The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : CII demands amendments to Information Technology Act

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 19, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

CII demands amendments to Information Technology Act

Special Correspondent

`Government should act as enabler, not regulator'

CHENNAI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has sought amendments to the Central Information Technology Act, 2000, to cater to the current and emerging needs.

"The Act was drawn up when there was a lot of hype about e-commerce," said Ranjit Pisharoty, convenor, IT and BPO Panel, CII - Tamil Nadu. E-commerce did not grow as forecast, but IT and Business Process Outsourcing progressed in many other spheres. Hence, the CII set up a working group on Information Security and IT Act to suggest solutions to issues relating to information security. It focussed on assessing problems in cyber security, technology neutrality and due diligence."

The working group presented a set of suggestions to the Union Information Technology Secretary after discussions with the various stake holders, said R. Ramamurthy, CII National Council Member and vice-chairman, Cyber Society of India. "In our view, the Government needs to do 25 per cent of the work listed, while the industry needs to do the remaining 75 per cent," he said.

The Government's role should be that of an enabler for IT and Information Technology-Enabled Services business and not that of a regulator, he said.

Addressing mediapersons here on Thursday, Mr. Pisharoty said there was a need to evolve a fast-track method to solve cases related to IT to contain the extent of damage.

Mobile commerce issues and standards in remote access through mobile devices also need to be addressed.

The group felt there was an immediate need to increase awareness among enforcing officers, the police and the people.

The industry wanted higher penalty for any security breach. It should be commensurate with the loss suffered by the organisation.

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