Analysis of The Information Technology Act, 2000

Introduction:

With the rapid growth of the IT sector, a rising threat, the abuse of technology for unlawful and inappropriate purposes such as credit card fraud, spam, hacking, etc. have also emerged as a major problem for society. So, it is necessary that there is a law to regulate everything which is going in this sector.

The Information Technology Bill was drafted in 1998 in India. The bill was eventually referred to the 42-member Parliamentary Standing Committee, which recommended numerous amendments. Only those plans were implemented which were approved by the Ministry of Information Technology. The bill was approved by the Union Cabinet on 13 May 2000 and passed by both Houses of Parliament before 17 May 2000. In the third week of June of 2000, the Presidential Assent was issued.

The Information Technology Act, 2000, or IT Act, was approved on October 17, 2000. This act deals with cybercrime and electronic commerce in India. The primary intention of the legislature was to ensure the legal recognition within India of e-commerce. It was introduced to regulate the information technology sector.

Objectives

1. To grant recognition to all the electronic-based transactions.
2. To grant recognition to digital signature.
3. To facilitate a proper system of electronic filing, storage.
4. To facilitate the electronic transfer of funds.
5. To facilitate providing of legal sanctions.

Features

1. It addresses crimes, punishments, and violations in the information technology sector.
2. It highlights the Justice Dispensation Systems for cyber-crimes.
3. It acts like a grundnorm for cyber regulation.
4. It is based on IPC, The Indian Evidence Act, RBI Act etc.

Offenses under IT Act

Tampering with computer source documents

As per section 65 of the IT Act[1], if anyone purposely or deliberately conceals, destroys, or replaces, or intentionally or knowingly allows another to hide, destroy, or alter any computer source code used by a computer, computer program, computer device, or computer network, shall be punished with imprisonment for up to three years if the source code of the computer is authorized for the time being to be retained or maintained by statute.

Computer-related offenses

As per section 66 of the IT Act, if anyone fraudulently, dishonestly, or unlawfully commits any act which is mentioned under section 43 of IT Act, he shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years, or by a fine of up to five lakh rupees, or both. The terms fraudulently and dishonestly used here are described in sections 23 and 24 of the IPC.[2]

Sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.

As per section 66A of the IT Act, if anyone, through electronic means, shares content that contains:

• any details which is deeply offensive or of a critical nature; or,
• any information which it considers to be false, but which is intended to cause irritation, inconvenience, risk, interference, insult, damage, criminal coercion, animosity, hate or ill will by repeated use of certain computer resources or communication equipment; or,
• any information shared as an intention of causing irritation or discomfort, or to deceive or mislead the addressee or receiver about the origin of such messages

Cyber Terrorism

As per section 66F, cyber terrorism is as all actions by any person to pose a threat to the nation’s stability, dignity, sovereignty, and protection or creating fear in the minds of individuals or sections of individuals by disrupting authorized access to a computer resource or accessing a computer resource by unauthorized means or causing harm to a computer resource.

Publishing of Obscene material in electronic form

As per section 67 of the IT Act, if anyone publishes, transmits, or causes to be published or transmitted in electronic form, any content that is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such that it appears to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, having regard to all applicable circumstances:

• The first conviction shall be punishable by the imprisonment of either description for a period of up to three years and a fine of up to five lakh rupees and,
• in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, by the imprisonment of either description for a term of up to five years and also by a fine of up to ten lakh rupees. 

Misrepresentation

As per section 71 of the IT Act, if anyone misrepresents or suppresses any material truth from the controller or the certifying authority in order to obtain any license or electronic Signature Certificate, as the case may be, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of up to two years, or by a fine of up to one lakh rupee, or both.

Limitations of the Act

1. The Information Technology Act through the Indian Penal Code talks about hacking, there is no law against identity theft, it is not sufficient to check identity theft behavior.
2. It can be said that spam is an unwanted E-mail. It was initially regarded as a mere annoyance, but with time this problem has become more serious. The Information Technology Act does not speak at all about the problem of spamming.
3. The IT Act 2000 does not say anything about Identity theft and it’s been increasing day by day.

IT Amendment Act, 2008

The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 can into effect on October 27, 2007. Few amendments brought by this act are as follows:

1. Certain amendments were made in section 43 of the act. Under this, a liability was created for the corporate body towards sensitive or confidential personal data. The corporate body would be held liable and have to pay damages to that individual to the tune of five crores.
2. Section 66B was added. As per Section 66B of the IT Act, if anyone dishonestly receives or maintains any stolen computer resource or communication device knowing or having reason to believe that the same is stolen computer resource or communication device, shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of either description that may extend to three years or with a fine that can extend to rupees one lakh or with both.
3. Section 66F was introduced. Under this section, the term “cyber terrorism” was defined. It says that cyber terrorism like all other actions by any person with the intention of posing a threat to the nation’s stability, dignity, sovereignty, and protection or generating fear in the minds of individuals or parts of individuals by disrupting permitted access to a computer resource or accessing a computer resource by unauthorized means or causing damage to the computer network.
4. Section 67B was also introduced which talks about child pornography. As per this section, if anyone publishes or transmits content in electronic form representing children in a sexually explicit act, etc. or create, collect, scan, browse, download, advertise, promote, share, or distribute the text or digital images in any electronic form representing children in an obscene or indecent or sexually explicit way:
5. The first conviction shall be punishable by the imprisonment of either description for a period of up to five years and by a fine of up to ten lakh rupees and,
6. in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, by the imprisonment of either discretion for a term of up to seven years and also by a fine of up to ten lakh rupees:

Conclusion

It is a great accomplishment in the right direction and a remarkable step forward. The IT Act is a comprehensive legislation currently in India regulating personal data. However, they are sometimes inadequate. Since through the internet, people have access to a vast population and crimes can be committed anywhere in the world through a single click, some areas of cyber law must be given more attention.

---

References:

[1] Information Technology Act, 2000, Acts of Parliament, 2000 (India).

[2] Indian Penal Code, 1860, Acts of Parliament, 1860 (India)