Legal Empowerment Of Indian ICT

Legal empowerment of Indian information and communication technology (ICT) regime is still missing. We have no legal enablement of ICT systems in India in true sense.

Legal enablement of ICT presupposes adoption of a legal framework that can take care of various dealings in the cyberspace.

Cyberspace is very vast and borders less. It is very difficult to regulated cyberspace but national and international laws are required to bring some sort of discipline in the otherwise chaosed cyber world.

Cyber law of India is weak and experts have been suggesting it should be repealed. We have no data protection and privacy laws in India. Even cyber security and cyber forensics laws are missing in India.

On the policy front as well India is lagging far behind. We do not have policies regarding critical ICT infrastructure protection, cyber warfare, cyber security, etc.

India has to do a lot in order to legally empower the ICT usage in India. The sooner it is done the better it would be for India in general and Indian citizens in particular.

Champions Of Indian E-Governance Initiatives

E-governance in India is not making the desired impact. The reason for the same is lack of proper insight and expertise in this regard. However, there are some very good initiatives and experts in India who can make a big difference in successful implementation of Indian e-governance projects. Techno-legal experts like Praveen Dalal have been contributing for the legal enablement of ICT systems in India, e-governance regulations and policy formulations in India, etc.

Similarly, a Portal run by Samir Sachdeva is a wonderful example how private individuals can contribute in this regard. It carries wholesome and diverse information about e-governance in India. I hope India can have more such experts and knowledge bases.

The Parliament of India must be ICT empowered so that it can take appropriate ICT policy decisions at the national level and enact suitable techno-legal enactments.

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

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

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

Cyber Law And Cyber Security In India

The elections fever is gripping India but there seems to be no efforts regarding streamlining legal enablement of ICT systems in India. Cyber law in India is weak, cyber security missing and cyber forensics capabilities non-existent.

The Parliament of India passed the Information Technology Amendment Bill, 2008 (Bill 2008) without any debate or discussion. All laws, including the Bill, 2008, are prima facie unconstitutional but neither our Judiciary nor the President of India found any problems with that. The Bill 2008 got President’s approval on 5th February, 2009 without the President even thinking once about its ill effects. Except Mr. Praveen Dalal none seems to have protested about this situation. Fortunately, as a result of this the proposed Bill 2008 seems to have been definitely “withdrawn”.

Even judges of Indian Supreme Court have shown their dissatisfaction with the existing cyber law of India. All these developments have even forced the officers of the government of India to admit that the Bill 2008 requires further refinement and strength. IT Secretary Jainder Singh had declared that the ministry would shortly come up with fresh regulations to be added to Bill 2008 as there was criticism that the bill takes little care of the identified issues.

Similarly, cyber security in India and cyber forensics in India are also missing. The government must not only enact a sound cyber law but also establish cyber security and cyber forensics capabilities. The government must also train judiciary, lawyers, police officers, intelligence agencies, etc in this regard. It is high time that India must do something regarding these aspects.

AUTHOR: RAM K KAUSHIK