◄Chapter 1► Introduction Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons. -R. Buckminster Fuller
Since the beginning of civilization, man has always been motivate by the nee nee to make make !rogre !rogress ss an better better the e"isti e"isting ng techno technolog logies ies.. #his #his has le to tremenous evelo!ment an !rogress which has been a launching !a for further eve evelo lo!m !men ents ts.. $f all all the the sign signif ific ican antt ava avanc nces es mae mae by mank mankin in from from the the beginning till ate, !robably the most im!ortant of them is the evelo!ment of %nternet. However, the ra!i evolution of %nternet has also raise numerous legal issues an questions. &s the scenario continues to be still not clear, countries throughout the worl are resorting to ifferent a!!roaches towars controlling, regulating an facilitating electronic communication an commerce. %n the !ast few ecaes there has been a revolution in com!uting an communications, an all inications are that technological !rogress an use of info inform rmat atio ion n tech techno nolo logy gy will will cont contin inue ue at a ra!i ra!i !ace !ace.. &cco &ccom! m!an anyi ying ng an an su!!or su! !ortin ting g the rama ramatic tic increa increases ses in the !ower !ower an use of new inform informati ation on technologies has been the eclining cost of communications as a result of both technological im!rovements an increase com!etition. &ccoring to 'oore(s law the !rocessing !ower of microchi!s is oubling every )* months. #hese avances !resent many significant o!!ortunities but also !ose ma+or challenges. #oay, innovations in information technology are having wie-ranging effects across numerous omains of society, an !olicy makers are acting on issues
involving economic !rouctivity, intellectual !ro!erty rights, !rivacy !rotection, an
a
afforability of an access to information. hoices mae now will have long lasting consequences, an attention must be !ai to their social an economic im!acts. $ne of the most significant outcomes of the !rogress of information technology is !robably electronic commerce over the %nternet, a new way of con conuc ucti ting ng bu busi sine ness ss.. #h #hou ough gh on only ly a few few year yearss ol, ol, it may may rai raica call lly y alte alterr economic activities an the social environment. &lreay, it affects such large sectors as communications, finance an retail trae an might e"!an to areas such as eucation an health services. %t im!lies the seamless a!!lication of information an communication technology along the entire value chain of a business that is conucte conucte electronically. electronically. %nformation #echnology is a key river of an increasingly knowlege base global economy. & knowlege base economy is now a sine qua non for leaershi!. iven its current global !osition in the %# an %#S sector, %nia is well !ositione to enhance an leverage its %# ca!abilities towars this en. #echnology has transformational !ower. %t is a great leveler of o!!ortunity within an across economies. Recognizing this !otential of %#, several economies in the &sia-/acific region have investe in infrastructure an ao!te !roactive !olicies to fost foster er ao! ao!ti tion on of %# !erv !ervas asiv ivel ely. y. ons onseq eque uent ntly ly thei theirr econ econom omie iess have have e"!eri e"!erienc ence e mu much ch faster faster an more more equita equitable ble growth growth an their their evelo evelo!me !ment nt inices have move u! ra!ily.
#hee foll #h follow owin ing g sect sectio ions ns will will focu focuss on the the im!a im!act ctss of info inform rmat atio ion n technolog technology y an electroni electronicc commerce commerce on business business moels, moels, commerce commerce,, market market struct structure ure,, work! work!lac lace, e, labour labour market market,, euca eucatio tion, n, !rivat !rivatee life life an societ society y as a whole.
0Chapter 2►
Impact of Information technology Definition of IT
%# 1infor 1informat mation ion techno technolog logy2 y2 is a term term that that encom encom!as !asses ses all forms forms of technology use to create, store, e"change, an use information in information in its various form formss 1bus 1busin ines esss ata ata,, vo voic icee conv conver ersa sati tion ons, s, stil stilll imag images es,, mo moti tion on !ict !ictur ures es,, multimeia !resentations, !resentations, an other forms, incluing those not yet conceive2. %t(s a convenient term for incluing both tele!hony an com!uter technology in the same wor. %t is the technology that is riving what has often been calle 3the information revolution.3 Impact on Government
%nformation technology !robably im!acts governments more than cor!orations an !rivat !rivatee inivi iniviua uals. ls. For For the mos mostt !art, !art, cor!or cor!orati ations ons !ro!el !ro!el an avanc avancee tech techno nolo logy gy.. ons onsum umer erss then then +um! +um! on the the ban banwa wago gon n embr embrac acin ing g new new an an wonerful gizmos an ieas. overnments, on the other han, usually lag behin an are force to catch u!. &n even if they o not want to be involve, they must, because current trens an business !ractices eman that they conform. But this leaves governments vulnerable in many ways an thus, it can be sai that gene genera rall lly y s!ea s!eaki king ng,, info inform rmat atio ion n tech techno nolo logy gy has has a nega negati tive ve im!a im!act ct on governments.
#he first issue, as !reviously state, governments are not leaers in technology. #hey react to the environment aroun them rather than trying to fin new ways of efficiency. &s a result, it is more costly to change everything over at once is!e is!ensi nsing ng larg largee sums sums of cash cash to meet meet equi equi!m !men entt nee neess an an staf stafff trai traini ning ng
requirements. %t also leas to more inefficiency as new systems are confuse with ol an chaotic situations occur.
Seco Secon nly ly,, go gove vern rnme ment ntss ho hol l conf confi ien enti tial al info inform rmat atio ion. n. Both Both ata ata from from its its iniviual citizens an country s!ecific security ata. &s all information becomes igi igita tall an an avai availa labl blee to anyo anyone ne who who care caress to see see it, it, secu securi rity ty brea breach ches es are are inevitable. &n while many cor!orations have ha scanals regaring customer information being leake or hacke, governments are more susce!tible, as they rarely attract the best %# !eo!le in the fiel as em!loyees. &gain, they ten to react after the fact rather than !roactively.
#he thir issue at work is trans!arency. itizens want to know what government officials an em!loyees are oing. &n the internet is !erfect for this ty!e of society. veryone(s business an !ersonal activities are available online. &n while this tren is affecting the ability of iniviuals to obtain +obs or entry into e"cellent schools, it is also aversely affecting the government. onversations, actions, ecisions an motives are being !laye out on the internet in emails, social networking sites, vieos an !ersonal blogs. overnment officials an em!loyees can no longer hie in a shrou of secrecy.
ontrarily, it must be sai, that these !itfalls ten to be the realm of governments from inustrialize nations. %n countries that have ha no access to the internet an com!uterize systems, information technology can be a efinite life saver. nriching the lives of the !oor in evelo!ing nations can be achieve through the use of moern ay technologies such as meical treatment atabases, cell !hones to im!rove livelihoos, an com!uters to enable ability the citizens to com!ete for online +obs in the global market. overnments can become closer to its !eo!le
thro throug ugh h the the use use of info inform rmat atio ion n tech techno nolo logy gy an an comm commun unic icat atio ions ns,, ther thereb eby y increasing efficiency an hel!ing to make their lives better
Further, governments in !oorer countries can brige the ga! between the global environment, the government em!loyees, an their citizens. Having access to information allows these governments to lay founations for !olicies an make commitments to im!rove conitions. Being able to obtain information from the outs ou tsi iee ulti ultima mate tely ly ais ais in the the im!r im!rov ovem emen entt of the the !lig !light ht of thei theirr !eo! !eo!le le.. %n conclusion, conclusion, informati information on technolog technology y negativel negatively y im!acts im!acts some governmen governments ts while !ositively im!acting others. Impact on Social Communication
#here are a lot of !ositive things to o with social communication for e"am!le you can communicate with !eo!le at the other en of the worl there is no limit to how far you can communicate as long as there is another !erson who is able to re!ly to your email 4 facebook comments. 5ou can meet a lot more friens over the social network an can arrange to meet new !eo!le. ommunicating over the internet is fast an easy you can sen a message to someone in &merica insie secons this is hany if you are communicating with family or even friens who mayb maybee yo you u have have no nott comm commun unic icat ate e with with for for a whil whilee for for what whatev ever er the the circumstances were. <hough there is all the above there is a own sie to social communication where you can be in anger you coul be talking to someone over the internet an you coul have never met them face to face in your life. 6hen you sen an email to a frien or !erson from your family you o not get to see what their reactions or facial e"!ressions to your email. email. 5ou coul get involve in cyber bullying or you coul get bullie over the internet yourself. &lso being on the com!uter everyay can make you e"tremely lazy an this can be highly aictive an in some cases cause obesity.
