E-Governance In India Needs Better Management

E-governance in India has miserably failed. The reason why e-governance is a big failure is because neither our political parties nor our elected governments take e-governance seriously. To be serious means formulating effective policies and strategies on the one hand and their dedicated enforcement and management on the other.

Take the recent example in this regard. The website named E-Governance Standards is a platform that aims at providing suggestions to the Government of India (GOI) regarding e-governance in India. However, the site is down for maintenance/ revamping or perhaps withdrawal. The big question arises that from the date of its inception to till now what valuable contribution this site or the working groups or committees constituted under its banner have provided to the GOI? I think none. Much better and effective inputs have been provided by private individuals than the governmental machinery.

For instance, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and leading Techno-Legal Expert of India, the First and Exclusive Working Group on Cyber Law in India was constituted last year. It is the first and exclusive Techno-Legal ICT Think Tank of India and includes International and National ICT experts as its Members. It is providing valuable suggestions and recommendations to the GOI regarding Techno-Legal ICT Policies and Strategies that India must adopt. The areas include cyber law in India, cyber security in India, cyber forensics in India, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in India, online dispute resolution (ODR) in India, etc. Besides it is also “coordinating” National and International Techno-Legal ICT issues and is striving towards an “International Harmonisation” of abovementioned issues.

If we analyse the inputs of this platform we can easily deduce that the platform is not only much more actively participating in matters touching techno-legal ICT policies of India but is also providing its suggestions to GOI on a regular basis. This is what is required from E-governance Standards platform or any other similar platform. In short, GOI must take e-governance seriously as India needs better e-governance management.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Malware Attacks Are Increasing In India

Malware attacks against Indian Government websites have increased a lot. Even private websites are not spared. Mr. Praveen Dalal has communicated the concerns of Perry4Law to Government of India in this regard.

Recently the website of Department of Telecommunication (DOT), Government of India was found “malware infected”. Now if you try to visit the “All India Congress Committee” website [www.aicc.org.in/new/] through Google you would come across a warning by Google that “this website may harm your computer”. Of the 301 pages Google tested on the site over the past 90 days, 33 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-05-26, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2009-05-26. Malicious software includes 80 scripting exploit(s). This is tremendous malware activity for a single site.

Let us hope the Government of India would consider and apply the suggestions and recommendations of Mr. Dalal immediately and keep the issue of cyber security in mind while implementing its e-governance projects in India.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

India’s Spectrum Allocation Policy Irked Delhi High Court

The Division Bench (comprising Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Valmiki Mehta) of Delhi High Court on Friday slammed the first-come, first-served spectrum allocation policy of the telecom ministry, days before Telecom Minister A Raja is to take charge for the second time in Sanchar Bhawan. The Bench observed that "It is like selling cinema tickets. We find it very strange that public exchequer and valuable resources have been involved and misused in this way. We are completely astounded." The bench further said that “Prima facie we find that spectrum has been allocated in a worst manner and public Exchequers have lost thousands of crores rupees". The court referred the matter to another bench headed by Chief Justice and directed it to be listed on July 8.

E-Courts Project Failed In India

E-Courts have absolutely failed in India. It is clear that whatever initiatives taken in this regard in India, the same is attributable to private persons and institutions like Perry4Law. The Government of India (GOI) has absolutely failed to achieve the task of establishment of e-courts in India.

The lack of “political will” in India to successfully complete e-courts project in general and other mission mode projects (MMP) under the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) in particular is really frustrating. The plight of e-governance in India is well known. However, other nations are trying their level best to ensure smooth and hassle free judicial systems.

For instance, the Malaysian government is considering amending laws to allow the e-filing of court documents as part of efforts to encourage a more efficient justice system. At present, the hard copies of documents are needed under the Rules of the High Court to file the various applications in court cases. A proposal has been given to change the law to allow also for the filing of digital copies via e-filing.

If we look at the Indian position, the situation is really frustrating. We do not have even the basic cyber law forget about a law for ensuring smooth e-filing in India. The government of India also committed a blunder by “pushing” a criminal friendly and weak Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 that has further made the position worst.

The role of Parliament is to enact just, reasonable and growth oriented laws and not to retard the development through oppressive and redundant laws. With the Indian Congress government at the center, we can hope that it would rectify the mistake that it committed during the December 2008 Parliament session.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

RTI In India Got ICT Boost

Right to Information (RTI) is a valuable tool in the hands of public spirited people and common man. It has tremendous potential to bring transparency and reduce corruption. The impact of RTI is further amplified if we use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for giving effect to the procedures used for getting relevant information under the RTI Act 2005-RTI HELPDESK

Last week, CIC Wajahat Habibullah disposed a case at his Delhi headquarters on an appeal from Begusarai in Bihar. What was special about this one is that he did it entirely through video-conferencing, using the network installed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which now connects Delhi and state capitals with the headquarters of 450 of the country’s 600 districts. The petitioner went to the district collector’s office; all documents required by the CIC or the respondent, the prime minister’s office, were immediately computer-scanned and e-mailed; they were perused at the other end, and the order issued orally, on video. No one moved out of their offices.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Orissa Is Heading Towards The Best ICT Enabled State In India

It seems the State of Orissa is all set to encash the benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for its development, especially for e-governance in India.

Firstly, the IT department of the Orissa government is expected to come out with a new ICT policy, incorporating the best practices of IT-friendly states in the country by November this year. The new state focused ICT policy is being formulated after a gap of five years.

Secondly, as part of its initiative to make banking services available to the poor, the Orissa government has decided to launch an ICT pilot project. The six-month project seeks to extend banking services to the rural areas and strengthen the financial inclusion process in the state. The preparatory process is almost over and the scheme is likely to be launched by the month-end. It will be implemented in 29 villages across four gram panchayats.

The commitment of Orissa State is praiseworthy especially when e-governance in other States have miserably failed. The reason why e-governance is a big failure is because neither our political parties nor our elected governments take e-governance seriously.

