LCR4805 PORTFOLIO MEMO - MAY/JUNE 2022 - SEMESTER 1 - WITH BIBLIOGRAPHY

LCR4805 PORTFOLIO MEMO - MAY/JUNE 2022 - SEMESTER 1 - WITH BIBLIOGRAPHY QUESTION 1 During the recruitment of new staff, an employer checks the profiles of the candidates on various social networks and includes information from these networks in the screening process. The employer has not informed the candidates about this. 1.1 Does the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 allow an employer to include information of candidates found on social networks when screening candidates? Discuss. (20) 1.2 Does the use of information found in a candidate’s inbox on a social network amount to an interception of a communication as defined in the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act 70 of 2002? Discuss. (10) [30] QUESTION 2 One evening while driving home after work, Thabo was involved in a road-rage incident. The driver of a truck didn’t like how Thabo was driving. He forced Thabo’s car to stop, got out of his truck and smashed in the windscreen of Thabo’s vehicle with a metal pipe. He pulled Thabo out of his vehicle, shouted at him, waved his arms in the air, climbed back into his truck and drove off. It turned out that another motorist on the scene, David, who was right behind Thabo’s vehicle, had a camera installed on the dash of his car, which automatically records everything in the view of the camera through the windscreen of the vehicle. This road rage incident was also captured by David’s dash camera. The truck driver was later arrested and has to face criminal charges. Thabo approaches you as his attorney. Advise him as to whether this video recording captured on David’s dash camera can be used as evidence in a court of law? QUESTION 3 PLEASE NOTE THE CHOICE IN THIS QUESTION 3.1 Critically discuss the suitability of South African laws to address the challenges posed by the search and seizure of electronic evidence. Refer in your answer to case law, legislation and academic commentary where applicable. OR 3.2 We live in an “information age” and the question which often arises is whether information can be stolen. Refer to the common law definition of “theft” and critically discuss whether the law in South Africa has adapted to keep up with technological advancements. Discuss comparatively by referring to the positions in other jurisdictions and include case law, legislation and academic commentary where applicable. (Please note: The question is NOT whether it is physically possible to steal information, but whether the legal principles make provision for it.) QUESTION 4 messages on their websites and servers. © Unisa 2022 (10) [30] TOTAL: [100] 6 LCR4805 June/July 2022 Robert works for an advertising company, Lourdes Ltd. In his spare time he writes articles for an online news website, Daily News. On this website he published an article (which he wrote from his office computer) about a coastal wetland ecosystem that was destroyed after an oil rig of the company, Oil- Tech, exploded at sea. This resulted in a huge oil spill in the ocean that drifted to the shore. In the article Robert alleges that the explosion was due to the negligence of the company. He lists several issues, including a lack of proper maintenance and security measures by the company. The article named “M” as the managing director of Oil-Tech at the time. This article was upsetting to many readers and in a short time the article had accumulated 300 comments – many of the comments were insulting, some of them went over onto hate speech and threatened M with violence. Almost two months after publication, M sent a request to Daily News to remove the comments and demanded payment of R250 000.00 in damages allegedly suffered by the company. Daily News removed the comments the same day it received the complaint. M consults you as the company’s attorney for legal advice. In your answers to the following questions refer to case law, legislation and academic commentary where applicable. 4.1 Can Oil-Tech institute a claim for defamation against Robert? (10) 4.2 Can Robert’s employer, Lourdes Ltd, be held vicariously liable for Robert’s conduct, since Robert wrote the alleged defamatory article on his office computer? (10) 4.3 Discuss the liability of the internet service providers for the defamation and hate speech. Extreme care is used by our Tutors to draft our documents, however the contents are provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. The documents we provide is to be used for comparison, research and reference purposes ONLY.