Offshore Workers Become Scarce Due to New Cybercrime Law

A new law takes effect today effectively outlawing the use of most offshore workers in the Philippines; will it take down your business or give you the edge?

We've already seen businesses losing thousands of likes following the recent Facebook purge but this latest development could be far more significant. The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 goes into effect in the Philippines today prohibiting a wide range of online activities from libel to cybersex to spamming. With penalties of up to $24,000 per violation and 12 years in jail, which are certainly not the prisons we know in the U.S., it could be the end of masses of email spam and buying Facebook likes. This doesn't appear to be all talk either with the bill establishing an "Office of Cybercrime" with a pretty sizable budget to chase down those refusing to comply.

This could even the playing field for entrepreneurs and small businesses for those getting in now compared to those who have already built massive fake followings and email lists. However, we have already seen a trend in more U.S. businesses hiring remote workers onshore for quality and security rather than going offshore.

Those afraid this will cramp their business model and profits will be glad to know this clearly doesn't apply to offshore call centers in the Philippines, so perhaps now is the time to get the edge with a new call center team and win at customer service. There may be some extra cheap staff out there too as thousands get busy looking for new work.