While ICT was not on the “Priority List” of Congress led Government, yet it is very important for the socio-economic development of India. If the Congress Government strictly sticks to its manifesto, then only non-congress led Governments would flourish in this much needed arena.

Finally, it is not mere declarations but “actual implementation” that decides the fate of any venture. In the absence of dedicated efforts all declarations are at best a foolish attempt to cover the “corruption” that misappropriates the fund allocated for e-governance in India.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Corporate Reforms In India In Pipeline

Corporate Reforms in India are in pipeline. The same may improve the corporate scenario in India significantly. However, only “dedicated efforts” can make this dream a reality. The challenges are tremendous and so are the efforts required to streamline corporate affairs. Issues like corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, good competition regime, etc cannot be ignored.

The long-pending Companies Bill, 2008, proposing reforms in the corporate sector, may soon see the light of the day, if the corporate affairs ministry has its way. In a note prepared for its new minister Salman Khursheed, the ministry has suggested clearance to the Bill, albeit with some amendments, as its top priority.The new Companies Bill, which seeks to minimise government’s regulation in all company processes by replacing the existing Companies Act, 1956, was introduced in Parliament in October last year after the parliamentary standing committee cleared it. It, however, lapsed as the 14th Lok Sabha was dissolved for the general elections.“The Companies Bill will have to be presented again. There might be some changes in it when the parliamentary standing committee invites suggestions from various stakeholders,” said a senior official in the corporate affairs ministry.

SOURCE: MYDIGITALFC

Nigerians Held For Internet Fraud

Two Nigerians were nabbed by a Kolkata Police team from Delhi on Monday for duping a city housewife of Rs 1.22 lakh after luring her with a 200,000 dollar lucky draw. Police suspect that the two fraudsters are members of a notorious Nigerian lottery racket which has swindled several people of more than Rs 1 crore in the past three months.

Sunanda Banerjee of Kolkata is just one of those from the city to have been duped by this racket. But this is the first time city police could reach the Nigerian racketeers. Police said Banerjee a resident of Narkeldanga Main Road in east Kolkata received an SMS in the last week of April declaring her the lucky winner of a draw held by an UK-based multinational petroleum company. Banerjee was also provided a mail address and asked to contact the sender. Without any suspicion, she replied and received a certificate in the name of the petroleum company confirming her prize. The "company" had also mailed her that a British diplomat Ben John Kenedy would arrive in Delhi to deliver her prize money. To authenticate the claim, the fraudsters had also sent the photograph of Kenedy's passport and identity proof through the mail.

Meanwhile, Banerjee had received a few calls. The caller introduced himself as the local agent of the company who would arrange delivery of the shipment and asked her to pay Rs 1.22 lakh as shipment charges and processing fees. Banerjee deposited the amount in a private bank account in three installments, but her prize money never reached her.

SOURCE: TOI

50 Government Websites Urged To Be Made Disabled Friendly

Disabled rights groups have approached the IT ministry with a list of 50 government websites like that of the Indian Railways, Central Information Commission and Income Tax Department which they want to be made disabled friendly.

'We have identified 50 organisations and departments in the government. We have sent a proposal to the IT ministry to make sites of these WCAG (web content accessibility guidelines) 2.0 compliant, thereby making them disabled friendly. The ministry has shown a very positive outlook on this,' Javed Abidi, convener of the Disabled Rights Group, told IANS.

According to Abidi, such a move would simplify the Internet interface for people with disability by making the websites compatible with the special software they use to access websites.

SOURCE: SIFY

Information Technology Amendment Act 2008: Time To Abandon It Has Arisen

What seems to be lonely battle has become a collective war. The precursor and axis of the protest against the “Unconstitutional” Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (Act, 2008) can be safely attributed to Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and the leading Techno-Legal Expert of India. Fortunately, the Act, 2008 has not been “Notified” yet and there seems to be very little chances of the same.

Interestingly, other cyber law experts have also joined the debate and openly supported Mr. Praveen Dalal regarding his stand on the proposed amendments. Concerns regarding excessive e-surveillance without proper safeguards received maximum support.

Now even the media has criticised the proposed amendments. Business Standard reports that regulation of websites in the manner proposed by the rules to the amendment is unpractical. It maintains that “The government-appointed officers, not below the rank of a joint secretary, will determine the nature of the offence and levy a penalty. But government officers are not judicial officers. Are they qualified to define, for instance, what goes against ‘friendly relations with foreign states’ and what is ‘offensive’ content? In the offline world, it is judges who do the job, and the government has no power to (for instance) cancel a newspaper’s registration merely because it has criticised a friendly country (do we have any countries that are officially listed as unfriendly?). The potential for misuse is therefore obvious. Surely, a more nuanced approach to the issues posed by the Internet is in order, not the use of a hammer for every minor infringement”.

This piece of Business Standard has very accurately defined some of the problems with the proposed amendments and their rules. There are other issues as well which may open the floodgates of litigations and problems the moment Act 2008 is brought into force. However, the Government of India (GOI) is still a moot spectator to this absurd law making and rule formulation.

The first thing that the GOI must do is to “Drop” the proposed amendments and come up with better Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009 (Act, 2009) as soon as possible. Secondly, it would be a good idea to seek advice of Techno-Legal Experts this time before formulating the Act, 2009.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Best Techno-Legal And Cyber Law Mentorship In India

Education and skills are two different aspects. The ultimate aim of any education is to empower the masses with requisite expertise. An educational system that fails to cater this much needed demand could never produce skilled manpower. India is presently focusing too much upon academic education rather than upon professional and vocational one. This is creating a misbalance between demand and supply of capable workforce on the one hand and declining professional skills on the other.

There is an emergent need to frame a National Policy on ICT skill development in India. This equally applies to all sorts of other non-ICT educational and professional streams as well. It is obvious that skills development had to be made an essential part of the educational framework in India. However it is not an easy task especially in the absence of any National Policy in this regard. The policy must aim at empowering all individuals to enable them to get access to decent employment and to promote inclusive National growth.

