Since the beginning of the civilization, man has constantly adapted himself with the changing circumstances and scenarios to usher in new eras of development and progress. Every stage of human history has been important in its own way. However, if today we look back in retrospect and try to analyze the pace of various important advances, some periods stand out.
The last decade has been one of the most significant in human history. It is in this very decade that Internet and the worldwide web have blossomed into their own. Today, Internet has become an all pervading revolution which is having an immense impact on all aspects of human life and existence. Truly, Internet is an irreversible phenomenon which has set new benchmarks for the entire mankind.
To put it simply, Internet is a global network of computers, all speaking same language. It all began in 1969 when America's Department of Defense commissioned the construction of a Super network called ARPANET. The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was basically intended as a military network of 40 computers connected by a web of links and lines. This network slowly grew and became known as the Internet. By 1981, over 200 computers were connected from all around the world. Today the figure runs into millions.
Internet has grown in a very rapid, arbitrary and unplanned manner. Because of this unplanned nature of Internet, it was felt initially that Internet is a system of anarchy and no useful purpose would be solved in trying to do the same. In fact, some advocates advocated that the very idea of regulating the Internet was contradictory to the nature of Internet. However, as time flew, it began to dawn upon netizens that Internet and Cyberspace need to be regulated and a regulated cyberspace would be the catalyst for the future progress of mankind. Herein lay the seeds of origin of Cyberlaw.
There is no one exhaustive definition of the term "Cyberlaw". However,
simply put, Cyberlaw is a term which refers to all the legal and regulatory
aspects of Internet and the World Wide Web. Anything concerned with or
related to, or emanating from, any legal aspects or issues concerning any
activity of netizens and others, in Cyberspace comes within the ambit of
Cyberlaw.
Cyberlaw is a constantly evolving process. As the Internet grows, numerous
legal issues arise. These issues vary from Domain Names, to Intellectual
Property Rights, Electronic Commerce, Privacy, Encryption, Electronic
Contracts, Cybercrime, Online Banking to Spamming and so on. The list is
very long.
Today, Cyberlaw is at an early stage of its development. Though Internet access is growing rapidly throughout the world, yet a majority of countries are debating on whether or not to legislate regarding regulating cyberspace within their national territorial boundaries. USA, UK, Malaysia, Singapore are some of the countries that have legislated Cyberlaws. Even amongst the different nations, there is a diversion of opinion on the issue of how much to legislate in the field of Cyberlaws. While some countries like Malaysia believe in the philosophy of legislating on every concievable issue of Cyberspace. Others are in favour of a more balanced approach of "crossing the bridge when it comes" and legislating Cyberlaws only where and when necessary.
Internet in India came in 1995 and after almost 5 years, India gets ready to legislate its first Cyberlaw namely the Information Technology Bill 1999. The said bill is presently pending in Parliament.
One question that is often asked is why should we have Cyberlaw in India,when a large chunk of the Indian population is below the poverty line and is residing in rural areas? I feel that more than anything else, India, by its sheer numbers, as also by virtue of its extremely talented and growing IT population, is likely to become a very important Internet Market in the future and it is important that we legislate Cyberlaws in India to provide for a sound legal and technical frame work which, in turn, could be a catalyst for growth and success of the Internet Revolution in India.
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