Dr.

SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL REHABILITATION UNIVERSITY

LUCKNOW

Department of Law

PROJECT ON

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF IT LAWS UNDER IT LAWS

For

COURSE ON ‘Information Technology Law’

Submitted by

VIMAL SINGH

B.com LLB/2015-16/60

Academic Session: 2019-20

Under the Guidance of

Dr. VIJETA DUA TANDON

Asst. Prof. in Law Department; Faculty for I.T. Law

Faculty of Law

Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University

Page-1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank Dr. Vijeta Dua Tandon for providing me an opportunity to learn one
of the basic concepts of Information Technology Laws in India that is “Critical Evaluation
of IT Laws”.

Here, I would also like to thank my friends and well wishers for helping me out in order
to prepare this assignment.

Page-2
 INDEX
1) INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………..4-5

2) DEFINITION OF CYBER CRIME.……………………………………………......6-7

3) INDIAN RESPONSE TO CYBER CRIME………………………………………..8-9

4) CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………...10

5) BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………...11

Page-3
 INTRODUCTION

Crime is a phenomenon which occurs in every inhabited patch of the globe, the
offenders and the victims may belong to diverse categories. Increasing use of computer
and information technology has left each and every sphere of private life of an
individual in the public domain which is sometimes abused by the criminals for their
personal gains. Cybercrime deeply impinges upon the every sphere of an individual’s
life. The diffusion and proliferation of the medium has made tremendous impact in the
way people gather information and communicate. Remarkable achievements in the
Information Technology sector is really a matter of pride for the global communities and
India but the associated problem that is causing serious concern is the rapid raise in
cyber crimes. As the new world of internet expands its spheres and develops it also has
left the society vulnerable to an altogether new set of crimes. The regulation which, in
the face of technological convergence and the growth of the Internet, turns on the
distinction between the rights and obligations attaching to public and private
communication respectively has raised a very serious issue at stake i.e. where to draw
the boundary between the public and private both generally and within specific spheres
of social action, which in its turn depends upon the ways in which we choose to
distinguish the public from the private. In the early days of the Internet, there were
enthusiastic predictions about its potential to put power in the hands of individuals, to
allow people to easily disseminate information and viewpoints anonymously.
Increasingly, we see individuals posting content, uploading photos and videos, and
creating blogs and their own websites. All of this user-generated content is probably the
greatest liberation of the means of mass dissemination. And while we do see
tremendous, even awe-inspiring benefits, we have also discovered that having the

Page-4
ability to say anything about anyone toeveryone is not without downsides. It raises
troubling issues for privacy and human dignity. Often the two rights which conflict with
each other is the freedom of speech versus the privacy of an individual.

Cases of online cyber bulling is one such example of conflict where it becomes
extremely necessary to curtail the freedom of speech and that of the press so that youth
are protected from the greater harm and the risk of re-victimization upon publication.
Cyber crimes posses the lack of respect for jurisdictional boundaries, openness to
participation, the potential for anonymity of members of the virtual community, and its
apparent economic efficiency which further creates hurdles in effectively curbing the
same1. This means that the legislations in India and globally seek to protect children and
youth who have been the victims of cyber bullying without sacrificing their privacy. But
it leaves open the question of how adults obtain justice in the cyber world. It is very
essential that privacy literacy is enhanced to address privacy harms that can result from
individuals posting personal information online. Privacy literacy an important
component of digital literacy means having the skills to engage fully and confidently in
the digital world, without compromising your own personal information-or that of
others. Over the last decade voices have been raised from all quarter of society over the
issue of Internet regulation. But it seems that either they have couched their concerns in
terms of protecting the society from black alleys of internet or they remain unaware of
the damages unregulated content on internet can do.

1 P.K. Singh, Laws On Cyber Crimes Along With IT Act and Relevant Rules, Book Enclave (2007).

Page-5
DEFINITION OF CYBER CRIME

Science, education, law, culture and all areas of human development can progress with
the continuous support of internet. Though internet has been a major contributor in the
growth of society, associated problems caused by unrestricted use of the internet has
the capacity of destroying the same society. Cyber crime is one such issue which causes
mental harm to the victim.

1. Definition of “cyber crime”

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines cyber crime as crimes committed with the use
of computers or relating to computers, especially through the internet. Crimes which
involve use of information or usage of electronic means in furtherance of crime are
covered under the ambit of cyber crime. Cyber space crimes may be committed against
persons, property, government and society at large. It is a criminal or other offence that
is facilitated by or involves the use of electronic communications or information
systems, including any device or the Internet or any one or more of them. It may involve
crating, distributing, altering, stealing, misusing and destroying information through the
computer manipulation of cyberspace; without the use of physical force and against the

Page-6
will and interests of the victim. As a concept, information and the victim can be an
individual, body corporate, the state and society as a whole.

