WORD ON THE STREET, or rather the papers recently, are that the cellphone operators are fighting a double battle against Father Time and the Department of Justice. WORD ON THE STREET, or rather the papers recently, are that the cellphone operators are fighting a double battle against Father Time and the Department of Justice.

It is said that if our mobile service suppliers are not successful in talks with the Justice Department on changes to be made to sections of the Regulation of Interception of Communication Act, they could be churning out paper records till the cows come home.

The operators have, justifiably so, objected to sections of the Act which compel them to capture their prepaid subscribers` details using a paper-based system instead of an electronic one.

The Department says that the paper-based system will be "protecting citizens` privacy while allowing law-enforcement agencies to track cellphone activity to combat crime".

I won`t say data captured electronically is completely safe, but I do believe that it has a better chance of surviving all sorts of natural disasters, including `mense met lang vingers`.

Now I ask you with tears in my eyes, how would writing information down on paper assist in fighting crime? This surely speaks poorly of our technological advancement as a nation? Or maybe it is an old Act, which was in desperate need of a facelift anyway?

MTN and Cell C both say the proposed system is not feasible, with Vodacom strangely indifferent, even though it stands to get the most paper cuts, being the market leader and all.

Well, reason has prevailed and the Department is meeting the operators to listen to their concerns. This doesn`t mean the Act will be changed. Some prepaid subscribers might find themselves spending the holidays filling out forms in triplicate, while others frolic in the sun.