The cabinet yesterday cleared the amendments to the IT act in a move the strengthen the laws surrounding data security in India. This move was pending ever since India became the BPO hub for the world. The IT act ammendments will also have a great impact on the Internet industry.
Here is a synopsis of what will happen
| Crime | Punishment |
| Publishing "sexuality explicit material" | 5 years imprisonment and 10 lakhs fine |
| Identity theft or Impersonation | 5 years imprisonment and fines |
| Sending offensive messages through any device (internet, mobile etc) | 2 years imprisonment and fines |
| New sections to be inserted on crimes like e-commerce frauds through wrongful use of digital signatures. | To be decided. |
These changes in the act would have a strong impact on people who chat and publish explicit material. What i am interested in seeing is how all this act gets implemented as i expect the number of cyber crime cases that will get reported now to rise exponentially. Nevertheless a much needed ammendment made by the cabinet.
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