Supreme Court Erred In Reading Down Section 79(3)(b) And Rule 3(4): Praveen Dalal

The judgment of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (24^th March 2015), Writ Petition (Criminal) No.167 Of 2012 (PDF) is not just about Section 66A but many other sections and rules as well. For instance, Section 79 of IT Act 2000 and Rule 3 of Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 have also been analysed by Supreme Court.

As the constitutionality of these provisions was challenged, Supreme Court had limited choices. Supreme Court preferred to narrow down these provisions to keep them operational and constitutional. But it has not been realised at what cost this has been done.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of ICT law firm Perry4Law, Supreme Court’s Judgment on Section 66A is a big blow for Cyber Law Due Diligence in India and reading down of Section 79(3) (b) and Rule 3(4) by Supreme Court in the present manner is “Counter Productive” in long run. He has also suggested that Modi Government must urgently bring suitable Amendments in the IT Act 2000 to tackle growing Cyber Threats and Cyber Crimes in India.

Indian cyber law has never been appropriate since its inception. Too much stress is given to suppress civil liberties and enhance e-surveillance. However, it has now reached a stage where immediate steps must be taken to protect civil liberties in cyberspace on the one hand and projects like Digital India on the other. This is also the high time to leave politics and do positive things for Indian masses.

Source: Cjnews India.

Digital India And Aadhaar Related Critical Policy Suggestions And Views Of Praveen Dalal

Digital India is a promising initiative of Indian Government. However, like any new and good project, Digital India is also suffering from many shortcomings and weaknesses. It is imperative on the part of Indian Government to remove these limitations of Digital India project instead of suppressing the same. It is also important that any critical view or suggestion regarding Digital India project must not be either suppressed or censored by Indian Government or technology platforms like Google, Twitter, etc.

There are many critical opinions regarding Aadhaar and Digital India projects. It is believed that by clubbing the digital India project with Aadhaar, Indian Government has made Digital India the digital panopticon of India.

There are also many reported cases of censorship activities of Google and Twitter in India. The dissenting tweets and posts regarding Digital India were censored by both Google and Twitter repeatedly. It would be better if these companies would respect civil liberties in cyberspace in the future.

This post is sharing the critical and other views and recommendations of Praveen Dalal regarding Digital India and Aadhaar Projects that have been shared at Twitter for public at large but are not easy to find due to censorship activities. These are as follows:

(1) Use Of ICT For Women Empowerment In India Is A Belated But Good Step Under Digital India. My Opinion (2006). Source: UNPAN (PDF),

(2) Digital India Project Is Good But It Must Be Supplemented With Robust Cyber Security In Advance,

(3) Twitter Continues Censoring Digital India Related Dissenting Tweets. Source: Perry4Law News Centre,

(4) Google Is Manipulating Timestamp Of Digital India Related Dissenting News To Remove Them From Latest News Results. Source: Perry4Law News Centre,

(5) Exploring Digital India By Riding Upon M-Governance And Ignoring Shortcomings Of E-Governance And Aadhaar Is A Risky Step That Should Be Avoided,

(6) Now Google Is Flexing Its Censorship Muscles For Digital India Related Critical Tweets- Source: Perry4Law News Centre,

(7) It Is Good That Budget 2015 Has Given Importance To Digital India. Now The Govt Must Work In The Direction Of Making It Successful,

(8) The Biggest Problem Of Digital India Project Is That It Lacks A Clear Cut Policy And Implementation Plan,

(9) Twitter Is Censoring Dissenting Digital India Related Tweets In Real Time- Source: Cjnews India,

(10) E-Surveillance Projects Of India Need Parliamentary Oversight And Judicial Scrutiny- Source: CLPIC,

(11) Unconstitutional And Illegal Biometrics Collection Laws And Practices In India- Source: CEPHRC,

(12) Aadhaar Is Not A Welfare Project But An E-Surveillance Project Of Highest Nature- Source: Privacy Laws In India,

