Tech you won’t believe was once illegal in South Africa — and some that still is

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.

Only big telecoms could build networks crossing roads — Law scrapped

The legalisation of VoIP came with a catch — Matsepe-Casaburri broke her promise that VANS would be allowed to build their own networks to provide voice services.

Although VANS could build local area networks, they were not allowed to “cross a road with a network cable”, which was the exclusive domain of licensed network providers.

Altech led several VANS licensees and industry players in a legal challenge against Matsepe-Casaburri. In 2008, they won their case.

That paved the way for the launch of VoIP service providers and the fibre network operators that would break Telkom’s monopoly on fixed-line networking.

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.

Converting CD music into digital format — Still illegal

CDs were the last major physical medium for consuming music before digital streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify took off.

A common habit that many CD owners had was to “rip” their music from the physical disc into a digital format.

This served two purposes — keeping backup in case the CD got damaged or allowing you to listen to it on an iPod or MP3 player.

However, doing so was illegal and continues to be illegal in 2024.

Although the Copyright Act of 1978 only allows the making of copies of “musical works” for private use, it does not extend the same exemption to “sound recordings,” which CD tracks are also considered.

Downloading the same song in digital format from a legal online store is allowed, but this means paying for the same music twice.

Recording TV broadcasts on DVD or tape — Still illegal

Before torrents and on-demand video streaming services, in-cinema and broadcast recordings were the main way pirated films were created.

Soon after launching its first decoder with recording capability — the HD PVR — MultiChoice emphasised that making home recordings of its broadcasted content on devices other than the decoder was prohibited.

While recording broadcasted content for private consumption at a later stage — known as “time-shifting” — is not in itself illegal, it could be if the content itself were copyrighted.

For example, a broadcast that includes movie or sound recordings would again be disqualified from the private use exemption.

Public Wi-Fi without a licence — Still illegal

Numerous public Wi-Fi hotspots were already live in South Africa long before Icasa legitimised wireless access service providers.

When Wi-Fi first started gaining popularity, Icasa warned that people could only use the 2.4GHz spectrum it operated without a telecoms licence or certificate in very specific conditions.

“Use without a licence is limited to a single person or entity, for themselves on single contiguous sites and within the power limitation as an alternative to cables between computer equipment,” Icasa stated.

“It could not be used on a commercial basis to provide service to other persons or from one property to other properties, which would be illegal and constitute a criminal offence.”

According to the Wireless Access Providers Association of South Africa, providing Wi-Fi coverage from within your property to a public area without a licence is still illegal.

If your network crosses into a public space, you must have at least a class-level Electronic Communications Network Services licence.

WAPA explains the regulation is necessary to keep signal congestion in unlicenced spectrum in check so that wireless service providers can ensure good quality of service.