Impact on education
#he internet is a wonerful thing when it comes to searching for information !eo!le who woul like to learn new things can o this via the internet you on7t nee to rea !aragra!hs an !aragra!hs of information you can +ust get the answer you nee by a click of a mouse. #he internet is very goo for looking u! coursework an it gives you hel!ful ti!s as well. But the internet can result in !eo!le +ust breaching co!yright laws by co!ying an !asting everything that they see this can result in a fail in your coursework also if you have a facebook or anything an you are on the internet oing coursework you coul be istracte by this an en u! sitting on facebook all evening an getting no coursework one. 'ore information available - #his is one great thing about the internet that you can fin all the information in the worl on it. #his can hel! you will all your work etc. 5ou can fin out anything what is going on. 8uicker access to information for coursework- #he internet is a great !lace to research information for the to!ic that you are oing you can fin all sorts of facts an o!inions insie secons.
0Chapter 3►
Cyber Crime %nternet crime is crime committe on the %nternet, using the %nternet an by means of the %nternet. om!uter crime is a general term that embraces such crimes as !hishing, creit car fraus, bank robbery, illegal ownloaing, inustrial es!ionage, chil !ornogra!hy, kina!!ing chilren via chat rooms, scams, cyberterrorism, creation an4or istribution of viruses, S!am an so on. &ll such crimes are com!uter relate an facilitate crimes. 6ith the evolution of the %nternet, along came another revolution of crime where the !er!etrators commit acts of crime an wrongoing on the 6orl 6ie 6eb. %nternet crime takes many faces an is committe in iverse fashions. #he number of users an their iversity in their makeu! has e"!ose the %nternet to everyone. Some criminals in the %nternet have grown u! unerstaning this su!erhighway of information, unlike the oler generation of users. #his is why %nternet crime has now become a growing !roblem in the 9nite States. Some crimes committe on the %nternet have been e"!ose to the worl an some remain a mystery u! until they are !er!etrate against someone or some com!any. #he ifferent ty!es of %nternet crime vary in their esign an how easily they are able to be committe. %nternet crimes can be se!arate into two ifferent categories. #here are crimes that are only committe while being on the %nternet an are create e"clusively because of the 6orl 6ie 6eb. #he ty!ical crimes in criminal history are now being brought to a whole ifferent level of innovation an ingenuity. Such new crimes evote to the %nternet are email :!hishing;, hi+acking omain names, virus immistion, an cyber vanalism. & cou!le of these crimes are activities that have been e"!ose an introuce into the worl. /eo!le have been trying to solve virus !roblems by installing virus !rotection software an other software that can !rotect their com!uters. $ther crimes such as email :!hishing; are not as known to the !ublic until an iniviual receives one of these frauulent emails. #hese emails are cover face by the illusion that the email is
from your bank or another bank. 6hen a !erson reas the email he4she is informe of a !roblem with he4she !ersonal account or another iniviual wants to sen the !erson some of their money an e!osit it irectly into their account. #he email asks for your !ersonal account information an when a !erson gives this information away, they are financing the work of a criminal. Cyber !orenic
#he sim!le efinition of com!uter forensics ... is the art an science of a!!lying com!uter science to ai the legal !rocess. 6ith the ra!i avance in technology it quickly became more than +ust an art though, an nowaays you can even get a cyber forensics s!ecialization egree on the sub+ect. <hough !lenty of science is attributable to com!uter forensics, most successful investigators !ossess a nose for investigations an a skill for solving !uzzles, which is where the art comes in. - hris <.#. Brown, om!uter vience ollection an /reservation, =>>? #hus, it is more than the technological, systematic ins!ection of the com!uter system an its contents for evience or su!!ortive evience of a civil wrong or a criminal act. om!uter forensics requires s!ecialize e"!ertise an tools that goes above an beyon the normal ata collection an !reservation techniques available to en-users or system su!!ort !ersonnel. $ne efinition is analogous to 3lectronic vientiary Recovery, known also as e-iscovery, requires the !ro!er tools an knowlege to meet the ourt(s criteria, whereas om!uter Forensics is sim!ly the a!!lication of com!uter investigation an analysis techniques in the interests of etermining !otential legal evience.3@)A ¬her is 3a !rocess to answer questions about igital states an events3@=A. #his !rocess often involves the investigation an e"amination com!uter system1s2, incluing, but not limitie to the ata acquisition that resies on the meia within the com!uter. #he forensic e"aminer reners an o!inion, base u!on the e"amination of the material that has been recovere. &fter renering an o!inion an re!ort, to etermine whether they are or have been use for criminal, civil or unauthorize activities. 'ostly, com!uter forensics e"!erts investigate ata storage evices, these inclue but are not
limite to har rives, !ortable ata evices 19SB rives, "ternal rives, 'icro rives an many more2. om!uter forensics e"!ertsC %entify sources of ocumentary or other igital evience. /reserve the evience. &nalyze the evience. /resent the finings. om!uter forensics is one in a fashion that aheres to the stanars of evience that are amissible in a court of law. #hus, com!uter forensics must be techno-legal in nature rather than !urely technical or !urely legal. "ndertand the upect
%t is absolutely vital for the forensics team to have a soli unerstaning of the level of so!histication of the sus!ect1s2. %f insufficient information is available to form this o!inion, the sus!ects must be consiere to be e"!erts, an shoul be !resume to have installe countermeasures against forensic techniques. Because of this, it is critical that you a!!ear to the equi!ment to be as inistinguishable as !ossible from its normal users until you have shut it own com!letely, either in a manner which !robably !rohibits the machine moifying the rives, or in e"actly the same way they woul. %f the equi!ment contains only a small amount of critical ata on the har rive, for e"am!le, software e"ists to wi!e it !ermanently an quickly if a given action occurs. %t is straightforwar to link this to the 'icrosoft 6inows 3Shutown3 comman, for e"am!le. However, sim!ly 3!ulling the !lug3 isn(t always a great iea, either-information store solely in R&', or on s!ecial !eri!herals, may be !ermanently lost.
lectronic evience can be collecte from a variety of sources. 6ithin a com!any7s network, evience will be foun in any form of technology that can be use to transmit or store ata. vience shoul be collecte through three !arts of an offener7s networkC at the workstation of the offener, on the server accesse by the offener, an on the network that connects the two. %nvestigators can therefore use three ifferent sources to confirm of the ata7s origin.
The time that buine operation are inconvenienced#
How sensitive information which is unintentionally iscovere will be hanle. %n any investigation in which the owner of the igital evience has not given consent to have his or her meia e"amine as in most criminal cases s!ecial care must be taken to ensure that you as the forensic s!ecialist have legal authority to seize, image, an e"amine each evice. Besies having the case thrown out of court, the e"aminer may fin him or herself on the wrong en of a hefty civil lawsuit. &s a general rule, if you aren(t sure about a s!ecific !iece of meia, o not e"amine it. &mateur forensic e"aminers shoul kee! this in min before starting any unauthorize investigation. Some of the most valuable information obtaine in the course of a forensic e"amination will come from the com!uter user themself. %n accorance with a!!licable laws, statutes, organizational !olicies, an other a!!licable regulations, an interview of the com!uter user can often yiel invaluable information regaring the system configuration, a!!lications, an most im!ortant, software or harware encry!tion methoology an keys utilize with the com!uter. Forensic analysis can become e"!onentially easier when analysts have !ass!hrase1s2 utilize by the user o!en encry!te files or containers use on the local com!uter system, or on systems ma!!e to the local com!uter through a local network or the internet. Secure the machine and the data
9nless com!letely unavoiable, ata shoul never be analyze using the same machine it is collecte from. %nstea, forensically soun co!ies of all ata storage evices, !rimarily har rives, must be mae. "ce!tional consieration to this !ractice are etaile below regaring live system consierations.
