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honest means. objective: “to provide legal recognition for
transactions carried out by means of electronic
4�3�4 Role of Cyber laws in IT Sector data interchange and other means of elec-
Information technology has expanded into tronic communication, commonly referred to
every field throughout the world, and comput- as ‘electronic commerce,’ which involve the
ers with their related technology have become use of alternatives to paper-based methods of
a necessity in each and every sector. Cyber- communication and storage of information,
space provides equal opportunities to all for to facilitate electronic filing of documents
economic growth and human development. As with the Government agencies, and further to
the number of cyberspace users multiplies and amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evi-
the range of online interaction expands, cyber- dence Act, 1872, the Bankers’ Books Evidence
crimes, such as violating online contracts, Act, 1891, and the Reserve Bank of India Act,
committing online criminality and offenses, 1934, and for matters connected therewith or
and others, have increased. Consequently, incidental thereto.”
strict laws have been adopted by cyberspace The act intends to address the following
authorities in various countries to regulate
criminal activities related to cyber use. Cyber issues:
laws also aim to provide better administration f Legal Recognition of Electronic
of justice to the victims of cybercrimes, and Documents
these laws become stricter when it comes to f Legal Recognition of Digital Sig-
crimes such as cyberterrorism. natures
f Offenses and Violations
In the last decade of the 20th century, there
was a massive leap in globalisation and com- f Justice Dispensation Systems for
cybercrimes
puterisation, with more nations gradually com- The first cyber legislation in the country,
puterising their governance and e-commerce i.e., ITA 2000, has led to numerous extensive
showing extensive growth. Until then, a big
part of international trade and transactions was debates, elaborate reviews, and pragmatic crit-
icisms. Some of the sections in the act faced
carried out through documents being transacted
through post and fax only, and records and doc- charges of being either too stringent or too
lenient in provisions. Thus, there emerged an
uments were mainly paper records and various urgent need for an amendment in the current
formats of hard copies. With a great deal of
international trade being transacted through IT act. Towards the end of 2008, a new act
with necessary amendments was passed with-
electronic communication and email becoming
very common, electronic records became inev- out much debate in the parliament. This act
was made effective from 27 October 2009. The
itable. Electronic records, i.e., data stored on following are some of the key features of ITAA
a computer or an external storage, thus turned
out to be an indispensable part of all modern 2008 (Information Technology Amendment
Act 2008):
transactions.
f Priority to data privacy
Against the backdrop of all these changes
and developments, the Government of India f Focus on Information Security
Defining cyber café
enacted its Information Technology Act in the f
year 2000, which became effective on Octo- f Inclusion of cybercrimes such as
child pornography and cyber ter-
ber 17, 2000. The preface to the act states its

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