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

Future Of ICT KPO in India

The future of any organisation depends upon its capable workforce and to retain such workforce one has to spend a considerable amount of investment. This expenditure may at times increase the cost of production or functioning of the organisation. The organisations use many types of cost management and cost reduction techniques to keep their expenses minimum. This practice also applies to the legal industry.

The legal practice is very lucrative and remunerative in developed countries like US, UK, EU, etc. There the cost of retaining even the entry level employees is very high. Many well known law firms of these developed countries outsource their back office and clerical work to Indian Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) firms and companies in India.

According to Mr. Praveen Dalal, the Managing Partner of Internationally renowned LPO and Techno-Legal KPO Perry4Law, “LPO in India is attracting lot of foreign firms and companies to outsource their legal works to India. During the last month alone, Perry4Law received various requests regarding partnerships, LPO assignments, empanelment requests, etc. We are hopeful for even a larger services contribution when the Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) industry in India would emerge and mature as Perry4Law is World renowned for it Techno-Legal KPO services”.

Clearly, there is a difference between the current LPO assignments and future KPO assignments as the latter requires “domain specific expertise” that very few firms actually possess in India. Similarly, the market for information and communication technology (ICT) related LPO and KPO services in India is still emerging and more is expected from market leader like Perry4Law in this regard.

LPO and KPO assignments are also liable to be increased due to episodes like global financial meltdown that is currently happening in US. More and more corporate houses and investment banks from the US are looking towards Indian LPO for legal advice. In the present globalised world, India is surely heading towards a great start.

ABOUT PERRY4LAW

Perry4Law is a World renowned name in the Techno-Legal Field. It has domain specific expertise in the fields like Cyber Forensics, Cyber Security, E-Governance, E-Commerce, Cyber Law, Corporate Due Diligence, Corporate Laws, Criminal Laws, Taxation Laws, International Law, Private International Law, Space Laws, Laws For Defense Forces, International Trade, Intellectual Property Rights, etc.

Perry4Law is the First and Exclusive Techno-Legal and ICT Law Firm in India that is also managing PTLB, PTLITC and other Premier ICT and Cyber Security Initiative of India. Perry4Law provides Techno-Legal Services for: (1) Litigation support, (2) Consultancy support, (3) Arbitration and Mediation including ODR in India, (4) LPO in India, Legal BPO/Legal KPO in India, (5) Para Legal Services etc.

Visit the Contact Point of Perry4Law for Professional Assistance.

AUTHOR: EDITOR LNAV

Data Security Problems In India Getting Chronic

Cyber Law in India is in bad shape and so are cyber security and cyber forensics in India. The problem lies with the fact that India does not have “Legal Enablement of ICT System in India”. The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000) is the sole cyber law of India that is not at all addressing the requirements of cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, data security, data protection, etc in India.

The Government of India (GOI) was lethargic enough to not to touch the IT Act, 2000 for full 8 years. Even after proposing the amendments to the IT Act, 2000 the GOI further weakened and destablised it. Fortunately, the proposed Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 (IT Amendment Act 2008) seems to be stalled as it has not yet been “Notified” even after a lapse of more than four months of passing the same. The legal position in this regard is that IT Act, 2000 is still “Unamended” and the proposed IT Amendment Act, 2008 has no “legal significance”.

Other allied problems pertain to Data Protection Law in India, Data Security Problems in India, etc. Data breaches and cyber crimes in India cannot be reduced till we make strong cyber laws. We cannot do so by mere declaring a cat as a tiger.

The GOI is also clueless about data security and cyber security. The notion of data security and cyber security is presently revolving around an insignificant and almost unrelated aspect of encryption level, which the GOI can neither control nor should it endeavour to do so. There is no reasonable and fair law in the World that can force the netizens to adopt a particular “Standard” of online communication and dealing. The GOI is killing whatever cyber security measures that netizens adopt and apply themselves by formulating rules and regulations in an ignorant manner and without understanding the technology and its applications. In short, the GOI is trying to beat the wind by a stick says Mr. Praveen Dalal.