Till the Government comes out with suitable ICT skill development policy, the private sector must take the lead. In India we have tremendous potential for ICT skill development by utilising the private sector’s expertise. One such initiative that has been in vogue for long is the “Exclusive Techno-Legal And Cyber Law Mentorship of India”. The initiative titled “Techno-Legal News And Views” intends to be the Premier Techno-Legal News and Views Resource in India by a Collective. A special emphasis has been given to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) News and Views.

To achieve this objective Mr. Praveen Dalal, the leading Techno-Legal ICT, Cyber Security, Cyber Forensics and Cyber Law Specialist of India would act as the “Mentor” of this initiative. It endeavours to provide high quality opinions on cutting edge topics that are not discussed any where else in India.

At the same time this mentorship is also develooping the insight of critical issues like e-governance in india, e-commerce in India, cyber law in India, cyber security in India, cyber forensics in India, e-courts in India, etc. Particularly, this mentorship is very important for getting raw inputs for formulating sutaible policies and strategies regarding “Legal Enablement Of ICT Systems In India”.

The process of mentorship can fill the gap between academic and professional education. However, mentorship can only be at most an enabling mechanism. The Government of India must make it sure that necessary skills are developed at the educational level itself. Of course, mentorships can refine and polish the already acquired skills but they can never substitute the entry level skills. National Policy on ICT skill development in India is the need of the hour.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Orissa State Would Formulate ICT Policy In November

It seems some of the States of India have finally accepted the suggestions of Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law, after a lapse of 5 years. The delay is excusable as it is better to be late than never. However, the real task is to formulate suitable "Techno-Legal ICT Policies" that are the need of the hour.

The IT department of the Orissa government expects to come out with a new ICT (information and communication technology) policy, incorporating the best practices of IT-friendly states in the country by November this year. The new state focused ICT policy is being formulated after a gap of five years.

Apart from including the best IT practices of states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and positioning Orissa as a favourable destination for IT investments, the new policy would also contain enabling measures for growth of IT SMEs (small and medium enterprises).

“We are in the process of preparing the new ICT policy which would include the best IT practices of the IT friendly states in India and also have measures to facilitate growth of the local IT SMEs.The new ICT policy is expected to be readied by November this year”, a senior IT official told Business Standard.

The state IT department is yet to finalise the details of the policy, but we are taking suggestions from different stakeholders in the IT sector in this regard, he added.

It would be a good idea if the Orissa Government starts seeking valuable inputs from Techno-Legal Experts as soon as possible. Formulating of suitable ICT Policy requires tremendous excpertise and innovation. The sooner we start the better it would be for India.

SOURCE: BUSINESS STANDARD

Ignorance Or Deliberate Misleading: The Hung Cyber Law Of India

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a real enabler that improves the efficiency and brings transparency and accountability. However, in the Indian context the same has failed to get the desired results. This is because the Governmental corridors have no place for ICT and there is no accountability of those who are managing the ICT.

The self contradictory shades of Indian ICT skills and expertise is really amusing. While Indian citizens are famous for their expertise and professional skills yet Indian Government and bureaucrats are infamous for their ignorance. The latest example being the proposed Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (Act 2008).

Initially the lack of knowledge and insight was attributable to a self-claimed cyber law observer named Na Vijayshanker (Naavi) who claimed that the proposed Act has been “notified”. While Naavi being a non-lawyer with no knowledge about law at all and limited knowledge about cyber law and techno-legal issues yet Indian bureaucrats like Dr. Gulshan Rai must not show ignorance about the law making process and its coming into force.

There is a clear difference between “publication” of an information for public purposes and “notification” of a statute “under official gazette”. Even a query to clarify the issue remained unanswered.

AUTHOR: EDITOR LNAV

SOURCE: OPEDNEWS

National Policy On ICT Skill Development Is Needed In India

Education and skills are two different aspects. Education is the preliminary requisite whereas skill is the ultimate requirement. Although a person may be the best in academic aspects but he may not be even average in practical and skill aspects. This is the true cause of problem of Indian manpower. For decade we have been following the academic structure of education with little emphasis upon qualitative professional education. There is an emergent need to frame a national policy on ICT skill development in India. This equally applies to all sorts of other non-ICT educational and professional streams as well.

Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and also the leading Techno-Legal Expert of India says that India is stressing too much upon academic education and insignificantly towards professional one. Another major lacuna as per him is that even in professional education the quality of education is not good and not much stress is given to practical aspects of the education. The end result is that not even one fourth of the total manpower is capable of meeting the challenges of their jobs efficiently.

It is obvious that skills development had to be made an essential part of the educational framework in India. However it is not an easy task especially in the absence of any National Policy in this regard. The policy must aim at empowering all individuals to enable them to get access to decent employment and to promote inclusive National growth.

The elections are over and a mammoth task is waiting for the new government as neglect and indifference of many decades would not be easy to be removed. A continuous monitoring of the promises and manifestos as well as demanding the executions of these issues would be the safest bet to avoid postponement of these issues for another five years.

AUTHOR: EDITOR LNAV

SOURCE: WEBNEWSWIRE

DELL Takes Strong Stance Against Exporting E-waste

Dell today became the first major computer manufacturer to ban the export of non-working electronics to developing countries as part of its global policy on responsible electronics disposal. Dell’s electronics disposition policy now exceeds the requirements of the Basel Convention, which bans the export of certain electronic waste based on its material or chemical composition. By expanding its definition of electronic waste to include all non-working parts or devices, irrespective of material composition, Dell aims to help prevent the unauthorized dumping of electronic waste in developing countries by requiring that equipment be tested and certified as “working” prior to export. These additions to the company’s disposition policy reflect Dell’s long-standing commitment to responsibly manage sensitive electronic waste through final disposition.

