Some time back we discussed in detail the case of a Delhi School student
who was arrested for creating a web site in which he had posted obscene
textual information about other students in the class and some teachers.
The student was arrested and later rusticated from the school. The case
was booked under Sec 67 of the ITA-2000 and the student should now be on
bail.
This was a landmark case since it brought to focus the possibility of
juvenile crime in the Cyber area and the possibility of over reaction from
the Police.
It also opened thoughts on what should be the responsibilities of the
school authorities who think it fit to teach Internet technologies without
teaching the subject of Cyber Crimes.
[It may be of interest for the readers to know that Naavi's Cyber
Law College has proposed to conduct online training
programme for "Teenagers" which is aimed at "Building Responisble Cyber
Citizens".]
It is interesting to note that an exactly similar case has been reported
from USA. In this case, two 18 year old male students, at Horace
Greeley High School in Chappaqua, were arrested on May 30 by New Castle
police officers and charged with "aggravated harassment", a misdemeanor
that carries with it a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a
$1,000 fine.
The popular public opinion expressed in this case has been that the
contents of a web site constitutes "Speech" and unless it is directly transmitted
to a target person (Repeatedly), it cannot be construed as harassment.
This view is significant since even in the Delhi case, the web site
was a closed communication within a group of students and its contents
amounted to more like a gossip in a party. The reaction of the School and
some in the community was perhaps too harsh in this case.
Naavi
June 16, 2001
Related Articles:
Detailed
Story in NY Times
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