Amendments to Information Technology Act -2000
When the draft of E-Commerce Act 1998 became
available on the net for the first time, Naavi was the first to take it up
for public debate. The draft was put up on Naavi's website (naavi.com
which is now being squatted) inviting public comment.
Naavi also collated public comments through
Netizen's Fourm to
provide their suggestions which was
then be sent to the Government of India for further action.
Naavi also wrote a book which became the first book on
the subject in India so that some of the aspects of the Bill could be
explained. (A free
e-archive of the book is available here)
When the amendments were proposed in 2005 after the
Gurgaon-Karan Bahree case and baazee.com episode, Naavi had again
submitted recommendations
for amendments.
When the final suggestions came from the "Expert
Committee" constituted for the purpose of recommending the amendments, it
was a shocker. Naavi again took upon the mission to educate the masses
about the "Criminal Friendly" legislation sought to be passed. For some
time the recommendations were put in cold storage.
However, this year after another Gurgaon BPO Case
hitting the headlines, the proposed amendments have again been taken out
of the cold storage and passed through the Cabinet Committee. It will be
placed in the Parliament any time in November-December 2006.
At this point of time Naavi has again tried to place
before the public his concerns on the proposed amendments which are
contained in this section of the website.
Naavi
November 1, 2006
The Information Technology Act -2000 Amendment Bill was
introduced in the Parliament on December 15, 2006. This was called the
Information Technology Act Amendment Bill 2006. (ITAA 2006). This was also
passed by the Cabinet Committee. However a standing committee of the
Parliament under the chairmanship of Mr Nikhil Kumar
aborted the final clearance with an emphatic rejection of many of the
controversial propositions which Naavi.org had been pointing out for
nearly two years. The Bill was therefore returned to the department of
changes.
November, 1 2007
It is understood that the Ministry of Communications
and Information Technology (MCIT) has prepared a new draft of the
Information Technology Act 2000 Amendment Bill 2006 and will be tabling it
in the next winter session of the parliament between
October 17 to November 21, 2008. We hope that
MCIT is addressing the concerns expressed by the Standing Committee while
rejecting the bill at the first instance.
September 01, 2008