SOURCE: WEBNEWSWIRE

Indian Congress Government Is Taking ICT Seriously

Congress government has come to power with a comfortable margin. This gives it a chance to go for economic reforms with a free will. During the last tenure it was under pressure to accept the decision of its allies as they were absolutely dependent upon their support. The clear public mandates this time has given Congress a free hand. Interestingly, the issues pertaining to information and communication technology (ICT) have also interested Congress that is otherwise not Congress’s cup of tea.

The sad position regarding India’s ICT reforms have been conveyed at numerous occasions by many techno-legal experts of India. Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law, says that only two facts are possible when we analyse the decisions of Indian Government regarding Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Either the concerned Departments are “Corrupt” or they are “Ignorant” of the basics of ICT. Whatever the truth may be but it is definitely not in the larger interests of India’s economic, social and political development. He says that the way Congress is trying to keep the relevant Departments “blemish free” is really praiseworthy and shows its commitment to ensure ICT development in India.

Although this is a good beginning but only the time will tell how effective the Congress would be able to meet its promised manifesto. All I can say is well begun is half done. The next Parliament session would be starting very soon and there is no better place than the Parliament to introduce economic reforms in India.

SOURCE: MYNEWS

AUTHOR: RAM.K.KAUSHIK

Requirement Of Techno-Legal Training For Supreme Court Judges Stressed

Justice S.B. Sinha has recently called for adequate training of law officers to make the judicial process speedy and enhance the performance of judges. He said that there is a definite requirement for the enhancement of judicial skills of our judges. He said that the judges have to deal with very complex cases involving international terrorism, cyber crime and white-collar crime, so they need proper training to do justice to their job.

The importance of techno-legal training institutions like Perry4Law Techno-Legal ICT Training Center (PTLITC) and Perry4Law Techno-Legal Base (PTLB) stems from this contemporary requirement. The same must be supported by a well defined and time bound e-courts project in India.

Network Security: India ill-prepared

Network security in the age of cyber-skirmishes is a relatively new challenge for India. When StratPost asked a senior official in New Delhi’s security setup as to what kind of systems the Indian military used, “Windows,” he said with a knowing grin.

And how proficient is India in cyber warfare? “One would naturally think we’d be good, with our IT and knowledge economy. The fact is, we haven’t identified, trained and nurtured talent on an institutional basis. India may have a lot of whiz kids but we still haven’t tapped them as a force-multiplying resource. We need to build cadres of these geniuses, the way the Chinese have been doing. But first we need to recognize that the so far distant threat will become very real very soon, with enhanced networking. And remember, the more you network systems and institutions, the faster you network them, and so more and more of them become vulnerable at an increasing rate,” he warned.

SOURCE: STARTPOST

UGC in CVC net for violation of norms

What looks like a bad welcome to the new HRD minister, Central Vigilance Commission has indicted UGC for flouting all norms and not being transparent in the ambitious Rs 224 crore e-governance project. CVC had carried out an inquiry after adverse media reports and a complaint alleging serious irregularities in the handling of the big value tender for the design and implementation of an e-governance project in UGC. The project entails greater connectivity to universities and colleges. While saying that the "process needs to be reviewed and made more professional and transparent in order to avoid complications later", CVC said, "The total value of the project may not have been correctly estimated and may be on the higher side." CVC suggested the project "can be managed better by starting on a smaller scale and expanding thereafter".

SOURCE: TOI

Websites Blocking In India

Censorship and e-surveillance have taken a nasty shape in India. Barely four months after dropping its proposal of forcing TV channels to show only an "authorised" feed during security emergencies, the government is now seeking to censor news portals and other websites, that too even at normal times.

Concerns regarding censorship and e-surveillance have been raised times and again by many techno-legal experts of India. Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law, has suggested that the Congress led Government must openly declare that the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 would be given a “fresh look” in the forthcoming Parliament session. With issues like cyber terrorism, cyber security, cyber forensics, hacking, wireless hacking, phishing, spam, child pornography, etc troubling India, a casual and weak law would not serve the purpose. In fact, there is an emergent need of formulating Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009 by the new Government and Parliament as soon as possible.

It is good to see that media has taken up the issue. The problem is that the same seems to be guided by the concern of “self-protection” rather than raising a voice against weak, ineffective and redundant laws dealing with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in India. It would be a good idea if the media takes firm stand against the proposed Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 as the same is “unconstitutional”. Once brought into force, it would violate valuable “Civil Liberties” of Indian citizens and Indian media. The same would be pressed against the media as well so it is better to protest before it is too late.

Fortunately, the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 has “not been notified yet”. This means for all practical purposes the old Information Technology Act, 2000 still governs the position. Let us hope that the suggestions of Mr. Praveen Dalal would be accepted by the Indian Government and Indian Parliament for the larger interest of all.

AUTHOR: SHAYAM PRASAD

SOURCE: MYNEWS

Internet Threatened by Censorship, Secret Surveillance, and Cybersecurity Laws

Stephen Lendman reports a very good piece of work upon the censorship and e-surveillance issues. He says that at a time of corporate dominated media, a free and open Internet is democracy's last chance to preserve our (America’s) First Amendment rights without which all others are threatened. Activists call it Net Neutrality. Media scholar Robert McChesney says without it "the Internet would start to look like cable TV (with a) handful of massive companies (controlling) content" enough to have veto power over what's allowed and what it costs. Progressive web sites and writers would be marginalized or suppressed, and content systematically filtered or banned.

In the Indian context similar issues have been discussed about e-surveillance and censorship. There is an emergent need of an Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009 that must address these burning issues. With Congress coming to power, we can expect such action very soon.

Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009 Is Required

Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (Act 2008) has recently amended the only cyber law of India, i.e. Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000). The same has “not been notified yet”. This means for all practical purposes the IT Act, 2000 still governs the position.

Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law, has suggested that the Congress led Government must openly declare that the Act 2008 would be given a “fresh look” in the forthcoming Parliament session. With issues like cyber terrorism, cyber security, cyber forensics, hacking, wireless hacking, phishing, spam, child pornography, etc troubling India, a casual and weak law would not serve the purpose.