Cyber crime is a generic term that refers to all criminal activities done using the medium
of computers, the Internet, cyber space and the worldwide web. The computer may
have been used in the commission of a crime, or it may be the target. Net crime is
criminal exploitation of the Internet.

Dr. DebaratiHalder and Dr. K. Jaishankar define Cybercrimes as: “Offences that are
committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to
intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm to the
victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet
(Chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones (SMS/MMS)”.

Cyber crime is the most dangerous of all crimes because of the magnitude of the loss it
is causing today, the ease with which it is committed; its visibility and the disregard of
geographical boundaries; the difficulty in investigation, collection of evidence and the
successful prosecution of the cyber criminal. As the Internet has become an integral part
of the daily life, cyber crime if not checked in time would have disastrous consequences
which would be fatal to the existence of the rule of law. In most common parlance,
cyber crime is defined as crimes committed on the internet using the computer as either
a tool or a targeted victim.

Page-7
INDIAN RESPONSE TO CYBER CRIME
In India, the cyber world is regulated by the Information Technology Act,
2000(henceforth referred to as the IT Act). It was an outcome of the recommendations
of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, 1996.It defines and penalizes
the offences relating to computer. The Government of India enacted IT Act, 2000 with
the objective to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of
electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly
referred to as “electronic commerce”, which involve the use of alternatives to paper-
based methods of communication and storage of information, to facilitate electronic
filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian
Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers Books Evidence Act, 1891 and
the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.The IT Act was enacted for the very purpose of facilitating ecommerce, and
provides prosecution and penalties for violation and crimes. This was the reason to
include Chapter of Offences in the Information Technology Act, 2000. It provides
remedies for offences like unauthorized access, downloading, introduction of virus,

Page-8
denial of access and internet time theft committed by any person. Chapter XI of the IT
Act deals with the cyber offences like tampering with computer source documents
Hacking, Publishing of obscene information unauthorized access to protected system,
Breach of confidentiality, publishing false digital signature certificate. But, the IT Act,
2000 had various discrepancies regarding penal provisions and other provisions to curb
cyber crimes due to which the Government of India introduced the Information
Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2006. The Amendment addressed many crucial issues
that the original bill failed to cover and to accommodate further development of IT and
related security concerns since the original law was passed. Several provisions relating
to data protection and privacy were added as well as provisions to curb terrorism using
the electronic and digital medium were also introduced into the new Act.

Section 43A was inserted to protect sensitive personal data or information possessed,
dealt or handled by a body corporate in a computer resource which such body
corporate owns, controls or operates. If such body corporate is negligent in
implementing and maintaining reasonable security practices and procedures and
thereby causes wrongful loss or wrongful gain to any person, it shall be liable to pay
damages by way of compensation to the person so affected. Sections 66A to 66F was
also added prescribing punishment for offences such as obscene electronic message
transmissions, identity theft, cheating by impersonation using computer resource,
violation of privacy and cyber terrorism. Section 67 of the IT Act, 2000 was amended to
reduce the term of imprisonment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in
electronic form to three years from five years and increase the fine thereof from Rs.100,
000 to Rs. 500,000. Sections 67A to 67C were also inserted. While Sections 67A and 67B
deal with penal provisions in respect of offences of publishing or transmitting of
material containing sexually explicit act and child pornography in electronic form,
Section 67C deals with the obligation of an intermediary to preserve and retain such

Page-9
information as may be specified for such duration and in such manner and format as the
central government may prescribe.
In order to widen the scope of applicability of the provisions of the Indian Penal Code so
as to include within it offences involving electronic records, a new Section 29A was
inserted after Section 29, which reads as follows:

“29A: Electronic Record: The words "electronic record" shall have the meaning assigned
to them in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act,
2000.

CONCLUSION
The regulation which, in the face of technological convergence and the growth of the
Internet, turns on the distinction between the rights and obligations attaching to public
and private communication respectively has raised a very serious issue at stake i.e.
where to draw the boundary between the public and private both generally and within
specific spheres of social action, which in its turn depends upon the ways in which we
choose to distinguish the public from the private. In the early days of the Internet, there
were enthusiastic predictions about its potential to put power in the hands of
individuals, to allow people to easily disseminate information and viewpoints
anonymously. Increasingly, we see individuals posting content, uploading photos and
videos, and creating blogs and their own websites. All of this user-generated content is
probably the greatest liberation of the means of mass dissemination. And while we do
see tremendous, even awe-inspiring benefits, we have also discovered that having the
ability to say anything about anyone to everyone is not without downsides. It raises
troubling issues for privacy and human dignity. Often the two rights which conflict with
each other is the freedom of speech versus the privacy of an individual.
Page-10
BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEBSITES:-

● www.investopedia.com
● www.google.com

BOOKS:-
● Cyber Laws & Information Technology
By Dr Jyoti Rattan,

Page-11
Page-12