Tech you won’t believe was once illegal in South Africa

South Africans might be surprised to learn what technologies or particular uses of technologies were once illegal or are still considered illegal under local laws.

In recent years, there has been much speculation about the reasons behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s apparent unwillingness to launch its groundbreaking Starlink satellite Internet service in South Africa.

South Africa’s strict ownership regulations for telecoms licensees could be a factor in Starlink’s hesitance to apply for local licences.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has confirmed that Starlink needs to be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged persons to apply for an electronic communications services (ECS) licence.

Icasa has also gazetted a new requirement that licensees be 30% black-owned. While this new regulation has been suspended until an undetermined future date, Icasa could put it into force at any time.

The regulator recently also proposed new regulations for approving satellite Internet services, which some sceptics argue add yet another regulatory hurdle to Starlink launching locally.

Critics of Icasa and the government have argued that South Africa’s laws should be blamed for making an official Starlink launch more difficult than it should be.

While the company has yet to officially confirm or deny this, its former enterprise lead is on record saying that Starlink prioritised countries with business-friendly regulations.

There are many other examples where South Africa’s regulators and lawmakers could be perceived as opponents of new technology.

Perhaps the most difficult to believe was that voice-over-IP (VoIP) calling was illegal in South Africa for the first decade of the technology’s existence.

Until 2005, making a phone call via a VoIP service like Skype in South Africa was illegal.

The only legal channels that supported calling were telephonic or cellular services, including Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Cell C, which had the necessary licences to offer them.

In September 2004, communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri announced that this would change from February 2005, with value-added network services (VANS) being legalised.

VoIP-based services like WhatsApp and FaceTime have taken off as data costs have come down, making voice calls far more affordable.

Below are several other laws governing the use of tech that once illegal in South Africa — and some that still are.(…)

Online gambling — Still illegal

Online gambling has been illegal in South Africa since the Internet landed on local shores.

That is despite legislation that should have paved the way for its legalisation and regulation — the National Gambling Amendment Act — which was signed by President Jacob Zuma 16 years ago.

The Democratic Alliance has blasted the lack of regulations, pointing out that it has created an opportunity for illegal operators to exploit South Africans.

The lack of official local licencing structures also deprives the country of potentially valuable gambling taxes.

Based by mybroadband.co.za

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