Regulating the Net

A useful compilation of material that gives both Indian and international perspectives on a wide range of issues relating to cyberspace. Aparna Viswanathan, a Harvard University and University of Michigan Law School product, has brought out a useful compilation of recent material that gives both Indian and international perspectives on a wide range of issues that should concern all those who access cyberspace for either professional or private needs. Supplementing Section 43 of the Act, which had referred only to penalties and compensation for damage to computers and computer systems, the 2009 amendment penalised unauthorised access to individual machines, systems or networks. References to the European Convention on Cybercrime, 2004, the United Kingdoms Computer Misuse Act, 1990, and the United States Computer Fraud and Abuse, Act, 1986, are illustrative of how the Indian statute can benefit from the perceptions on the subject of developed nations. Research In Motion Limited, the Canadian corporation that runs Blackberry services, had initially taken the obdurate stand that it would not share client information passing through its systems with the Indian government, but the compromise ultimately reached highlighted the fact that privacy of information cannot be absolute and that national security requirements reign supreme.