0Chapter $►
%o& cyber crime &or'( yber crime has become a !rofession an the emogra!hic of your ty!ical cyber criminal is changing ra!ily, from beroom-boun geek to the ty!e of organize gangster more traitionally associate with rug-trafficking, e"tortion an money launering. %t has become !ossible for !eo!le with com!aratively low technical skills to steal thousans of !ouns a ay without leaving their homes. %n fact, to make more money than can be mae selling heroin 1an with far less risk2, the only time the criminal nee leave his / is to collect his cash. Sometimes they on(t even nee to o that. %n all inustries, efficient business moels e!en u!on horizontal se!aration of !rouction !rocesses, !rofessional services, sales channels etc. 1each requiring s!ecialize skills an resources2, as well as a goo eal of trae at !rices set by the market forces of su!!ly an eman. yber crime is no ifferentC it boasts a buoyant international market for skills, tools an finishe !rouct. %t even has its own c urrency. #he rise of cyber crime is ine"tricably linke to the ubiquity of creit car transactions an online bank accounts. et hol of this financial ata an not only can you steal silently, but also through a !rocess of virus-riven automation with ruthlessly efficient an hy!othetically infinite frequency. #he question of how to obtain creit car4bank account ata can be answere by a selection of methos each involving their own relative combinations of risk, e"!ense an skill. #he most straightforwar is to buy the Gfinishe !rouct7. %n this case we7ll use the e"am!le of an online bank account. #he !rouct takes the form of information necessary to gain authorize control over a bank account with a si"-figure balance. #he cost to obtain this information is I>> 1cyber criminals always eal in ollars2. %t seems like a small figure, but for the work involve an the risk incurre it7s very easy money for the
criminal who can !rovie it. &lso remember that this is an international traeD many cyber-criminals of this ilk are from !oor countries in astern uro!e, South &merica or South-ast &sia. #he !robable market!lace for this transaction will be a hien %R 1%nternet Relay hat2 chatroom. #he I>> fee will most likely be e"change in some form of virtual currency such as e-gol. Eot all cyber-criminals o!erate at the coalface, an certainly on7t work e"clusively of one anotherD ifferent !rotagonists in the crime community !erform a range of im!ortant, s!ecialize functions. #hese broaly encom!assC oers com!arative veterans of the hacking community. 6ith a few years( e"!erience at the art an a list of establishe contacts, Gcoers7 !rouce reay-to-use tools 1i.e. #ro+ans, mailers, custom bots2 or services 1such as making a binary coe unetectable to &J engines2 to the cyber crime labour force the Gkis7. oers can make a few hunre ollars for every criminal activity they engage in. Kis so-calle because of their tener ageC most are uner )*. #hey buy, trae an resell the elementary builing blocks of effective cyber-scams such as s!am lists, !h! mailers, !ro"ies, creit car numbers, hacke hosts, scam !ages etc. GKis7 will make less than )>> a month, largely because of the frequency of being Gri!!e off7 by one another. ro!s the iniviuals who convert the Gvirtual money7 obtaine in cyber crime into real cash. 9sually locate in countries with la" e-crime laws 1Bolivia, %nonesia an 'alaysia are currently very !o!ular2, they re!resent Gsafe7 aresses for goos !urchase with stolen financial etails to be sent, or else Gsafe7 legitimate bank accounts for money to be transferre into illegally, an !ai out of legitimately. 'obs !rofessionally o!erating criminal organizations combining or utilizing all of the functions covere by the above. $rganize crime makes !articularly goo use of safe Gro!s7, as well as recruiting accom!lishe Gcoers7 onto their !ayrolls.
aining control of a bank account is increasingly accom!lishe through !hishing. #here are other cyber crime techniques, but s!ace oes not allow their full e"!lanation. &ll of the following !hishing tools can be acquire very chea!lyC a scam letter an scam !age in your chosen language, a fresh s!am list, a selection of !h! mailers to s!am-out )>>,>>> mails for si" hours, a hacke website for hosting the scam !age for a few ays, an finally a stolen but vali creit car with which to register a omain name. 6ith all this taken care of, the total costs for sening out )>>,>>> !hishing emails can be as little as ?>. #his kin of G!hishing tri!7 will uncover at least => bank accounts of varying cash balances, giving a Gmarket value7 of =>> =,>>> in e-gol if the etails were sim!ly sol to another cybercriminal. #he worst-case scenario is a L>>M return on the investment, but it coul be ten times that. Better returns can be accom!lishe by using Gro!s7 to cash the money. #he risks are high, thoughC ro!s may take as much as N>M of the value of the account as commission, an instances of Gri!!ing off7 or Ggrassing u!7 to the !olice are not uncommon. autious !hishers often se!arate themselves from the !hysical cashing of their s!oils via a series of Gro!s7 that o not know one another. However, even taking into account the N>M commission, an a N>M Gri!-off7 rate, if we assume a single stolen balance of )>,>>> )>>,>>>, then the !hisher is still looking at a return of between I> an I>> times the meagre outlay of his4her !hishing tri!. %n large o!erations, offshore accounts are invariably use to accumulate the criminal s!oils. #his is more com!licate an far more e"!ensive, but ultimately safer. #he alarming efficiency of cybercrime can be illustrate starkly by com!aring it to the illegal narcotics business. $ne is faster, less etectable, more !rofitable 1generating a return aroun I>> times higher than the outlay2 an !rimarily non-violent. #he other takes months or years to set-u! or realise an investment, is cracke own u!on by all almost all governments internationally, fraught with e"!ensive overheas, an e"tremely angerous. & !hishing to the other cyber-criminal activities riven by hacking an virus technologies such as caring, aware4s!yware !lanting, online e"tortion, inustrial
s!ying an mobile !hone ialers an you7ll fin a healthy community of cottage inustries an international organizations working together !rouctively an traing for im!ressive !rofits. $f course these !eo!le are threatening businesses an iniviuals with evastating loss, financial harshi! an troubling uncertainty an must be sto!!e. $n to! of viruses, worms, bots an #ro+an attacks, organizations in !articular are contening with social engineering ece!tion an traffic masqueraing as legitimate a!!lications on the network. %n a reactive a!!roach to this onslaught, com!anies have been layering their networks with stan alone firewalls, intrusion !revention evices, anti-virus an anti-s!yware solutions in a es!erate attem!t to !lug holes in the armoury. #hey(re beginning to recognize it(s a faile strategy. &fter all, billions of !ouns are being s!ent on security technology, an yet security breaches continue to rise. O %n orer to fight cyber crime to the fullest, there nees to be a tightening of international igital legislation an of cross-borer law enforcement co-orination. But there also nees to be a more creative an inventive res!onse from the organizations uner threat. /iecemeal, reactive security solutions are giving way to strategically e!loye multi-threat security systems. %nstea of having to install, manage an maintain is!arate evices, organizations can consoliate their security ca!abilities into a commonly manage a!!liance. #hese measures combine, in aition to greater user eucation are the best safeguar against the eviousness an !ure innovation of cybercriminal activities.
