21-07-2012, 01:26 PM
Information technology act 2000
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INTRODUCTION
We are living in very turbulent times. The world is changing, and changing fast. Some of these changes are social and political; others are ecological. Some are evolutionary, others revolutionary. No matter where you plan to live or how you plan to make a living, you can expect that constant and rapid change will be a normal part of your life. Technology, especially information technology, is playing a large part in these changes. On the one hand, the drive for innovation in fields as diverse as military operations and medicine has fueled a demand for continual advances in Information technology. On the other hand, the constant advances in information technology have resulted in profound influences on most organizations and industries. New products and services have been developed; new companies and industries have failed. Advances in Information technology and communication technologies also have altered our concepts of time and distance. Business negotiations may be conducted in a “face-to-face” environment, even if one face is in Japan and the other in Germany. Similarly, information systems allow 24-hour trading on financial markets around the world. The continually expanding capabilities of information technology have many implications for the management of organizations, as well as for broader societal issues. Information technology, when used as part of an information system (I/S) enables an organization to monitor changes in customer preferences immediately, allowing it to react quickly, and increasing its flexibility.
Internet use is on the increase in India. Internet & specially e-mail has revolutionized the communication so much so that the postal & courier industry face a threat from this new medium. However the rapid evolution of Internet also raised numerous legal issues and questions, which were required to be looked into.
What are cyber crimes?
A simple yet sturdy definition of cyber crime would be "unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or a target or both". 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 behavior in relation to the established “Law” in the society. In this framework therefore, a “Cyber Crime” is an “Offence” declared in some statute.
In India, the “Information Technology Act 2000” (ITA-2000) was the specific law enacted to address the issues concerning the Cyber Society. This therefore is the reference for us to call any offence a “Cyber Crime” or not.
One restricted meaning of "cyber crimes" in India could therefore be that it refers to “Offences mentioned in ITA-2000”.
PHISHING
In computing, phishing (also known as carding and spoofing) is a form of social engineering, characterized by attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an apparently official electronic communication, such as an email or an instant message. The term phishing arises from the use of increasingly sophisticated lures to "fish" for users' financial information and passwords.
CASE - NASSCOM VS. AJAY SOOD & OTHER
In a landmark judgment in the case of National Association of Software and Service Companies vs Ajay Sood & Others, delivered in March, ‘05, the Delhi High Court declared `phishing’ on the internet to be an illegal act, entailing an injunction and recovery of damages.
Elaborating on the concept of ‘phishing’, in order to lay down a precedent in India, the court stated that it is a form of internet fraud where a person pretends to be a legitimate association, such as a bank or an insurance company in order to extract personal data from a customer such as access codes, passwords, etc.
CYBER PORNOGRAPHY
This would include pornographic websites; pornographic magazines
produced using computers (to publish and print the material) and the
Internet (to download and transmit pornographic pictures, photos, writings
etc).
SALE OF ILLEGAL ARTICLES
This would include sale of pornography, narcotics, weapons and wildlife products etc., by posting information on websites, auction websites, and bulletin boards or simply by using email communication.
E.g. many of the auction sites even in India are believed to be selling cocaine in the name of 'honey'.