Cyber Law & Cyber Crimes – Part I
- Satish Venkatasubbu,
LLB - 1st Semester
What is Cyber Law?
Cyber Law is the area of law that deals with the Internet's relationship to technological
and electronic elements, including computers, software, hardware and information
systems Cyber Law is the law governing cyber space. Cyber space 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.
Law encompasses the rules of conduct:
1. that have been approved by the government,
2. which are in force over a certain territory,
3. which must be obeyed by all persons on that territory.
Violation of these rules could lead to government action such as imprisonment or fine or
an order to pay compensation.
Cyber law encompasses laws relating to:
1. Cyber Crimes
2. Intellectual Property
3. Electronic and Digital Signatures
4. Data Protection and Privacy
Cyber crimes are unlawful acts where the computer is used either as a tool or a target
or both. The enormous growth in electronic commerce (e-commerce) and online share
trading has led to a phenomenal spurt in incidents of cyber crime. These crimes are
discussed in detail further in this chapter.
Cyber law & Cyber Crimes – Part 1
Intellectual Property here refers to creations of the human mind e.g. a story, a song, a
painting, a design etc. The facets of intellectual property that relate to cyber space are
covered by cyber law.
These include:
• copyright law in relation to computer software, computer source code,
websites, cell phone content etc,
• software and source code licenses
• trademark law with relation to domain names, meta tags, mirroring,
framing, linking etc
• semiconductor law which relates to the protection of semiconductor
integrated circuits design and layouts,
• patent law in relation to computer hardware and software.
Electronic signatures are used to authenticate electronic records. Digital signatures are
one type of electronic signature. Digital signatures satisfy three major legal requirements
– signer authentication, message authentication and message integrity. The technology
and efficiency of digital signatures makes them more trustworthy than hand written
signatures.
Data protection and privacy laws aim to achieve a fair balance between the privacy
rights of the individual and the interests of data controllers such as banks, hospitals,
email service providers etc. These laws seek to address the challenges to privacy
caused by collecting, storing and transmitting data using new technologies.
1.2 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.
1. Cyberspace has complete disrespect for jurisdictional boundaries. A person in
India could break into a bank’s electronic 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.
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Cyber law & Cyber Crimes – Part 1
2. 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.
3. Cyberspace is an intangible dimension that is impossible to govern and regulate
using conventional law.
4. 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.
5. 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 Bahamas without any regard for the
distance or the anonymity between them.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. A software source code worth crores of rupees or a movie can be pirated across the
globe within hours of their release.
9. Theft of corporeal information (e.g. books, papers, CD ROMs, floppy disks) is easily
covered by traditional penal provisions. However, the problem begins when electronic
records are copied quickly, inconspicuously and often via telecommunication facilities.
Here the “original” information, so to say, remains in the “possession” of the “owner” and
yet information gets stolen.
Bibliography:
1. IPR & Cyberspace – Indian Perspective authored by Rohas Nagpal
2. The Information Technology Act 2000
3. National Law School Text books on CyberLaw
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Cyber law & Cyber Crimes – Part 1
Next I will be talking about:
Classification of cybercrimes
Cybercrime scenarios in India
Introduction to Indian IT Act 2000 and amendments in 2008
Cybercrimes and Legal perspective
Cyber civil wrongs and legal perspective
Legal Aspects of Digital Evidence
Legal Aspects of Cyber Forensics