◄Chapter )► *erpective of Information Technology +ct, 2--Introduction to IT +ct
#he /arliament of %nia has !asse its first yberlaw, the %nformation #echnology &ct, =>>> which !rovies the legal infrastructure for -commerce in %nia. #he sai &ct has receive the assent of the /resient of %nia an has become the law of the lan in %nia. &t this +uncture, it is relevant for us to unerstan what the %# &ct,=>>> offers an its various !ers!ectives. .b/ect of IT +ct
#he ob+ect of #he %nformation #echnology &ct, =>>> as efine therein is as uner C3to !rovie legal recognition for transactions carrie out by means of electronic ata interchange an other means of electronic communication, commonly referre to as 3electronic methos of communication an storage of information, to facilitate electronic filing of ocuments with the overnment agencies an further to amen the %nian /enal oe, the %nian vience &ct, )*P=, the Banker(s Book vience &ct, )*Q) an the Reserve Bank of %nia &ct, )QLI an for matters connecte therewith or inciental thereto.3 #owars that en, the sai &ct thereafter sti!ulates numerous !rovisions. #he sai &ct aims to !rovie for the legal framework so that legal sanctity is accore to all electronic recors an other activities carrie out by electronic means. #he sai &ct further states that unless otherwise agree, an acce!tance of contract may be e"!resse by electronic means of communication an the same shall have legal valiity an enforceability. #he sai &ct !ur!orts to facilitate electronic
intercourse in trae an commerce, eliminate barriers an obstacles coming in the way of electronic commerce resulting from the glorious uncertainties relating to writing an signature requirements over the %nternet. #he &ct also aims to fulfil its ob+ects of !romoting an evelo!ing the legal an business infrastructure necessary to im!lement electronic commerce. 0rief Introduction to IT +ct
ha!ter-%% of the sai &ct s!ecifically sti!ulates that any subscriber may authenticate an electronic recor by affi"ing his igital signature. %t further states that any !erson by the use of a !ublic key of the subscriber can verify the electronic recor. H&/#R %%% of the &ct etails about lectronic overnance an !rovies interalia amongst others that where any law !rovies that information or any other matter shall be in writing or in the ty!ewritten or !rinte form, then, notwithstaning anything containe in such law, such requirement shall be eeme to have been satisfie if such information or matter isa2 renere or mae available in an electronic formD an b2 accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference. #he sai cha!ter also etails about the legal recognition of igital Signatures. #he various !rovisions further elaborate on the use of lectronic Recors an igital Signatures in overnment &gencies. #he &ct further talks of !ublications of rules an regulations in the lectronic azette. ha!ter %J of the sai &ct gives a scheme for Regulation of ertifying &uthorities. #he &ct envisages a ontroller of ertifying &uthorities who shall !erform the function of e"ercising su!ervision over the activities of the ertifying &uthorities as also laying own stanars an conitions governing the ertiying
&uthorities as also s!ecifying the various forms an content of igital Signature ertificates. #he &ct recognises the nee for recognising foreign ertifying &uthorities an it further etails the various !rovisions for the issue of license to issue igital Signature ertificates. ha!ter J%% of the &ct etails about the scheme of things relating to igital Signature ertificates. #he uties of subscribers are also enshrine in the sai Bill. ha!ter % of the sai &ct talks about !enalties an a+uication for various offences. #he !enalties for amage to com!uter, com!uter system etc. have been fi"e as amages by way of com!ensation not e"ceeing Rs. )>>,>>,>>>4- to affecte !ersons. #he &ct talks of a!!ointment of any officers not below the rank of a irector to the overnment of %nia or an equivalent officer of state government as an &+uicating $fficer who shall a+uicate whether any !erson has mae a contravention of any of the !rovisions of the sai act or rules frame thereuner. #he sai &+uicating $fficer has been given the !owers of a ivil ourt. #here is a !rovision in ha!ter which envisage the yber Regulations &!!ellate #ribunal shall be an a!!ellate boy where a!!eals against the orers !asse by the &+uicating $fficers shall be !referre. #he sai #ribunal shall not be boun by the !rinci!les of the oe of ivil /roceure but shall follow the !rinci!les of natural +ustice an shall have the same !owers as those are veste in a ivil ourt. &gainst an orer or ecision of the yber &!!ellate #ribunal, an a!!eal shall lie to the High ourt. ha!ter % of the sai &ct talks about various offences an the sai offences shall be investigate only by a /olice $fficer not below the rank of the e!uty Su!erintenent of /olice. #hese offences inclue tam!ering with com!uter source ocuments, !ublishing of information which is obscene in electronic form, breach
of confientiality an !rivacy, misre!resentation, !ublishing igital Signature ertificate false in certain !articulars an !ublication for frauulent !ur!oses. Hacking has been !ro!erly efine in Section ?? as, 36hoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or amage to the !ublic or any !erson estroys or eletes or alters any information resiing in a com!uter resource or iminishes its value or utility or affects it in+uriously by any means, commits hacking.3 Further for the first time, !unishment for hacking as a cyber crime !rescribe in the form of im!risonment u!to L years or with fine which may e"ten to Rs. =,>>,>>>4- or with both. #his is a welcome measure as hacking has assume tremenous im!ortance in the !resent ay scenario. $n !revious occasions, the web sites of the overnment have been hacke into but no legal !rovision within the e"isting legislation coul be invoke to cover 3hacking3 as a cyber crime. %t shall now be !ossible to try an !unish hackers uner section ?? of the %# &ct,=>>>. #he sai &ct also !rovies for the constitution of the yber Regulations &visory ommittee which shall avice the government as regars any rules or for any other !ur!ose connecte with the sai act. #he sai &ct also has four Scheules which amen the %nian /enal oe, )*?>, the %nian vience &ct, )*P=, #he Bankers( Books vience &ct, )*Q), #he Reserve Bank of %nia &ct, )QLI to make them in tune with the !rovisions of the %# &ct. #he sai %# Bill was table in /arliament in ecember, )QQQ an was referre to the Staning ommittee on Science an #echnology, nvironment an Forests for e"amination an re!ort. #he Staning ommittee e"amine the sai %# Bill )QQQ an !ro!ose some stringent measures to further strengthen the legal infrastructure of the %# Bill )QQQ. #he most !ositive as!ect of the sai re!ort was that it recommene the insertion of the efinition an !unishment for 3hacking3.
>> is a lauable effort by the overnment to create the necessary legal infrastructure for !romotion an growth of electronic commerce. &s on ate, the +uiciary in %nia is reluctant to acce!t electronic recors an communications as evience. ven email has not been efine in the !revailing statutes of %nia an is not an acce!te legal form of communication as evience in a court of law as of toay. #he sai %# &ct,=>>> inee is a ste! forwar in that irection also. +pect of IT +ct
From the !ers!ective of the cor!orate sector, the %# &ct =>>> an its !rovisions contain the following !ositive as!ectsC&. #he im!lications of these !rovisions for the cor!orate sector woul be that email will now be a vali an legal form of communication in our country, which can be uly !rouce an a!!rove in a court of law. #he cor!orates toay thrive on email, not only as the form of communication with entities outsies the com!any but also email is use as an inis!ensable tools for intra com!any communication. #ill now it has been seen that the cor!orates in their intra com!any communications on email have not been very careful in using the language in such emails. or!orates will have to unerstan that they shall nee to be more careful while writing emails, whether outsie the com!any or within as the same with whatever language coul be !rove in the court of law, sometimes much to the etriment of the com!any. ven intra com!any notes an memos, till now use only for official !ur!oses, shall also be coming within the ambit of the %# &ct an will be amissible as evience in a court of law. & !ossible consequence of the same for a ty!ical wire com!any woul be that any em!loyee, unha!!y with a !articular email communication, whether in !ersonal or receive in a official or !ersonal
ca!acity, may make the sai email as the founation for launching a litigation in a court of law. Further, when a com!any e"ecutive sens an email to another e"ecutive in the com!any with some efamatory or other relate material an co!ies the same to others, there are !ossibilities that he may lan in a litigation in a court of law. B. om!anies shall now be able to carry out electronic commerce using the legal infrastructure !rovie by the &ct. #ill now, the growth of lectronic commerce was im!ee in our country basically because there was no legal infrastructure to regulate commercial transactions online. . or!orates will now be able to use igital signatures to carry out their transactions online. #hese igital signatures have been given legal valiity an sanction in the &ct. . #he &ct also throws o!en the oors for the entry of cor!orates in the business of being of being ertifying &uthorities for issuing igital Signatures ertificates. #he &ct oes not make any istinction between any legal entity for being a!!ointe as a ertifying &uthority so long as the norms sti!ulate by the government have been followe. . #he &ct also enables the com!anies to file any form, a!!lication or any other ocument with any office, authority, boy or agency owne or controlle by the a!!ro!riate overnment in the electronic form by means of such electronic form as may be !rescribe by the a!!ro!riate overnment. %nia is ra!ily moving ahea in the fiel of electronic governance an it will not be long before governments start taking a!!lications or issuing licence, !ermit, sanction or a!!rovals ,by whatever name calle, online . #his !rovision shall be a great leveler as this will enable all kins of com!anies to o a lot of their interaction with ifferent
government e!artments online, thereby saving costs, time an wastage of !recious man!ower. F. or!orates are manate by ifferent laws of the country to kee! an retain valuable an cor!orate information. #he %# &ct enables com!anies legally to retain the sai information in the electronic form, ifa.