(13) Digital India Project Of India Is Heading For Rough Waters- Source: Perry4Law News Centre,

(14) Central Govt Lied To Supreme Court By Telling Aadhaar Not Mandatory For Its Services,

(15) Digital India Is Biggest Panopticon Of Human Race The Moment It Is Clubbed With E-Surveillance Tool Named Aadhaar, Source: Privacy Laws In India,

(16) Would You Like Your Children To Be Digitally Tagged Forever? If Not, Protest Against Aadhaar And Stop Its Use,

(17) Digital India By Making Aadhaar Compulsory And Illegally Clubbing It With E-Services Is Controlling Your Digital Life,

(18) Shortcomings Of Digital India Project Of India- Source: Perry4Law News Centre,

(19) Digital India Project Of India Is Heading For Rough Waters- Source: Perry4Law News Centre,

(20) Aadhaar Not Mandatory For Government Services: Central Government To SC- Source: Perry4Law News Centre, 

(21) Modi Govt Should Not Risk Wonderful Concepts Like Digital India, Made In India And Digital Locker By Clubbing Them With Aadhaar. Bad Idea,

(22) Supreme Court Must Immediately Impose An Interim Stay On States/Centre That Are/Is Making Aadhaar Compulsory,

(23) Supreme Court Must Immediately Declare Aadhaar Project As Unconstitutional- Source: CLPIC,

(24) It Is Surprising How People Can Be So Docile About Aadhaar And How Central Govt Can Fool Supreme Court So Easily With False Statements,

(25) Digital Locker Is A Legal Project Based Upon Illegal Technology Named Aadhaar- What An Irony, etc. 

This consolidate list would provide a readymade reference list of all Digital India and Aadhaar related critical views and opinions of Praveen Dalal at a single place. We hope our readers would find this post and these tweets useful and productive.

Source: IIPS.

Airtel And Tata Teleservices Limited Are Violating Internet Intermediary Rules Of India

Indian telecom companies are taking Indian laws for granted. For instance, Airtel and Tata Teleservices limited (TTL) are already in cyber law violation controversy. Both Airtel and TTL have violated the mandates of Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 (PDF) of India.

This is contrary to the stringent stand taken by Indian government and telecom regulatory authorities of India against foreign telecom companies. At a time when Indian government is zealously enforcing the cyber law of India, it is really surprising that Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL) and Airtel are violating Indian cyber law. There may be a case that both TTL and Airtel may not be aware of the contraventions and violations they have been committing. It is equally possible that both TTL and Airtel have been deliberately and knowingly violating the provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000.

According to various sources, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL) and Airtel are violating IT Act 2000 and complaints have been filed against them at Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Both Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL) and Airtel have failed to observe cyber law due diligence as required by the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the intermediary guidelines prescribed under the IT Act, 2000.

See: Ground Report for more.

Indian Government Must Seriously And Stringently Tackle Child Porn Says Perry4Law

Child pornography in India needs to be seriously addressed says Perry4Law, the exclusive techno legal law firm of India.  With growing cases of cyber stalking in India there is an urgent need to draft stringent laws against child pornography in India. Nothing short of a robust techno legal framework would work for India in these circumstances opines Perry4Law.

Child pornography in India is becoming a big nuisance despite stringent laws in this regard. The cyber law of India prescribes stringent punishment for uploading and viewing child pornography in India. An Advisory by Home Ministry of India on Preventing and Combating Cyber Crime against Children in India has also been issued.

However, despite all these efforts, child pornography in India is increasing and protecting children in cyberspace has become a daunting task. Recently Interpol helped India in tracking child porn surfers as tracing such cyber criminals requires techno legal expertise at multiple levels and various jurisdictions.

Law enforcement agencies and other involved in fighting against child pornography and pedophiles are working as undercover agents and by communicating with sexual predators through online mediums. One such experiment was recently conducted by a Dutch organisation for children’s rights that identified more than 1,000 sexual predators after creating a computer generated Filipino girl named “Sweetie” to entice them into asking for child porn.