He maintains that with a clear majority, the Congress led Government would be in a better position to make proper laws this time. There are great chances that Information Technology Amendment Act, 2009 (Act 2009) would be introduced by the Parliament very soon that would amend the IT Act, 2000/Act 2008 further.

Although India took an “early advantage” of enacting a cyber law yet it “failed to keep pace” with the contemporary requirements. The industry lobbying has kept it soft, weak and criminal friendly. The proposed Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 has further complicated the scenario as it has suggested a cyber law framework that is not conducive for India.

Fortunately, the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 has “not been notified” yet. Even Dr. Gulshan Rai of Department of Information Technology (DIT) has “not confirmed” that the amendments have been notified. This gives the new Government and next Parliament in session a chance to “rectify the mistake” they have commited in the recent past.

The speed of cyber law reforms in India is really worrisome. With the present speed and expertise, even countries that have just enacted cyber laws would overtake India in this field. There is an emergent need for the new Government and next Parliament to give these issues a serious thought. The cyber law of India in general and legal enablement of ICT systems in India in particular needs rejuvenation as soon as possible.

India Is Transforming into Endemic E-Surveillance Society

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) must be used as a tool of development rather than as a means of harassment. Excessive and illegal e-surveillance eliminates the chances of effective use of ICT on the one hand and operates as an opponent of e-governance on the other. E-governance presupposes a free, fair and transparent public dealing in the cyberspace. Of late India has been treading on the wrong path of becoming an excessive surveillance State rather being a technology knowledge driven society. The only solace comes from the fact that the recent unconstitutional Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (Act 2008) has not been imposed upon Indian citizens through the essential "notification" and the same would be withdrawn and reformulated by the new Government in all probabilities.

AUTHOR: EDITOR LNAV

SOURCE: OPEDNEWS

Living In An ICT World Where Ignorance Is The Bliss

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a real enabler that improves the efficiency and brings transparency and accountability. However, in the Indian context the same has failed to get the desired results. This is because the Governmental corridors have no place for ICT and there is no accountability of those who are managing the ICT.

The self contradictory shades of Indian ICT skills and expertise is really amusing. While Indian citizens are famous for their expertise and professional skills yet Indian Government and bureaucrats are infamous for their ignorance. The latest example being the proposed Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (Act 2008). Initially the lack of knowledge and insight was attributable to a self-claimed cyber law observer named Na Vijayshanker (Naavi) who claimed that the proposed Act has been “notified”. While Naavi being a non-lawyer with no knowledge about law at all and limited knowledge about cyber law and techno-legal issues yet Indian bureaucrats like Dr. Gulshan Rai must not show ignorance about the law making process and its coming into force. Even a query to clarify the issue remained unanswered.

SOURCE: MYNEWS

Legal Enablement Of ICT Systems In India Is Urgently Required

Legal enablement of ICT systems in India requires a futuristic approach that can be achieved by acquiring techno-legal insight by the law makers. The most important requirement for achieving the same is an awareness and acceptance of the benefits of ICT by the policy and law makers in India. The “political will” is required to ensure a timely and appropriate legal enablement of ICT systems in India. There is also a requirement to reduce the wide existing corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, bureaucratic hurdles, etc in India. These vices are eliminating the chances of India becoming an ICT super power.

India needs good e-governance models, sound cyber law, effective cyber security, cyber forensics capabilities, etc to achieve the task of legal enablement of ICT systems. The industrial lobbying and vested interests have really brought a situation where India has started to fall back upon the ICT developmental path. Various International reports and surveys have shown that India’s e-governance, e-readiness, transparency, privacy rights, data protection, etc have deteriorated further.

AUTHOR: MR. PRAVEEN DALAL

SOURCE: ITVOIR

China Is Strengthening Its Cyber Law

Cyber law is gaining importance all over the World. China has become the latest country to adopt regulations pertaining to cyber law. A recent news report says that although the Western media has been awash with stories of Chinese hacking for years, cybercrime was until recently governed by three articles added to China's criminal code in 1997. The laws were out-of-date and "failed to correlate proportionately with the tremendous social harm" caused by cybercrime, according to a recent paper on Chinese cyber-law published in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics. However, the paper concludes that the country's laws are still in the early stages of development. "Gaps and inadequacies exist in traditional offense provisions". Until the new law was passed in February, computer crimes carried a maximum of three years' jail time. That has now been extended to seven years, and the definition of computer crime has also been broadened.

In the Indian context the Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act, 2000) is the sole cyber law of India. Although India took an “early advantage” of enacting a cyber law yet it “failed to keep pace” with the contemporary requirements. The industry lobbying has kept it soft, weak and criminal friendly. The proposed Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (Act 2008) has further complicated the scenario as it has suggested a cyber law framework that is not conducive for India.

Fortunately, the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 has “not been notified” yet. This gives the new Government and next Parliament in session a chance to “rectify the mistake” they have commited in the recent past. Even Dr. Gulshan Rai of Department of Information Technology (DIT) has “not confirmed” that the amendments have been notified.

The speed of cyber law reforms in India is really worrisome. With the present speed and expertise, even countries that have just enacted cyber laws would overtake India in this field. There is an emergent need for the new Government and nest Parliament to give these issues a serious thought.

The ICT Development Index 2009 Of ITU: Measuring The Information Society Of India

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recently released its ICT Development Index of 2009. India has more or less maintained its position in the index, ranking 118th in 2007 (in 2002, it was 117th). While it has somewhat improved on the access sub-index (for example, mobile cellular penetration has increased sharply, from 1 to 20 per cent), it still has very limited bandwidth per Internet user, and low home computer and Internet penetration rates. Mobile broadband was virtually non-existent in 2007, and fixed broadband use was very limited. On the skills sub-index, however, India has increased all indicator values.