The first step that the GOI must take is to get help of knowledgeable experts of techno-legal field who can in fact contribute for strong and effective legal enablement of ICT systems in India. India cannot do much with industry inputs and government expertise as they have failed India so far.

AUTHOR: CATHY

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

Political Agendas, Lies And Gullible Indians

Indian elections drama is once again unfolding. Political parties are covering all the aspects of economic development as well as launch pads of political mileage. What is surprising is that the issues covered by these agendas and manifestos are so broad and important that no political party of India can give effect to them at all. All of us are aware that not even 10% of these promises would see the light of the day. Still Indian population is gullible in nature and we would give our future in the hands of those who least care for us for another 5 years. The fact remains that neither BJP nor Congress can move away from their traditional political promises as they have been used time and again to fool Indians. I would not go into the details of all the promises, agendas and manifestos but would confine myself to those issues that cover Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

While BJP has come up with an IT Agenda, Congress seems to be indifferent towards ICT once again. The truth of these agendas and manifestos cannot be ascertained till we are made fool once again by a collation government. However, there are some very absurd events taking place in India in the meanwhile.

Firstly, 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 “withdrawn”.

Secondly, 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 recent example of mandating the e-mail companies to maintain their e-mail servers in India is a very novice decision. It only shows the ignorance about cyber security and ICT management issues in India. It is not clear whether Congress led government has come up with this idea or it is a work of government departments like Department of Information Technology (DIT) or Department of Telecommunications (DOT). Whoever has suggested this idea has no knowledge how Internet works and cyber security is ensured.

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.

AUTHOR: V.K.SINGH

SOURCE: MYNEWS

Cyber Security In India

Indian government is stubborn and non-citizen centric when it comes implementing valuable public suggestions and inputs. However, exceptions are found everywhere. The public initiatives by Perry4Law like legal enablement of ICT systems in India and working group on cyber law in India are proving decisive for formulating Indian cyber law and cyber security policies and strategies. The Department of Information Technology (DIT) has been following many crucial suggestions of Mr. Praveen Dalal and implementing them one by one. What is disturbing is that they have not acknowledged his valuable contributions in this regard. It would not be surprising if his suggestions are incorporated unacknowledged as ICT Policies and Strategies of India.

As an individual I had very less faith in the fact that government of India (GOI) listens to public suggestions and inputs. However, the recent activities in the governmental corridors have surprised me. It seems the wakes up calls are working for India. I also observed that public initiatives like legal enablement of ICT systems in India and working group on cyber law in India have a great tendency and potential to influence the minds of even the most stubborn people in the government circles.

Some of the recent developments reaffirm this stand of mine. The Department of Information Technology (DIT) has been following many crucial suggestions of Mr. Praveen Dalal and implementing them one by one.

Firstly, DIT talked about enhanced encryption use that would not only strengthen public trust in online transactions but also would prevent unauthorised e-surveillance by the State. However, there would be an inevitable conflict of interests and opinion between DIT and Department of Telecommunications (DOT) in this regard. This is so because DOT has not been uniform in its stand against encryption standards in the Blackberry services in India. The security agencies of India are insisting upon weak encryption standards in India so that they can monitor the electronic communications of Indian citizens.

Secondly, the data security and data protection issues have also forced the DIT to propose forming an IT Regulatory Body which will monitor the security and privacy aspects of IT and BPO companies. This is again an acceptance of the public demands for a strong data protection law in India.

Thirdly, the cyber crimes and cyber terrorism are increasing at a rapid rate in India. In all terrorists attacks the terrorists used Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to strengthen their attack. There was a growing stress upon a good Crisis Management Plan as well as a sound Critical Infrastructure Protection Policy in India. These suggestions have once again been accepted by government departments.

It would not be surprising if the suggestions of Mr. Praveen Dalal are incorporated as ICT Policies and Strategies of India. Though I really appreciate the steps taken by various government departments yet I am also little bit skeptical about the existence of techno-legal expertise in these departments. It would be a good idea to seek help of good experts in this regard who can in fact execute these ambitious plans.

AUTHOR: RAM K KAUSHIK