Unit-I

 Cyber Law – Introduction

1. Cyberspace
 Cyberspace can be defined as an intricate environment that involves interactions
between people, software, and services. It is maintained by the worldwide distribution of
information and communication technology devices and networks.
 With the benefits carried by the technological advancements, the cyberspace today has
become a common pool used by citizens, businesses, critical information infrastructure, military
and governments in a fashion that makes it hard to induce clear boundaries among these
different groups. The cyberspace is anticipated to become even more complex in the upcoming
years, with the increase in networks and devices connected to it.

2. Cyber security:
 Cyber security denotes the technologies and procedures intended to safeguard
computers, networks, and data from unlawful admittance, weaknesses, and attacks transported
through the Internet by cyber delinquents.
 ISO 27001 (ISO27001) is the international Cyber security Standard that delivers a model
for creating, applying, functioning, monitoring, reviewing, preserving, and improving an
Information Security Management System.
 The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology under the government of
India provides a strategy outline called the National Cyber security Policy. The purpose of this
government body is to protect the public and private infrastructure from cyber-attacks.

3. Cyber security Policy

The cyber security policy is a developing mission that caters to the entire field of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) users and providers. It includes −

 Home users
 Small, medium, and large Enterprises
 Government and non-government entities

It serves as an authority framework that defines and guides the activities associated with the
security of cyberspace. It allows all sectors and organizations in designing suitable cyber
security policies to meet their requirements. The policy provides an outline to effectively
protect information, information systems and networks.

It gives an understanding into the Government’s approach and strategy for security of cyber
space in the country. It also sketches some pointers to allow collaborative working across the
public and private sectors to safeguard information and information systems. Therefore, the
aim of this policy is to create a cyber security framework, which leads to detailed actions and
programs to increase the security carriage of cyberspace.

 Basic Concept Of technology and cyber law:

1. Technology-
 Technology thus is largely identified with the hardware of production or
technical artifacts.
 In general, the concept of technology implies a subtle mix of know-how,
techniques and tools. Technology in this sense is vested in people – their
knowledge, skills and routines – just as much as in the machine they use.
Machines and tools are only the physical manifestation of a particular technology
or technologies
 Smillie [95] describes this broader definition of technology as ” the science
and art of getting things done through the application of skills and knowledge “.

 Technology can be defined as the method or process of using scientific

knowledge to solve physical problems in a simplified and fast manner through the
use of machines.
 Technology leads to economic development when a country converts its
raw material into manufactured finished products which are exported to
international market for foreign exchange.
 Information technology (IT) is the application of computers to store, study,
retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data, or information, often in the context of a
business or other enterprise. IT is considered a subset of information and
communications technology (ICT).
 The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer
networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies
such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with
information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics,
semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, and e-commerce.
2. Law:
 Law is closely associated with morality and religion.
 Law is not a homogeneous body of rules. In fact, it consists of many “fields
of law” that sometimes exhibit large differences. This section deals with the fields
of law in a general way. In particular, it focuses upon two major divisions within
the law, namely the divisions between public and private laws and between
substantive and procedural laws. Moreover, it discusses a number of basic legal
concepts such as “rule”, “legal subject”, “juridical act”, “right”, and
“competence”.
 Law is also means the principles and regulations established in a
community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of
legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision.
 Any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the
authority of the state or nation, as by the people in its constitution.
 The first one, historically, was information technology law (or IT law). ("IT
law" should not be confused with the IT aspects of law itself, although there are
overlapping issues.) IT law consists of the law (statutes, regulations, and case law)
which governs the digital dissemination of both (digitalized) information and
software itself (see history of free and open-source software), and legal aspects of
information technology more broadly. IT law covers mainly the digital information
(including information security and electronic commerce) aspects and it has been
described as "paper laws" for a "paperless environment".
 Cyber law or Internet law is a term that encapsulates the legal issues
related to use of the Internet. It is less a distinct field of law than intellectual
property or contract law, as it is a domain covering many areas of law and
regulation. Some leading topics include internet access and usage, privacy,
freedom of expression, and jurisdiction.
 "Computer law" is a third term which tends to relate to issues including
both Internet law and the patent and copyright aspects of computer technology
and software.
 Understanding the Technology Of Internet:
 Internet technology is the ability of the Internet to transmit information
and data through different servers and systems. Internet technology is important
in many different industries because it allows people to communicate with each
other through means that were not necessarily available.
 The Internet is essentially a large database where all different types of
information can be passed and transmitted.
 It can be passively passed along in the form of non interactive websites and
blogs; it can also be actively passed along in the form of file sharing and document
loading. Internet technology has lead to a wealth of information available to
anyone who is able to access the Internet.
 It has allowed people who were accustomed to textbooks and libraries to
learn anything they could want from the comfort of a computer.