the information containe therein remains accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent referenceD
b. the electronic recor is retaine in the format in which it was originally generate, sent or receive or in a format which can be emonstrate to re!resent accurately the information originally generate, sent or receiveD c. the etails which will facilitate the ientification of the origin, estination, ate an time of is!atch or recei!t of such electronic recor are available in the electronic recorC . #he %t &ct also aresses the im!ortant issues of Security which are so critical to the success of electronic transactions. #he &ct has also given a legal efinition to the conce!t of secure igital signatures which woul be require to have been !asse through a system of a security !roceure, as sti!ulate by the government at a later ate. %n the times to come, secure igital signatures shall !lay a big role in the Eew conomy !articularly from the !ers!ective of the cor!orate sector as it will enable a more secure transaction online. %n toay(s scenario, information is su!reme. %nformation is store on their res!ective com!uter systems by the com!anies a!art from maintaining a back u!. 9ner the %# &ct,=>>>, it shall now be !ossible for cor!orates to have a statutory remey in case if anyone breaks into their com!uter systems or network an
causes amages or co!ies ata. #he remey !rovie by the &ct is in the form of monetary amages not e"ceeing Rs.)>>,>>,>>>. #his !enalty of amages a!!ly to any !erson who, without !ermission of the owner or any other !erson who is in charge of a com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter network,1a2 &ccesses or secures access to such com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter network. 1b2 ownloas, co!ies or e"tracts any ata, com!uter ata base or information from such com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter network incluing information or ata hel or store in any removable storage meiumD 1c2 %ntrouces or causes to be introuce any com!uter contaminant or com!uter virus into any com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter networkD 12 amages or causes to be amage any com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter network, ata, com!uter ata base or any other !rogrammes resiing in such com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter networkD 1e2 isru!ts or causes isru!tion of any com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter networkD 1f2 enies or causes the enial of access to any !erson authorise to access any com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter network by any meansD 1g2 !rovies any assistance to any !erson to facilitate access to a com!uter, com!uter system or com!uter network in
contravention of the !rovisions of this &ct, rules or regulations mae thereuner, 1h2 harges the services availe of by a !erson to the account of another !erson by tam!ering with or mani!ulating any com!uter, com!uter system, or com!uter network. H. or!orates in %nia can now take a sigh of relief as the %# &ct has efine various cyber crimes an has eclare them !enal offences !unishable with im!risonment an fine. #hese inclue hacking an amage to com!uter source coe. $ften cor!orates face hacking into their systems an information. #ill ate, the cor!orates were in a hel!less conition as there was no legal reress to such issues.But the %# &ct changes the scene altogether. Dra&bac' of IT +ct
However, es!ite the overwhelming !ositive features of the %# &ct,=>>> for the cor!orate sector, there are a cou!le of issues that concern the cor!orates in the sai &ctC). #he sai ste! has come a bit late. 6ith the !henomenon growth of %nternet which oubles a!!ro"imately every )>> ays, the sai &ct shoul have been !asse long time back. =. %t may be !ertinent to mention that the sai &ct !ur!orts to be a!!licable to not only the whole of %nia but also to any offence or contravention there uner committe outsie of %nia by any !erson. #his !rovisions in section )1=2 is not clearly an ha!!ily rafte. %t is not clear as to how an in what !articular manner, the sai &ct shall a!!ly to any offence or contravention there uner committe outsie of %nia by any !erson. #he enforcement as!ect of the %# &ct is an area of grave concern. Eumerous ifficulties are
likely to arise in the enforcement of the sai &ct as the meium of %nternet has shrunk the size of the worl an slowly, national bounaries shall cease to have much meaning in ybers!ace. L. %t is also strange that section )1I2 of the sai &ct e"clues numerous things from the a!!licability of the %# &ct. #he &ct oes not a!!ly to 1a2 a negotiable instrument as efine in section )L of the Eegotiable %nstruments &ct, )**)D 1b2 a !ower of attorney as efine in section ) & of the /owers-of-&ttorney &ct, )**=D 1c2 a trust as efine in section L of the %nian #rusts &ct, )**=D 12 a will as efine in clause 1h2 of section = of the %nian Succession &ct, )Q=N incluing any other testamentary is!osition by whatever name calleD 1e2 any contract for the sale or conveyance of immovable !ro!erty or any interest in such !ro!erty. #he sai %# &ct alreay e"clues numerous im!ortant things. #he &ct talks about !romoting electronic commerce an it begins by e"cluing immovable !ro!erty from the ambit of electronic commerce- a reasoning which efies logic I. #he %# &ct, =>>> oes not touch at all the issues relating to omain Eames. ven omain Eames have not been efine an the rights an liabilities of omain Eame owners o not fin any mention in the sai law. %t may be submitte that lectronic ommerce is base on the system of omain Eames an e"cluing such im!ortant issues from the ambit of %nia(s First yberlaw oes not a!!eal to logic. N. #he %# &ct, =>>> oes not also eal at all with the %ntellectual /ro!erty Rights of omain Eame owners. ontentious yet very im!ortant issues concerning o!yright, #raemark an /atent have been left untouche in the sai law thereby leaving many loo!holes in the sai law.
?. #he %# &ct talks about the use of electronic recors an igital signatures in government agencies. 5et, strangely it further says in section Q, that this oes not confer any right u!on any !erson to insist that the ocument in questions shoul be acce!te in electronic form. #he control of the overnment is a!!arent, as the ontroller of ertifying &uthorities has to ischarge his functions sub+ect to the general control an irection of entral overnment. #he %nternet an the !henomenon of electronic commerce require that minimum hurles an obstacles nee to be !ut in their way. #he &ct seeks to bureaucratize the entire !rocess of controlling electronic commerce. #his is likely to result into consequences of elays an other relate !roblems. P. &s yberlaw is growing, so are the new forms an manifestations of cyber crimes. #he offences efines in the %# &ct are by no means e"haustive. However, the rafting of the relevant !rovisions of the %# &ct make it a!!ear as if the offences etaile in the sai %# &ct are the only yber offences !ossible an e"isting. For e"am!le, cyber offences like cybertheft, cyberstalking, cyber harassment an cyber efamation are not covere uner the &ct. *. #he %# &ct talks of &+uicating $fficers who shall a+uicate whether any !erson has committe a contravention of any !rovisions of this &ct of any rules, regulations, irections or orer mae there uner. How these &+uicating $fficers will a+uicate the contravention of the &ct has not been mae clear or well efine. Further, it has also not been s!ecifie as to how the sai &+uicating $fficers shall etermine whether any contravention of the &ct or any offence has been committe by any !erson out sie %nia. Further, what authority woul these &+uicating $fficers have viz-a-viz !ersons out sie %nia who have committe any cyber offences have not been efine. Eo efinitive !roceure for a+uication
by &+uicating $fficers has been e"haustively s!elt out by the %# &ct. Further the territorial +urisiction of the sai &+uicating $fficers an also the yber Regulations &!!ellate #ribunal has not been efine. Q. Section NN of the %# &ct states that no orer of the entral overnment a!!ointing any !erson as the /resiing $fficer of a yber &!!ellate #ribunal shall be calle in question in any manner an no &ct or !roceeing before a yber &!!ellate #ribunal shall be calle in question in any manner on the groun merely of any efect in the constitution of a yber &!!ellate #ribunal. #he sai !rovisions is violative of the Funamental Rights of the citizens as are enshrine in ha!ter %%% of the onstitution of %nia an the sai !rovision is not e"!eient an is likely to be struck own by the courts. #he entral overnment cannot claim immunity in a!!ointments to yber &!!ellate #ribunal, as the same is contrary to the s!irit of the onstitution of %nia. Further, it may be submitte that if there is a efect in the constitution of a yber &!!ellate #ribunal, that goes to the root of the matter an reners all !roceeings an acts of the sai yber &!!ellate #ribunal null T voi abinitio. )>. Further the sai %# &ct talks of any agency of the government interce!ting any information transmitte through any com!uter resource if the same is necessary in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of %nia, the security of the State, frienly relations with foreign States or !ublic orer or for !reventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence. #his is one !rovision which is likely to be misuse by future governments to suit their !olitical motives as also for the !ur!ose of victimization. Eo stanars or !rovisions have been lai own by the %# &ct, which efine any conitions etaile above. #he su!!orters of the cause of iniviual !rivacy an freeom see this !rovisions as a gross violation of iniviual
freeom an that aforesai conitions are unreasonable restrictions, which are not !ermissible in the conte"t of the ra!i growth of %nternet. )). Further, the sai %# &ct is likely to cause a conflict of +urisiction. )=.¬her ma+or gray area is that the raconian !owers given to a !olice officer not below rank of the e!uty Su!erintenent of /olice uner Section *> of the &ct have been left untouche. Eowhere in the worl o be fin a !arallel such a wie an unrestricte !ower to given to any officer for the !ur!ose of investigating an !reventing the commission of a cyber crime. &fter all, the !ower given by the %# &ct to the sai S/ inclues the !ower to 3 enter any !ublic !lace an search an arrest without warrant any !erson foun therein who is reasonably sus!ecte or having committe or of committing or of being about to commit any offence uner this &ct.3 #he sai !ower has been given without any restrictions of any kin whatsoever. %t is very much !ossible that the same is likely to be misuse an abuse in the conte"t of or!orate %nia as com!anies have !ublic offices which woul come within the ambit of 3!ublic !lace3 uner Section *> an com!anies will not be able to esca!e !otential harassment from the hans of the S/ . #his area of the %# &ct can be one of the greatest concerns for the government, the inustry an the !eo!le at large. )L. #he biggest concern about the new %nian yberlaw relates to its im!lementation. #he sai &ct oes not lay own !arameters for its im!lementation. &lso when %nternet !enetration in %nia is e"tremely low an government an !olice officials, in general are not at all, com!uter savvy, the new %nian yberlaw raises more questions than it answers them. %t seems that the /arliament woul be require to amen the %# &ct, =>>> to remove the gray areas mentione above.
