YOURSAY | Finas licence - a law that no longer makes sense

YOURSAY | ‘You cannot enforce a law selectively and on a case-by-case basis.’

All filming requires Finas licence, even personal social media - minister

SHGC: "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