his latest publication on Internet Law.
The book titled ‘The Nigerian Internet Law’, was formally launched and presented to the public at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos under the chairmanship of Mr. Gbenga Oyebode MFR, while the Special Guest of Honour was Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, President of the National Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. He was however, represented by Mrs. Nkem Isizor, Head of Intellectual Property and Technology of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
The keynote address at the Book Presentation, which also featured a seminar on the digital economy, was delivered by Mr. Kolawole Fayemi, the Executive Head; Legal, Regulatory & Compliance of Vodacom.
Speaking on the Book, the author, Akinwunmi, said the
Book is a groundbreaking work, which explores what is mostly uncharted territory, in the Nigerian legal system.
“It provides legal perspectives on internet activities based on laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and global development. The Book has over 600 pages, with detailed analysis of the concept of the internet and various internet-related issues”, he stated.
The author explained that, the Internet also known as cyberspace, is a global system of interconnected networks of computers and other communication devices, that use standardised communication protocols to link devices worldwide, to provide a variety of information and communication services.
He analysed how the Internet has changed the world as we know it, how it has permeated virtually all aspects of human actions. How it has made it easier to communicate, network, share contents and transact businesses.
Akinkunmi also explained how the development of various innovative online products, has made humans dependent on the Internet, and how it has led to a surge in global Internet usage.
According to him, out of the 7,753,483,209 people in the world, up to 4.33 billion use the Internet (as of July 2019), accounting for more than 56% of the world population.
“Also, as of August 2019, Nigeria had 122,975,740 internet users. Accordingly, Internet penetration in Nigeria between 2000 and 2019, is estimated at 61.064%”, he explained.
He noted that, on the downside, the continuous reliance of humans on the internet had created the challenges of cybercrime, invasion of privacy, election meddling, hate speech, fake news, and dissemination of obscene content globally.
These deleterious conduct has resulted in data loss, reputational damage, loss of revenue, infringement of intellectual property, attack on sovereignty and critical national infrastructure, he said.
He went into how the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act was enacted in 2015, to combat cybercrime in Nigeria.
He also noted the issuance of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, Risk-Based Cyber security Framework, and Internet Code of Practice by the National Information Technology Development Agency, Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigerian Communications Commission respectively, to promote online civility.
In the 16 chapters of the Book, he elucidated on the legal position, in respect of the Internet.