AUTHOR: MR. PRAVEEN DALAL

SOURCE: ITVOIR

The Ignorance About Cyber Law Of India

The self contradictory shades of Indian ICT skills and expertise is really amusing. While Indian citizens are famous for their expertise and professional skills yet Indian Government and bureaucrats are infamous for their ignorance. The latest example being the proposed Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (Act 2008). Initially the lack of knowledge and insight was attributable to a self-claimed cyber law observer named Na Vijayshanker (Naavi) who claimed that the proposed Act has been notified. While Naavi being a non-lawyer with no knowledge about law at all and limited knowledge about cyber law and techno-legal issues yet Indian bureaucrats like Dr. Gulshan Rai must not show ignorance about the law making process and its coming into force. Even a query to clarify the issue remained unanswered. For the sake of public interest, this article is clarifying the legal position in this regard. In nutshell, the proposed Act 2008 cannot come into force till the Central Government “Notify” the same as per the requirements of Section 1(2) of the same. The same has not been done yet there cannot be any question of the Act 2008 coming into force. All rumours about the coming into force of the Act 2008 must be ignored.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

The Failures Of Indian E-Governance Initiatives

E-Governance in India has always been projected as a “success” though it is far from that. The problem lies with the fact that Indian politicians lacks the “will and knowledge” to execute various e-governance projects in India. The position is further made worst by Indian bureaucrats who enjoy blanket protection for their inefficiency and non accountability. Few of the recent cases illustrate this scenario.

The clouds of uncertainty have come to haunt the ambitious e-suvidha proposal following the tiff between the agencies managing the services over anomalies in payment and the over all administration. The agencies in questions -- CMS computers and e-suvidha (the nodal agency) -- have been in thick of controversy after the two alleged each other of breaking the agreement they had entered into when the services were thrown open to public some eight years ago. Well placed sources in the CMS computers, which had mooted the proposals said that it was because of the apathy on the part of e-suvidha's nodal agency that the proposal might soon be dumped. The result: harried denizens and their lost of faith on government claim of e-governance.

Similarly, a huge e-governance project that was to cost over Rs 40 crores, has been cancelled at the last minute after members of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) standing committee reportedly failed to reach an amicable solution on who should be awarded the tender. The e-governance ERP (Entrepreneur Resource Planning) project is part of obligatory reforms that the Pune Municipal Corporations is supposed to carry out to continue to receive funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Further, the much hyped Rs 21 crores e-governance project of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has come under cloud with several irregularities in the tender process coming to fore. NMC floated the tender on January 19. Seven firms purchased the tender document. The pre-bid meeting was held on February 2. In this meeting, some firms sought several relaxations many of which were granted. However, NMC did not publish a corrigendum in newspapers to inform other prospective bidders about the relaxation in conditions. It merely sent an e-mail about replies to the queries in pre-bid meet to the firms that had purchased the tender forms. The same was put on NMC's website. However, the relaxation in the conditions was not separately mentioned.

Clearly there is lack of transparency, accountability and insight among the people managing Indian e-governance initiatives. India needs good ICT Policies and Strategies to resolve issues pertaining to ICT in India. There is also a need to establish accountability of bureaucrats and other people managing the e-governance projects in India.

PUBLIC NOTICE FOR USERS OF LNAV BLOG

It seems due to some mischief or users abuses, Google is having some problems with this platform. Some of the accounts of the writers of this platform have been suspended by Google without any prior notice or information. In fact, the procedure specified by Google itself for review of its decision is ineffective and unilateral. If Google suspends an account and a user cannot log in how can he apply for the review of the decision of Google is a big question? This episode has raised serious questions about Google’s policy as well as terms and conditions and the same need to be reformulated to ensure greater users participation.

Meanwhile, while our Writers have “formally notified” Google about these facts they have also decided to shift to Wordpress to avoid any such future misunderstandings and for better results.

While this platform is accessible to some of the writers of this platform, as a protest we would not be posting any material on this platform any more. All further writings would be posted at “Techno-Legal News And Views From India” only till we make some alternative arrangements. Kindly bookmark the same.

This platform would be transformed into a “Member’s Only Blog” very soon and public access of the same would be restricted. We respect the “Public Interest” hence this Blog would still remain in public domain for some more time.

With this the knowledge sharing about “Indian Legal Issues” would be changed forever for Blogger as the largest and most extensive sources of Information Providers about Indian Legal Systems would no more share their resources at this platform. We invite you to our Wordpress Platforms like LNAV. More information would be posted at our Wordpress Platforms subsequently.

AUTHOR: LNAV EDITOR

SOURCE: LNAV

Abuses Of Google Are Jeopardising Its Reputation And Trust

Of late, we have been observing the disturbing trend of abuse of Google platform by those having bad intentions and ill will. The same has taken shape of illegal search engine optimisation, artificial clicks to generate revenue, artificial clicks to increase page ranks, etc.

The latest in trend is to “flag” genuine blogs like Legal News and Views by its competitors and perverse minds. The process, though meant to sort out objectionable contents, has been misused in the past by many. We came to know about this fact when some of the Writers reported the fact that they cannot access their accounts due to “objections” by Google in this regard. Google system and process is also defective in this regard as a blog owner cannot report “review” of her blog when the account itself is “disabled”. The worst part is that Google is “disabling” the “administrator’s account” that is resulting in a complete chaos. Another fallacy with the Google’s practice is that if a single account is used for multiple blogs, all of them are blocked. This is very frustrating.

We have also “analysed” the search results of many key words and found no “relevance and connection” between the searched query and the end result. It seems the search engine optimisation has reached an ugly stage where the reputation of and trust in Google is declining. For instance, type cyber law in India and you would come across Google results at first page that should not at all be there.

We also analysed other search engines like Yahoo, MSN, etc and found them “more neutral and fair” as compared to Google. The results shown for queries were more “balanced and relevant” as compared to Google. It seems Google’s “reputation” itself is becoming a cause of misuse of its platforms. Of course, we cannot blame Google for the “unfair behaviours” of the end users except to the extent that there must be “fair and transparent” mechanism to deal with issues like these.

