Comments on the Proposed Amendments to ITA-2000

Naavi: Praveen Dalal: Sarbajit Roy: Kamal Dave

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Sub Committee Report on ITA-2000 Amendments

The expert committee set up to review ITA-2000 in the light of the bazee.com issue has submitted its report. A copy of the report along with the new draft of the Act is now available. MIT has invited views and comments to be submitted before September 19 2005.

Visitors to Naavi.org are invited to send their comments for consolidation and submission.... New draft

Nasscom to Start Debate on Online Privacy

While the proposed amendments to ITA-2000 are expected to tighten up the laws for protecting data from unauthorized access, Nasscom has taken up the the related issue of "Privacy Rights" of individuals for public debate.

Issues relating to privacy would deal with questions such as who is collecting the customer's data, Are they collecting it with his consent?, How are they storing or using it?, as well as What compensation could be provided in case the data has been used in a manner that the consumer did not authorise. The debate will comprise topics such as the definition of privacy in the Indian context, do stakeholders feel the need for a law on this, the areas that should be covered under a law. It would also look at various global models.

The exercise, to be initiated in September, would culminate into compilation of a report, which would be submitted to the Government... Report in Hindu  BL

Will the New ITA Reduce Corporate Liability for Cyber Crimes?

The amendments proposed for ITA-2000 is expected to make life little easiee for corporate executives like Avnish Bajaj who get caught in a web of "Vicarious Liability" when a crime happens on a network. Since the amendments themselves were prompted by the Bazee.com issue, it is natural that the committee could have thought of means to protect the industry. Presently, the Act makes the Network owner liable unless he proves exercise of  "Due Diligence". While it is not possible to absolve the need for "Due Diligence", the amendment is expected to put the onus of proving "Negligence" on the prosecution.. Details are awaited... Report in HT

Understanding Cyber Crimes.....naavi@sify.com

Cyber crimes are crimes that occur in the digital space which is the aggregation of the transaction space within each of the connected computers and the virtual space arising out of the connection. However, in practice, a “Crime” is associated with a deviant behaviour in relation to the established “Law” in the society. In this framework therefore, a “Cyber Crime” is an “Offence” declared in some statute. Article on Sify.com

(Sify.com has taken up the initiative of educating the public on Cyber Crimes through the portal. This is the first of the series of articles to be contributed by Naavi)

Lady from Coimbatore Defrauds Youth in Canada

In an interesting case reported from Coimbatore, it is reported that a 30 year old married lady defrauded a person in Canada sending the photograph of a film actress and soliciting his friendship through online chats. The lady succeeded in getting expensive gifts which she herself received during the person's visit to Coimbatore posing as the lady's friend and giving excuses why the lady could not meet him. Lady has now been arrested and investigations are in progress. Details in Hindu

US Case Opens  Doors of a New Controversy

The judgment delivered by the full First Circuit Court of Appeals on August 11th 2005 in the case of  Bradford Councilman overturning the  earlier decision of the District Court of Massachusettes has raised two points for discussion. One is the nature of information on the RAM and the other is the information in the POP Box of an e-mail customer. These discussions are relevant in India from the point of view of debating the ISP's liabilities.... Details

UK Seeks Interpol Help in Gurgaon Case

The British police has asked the Interpol’s help to resolve the data leak incident that took place in an Indian call center. A spokesperson for the London Police said that since it cannot charge anybody in India, it was working through the Interpol so that Indian police can speak to the people involved. Naavi.org has already been suggesting that the case should be investigated by CBI and its investigation should include the intentions of SUN magazine and its reporter. We reiterate this stand.  Report in Global Outsourcing.com

"Indian Law Graduates Need to Look for Corporate Careers"

With the BPO boom, we now see that BSc and BA graduates with good communication skills being able to get good BPO jobs immediately after their college and look for a career in the corporate world.

It has now become necessary for law students also to start thinking that they have a career in the Corporate world as "Legal Advisors" or "Compliance Officers" orr Legal BPO professionals

Considering the emerging need for "Corporate Career for Law Students", Cyber Law College is setting up a "Corporate Career Counselling Center For Law Students"... Details

Privacy Rights  subordinated to Community Interest

India has long realized that privacy rights need to be subordinated to national interests in view of the terrorism threats. UK realized it recently after the terrorist bombings. Now another criminal act has woken up the Scottish authorities to sate that an amendment would be made to the Data Protection Act to force websites reveal credit card numbers. Also what is defined as "Violent Sex Porn" is being banned and any website carrying such content can be shut down. This follows a murder induced out of the glamorization of violent sex through websites. ..Report in the herald

Another Sting?..Is it a Conspiracy?..Will CBI Probe?

The report of another sting operation this time from ABC allegedly exposing the slack data security standards in Indian BPOs opens a serious question mark on the veracity of such media operations. It appears that exposing Indian BPOs has become a juicy story for journalists around the world and throwing unsubstantiated claims is considered part of a strategy to malign the industry and gain some journalistic mileage.

Naavi.org suggested that Karan Bahree Case should have been subjected to CBI probe including SUN reporter as a possible suspect in the security breach inducement. Lack of political will in this regard has now thrown the new ABC  challenge. If the Indian Government continues to remain silent, more and more such reports will be coming up since there is a huge vested interest backing such a campaign. The Government must act now to probe the report and find out whether it is true are not. ...Report in ET

ITA-2000 Amendments.. a glimpse?

According to this report in TOI, 18 amendments are likely to be made to the ITA-2000. Details are awaited...Article in TOI

KLE Society's Law College to commence Cyber Law Courses in Bangalore

KLE Society, an 87 year old education conglomerate in Karnataka with 5 law colleges will soon start conducting Certificate Course in Cyber Laws in association with Naavi's Cyber Law College. The course will be open to Law and Non Law Professionals with fortnightly classes. The first batch is expected to commence in September and examinations are scheduled for February 2006. External students can also enroll for the examination. Certificate will be issued jointly by KLES Law College and Cyber Law College.

Simultaneously, Cyber Law College is also planning to open offline training center in Nagpur and some other cities in Maharashtra and Gujarat. More details are available at www.cyberlawcollege.com