Internet technology is constantly improving and is able to speed up the

information highway that it has created. With the technologies powering the
Internet, speeds are faster, more information is available and different processes
are done that were not possible in the past.

The Internet, sometimes called simply "the Net," is a worldwide system of

computer networks - a network of networks in which users at any one computer
can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and
sometimes talk directly to users at other computers).
As the internet is growing rapidly, the laws have became strong enough to handle
cyber crimes in cyber space.

 Cyber law and scope of cyber law:

1. What is Cyber Law?

 Cyber Law is the term used to describe the a law that deals with the issues
related to the Internet, technological and electronic elements,
communication technology, including computers, software, hardware and
information systems.
 Cyber crime is a generic term that refers to all criminal activities done using
the medium of communication technology components, the Internet, cyber
space and the world wide web (www).
 Cyber crimes can involve criminal activities that are traditional in nature,
such as theft, fraud, forgery, defamation and mischief, all of which are
subject to the Indian Penal Code.
 Cyber crime has become a profession and the demographic of a typical
cyber criminal is changing rapidly, from one person to another person, from
those who are more traditionally associated with drug-trafficking, extortion
and money laundering.
 Cyber law is concerned with every individual these days. This is primarily
because we all use internet in some or the other form daily. Internet is used
when we create any account online, while performing e-commerce
transactions, net banking, sending or receiving emails, surfing the net to
take out some important information, etc.

There are several advantages of Cyber Law to protect the individuals from getting
trapped in any cyber violations. The IT Act 2000 provides several guidelines in this
regard.

 Organizations shall now be able to carry out e-commerce using the legal
infrastructure provided by the Act.
 The Act throws open the doors for the entry of corporate companies in the
business of being Certifying Authorities for issuing Digital Signatures
Certificates.
  Under the IT Act, 2000, it shall now be possible for corporates to have a
statutory remedy in case if anyone breaks into their computer systems or
network and cause loss.
 The Act now allows Government to issue notification on the web thus
indicating e-governance.
 The IT Act also addresses the important issues of security, which are so
critical to the success of electronic transactions.

It is to be noted that since cyber law cannot be restricted to a geographical area,

therefore, a single transaction may involve the laws of at least three authorities:

(1) the laws of the state/nation in which the user resides,

(2) the laws of the state/nation that apply where the server hosting the
transaction is located, and

(3) the laws of the state/nation which apply to the person or business with whom
the transaction takes place.

2. Scope Of Cyber Law:

 What is the scope?

It has a wide and great scope in the corporate field. Students who are
experts in cyber law are in great demand and are paid handsomely.
 The rapid growth of the information technology has lead to a situation
where the existing laws are challenged. It deals with computer hackers and
people who introduce viruses to the computer.
 Cyber Law prevents or reduces the damage from cyber-criminal activities
by protecting information access, privacy, communications, intellectual
property (IP) and freedom of speech related to the use of the Internet,
world wide web (www), email, computers, cell phones, software and
hardware, such as data storage devices.
 The scope of different problems presented by the advancement of
technology includes:
(a) dealing with the computer hackers or those who introduce viruses;
(b) categorization of ‘contract for the acquisition of software’ on similar
footing with contract which dealing with goods;
(c) dealing with the phenomenon of mass consumer purchases from
 other jurisdictions under e-commerce;
(d) existence of copyright in a computer program and question of patent
protection;
(e) question of destruction of copyright due to the wide spread
dissemination of text on networks;
(f)regulation of ‘cyber squatting’ and trafficking in domain names under law;
(g) the question of regulation of the content of material on the internet
and freedom of information and expression; and
(h) the protection of the privacy of the individual amid the increasing
capacity for storing, gathering, and collating information.