&ll sai an one, #he %nformation #echnology &ct,=>>> is a great achievement an a remarkable ste! ahea in the right irection. #he %# &ct is a first ste! taken by the overnment of %nia towars !romoting the growth of electronic commerce so that lectronic ommerce in %nia can lea! frog to success. es!ite all its failings, it is a first historical ste!. #he other ste!s have to follow.
0Chapter ►
Impact of IT in Indian egal Sytem ver since E% took u! com!uterization in Su!reme ourt in )QQ>, many a!!lications have been com!uterize which have im!act on masses i.e. litigants. Following are some of the a!!lications which have been successfully im!lemente at Su!reme ourt an )* High ourts an these a!!lications have either irect or inirect im!act on the masses. Supreme Court of India it of 0uine Information Sytem .0IS4 5
%t is about scheuling of cases to be hear by the courts on the following ay. %t enable the Registries of Su!reme ourt an High ourts in eliminating manual !rocess of ause
i. &s ause
iv. %t has become sim!ler to recall ismisse cases when review !etitions are file. v. $n the s!ot reliable an instantaneous statistical re!orts are generate vi. %t has hel!e Registry of Su!reme ourt in streamlining its ay to ay activities to achieve one of the main ob+ectives of $9R#%S /ro+ect
!iling Counter Computeri6ation
%n the Su!reme ourt of %nia an all High ourts fresh cases are file only before the com!uterize Filing ounters. &s the avocates stan in queue for Filing cases before the counters, the ata entry $!erator enters !reliminary etails require for Registration such as /arty names, avocate etails, etc. #he com!uter terminal at the query counter is use to atten to the quarries of the litigants on the s!ot. #he efects, if any, are liste out an hane over to the litigants4avocates for rectification. #ime limitation is also checke by the system automatically. Impact •
#he filing !rocess is mae easy
•
#he avocates4litigants nee not wait for a long time in the queue
•
#he amount collecte towars ourt fee in a ay is automatically calculate thus saving the time of court official7s time
•
8uery counter avois the litigants go aroun the sections to fin out the Filing status
•
Filing !rocess is orerly
•
Saves time an efforts of avocates an court officials
C."7T8IC
#his is about !roviing Su!reme ourts( !ening case status information to litigants4avocates on any noe of E%E#. $9R#E% answers about two hunre queries of litigants4avocates !er ay all over the country on the status of their !ening cases. %t is available on nominal charges. /rimarily $9R#E% information is available in all E%-High ourt om!uter ells an in some istrict ourt. %t has been in use since )QQL. Impact
#he res!onse to the $9R#E% from the !ublic is over-whelming, as !ening cases information is available at his4her istrict heaquarters. %t avois the litigants to come all over to elhi from their !lace. #he litigants nee not fin the status of their !ening cases on !hone as is the usual !ractice. /robably this facility is first of its kin in the worl. 9"DIS
E% has brought out Uugement %nformation System 1U9%S2 consisting of com!lete te"t of all re!orte +ugement of Su!reme ourt of %nia from )QN> to till ate. 1http5::/udi#nic#in2 Supreme Court; pending Cae on I<7
%ntereste litigants an avocates can fin out the status of their cases !ening in Su!reme ourt on tele!hone by making use of %nteractive Joice Res!onse System 1%JR2 free of charge. For accessing this, the !hone nos. areC >))-IL?=>?=, IL?>))=. Caue it on Internet http5::cauelit#nic#in4
auselists are scheuling of cases to be hear by the courts on the following ay. #he auselists of Su!reme ourt an many other High ourts are available on E% 6eb Servers. &s the Su!reme ourt of %nia an all the )* High ourts an their )> Benches are fully com!uterise, all these courts generate aily an 6eekly auselists from the com!uter servers installe by E%. #he auselist a!!lication is the backbone a!!lication of all courts as no court can function without that ay7s auselist. Hence this has become near time critical a!!lication in all the ourts. %mmeiately after generation of the auselist most of the courts cyclostyle the stencils cut from the !rinters attache to the servers for generating thousans of co!ies running into a few lakhs of !ages every ay. ue to this reason the courts take a lot of time for generation an su!!ly of the auselists to the avocates at their offices or resiences. 9sually the avocates receive the cyclostyle co!ies of a ay7s ause
%t is available on %nternet
•
auselists
of
all
High
ourts
can
be
accesse
at
9R<
1http5::cauelit#nic#in2 •
&vocates can generate their own auselist consisting of his4her own cases
•
Retrieval through the name of either !etitioner or res!onent
•
ourt wise list can be generate
i.e.
•
Uuge wise list can be !re!are
•
ntire auselist can be !rinte, if require
•
ase no. wise access is !ossible
Impact •
&vocates are able to receive the ause lists almost immeiately after courts hours
•
&vocate can generate their own casuists which will contain only their cases, thus avoiing them to go through hunres of !ages to locate their cases
•
&s the a!!lication is available on %nternet, the litigant !ublic can easily fin out whether their cases are coming for hearing or not, without bothering the avocates
•
Some courts are consiering to reuce the generation of co!ies of auselists, as most of the avocates are e!enent on the %nternet version of auselists, thus the courts can save goo amount money on annual basis
E% has mae the ause lists of the following High ourts on its 6eb servers a!art from the Su!reme ourt of %niaC •
Su!reme ourt of %nia
•
&llahaba
•
&nhra /raesh
•
Bombay
•
alcutta
•
hattisgarh
•
hennai
•
elhi
•
u+arat
•
uwahati
•
Himachal /raesh
•
Uabal!ur
•
Uammu T Kashmir
•
Uharkhan
•
Uoh!ur
•
Karnataka
•
Kerala
•
/atna
•
/un+ab T Haryana
•
$rissa
•
9ttaranchal
•
Sikkim %igh Court of Calcutta
ver since E% has mae the auselists of the Su!reme ourt of %nia an High ourts available on %nternet, this a!!lication has receive huge res!onse from the avocates an litigant !ublic. #o unerstan the enormous res!onse the a!!lication has receive, herewith one week7s ay wise Hit statistics are enclose. $n an average it i receiving 1-,--- hit per day. By any stanar, it is a significant number for one a!!lication.
For the !ur!ose of illustration, some of the screens associate with the a!!lication are also enclose. %igh Court Computeriation
E% took u! com!uterisation of all )* High ourts an Q Benches on the lines of &!e" ourt7s om!uterisation. E% im!lemente the
auselists are generate automatically
•
Bunching4rou!ing is one
•
om!uter base Filing ounters are o!ene
•
8uery counters are available
•
U9%S T $9R#E% are available
•
&ll Hs are connecte on E%E#4%nternet
•
ay to ay Uugements an $rers are store on com!uters
Ditrict Court Computeriation
%n )QQP, E% took u! the com!uterisation of all IL> istrict ourts in the country on the lines of High ourts om!uterisation /ro+ect. #he basic ob+ectives of the !ro+ect areC
•
to !rovie trans!arency of information to the litigants an avocates
•
to hel! the +uicial aministration in streamlining its activities
•
to !rovie +uicial an legal atabases to the istrict Uuges
E% !rovie three level training !rograms to the istrict ourt officials. #he three levels areC •
Computer +&arene *rogram for the istrict Uuges. #hese training
!rograms were chaire by either the Hon(ble hief Uustice or one of the Hon(ble Uuges of the concerne High ourt. •
Superviory level training at E% State entres. #hese su!ervisory level
officials were ientifie an sent to E% State entres by the istrict ourts for training on ay to ay maintenance of the com!uters an its !eri!herals. •
In=houe hand on training to the istrict ourt officials working on the
com!uter terminals. #he istrict %nformatics $fficers of E% !oste at the istrict 'agistrates( $ffice im!arte this training. &ll officials have been traine on (istrict ourt %nformation System( 1%S2 S6. #he %S Software is a huge general !ur!ose Software !ackage evelo!e for the com!uterization of istrict ourts. #his software takes care of all as!ects of istrict ourt nees. #he !ro+ect is yet to !icku! momentum in most of the istrict ourts for want of interest from the istrict ourt officials. E% has !ro!ose to conuct another roun of #raining to the users.
