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