[Forward from the Bytes for All list. John.]

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Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2000 8:08 PM
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Subject: [bytesforall] E-commerce Now Fully Legal in India 


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E-commerce Now Fully Legal in India 
By Uday Lal Pai
India Correspondent, asia.internet.com 

[October 18, 2000--MUMBAI] Wednesday will mark a milestone in India's 
Internet history with the Information Technology Act taking effect. 
"The controller would be responsible for implementation of the IT Act 
and e-commerce and e-governance would become a reality in India, 
making us part of the digital dozen as there are only 12 countries in 
the world who have such legislation," announced IT minister Pramod 
Mahajan. 

Within two months, specific details would be worked out, but as far
as the law is concerned, everything is in order, Mahajan added. Along 
with lending a coherent legal framework for e-commerce transactions, 
the new act--which was passed by parliament in May--also sets 
penalties for cyber crimes such as hacking and publishing obscene 
material on the Internet. 

The government has also appointed Kailash Nath Gupta as the 
controller, who will be responsible for selecting certifying 
authorities for validating digital signatures and act as government 
watchdog for the IT sector. Gupta was earlier the executive director 
of the Center for Development of Telematics (C-DoT). The term of the 
controller would be for three years, Mahajan said. 

"The controller would be a secretary-level post and an engineering 
background for the incumbent is necessary. I would press for changing 
the designation to promoter to impart a more congenial environment
for facilitating e-commerce," the minister said, adding, "I can 
promise you that my controller will act like a promoter." 

Regarding initiatives to propagate e-governance across the country, 
Mahajan said that he would request Prime Minister Vajpayee to observe 
the year 2001 as the "Year of E-Governance." However, Mahajan 
cautioned that until the country develops strong infrastructure for 
telecom and power, it would remain on the wrong side of the digital 
divide. India's software industry has predicted that e-commerce 
transactions for the fiscal year ending March 2001 will increase 
four-fold from the previous year to $3.3 billion. 


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