0Chapter >►
?=Court *ro/ect by ?=committee, Supreme Court of India Introduction
%n the era of technology, where s!ee has become the most essential requirement4 !art of life, manual effort for com!letion of a task souns a bit awkwar. 6here !ostage an other moes of communications have been re!lace by mails an messages, imagining life without mobile an internet is like a nightmare. 6hile being a !art of istrict &ministration, it was notice that a istrict 'agistrate, the one who is loae with a number of res!onsibilities an tasks, somehow manages to e"ecute on-n-average )N committee meetings a month which is an essential !art of aministration. ue to an over busy an !rone to change scheule, such meetings ha!!ens, as well as there scheule changes at a short notice of time. #o intimate all the concerne members of the committee at such a short notice, sometimes becomes im!ossible using !ostage. ven if there is enough time to intimate all, an intimation4 invitation of meetings is a bunle of at least )> !ages mentioning the scheule as well as the agena of the meeting which is then co!ie for all the members of the committee an last but not the least, an overhea of !ostal charges is also get clubbe in its costing, which again souns a teious !rocess in the era of technology. #o s!ee u! the !rocess an to reuce costing of the same, with the use of the latest technologies, a !rouct has been evelo!e an is still welcoming new features. #he !rouct makes an immense use of the e-mail an S'S for circulating the information7s an invitations, which hel!e in achieving the goal. #he !rouct has ifferent levels of
ICT ?nablement
%nian Uuiciary is in urgent nee of re-engineering its !rocesses, o!timize the use of its human resources an bring about change management by harnessing the !otentiality of the available %nformation an ommunication #echnology 1%#2 to its fullest e"tent. #he ob+ective of this e"ercise is to enhance +uicial !rouctivity both qualitatively an quantitatively as also make the +ustice elivery system afforable, accessible, cost effective, trans!arent an accountable. Similar ob+ectives have been achieve in other !arts of the worl by use of technology but in %nia though its man!ower is known for its technology e"!ertise, the %# benefits coul not be fully e"!lore an utilize in !ublic service sectors like +uiciary an other organs of the State. %n the %nian Uuiciary, effort for com!uterization of some of its !rocesses has been going on since )QQ>. Eee was felt to make the !rogramme of %# enablement of the %nian Uuiciary mission-critical. #here was an overwhelming realization in the +uicial sector in favour of evising a Eational /olicy an &ction /lan with a!!ro!riate s!rea an !hasing to im!lement %# in courts across the country an their web-base interlinking. *hae I pro/ect analyi
uring /hase % of the eourts /ro+ect, in a very large number of ourt om!le"es, om!uter Server Rooms an Uuicial Service entres have been reaie. #he istrict an #aluka ourts as covere in /hase % of these ourt om!le"es have alreay been com!uterize, with installation of harware, <&E etc. an ase %nformation Software 1%S2. onsequently, these ourts are now !roviing basic case-relate services to litigants an lawyers. #he e-ourts Eational !ortal 1ecourts.gov.in2 was launche by Hon7ble the hief Uustice of %nia on Pth &ugust, =>)L. #his !rovies cause-list, case status
information in res!ect of more than =.N crore cases 1!ening an ecie2 an has sometimes reache aily Ghits7 in e"cess of P lakhs which is growing e"!onentially every week. #his is a !art of the Eational Uuicial ata ri that has been mae o!erational an will be im!rove in a !hase manner. #he eourts Eational !ortal also !rovies training material for +uicial officers an staff, links to istrict ourt websites an statistical re!orts that can be use as a +uicial management information system. #his !ortal is e"!ecte to !lay a key role in bringing about +uicial reforms. #he e-transactions services of the eourts !ortal as !er etaal.gov.in have crosse =.= rore. & large number of istrict ourts have launche their websites for the convenience of litigants an others have been !rovie with a tem!late for easy launch of a website. >P for %nian Uuiciary base on the GEational /olicy an &ction /lan for %m!lementation of %nformation an ommunication #echnology in %nian Uuiciary7 1E/&/%%#2, !re!are by the eommittee of Su!reme ourt of %nia in =>>N an a!!rove by the hief Uustice of %nia. #he number of aily hits on the e-ourts Eational !ortal has reache more than )> lac a ay as !er the Eational e#ransactions /ortal www.etaal.gov.in #he total e-transactions so far since the launch of the !ortal have cross =.= rore. #he following chart shows the e"!onential growth of the hits on the eourts Eational !ortal for availing the servicesC
@onth=&ie eTranaction through eCourt 8ational portal Sr# 8o#
Duration
8o# of eTranaction
1
>P->*-=>)L to L)->*-=>)L
),>N,PQ>
2
>)->Q-=>)L to L>->Q-=>)L
)L,I=,*QI
3
>)-)>-=>)L to L)-)>-=>)L
L),>Q,>IN
$
>)-))-=>)L to L>-))-=>)L
I),LL,L*)
)
>)-)=-=>)L to L>-)=-=>)L
),LI,*P,?)*
&s many as I>> istrict ourts have launche their websites, either of their own esign or evelo!e as !er the tem!late !rovie by the /ro+ect. &s a !art of the hange 'anagement !rogramme, more than )I,>>> Uuicial $fficers have been traine in the use of 9buntu->> ourt Staff have been traine in ase %nformation Software as System &ministrators. #his has been achieve through training =)Q ourt Staff as %S 'aster #rainers 1istrict System &ministrators2 at the 'aharashtra Uuicial &caemy an the hanigarh Uuicial &caemy. &n e"ercise has been initiate by requesting every High ourt to !rovie a 9nique %entification Eumber 19%2 to every Uuicial $fficer. #he 9% will be !refi"e with two al!habets re!resenting the State, as for e"am!le with motor vehicles. #he !ro!ose time-line is L)st ecember, =>)L. #his information will be
u!loae on the e-ourts !ortal. #his will assist the High ourts in maintaining an accurate recor of all +uicial officers. *hae II pro/ect
&s a natural !henomenon, the +ourney covere so far with awareness about the goal!osts yet to reach an the miles yet to go has mae the stakeholers more im!atient to see the +ustice elivery system of the country o!timally transforme by way of moernization enable by information an communication technology, thereby necessitating an immeiate ne"t !hase of the e-ourts !ro+ect which succees the current !hase without any ga! of time or efforts an also carries forwar all !enencies, arrears an remainer resources of this !hase to the ne"t !hase.
#hus, an inevitable com!onent, a!art from the other com!onents state hereinafter, of /hase %% of the /ro+ect, will be to also serve as a com!lementary !hase to the current !hase by taking care of all the !ening ob+ectives an targets of this !hase in itself with regar to the eliverables of /hase % for all the ourts covere an the ourts covere but not fully accom!lishe ue to time-lags or other o!erational issues etc. #he bugeting of /hase %% of the /ro+ect will have to be one accoringly. #his roll-over com!onent will ensure a seamless transition of the /ro+ect to the ne"t !hase. Implementation @odel
"!erience has shown that ecentralization of res!onsibilities is absolutely necessary. #his has also been agree to by the High ourts. onsequently, at the groun level, the im!lementing agency will be the High ourt. #his will inclue im!lementation of <&E an !rocurement of harware, its maintenance an u!kee!. #he !rocurement will be as !er the /rocurement an Finance 'oel given in this cha!ter. /olicy in!uts incluing for evelo!ing software 1$!en Source2 will be
!rovie by the e-ommitteeD technical an evelo!ment su!!ort for %S will be !rovie by E%. Financial isbursement arrangements will be so mae which are conucive to o!timum ecentralization an also effectively eliminate elays in !ro+ect im!lementation. /ro+ect 'onitoring 9nits 1/'9s2 will be set u! at eommittee an e!artment of Uustice 1oU2 to assist the e-ommittee an the oU in ay to ay monitoring of the /ro+ect. &ccurate an com!lete information regaring the number an location of courts an number of +uicial officers nees to be collecte immeiately. #he formula for !roviing com!uters for the courts an la!to!s to +uicial officers will be base on &V courts an +uicial officers alreay covere in !hase %D BV courts an +uicial officers not covere in !hase % ue to increase in numbers or any other reasonD V courts an +uicial officers that will come into e"istence till L)st 'arch, =>)?. #herefore, the total ourts an Uuicial $fficers to be covere will be & W B W . #he !ro+ect !erio for /hase %% will be L years with aitional aequate su!!ort for sustenance after this !erio. 6arranty !erio an obsolescence for com!uter harware will be taken as L years an N years res!ectively. &ll courts an court com!le"es 1ol an new2 must be ientifie at earliest. &n e"ercise is !resently unerway 1as a test2, with the assistance of a mobile a!!lication software mae available by eit5 on the lines of the a!!lication use by lection ommission of %nia 1use for booth locations an number2 to actually locate each court com!le" an the e"act number of courts available in that com!le". #his e"ercise is !ro!ose to be carrie out with the active assistance of the istrict Uuges. #he !ro!ose time-line of com!letion is L)st 'arch =>)?. #he result of this e"ercise will be mae available on the e-ourts !ortal. &n overall formula for ascertaining the number of ourts to be covere by the /ro+ect is recommene as followsC i.
