Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Why Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 is still not notified ?

Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 (IT Act 2008) has always remained a bone of contention for its criminal friendly and police state approach. That is why it never saw the light of the day. The IT Act 2008 is already dead and we must move forward and enact the IT Act 2009 that must be not only comprehensive but holistic as well. It would be a good idea if experts are consulted this time before enacted the IT Act 2009 otherwise it would also face the same fate as it predecessor did.

Surprisingly, there are lots of news that the IT Act 2008 has been notified. The proposed notification seems to be a rumour than reality. The IT Act 2008 must be notified in official gazette by the Central Government u/s 1(2) of the IT Act 2008.

There is no information whatsoever that it has been notified except some news reports. None of these reports have provided either the text of the notification or the link to the website wherein that notification has been published. Even the notification number is missing.

On the other hand there are clear hints from the Law Minister Mr. Molly that the Information Technology Act 2000 and IT Act 2008 would be further amended.

India must appreciate that for a safe and secure cyberspace, we need a good legal framework. The present IT Act, 2000 is a piece make legislation that is weak on the fronts of cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, etc.

Similarly, other e-governance projects of government are also in poor state. As each component of e-governance is related to some other one, a deficiency in the basic legal and technological framework would bring sad results for India. It is high time for India to do some good work in the fields of cyber law, cyber security and cyber forensics.

AUTHOR: V.K.SINGH

SOURCE: MYNEWS