Union minister for law and justice Veerappa Moily on Tuesday criticized WikiLeaks for playing havoc in the democracies of many countries. These are all products which create instability in many countries, he said. ?Information can also be misleading. There is much controversy over the website Wikipedia, which is used as a first point of reference for many people seeking information. Wikipedia authors are anonymous and literally anyone can post a Wikipedia article on any subject, regardless of whether they are qualified or know much about the subject,? he said.
“India does not have a specific enforcement agency to deal exclusively with cyber laws. Several countries such as United States, South Korea and the European Union have created such agencies. However, in the case of India, the issue is not as significant because almost all state government have dedicated cyber cells in police departments,? he pointed out. However, since cyber-law enforcement is a relatively new challenge for most enforcement agencies, India does not have adequate skilled law enforcement personnel to deal with IT related crimes, he said. ?Moreover there is lack of cooperation internationally among law enforcement agencies to combat sophisticated cyber crimes or unlawful conducts at different jurisdictions,? he said. ?Specifically, India is not a party to any multilateral or bilateral arrangement necessary for the investigation and prosecution of extra- jurisdictional cyber crimes,? he added. Moily was in Pune for the opening of the Cyber Cell Wing and the Euro American Legal Study and International Research Centre.
Moily said there was a lack of self regulation in the IT industry itself and in areas privacy and data protection. The Indian IT industry contributes 4% of the GDP and in such circumstances it is essential the requirements of the industry is considered, ? he said. The minister suggested amending some of the provisions of the Amendment Act of 2008 especially since several Indian companies provide services to or in conjunction to foreign entities handle large amounts of data that are accessed by their employees. Monitoring such data is essential in the interests of national security, he said.
