Cyber Laws All Over The World Are Becoming Unreasonable And Oppressive

Cyber Laws all over the World are intentionally designed to violate civil rights like privacy, speech and expression, etc. They are also intentionally formulated to facilitate “Internet Censorship” and “E-Surveillance” beyond the legitimate limits of “National Security”. This approach is more dangerous and is detrimental to the national security in the long run.

The Google’s episode regarding China’s censorship shows the growing hunger of various nations for Internet censorship and e-surveillance. India is no different from China when it comes to “Internet Censorship” and “E-Surveillance”, though the extent and degree may be somewhat lesser. The Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) is the sole cyber law of India that was amended by the Information Technology Act 2008 (IT Act 2008). From here starts the real problem.

According to Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and the leading Techno-Legal Expert of India, “The IT Act 2008 made India a “Safe Heaven” for cyber criminals on the one hand and an “Endemic E-Surveillance Society” and “Internet Censorship State” on the other hand. It seems the main aim of the proposed IT Act 2008 was to strengthen the “Internet Censorship” and “E-Surveillance Capabilities” of India.

With the passage of IT Act 2008 India has now officially become an endemic e-surveillance society. The amendments have provided unregulated, unconstitutional and arbitrary e-surveillance and Internet censorship powers to Government of India and its agencies and instrumentalities, says Praveen Dalal. The fact is that India has become an E-Police State, states the ICT Trends of India 2009.

Surprisingly, Minister of State for Communication Sachin Pilot believes that Indian cyber law is strong enough to meet the challenges posed by technology-assisted terrorism and cyber-terrorism. It seems he has not gone through the present IT Act 2000 after its 2008 amendments.

Some observers in India have rejoiced the exit of Google from China believing that it may be a good opportunity for India. However, they fail to understand the “ground reality” that India is no different from China when it comes to Internet Censorship and E-Surveillance. If India does not abdicate its alliance to Internet censorship and e-surveillance similar incidence may happen in India as well.

SOURCE: ITVOIR

National Security And Internal Security Infrastructure Of India

National security of India has recently received a rejuvenation attempt by the Government of India (GOI). This is good news at a time where the national security issues are grossly ignored in India. The national security of India and internal security of India are suffering not only on the count of lack of political will but also due to absence of suitable policies and strategies.

The ICT Trends of India 2009 have also proved that India has failed on the fronts of Cyber law of India, Cyber Terrorism in India, E-Courts in India, E-Learning in India, Unique Identification Project of India, Serious Frauds and White Collar Crimes, National Security Issues, Crime Reporting by Media, Internet Banking Frauds, Cyber Security of Defense Forces, Cyber War in India, E-Surveillance in India, etc.

According to Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and the leading Techno-Legal Expert of India, “Indian approach in this regard is not sensible at all. We should not invest thousands of crores of Indian rupees into security projects that can be manipulated and sabotaged in minutes. Rather we should first analyse the weaknesses and security holes of the same before buying and installing it.

After all security of a Nation is proper application of “common sense” rather than wasting unlimited amount of money. Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) of India, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI), Rs 800 crores centralised facility to control phone tapping activities in India, etc are some of the projects that require common sense application before their implementation. They have to be tested in a “limited environment” before using them in a full fledged manner, says Praveen Dalal.

It seems Indian security initiatives have to be holistically analysed and suitably applied. The Indian security infrastructure and workforces are not in good shape and require rejuvenation. We need a techno-legal security workforce and not personnel who do not have even the basic facilities and technological means and knowledge. The terrorist attacks have really shattered the deep pervasive false sense of security present in the Indian government mentality. We have to think and act against such internal and external threats by going beyond a "political debate". We can fool ourselves by bragging about India’s capabilities and victories against terrorism and cyber terrorism and keep on facing future attacks and bear the traumatic casualties. Alternatively, we must accept our weaknesses against such attacks and take constructive steps to anticipate, prevent and counter such future terrorist and cyber terrorism activities, warns Praveen Dalal.

With a new ray of hope shown by the recent stress upon national security of India we can expect some good results in this direction. However, India is famous for mere assurances and proposals without actually implementing them. Similarly, due to faulty management and policies even the implemented projects have failed in the past. Let us hope that this time India would do the proper homework before starting an initiative that it cannot implement and run.

SOURCE: MYNEWS