The Dutch chapter of the group Terre des Hommes (TDH) created the 10-year-old girl and then posed as her on Internet chat rooms to conduct a sting operation to unmask webcam child- sex tourists. They were quickly approached by more than 20,000 predators from 71 countries, and on Monday, they gave the identities of 1,000 of these alleged predators to Interpol. The top country of origin for the adults identified was the United States with 254, followed by Britain with 110 and India with 103.

However, not everybody can be identified and prosecuted so easily. Cyber criminals may be scattered in various parts of the world. These cyber criminals may also be using e-mail services of companies like Google whose Gmail does not provide the source of the communication.

Google is very fussy about providing information about cyber criminals even if there are clear cases of doing so. Although the Delhi High Court is presently hearing a case that would scrutinise the e-mail policy of India yet G-mail should be banned in India not only for governmental purposes but otherwise as well as G-mail abets and encourages commission of cyber crimes and cyber contraventions in India.

Google is openly violating the laws of India and Indian government is taking Google lightly. We need to have techno legal framework in India so that companies like Google cannot take Indian laws for a ride. We also need such techno legal framework so that child pornography can be curbed to the maximum possible extent in India.

 Source: Cyber Laws In India.

Law Firms In New Delhi India

Legal field around the world is growing. Law is a very complicated and vast area and with the amalgamation of information and communication technology (ICT), law has taken a new shape.

New areas like cyber law, cyber forensics, cyber security, e-discovery, e-commerce, etc have been emerging. However, there are very few legal institutions that cover these technical areas of law. The fact is that law is today a techno legal filed where both technical and legal fields have merged.

Naturally, finding good techno legal firms in India and other parts of the world is really tough. Many have expressed the opinion that there is an urgent need to have a comprehensive Indian law database that can serve the legal requirements of various stakeholders.

The good news is that Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have provided the exclusive techno legal database of Indian law firms. As on date, it is the most comprehensive laws and law firms’ database of India that is really handy for various stakeholders.

For instance, if you are looking for a cyber law firms in New Delhi India, the platform of Perry4Law and PTLB would provide you a link of the same where not only details about Indian cyber law firms would be provided but also legal position of cyber law and related fields would also be discussed there.

In short not only details about various law firms would be there but also brief discussion about the respective field would be provided so that basic level legal information is available to the reader or viewer. You can see the law firms in New Delhi India segment of Perry4Law and PTLB for more information.

The platform main objective is to provide comprehensive and holistic information to the readers and viewers about the initiatives of Perry4Law and PTLB. Further, relevant links have also been provided so that readers can have a readymade reference resource at their disposal.

Gradually, the platform would cover diverse techno legal fields as are managed by Perry4Law/PTLB and other firms. This is a really ambitious and useful initiative and it is certainly going to be really useful for both national and international stakeholders.

Source: Techno Legal News.

Indian Laws And Law Firms Database

Have you ever wished that there should be a comprehensive Indian law database that can serve the legal requirements of various stakeholders? Well here is the good news. Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have provided the exclusive techno legal database of Indian law firms.

It is the most comprehensive laws and law firms database of India that is really handy fr various stakeholders.

See Law Firms In New Delhi India for more.

National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) Of India

Cyber law issues, cyber security and national security are on agenda of Indian government these days. However, till now cyber security in India is not upto the mark and cyber law of India requires an urgent repeal. This is because the entire approach and attitude of India government is defective.

Indian government has failed to understand that e-surveillance is not a substitute for cyber security capabilities. Instead of developing cyber security capabilities of India, the Indian government is stressing upon growing use of e-surveillance in India and Internet censorship in India.

All these exercises of India government have been done without any legal framework supporting these initiatives of Indian government. Phones are tapped in India without a constitutionally valid phone tapping laws in India. The central monitoring system project of India (CMS Project of India) is also not supported by any legal framework. Surveillance of Internet traffic in India is also another area that requires a sound legal framework. Various authorities with far reaching powers have been created without any legal backing.

See ICTPS Blog for more.