Yoursay Finas Licence A Law That No Longer Makes Sense

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YOURSAY | ‘You cannot enforce a law selectively and on a case-by-case basis.’All filming requires Finas licence, even personal social media - ministerSHGC: "It is mandatory for film producers to apply for a film production licence and filming certification letter, regardless of whether they are mainstream media or personal media that publishes their film on social media or traditional channels," said Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah
And then he added that the authorities “encouraged” everyone to film as long as laws are followed. “Encourage” does not equate “mandatory”
When asked if Youtuber Dustin Pfundheller, who produced a video countering a controversial Al Jazeera documentary, had a Finas licence, he said he left it to the authorities and if there were any complaints, they would take action
If a law is mandatory, you don’t need to wait for a complaint before taking action
Finas chairperson Zakaria Abdul Hamid stressed that Finas would only enforce the law against companies for now and might only use it against individuals on a case-by-case basis
If it is mandatory, you don't take action on a case-by-case basis
There are thousands of videos produced every day, you must commit yourself, 24 hours a day, to go through them one by one
Malaysia Bharu: This sudden delayed intrusion of Finas into the Al Jazeera documentary conundrum is fast becoming a comedy of errors
According to Finas' Zakaria, all forms of video recording must seek a licence from Finas but he would enforce the law selectively for now, on a case-by-case basis
And according to Saifuddin, seemingly caught in the centre, all filming including personal social media requires a licence
But the foremost question in everyone's mind is why this sudden resurrection of this almost unheard-of antiquated law, which many seem to be totally unaware of
Especially in this social media era when everyone is armed with a smartphone and is video recording every kind of event from birthdays and marriages to dashboard videos and short films and post them on the Internet
Can Finas tell us how often has this law been applied in the past and what are the numbers rejected or acted upon
This is of public interest noting that we are bombarded with endless videos, local and foreign, in WhatsApp, Instagram and other social media platforms. Are all these videos backed by a Finas licence
RedCheetah0747: We need to register a company and apply for a Finas licence? Can anyone imagine Youtubers and TikTokers doing that
Forget about Malaysians for a while, this also means that foreigners posting promotional or other feel-good shorts about Malaysia should no longer do so if the authorities are fair and prosecute everyone who does not have a licence
When will ministers learn to look at the wider ramifications of their actions? Do they know they are running a country and not playing masak-masak (playing house) in the schoolyard
Hmm: When the higher education minister (Noraini Ahmad) asked youths to submit their short films via TikTok, I don't remember her saying that she will pay for the registration of their companies or applying for Finas licences for them
I think we should all be good citizens and register a company and apply for a Finas licence. That will keep both agencies busy for the next 200 years
They should also make announcements in airplanes for tourists about these requirements similar to the announcements about drug trafficking. I can just imagine tourists queueing in front of these agencies throughout the duration of their stay here
Anak JB: Saifuddin and Finas are living in a time warp. They seriously lack the pragmatism to keep up with the times
They need to be clear on what constitutes the requirement for licensing. This is the digital era but our minister is still sticking to redundant rules and regulations
P Dev Anand Pillai: If this is how the government of the day wishes to hide its misdeeds from the world to see, then why not ban all smartphones and revert to the old Nokia models again
Perikatan Nasional (PN) is making a mockery of itself and making the same mistakes it made just before it lost power in 2018. So, keep pressuring the masses again, but be prepared to lose power once more
MS: So Finas is finished with trying to save the drowning Malaysian film enterprises, sucked under by stupefying incompetence, colossal waste, poor education, politics ala the movie ‘Tanda Putera’ and serialised scandals
Now it is free to do what a certain car inspecting agency does... make money by doing nothing of economic consequence. This must be the height of rent-seeking and perfectly in line with a government which sneaked in through the back
Coming next - a new homegrown industry of rent-seeking agencies (like maid agencies) employing runners who will line up at Finas to get the licences on behalf of phone-camera wielding citizens and tourists
Flabber Pro: Yes, what about the Indian couple who shared their recipe? Or YouTubers who put Malaysia on the world map for the right reasons? You must be kidding me if you ask them to apply for a Finas licence
Is the government so in need of money
Malaysia Is Surrealist Art: Wait, so to film my cats' ridiculous daily antics, I first need a registered business with a start-up capital of RM50,000
I suppose this is the "creative encouragement" that Saifuddin is speaking of. - Mkini

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