 Cyber Jurisprudence:
The Latin words jus and prudentia being mutated as jurisprudence in English has
been defined as "knowledge of law or knowledge of just and unjust.
Etymologically, no doubt this definition conforms to the word but it brings within
its compass every branch of law

 cyber jurisprudence describes the principles of legal issues, which exclusively

regulates the cyberspace and internet.
Jurisprudence – is the philosophical interpretations of the meaning and the nature
of law
 May also be interpreted as an interlocking set of beliefs and ideas that have
evolved over time and control our behavior and protect our interests
The word jurisprudence is derived from a latin word jurisprudentia which in its
widest sense, means knowledge of law. The latin word juris means law and
prudentia means skill or knowledge. Thus jurisprudence signifies knowledge of
law and its application.
 Jurisprudence also has some practical value. Nowadays progress in science
and mathematics has been largely due to increasing generalization which has
unified branches of study previously distinct unified branches of study previously
distinct, simplified the task of both scientist and mathematician and provide
them to solve by one technique a whole variety of different problems. Generality
can also be understood as improvement in law. One of the tasks of jurisprudence
is to construct and elucidate concepts serving to render the complexities of law
manageable and more rational. In this way, theory can be useful to improve
practice.
 Jurisprudence has an educational value. The logical analysis of legal
concepts that sharpens the logical technique of a lawyer. Jurisprudence can be
helpful to the people to find answers to new legal problems must be found by a
consideration of the present social needs and not in the wisdom of the past.
 Jurisprudence is the grammar of law. It throws light on the basic ideas and
the fundamental principles of law. By studying jurisprudence a lawyer can find
out the actual rules of law.
 The emergence of cyber jurisprudence around the world has promoted
the growth of newer dimensions in Law. Students and professionals willing to
understand this unique and nascent field of study have opened doors to
opportunities worldwide.
 Similar problems will arise in the future In several other transactions on
the virtual space and we should keep ourselves mentally prepared for accepting
new concepts of virtual property and laws relating to virtual property. The initial
attempt is of course to extend the known physical society concepts to the virtual
space while in due course we need to develop separate Cyber Jurisprudence to
deal with such disputes. For example, if the Bragg’s case is to be decided in India
according to physical laws, the nature of the property being “Land”, the transfer
should be subject to “Transfer of Property Act” and “Registration Act”.
 Transfer of Property Act does not however recognize “virtual land” as an
immovable property and therefore the transaction would not be valid under its
provisions
 In fact some characteristics of this virtual property give it an “Intellectual
Property Character” since the way the property is used is a “Creation in the
minds of an imaginative player. It would therefore be neither appropriate to
treat the dispute as a ‘Transfer of Property Dispute” or a “Contractual Property
Dispute”. The IPR laws such as copyright could be closest to the property but still
does not meet the “Meeting of Minds” test.
 It is observed that in recent judicial reviews, whenever implementation of
existing laws of the real space to Cyber Space has encountered a conflict, the
laws of the real space has prevailed. This tendency in due course is likely to
develop into a principle of “Primacy of Meta Space” and become the bedrock of
Jurisprudence. However, when two laws of the real space itself come to conflict
in the Cyber Space, the principle of “Primacy of the Meta Space” fails. This is
reflected mainly in IPR disputes and Jurisdiction disputes. Instead of fighting
legal battles that can only end in victories for the one who has more financial
resources, it is necessary to accept that “Real World Laws Cannot be Extended
for Every Conflict in Cyber Space”.
 Now is the time, not when a Crisis occurs, when we should examine cyber
jurisprudence in a cyber society. Left to their own devices, lawyers have a way
of siphoning the joy out of anything. Stories like Bragg’s probably have most
attorneys drafting retainers for the personal injury claims of the 21st century
rather than trying to shape a sustainable legal framework for cyber
society. A.s we have discovered in the real world, the Internet has rarely offered
easy opportunities to co-opt existing law. Yet, we are presented with an
unprecedented opportunity to re-imagine the role of law, to redefine its
relation with people, to create a legal system heretofore undreamed of. The
architects of Second Life, Wikipedia, and others are anything but traditional.
 Digital Contracts(Electronic Contracts):
 E-contract is a contract modeled, specified, executed and deployed by a
software system. E-contracts are conceptually very similar to traditional (paper
based) commercial contracts. Vendors present their products, prices and terms to
prospective buyers. Buyers consider their options, negotiate prices and terms
(where possible), place orders and make payments. Then, the vendors deliver the
purchased products. Nevertheless, because of the ways in which it differs from
traditional commerce, electronic commerce raises some new and interesting
technical and legal challenges.
 For recognition of e-contracts following questions are needed to be
considered:
a) Whether e-contract is a valid contract?
b) Would a supplier making details of goods and services with prices available
on a website be deemed to have made an offer?
c) Whether e-contracts satisfy the legal requirements of reduction of
agreements to signed documents.
d) Whether e-contracts interpret, adopt and compile the other existing legal
standards in the context of electronic transactions?