Google must not forget that “market forces and competition” may take advantage of these lapses in Google’s policies. Wolfram Alpha, a new "Computational Knowledge Engine" developed by British physicist Stephen Wolfram, is all set to revolutionise search with its amazing/innovative ability to give answers to questions directly - instead of directing to sources where the users "might" get the required information. It is going to change the face of search engines and other allied services forever.

Meanwhile, while our Writers have “formally notified” Google about these facts they have also decided to shift to Wordpress to avoid any such future misunderstandings and for better results.

AUTHOR: CATHY

SOURCE: TLNAV

Malware Are Posing Severe Cyber Security Threats In India

Malware are posing significant threat to India yet there is no attention towards it. Cyber Security is missing in India despite the fact that many useful cyber security softwares and tools are available free of cost at the Internet. A recent study by Symantec has confirmed the opinion of Perry4Law that India may emerge as the leader in Malware activities if the cyber security norms are not established for future e-governance initiatives of India. Although figures of malware activities are alarming in India at present yet the failures of e-governance in India have prevented them from being catastrophic. Of course, the matter would be different, rather scary, the moment Indian government would provide “insecure Internet connectivity” to millions of Indian. Time has come to act now on an urgent basis especially when almost negligible costs are involved.

AUTHOR: PERRY4LAW

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Cyber Terrorism In India

Cyber Terrorism in India is in limelight but for the wrong reasons. It seems the media and law enforcement in India are too much fascinated with the term “Cyber Terrorism” that they have not even done their homework properly. Recently, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), investigating the “terror email” has decided not to book the accused for cyber terrorism as there was no intention to carry out any act of terror. Further, the news report also claims that according to an amendment in the Information Technology Act, which came into force in February this year, anyone indulging in cyber terrorism could be sentenced to life imprisonment. Prior to this, even the sending of threat emails was considered “hacking”.

Let us first analyse the stand of ATS. It seems the ATS has become the all powerful authority of India and it has the power to make the laws, make them operational, execute them and interpret them as per their choice. This is so because they have thought to invoke a provision that does not exist at all in India. The Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) is absolutely silent on the aspect of “Cyber Terrorism” and the proposed Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (Amendments 2008) is still inapplicable in the absence of a “Notification” by the Central Government. Till now there has been no notification by the Central Government in this regard. So from which law the ATS could have charged the accused with Cyber Terrorism is still a great mystery.

Similarly, the reporter of this news item has no hint whatsoever that the proposed Amendments 2008 have not yet come into force. So there is no question of applying its provisions to this case. Strangely enough, I cannot find any incidence where sending offensive e-mail is considered to be a case of “hacking” in India either as per the IT Act 2000 or even by the Amendments 2008.

Of course, if the Amendments 2008 have been notified at the time of writing of the reported news then this story makes lot of sense. The fault lies with the Government of India that failed to make clear the status of the amendments.

It seems there is a lack of “cyber law awareness” in India. The law enforcement and media must be responsible in their dealings and claims regarding cyber law and other techno-legal issues. They must acquire some good knowledge about cyber law of India so that not only cyber crimes may be dealt with properly but also there is a culture of “responsible journalism” in India.

Updates of 2009, 2010 and 2011

Also see this following updates in this regard:

(1) Cyber Terrorism is a National Security Hazard

(2) Cyber Terrorism against India

(3) Cyber Terrorism in India and its Preparedness

(4) India is facing serious Cyber Threats

(5) Cyber Security Policy of India

(6) National Security Policy of India is required

(7) Indian Crisis Management Plan for Cyber attacks and Cyber Terrorism

(8) Securing Critical National Infrastructure from Cyber Attacks

(9) Critical Infrastructure protection in India

Wireless Insecurity In India

The wireless networks are increasingly used in India. On the one hand we have the convenience of using wireless networks whereas on the other hand they are prone to hacking and other cyber crimes making them the premier crime perpetuation platform. The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000) is the exclusive cyber law of India and it is silent on this aspect. We are also witnessing an increased use of insecure wireless networks for sending mails either before or after the terrorist attacks in India.

The problem of wireless hacking is repeatedly brought to the public notice but still most of the wireless connections are insecure in India. The terrorists have targeted the wireless networks of Mumbai State and most of the terrorist mails are coming from such hacked wireless systems. We must secure our wireless networks on the one hand and adopt sound and stringent Crisis Management Strategies against terrorism in India on the other hand. All these problems have failed the Indian e-governance initiatives.

Even if the Government of India (GOI) is able to remove all the vices hindering the Indian e-governance initiatives, a bigger problem is waiting for India. India is notoriously infamous for weak cyber law, inadequate cyber security and absent cyber forensics capabilities. The moment we provide Internet access to crores of Indian, a major “Cyber Security Fiasco” would engulf India. India is not at all prepared on the front of securing its e-governance base.

India needs good legal framework for technology, sound cyber security and effective cyber forensics expertise. The fill in gaps actions would only ridicule India in front of the entire world. It would be better if India come up with good ICT strategies and policies that are not only sensible but also possible to be implemented.

E-Courts Have Absolutely Failed In India

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has never been a priority of Indian Government. This is more so regarding legal enablement of ICT systems in India. The Government of India (GOI) was never serious about cyber law in India, cyber security in India, cyber forensics in India, etc. On the judicial side as well, there has been no efforts whatsoever in the direction of using ICT for streamlining judicial functioning in India. By and large, E-Courts in India are still missing in India despite the tall claims by GOI. Despite the involvement of GOI, Supreme Court of India, National Informatics Center (NIC), Ministry of Home Affairs, etc this Integrated MMP is a complete failure. Similarly on the front of cyber law, cyber security and cyber forensics as well India has failed miserably.

