Amazon have reported an incredible 5,771% increase in sales of George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, following the National Security Administration (NSA) Prism Scandal this week when it was discovered it was discovered that US domestic surveillance operations may be wider than previously thought.
The Telegraph reports that on Amazon’s movers and shakers list the novel has a current sales rank of 80 – it was 12,507 only a few days ago. Despite being published 64 years ago, these figures suggest the novel is as contemporary and relevant now as it ever has been.
Edward Snowden leaked a presentation, dated April 2013, states that Prism allows the NSA to “receive” emails, video clips, photos, voice and video calls, social networking details, logins and other data held by a range of US Internet firms. Snowden, whose current whereabouts are unknown, has since been charged in the US with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.
Chaninat and Leeds specializes in international criminal cases in Thailand
The major surge is book sales, shows how seriously the general public are taking Snowden’s claims, which leads to the next question what, if any surveillance does the Thai government undertake here? Are all emails monitored here? In fact are emails here monitored by Prism?
A check on the laws and regulations on the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology’s website reveals that under the Computer Crime Act, section 7 holds that “if any person illegally accesses computer data, for which there is a specific access prevention measure not intended for their own use available, then he or she shall be subject to imprisonment for no longer than two years or a fine of not more than forty thousand baht or both”. Surveillance and censorship are not mentioned. Nor are they in The Electronic Transactions Act or the Telecommunications Business Act. Any censorship as far as Thailand is concerned seems to be limited to banning certain Internet websites.
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