 E-contract is a contract modeled, specified, executed and deployed by a

software system. E-contracts are conceptually very similar to traditional (paper
based) commercial contracts. Digital Contract is an agreement, and the
agreement should be enforceable by law.
 Contracts have become so common in daily life that most of the time we do
not even recognize that we have entered into one. Right from hiring a taxi to
buying airline tickets online, countless things in our daily lives are ruled by
contracts.
 Essence of an electronic/digital contract:
An electronic contract also requires the following necessary requirements:
1. Offer requirements to be made: In many contacts (whether online or
conventional) the offer is not made directly one-on-one. The consumer
‘browses’ the available goods and services showed on the seller’s website
and then choose what he would like to purchase.
2. The offer needs to be acknowledged: As stated earlier, the acceptance is
usually assumed by the business after the offer has been made by the
consumer in relation with the invitation to offer.
3. There has to be legal consideration: Any contract to be enforceable by law
must have legal consideration, i.e., when both parties give and receive
something in return.
4. There has to be an intention to create lawful relations: If there is no
intention on the part of the parties to create lawful relationships, then no
contract is possible between them.
5. The parties must be able to contract: Contracts by minors, lunatics etc. are
void. All the parties to the contract must be lawfully competent to enter
into the contract.
6. The object of the contract need to be lawful: A valid contract presumes a
lawful object. Thus a contract for selling narcotic drugs or pornography
online is void.
7. There must be conviction and possibility of performance: A contract, to
be enforceable, must not be ambiguous or unclear and there must be
possibility of performance.

Fig. Working of digital contracts.

Types Of digital Contracts:
1. Shrink Wrap Contracts:

Shrink wrap contracts are boilerplate or license agreements or other terms and
conditions which are packaged with the products. The usage of the product
deems the acceptance of the contract by the consumer. The term ‘Shrink Wrap’
describes the shrink wrap plastic wrapping which coats software boxes or the
terms and conditions which come with products on delivery.

PC programming organizations broadly depend on the utilization of “shrinkwrap”

permit assertions in the mass business sector circulation of programming.
“Shrinkwrap” assertions are unsigned permit understandings which state that
acknowledgment on the client of the terms of the assertion is demonstrated by
opening the shrinkwrap bundling or other.

The term "shrink-wrap" derives from the method by which software was
distributed as a package of installation disks and associated documentation sealed
by shrink-wrap cellophane. The accompanying end user license agreement was
often itself packaged in shrink-wrap cellophane and placed on the outside of the
package or included as the top most item in the package. Today, shrink-wrap
agreements can take a variety of forms and are found in both software and
hardware acquisitions. However, they all have a common structure: essentially
non-negotiable terms and conditions that accompany the product. The terms may
appear as part of the documentation accompanying the product, as part of an on-
line purchase process whereby the terms are displayed (and the purchaser,
potentially, required to affirmatively click an "accept" button as part of the
process), or presented to the purchaser on first use of the application as part of
the installation process.
2. Click Wrap Contracts:

A clickwrap agreement (also known as a "clickthrough" agreement or

clickwrap license) is a common type of agreement often used in connection
with software licenses. Such forms of agreement are mostly found on the
Internet, as part of the installation process of many software packages, or
in other circumstances where agreement is sought using electronic media.
The name "clickwrap" came from the use of "shrink wrap contracts"
commonly used in boxed software purchases, which "contain a notice that
by tearing open the shrinkwrap, the user assents to the software terms
enclosed within".

The content and form of clickwrap agreements vary widely. Most clickwrap
agreements require the end-user to manifest his or her assent by clicking
an "ok" or "agree" button on a dialog box or pop-up window. A user
indicates rejection by clicking cancel or closing the window. Upon rejection,
the user cannot use or purchase the product or service. Classically, such a
take-it-or-leave-it contract was described as a "contract of adhesion, which
is a contract that lacks bargaining power, forcing one party to be favored
over the other".

The terms of service or license do not always appear on the same webpage
or window, but are always accessible before acceptance, such as through a
hyperlink embedded in the product's webpage or a pop-up screen prior to
installation. In order to be deemed to have accepted the terms of service,
the purchaser must be put on notice that certain terms of service may
apply. If the terms of service are not visible and/or accessible, courts have
found the notice requirement to be lacking and as such, the purchaser may
not be bound to the terms of the agreement. An analysis of the terms of
service of major consumer websites has found that they frequently contain
clauses that impede consumer rights in substantial and often unexpected
ways.