In fact, Perry4Law, the leading Techno-Legal Firm of India, has found that there has been no work or efforts in the direction of establishment of E-Courts in India. All that the GOI has done is the supplying of laptops to the members of Indian judiciary. According to Mr. Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and leading Techno-legal Experts of India, “There is a clear lack of insight as well as capabilities on the part of Indian Government and others managing the e-courts project in India. Repeatedly the GOI has declared that India has finally established e-courts. The fact remains that there are no e-courts in India and we are not even “close” to achieving that task. With this speed and expertise India needs at least 10 more years to effectively and actually implement e-courts projects in India”.

Interestingly, Perry4Law has already provided the First Update, Second Update, Third Update and Fourth Update regarding e-courts status in India. These updates very clearly show that for the time being, Indian e-courts project has stalled and no development and progress is happening in this regard. It seems we are heading towards another “yearly extension” as in the absence of any action in this regard that is the only natural outcome.

AUTHOR: EDITOR LNAV

SOURCE: ITVOIR

Best LPO And KPO Model For Clients In India

Cost reduction and efficiency are some of the reasons for outsourcing various kinds of services to India. These core attributes also apply to Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) in India (LPO in India) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) in India (KPO in India). While LPO in India is already established yet KPO in India has still to catch the rhythm. Further KPO in India requires a “Domain Specific Expertise” that has nothing to do with the size of an organisation. An organisation may be very big yet when it comes to executing domain specific tasks it may even does not exist.

This raises the natural question how to choose the most effective LPO or KPO for the concerned assignment? I think the answer is very obvious. The clients must choose that LPO or KPO which is most economical and efficient.

To be most economical the clients must “Directly” approach the concerned LPO or KPO providers. There is a trend in India where traditional outsourcing providers are trying their hands even at LPO and KPO. The hiring of few law graduates for this purpose can never meet the expertise required for an assignment. Similarly, if the work is forwarded by these outsourcing providers to actual LPO or KPO providers the costs are bound to increase. Thus, the first step for LPO and KPO clients is to approach the LPO and KPO directly.

The second step is to approach those LPO and KPO only who have the best expertise, not size, to executive the assignment. Perry4Law has recently received requests from many Multi National Companies (MNCs) dealing in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related issues for “Training” their staff in Techno-Legal matters like Cyber law, Cyber Security, Cyber Forensics, Due Diligence, etc. This shows that the traditional model of outsourcing cannot be blindly applied to at least Techno-Legal KPO segment that requires tremendous domain specific expertise. The clients must first ascertain the capabilities and expertise of the concerned LPO or KPO provider before assigning domain specific assignments.

The third step for client is to ensure that they would get “Personalised” services from the concerned LPO or KPO provider. Personalisation not only improves the quality of the end result but also provides the most accurate and desirable results. The clients must insist upon a personalised service and avoid handing of their assignment by a bunch of fresh recruiters.

Perry4Law would come up with more suggestions and opinions for the clients seeking LPO and KPO services in India. Visit the Contact Point of Perry4Law for Professional Assistance.

AUTHOR: V.K.SINGH

SOURCE: MYNEWS

Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 Of India Has No Legal Applicability

Cyber Law in India is going through a bad phase. The proposed Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 has further complicated the scenario. The issues of cyber security and cyber forensics have also struck the final nail in the coffin. There is an emergent need to reformulate the Information Technology Act 2000 of India by introducing suitable and contemporary cyber law, cyber security and cyber forensics issues, says Mr. Praveen Dalal. Even the Government of India (GOI) seems to be in quandary over the proposed amendments and very soon the new Government may come up with a better draft of the amendments.

Recently there has been lot of confusion regarding the status of proposed Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (IT Amendment Act 2008). This confusion is required to be cleared. There is a need to clarify the stage at which a proposed legislation becomes applicable and comes into force. The proposed IT Amendment Act 2008 is still “NOT Applicable” and the previous Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000) is still applicable. There has been no change whatsoever that the proposed IT Amendment Act 2008 has made in the original IT Act, 2000. No new rights and liabilities are arising and can be claimed from the proposed IT Amendment Act 2008 and all rights and liabilities would be governed by the unamended IT Act, 2000 alone.

As per the governmental sources, the IT Act 2008 has not yet been notified. Section 1(2) of the IT Amendment Act 2008 mandates that the Act has to be notified by Central Government in Official Gazette to make it an enforceable law. Till the central government actually notifies the date, the IT Act 2008 would remain a paper work alone, says Mr. Praveen Dalal. There has been no sign of “Notification" of the same.

The misinformed information spreading these days should not confuse all those who are interested in the Indian cyber law. All that the Central Government has done is publication of the “fact” that the IT Act 2008 has received the “President’s assent”. It does not tell anything else. Those who are not familiar with the process of law making and its notification have been confused by this declaration and spreading rumours about its notification.

The cyber law observers must consult the only authentic source of information in this regard. If the IT Amebdment Act 2008 is made applicable, the same would be notified at the abovementioned techno-legal resource. It would be a good idea if the government openly declares that the IT Amendment Act 2008 has been withdrawn or would be reformulated by the Parliament of India in the next session.

AUTHOR: EDITOR LNAV

Autoruns As Computer Forensics Utility

Perry4Law is providing “Cyber Forensics Tutorials” on a regular basis. The purpose of various initiatives of Perry4Law is to establish “Legal Enablement Of ICT Systems In India”. These initiatives also intend to strengthen the Cyber Law, Cyber Security and Cyber Forensics Capabilities of India. We hope all the readers would be benefited by these efforts of ours.

Of many tools that PTLB and PTLITC have tested, we found Autoruns as one of the best light weight tool for analysing a system in live environment. The best part is that it is freely available for download and uses that also with full functionality. In the cyber forensics world there has been a shift from dead analysis to real time analysis of a live system. Autoruns has a potential to analyse volatile data from a suspect computer. Besides it can also be used to secure a computer by tracing and eliminating suspicious activities and programs.

AUTHOR: TECHTALK