In a world where access to communication is not just a privilege but a necessity, SA's new regulation act is doing a fine job of crippling the growth of the mobile industry. The Regulation of Interception of Communications Act (Rica) - could there be a name that more blatantly smiles in the face of so-called protection while pulling the rug out from under the feet of the right to individual privacy? Why not just call it Big Brother Mobile? Retail group Edcon has just joined Foschini in blaming Rica for the drop in cellular department sales, and it's not hard to understand why. A few weeks ago I tried to activate a prepaid SIM card I'd received with a new phone I'd bought. There was airtime on the card that I didn't want to go to waste, but I was stymied by the automated voice on the other side, which said the card would not be activated unless registered with Rica. This could only be done with prood of ID and residence. This puts an instant block on anyone under the age of 16, not to mention all those poor souls who have spent years trying to wangle an ID out of Home Affairs - with some resorting to hostage situations and suicide because of lax procedures. Everyone knows you can't get a job or a bank account in this country without an ID. Now you have to give just about everything but a DNA sample just to call your mother. So as it stands, fewer active cellphones and SIM cards means a drop in airtime sales. As for government citing the Act's implementation on grounds of safety - just who exactly are they kidding? As far as I'm concerned, this is just another half-witted attempt to crack the whip on law-abiding citizens while giving the criminal underworld a new playground on which to run riot. As if the current cellphone and identity theft wasn't bad enough, now there will be a market for hacked and cracked SIM cards and bogus account statements. And what's next - pay-phone retina scans? Till then, happy talking. But remember, somebody's watching and they know who you are.

Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor
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