What is Cyber Law?
Cyber law is a term that encapsulates the legal issues related to using of communicative transactional and distributive aspects of networked information devices and technologies.
It is the law governing cyberspace. Cyberspace is a very wide term and includes computers, networks, software, data storage devices (such as hard disks, USB disks etc), the Internet, websites, emails and even electronic devices such as cell phones, ATM machines etc.
The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, specifies the acts which have been made punishable. Since the primary objective of this Act is to create an enabling environment for commercial use of I.T., certain omissions and commissions of criminals while using computers have not been included. With the legal recognition of Electronic Records and the amendments made in the several sections of the IPC vide the IT Act, 2000, several offences having bearing on cyber-arena are also registered under the appropriate sections of the IPC.
Cyber law encompasses laws relating to:
- Cyber Crimes
- Intellectual Property
- Data Protection and Privacy
- Electronic and Digital Signatures
Need for Cyber Law
There are various reasons why it is extremely difficult for conventional law to cope with cyberspace. Some of these are discussed below.
- Cyberspace is an intangible dimension that is impossible to govern and regulate using conventional law.
- Cyberspace has complete disrespect for jurisdictional boundaries. A person in India could break into a bank’selectronic vault hosted on a computer in USA and transfer millions of Rupees to another bank in Switzerland, all within minutes. All he would need is a laptop computer and a cell phone.
- Cyberspace handles gigantic traffic volumes every second. Billions of emails are crisscrossing the globe even as we read this, millions of websites are being accessed every minute and billions of dollars are electronically transferred around the world by banks every day.
- Cyberspace is absolutely open to participation by all. A ten-year-old in Bhutan can have a live chat session with an eight-year-old in Bali without any regard for the distance or the anonymity between them.
- Cyberspace offers enormous potential for anonymity to its members. Readily available encryption software and steganographic tools that seamlessly hide information within image and sound files ensure the confidentiality of information exchanged between cyber-citizens.
- Cyberspace offers never-seen-before economic efficiency. Billions of dollars worth of software can be traded over the Internet without the need for any government licenses, shipping and handling charges and without paying any customs duty.
- Electronic information has become the main object of cyber crime. It is characterized by extreme mobility, which exceeds by far the mobility of persons, goods or other services. International computer networks can transfer huge amounts of data around the globe in a matter of seconds .
- A software source code worth crores of rupees or a movie can be pirated across the globe within hours of their release.
– by : Rohas Nagpal
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