& V ourts alreay covere uner /hase %
ii.
B V ourts not covere 4 left out in /hase %
iii.
V ourts to be create uring /hase %% of the /ro+ect u!to a cut-off ate.
iv.
#he cut-off ate referre above will not be earlier than two years of the uration of the /hase %% of L years that is if the /hase %% is to commence from )st &!ril, =>)I the ourts that may be create u!to L)st 'arch, =>)? will be the figure at above. & tentative number as u!!er limit may be fi"e for these ourts uner category kee!ing the target as !er the +ugment of the Hon(ble Su!reme ourt to ouble the +uge strength in a !erio of five years. #aking the !resent strength of the Uuicial $fficers at aroun )?>>>, an the target of oubling the same in five years, ?I>> ourts can be e"!ecte to be create in ne"t two years that is the /ro+ect uration of the /hase %%. #hus, for the figures uner category of ourts, the target number will be arrive at as ==I>> ourts. & !rovision for aing more ourts than this figure, if create by L)st 'arch, =>)? will also have to be mae in the buget allocation.
v.
#he remainer of the harware4<&E for the courts of figure & above will be calculate by eucting the harware4<&E !rovie in /hase % from the harware4<&E to be !rovie in /hase %%. %f the harware !rovie to ourts 1uner category &2 is five or more years ol, the same will be consiere obsolete an full harware as to be given in /hase %%, will be !rovie to the ourt. #he cut-off ate for calculating obsolescence of harware will be the en of /ro+ect uration as referre above.
vi.
#he inclusion of ourts in ila!iate4rente builings will be consiere with a yarstick of one year of uration of the ourt e"!ecte to be there in such builing. #hus the ourts which are e"!ecte to be shifte to new4other builing in less than a year, will be consiere only after being shifte. ¬her !re-requisite for consiering ourts in ila!iate4rente builings will be that on future shifting of such ourts from those !remises, the
e"!eniture of laying fresh <&E in the estination !remises will be borne by the High ourt 4 State overnment. #he Uuicial Service cum entral Filing entre may have to be arrange in suitable make-shift !orta cabin.
Intitutional Structure
#he com!osition of the e-ommittee generally remains the same. However, given the volume of work involve, one more regular member has been ae an the list of invitee members has been mae more broa-base. #he e-ommittee will be involve in !olicy !lanning an !roviing strategic irection an guiance for the effective im!lementation of the /ro+ect. %n aition to its e"isting res!onsibilities, the oU will continue to monitor an assist in the im!lementation of the /ro+ect an will, aitionally, be res!onsible to convene m!owere ommittee as an when require. #he High ourts will be the im!lementing agencies for the /ro+ect in res!ect of the areas uner its +urisiction. #he High ourts will have the assistance of the High ourt om!uter ommittee, entral /ro+ect oorinator, istrict ourt om!uter ommittees an a noal officer for each istrict. Infratructure @odel
m!hasis will be on clou com!uting an therefore Server Rooms 1as at !resent2 will be re!lace by Eetwork Rooms. #he s!ecifications of these rooms will be ecie on the basis of the number of courts in the com!le". #o the e"tent !ossible, the e"isting Uuicial Service entres will be utilize as Rece!tion an %nquiry entres an also as entralize Filing entres. &itional harware will be require for this !ur!ose. 'inimum harware for a court room, for a court com!le" an for a +uicial officer is iscusse in this ha!ter. %t is !ro!ose to !rovie for newly create courts, newly recruite +uicial officers an those courts an +uicial officers not covere in /hase %. $bsolete harware has also been !rovie for. #he calculation is base on the formula mentione in ha!ter = above. Future requirements base on the /ro+ect ocument have been !rovie for to avoi any mi-stream shortfalls. is!lay monitors outsie every ourt Room an in the Bar Rooms as is!lay Boar for litigants an lawyers are also
!rovie for. om!uterization of the offices of istrict
Sytem and +pplication oft&are for Court *rocee
#he thrust in /hase %% of the /ro+ect will be on software a!!lications 1incluingmobile !hone a!!lications2 an will be citizen-centric. #he eommittee will be the eciing agency for software a!!lications to ensure com!atibility an uniformity. $nly Free an $!en Source solutions will be im!lemente. #he e"isting core-!eri!hery moel of ase %nformation Software will continue, the core being unifie an for Gnational7 use while the !eri!hery being as !er the local requirements of each High ourt. E% /une will continue to be the centre for software evelo!ment for %S an relate a!!lications. ach High ourt will have the res!onsibility of evelo!ing the !eri!hery software an ensuring that it is com!atible with the unifie core. ach High ourt will nee to engage !rogrammers for the evelo!ment of the !eri!hery software. However, the /ro+ect will !rovie !rogrammers to each High ourt for three years. Software
com!atibility an intero!erability, both horizontal an vertical is absolutely necessary an all High ourts will nee to ensure this. ocumentation will be ke!t !ro!erly so as to ensure that change of !ersonnel oes not ham!er software evelo!ment. &ll ata, incluing meta ata will be unifie an stanarize in this !hase. %n all its activities, the e-ommittee will take the assistance of e"!erts from the overnment, incluing eit5, & etc. Scanning, Digiti6ation and Digital *reervation of Cae 7ecord
ue to s!ace constraints an large volumes of !a!er, some High ourts are looking at igitizing case recors. Recently, the Su!reme ourt has also initiate this !rocess an assistance is being taken from & for igital !reservation solution. /hase %% will !rovie for scanning4igitization of case recors of High ourt an istrict ourts./hase %% will incor!orate the latest technologies in scanning, igitizing an !reserving case recors with the assistance of e"!erts from various overnment organizations.
/resently, an e"ercise is being unertaken to assess the viability of a software base solution for vieo-conferencing. %f this solution is foun viable, it will be use to connect all istrict court com!le"es with all entral Uails an istrict Uails. Failing this, lease line connectivity with Stuio base Js will be utilize. %n any event, connectivity issues will nee to be aresse an mae reliable, stable an effective in all res!ects. Jieo-conferencing in /hase %% will go beyon routine remans an !rouction of uner-trial !risoners. %t will be use initially for recoring evience in sensitive cases an graually e"tene to cover as many
ty!es of cases as !ossible. Jieo-conferencing in /hase %% will be com!atible with recoring facility. #o effectively assist in recoring evience, a ocument visualizer will also be necessary in all istrict court com!le"es. Capacity 0uilding @eaure
a!acity builing through training +uicial officers in the use of com!uters an court staff in the ase %nformation Software has been e"tremely successful. #he #raining of #rainers 1#o#2 moel was ao!te. #his will continue in /hase %%. &itionally, refresher courses are !lanne every si" months so that +uicial officers an staff o not lose familiarity with com!uter systems an the various a!!lications. &ll State Uuicial &caemies will be involve in the ca!acity builing e"ercise. ach such &caemy will be equi!!e with a com!uter laboratory catering to the requirement of about L> trainees at a time. Requisite staff will be engage by the State Uuicial &caemy out of funs from the /ro+ect. ach State Uuicial &caemy will be equi!!e with a vieo conferencing unit for istance learning !ur!oses as well as for utilizing webcasting facilities of im!ortant lectures an events, both live an recore.
9udicial *roce 7e=engineering
urrently a !rocess re-engineering e"ercise is being unertaken by every High ourt for a fresh look at !rocesses, !roceures an systems. %t was e"!ecte to be
com!lete by L)st Uanuary, =>)I. #he e"ercise will have to be re!eate for ironing out the creases an also to incor!orate technological changes that will be introuce in /hase %%. #he e"ercise may well be more or less continuous. &utomation, e-filing of cases, !a!erless courts will nee raical changes in the !rocesses an !roceures of the courts an also in the minset of all stakeholers. #he changes require for effectuating the Uuicial /rocess Reengineering will be im!lemente in the new version of %S. hange 'anagement warrante by /rocess Reengineering will also be uly taken u!. 9udicial Ano&ledge @anagement Sytem
#he Su!reme ourt Uuges
#he web resources will be e"tensively utilize in /hase %% of the /ro+ect. 6eb !ortals will be use for e-filingD websites will be use for issemination of information to litigants an lawyers. &ll websites will be mae isable frienly
