Unit -1

Fundamentals of Cyber Law

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.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity 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 Cybersecurity 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 Cybersecurity Policy. The purpose
of this government body is to protect the public and private infrastructure from cyber-
attacks.

Cybersecurity Policy

The cybersecurity 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 cybersecurity 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 cybersecurity
framework, which leads to detailed actions and programs to increase the security
carriage of cyberspace.
Cyber Crime

The Information Technology Act 2000 or any legislation in the Country does not
describe or mention the term Cyber Crime. It can be globally considered as the
gloomier face of technology. The only difference between a traditional crime and a
cyber-crime is that the cyber-crime involves in a crime related to computers. Let us see
the following example to understand it better −
Traditional Theft − A thief breaks into Ram’s house and steals an object kept in the
house.
Hacking − A Cyber Criminal/Hacker sitting in his own house, through his computer,
hacks the computer of Ram and steals the data saved in Ram’s computer without
physically touching the computer or entering in Ram’s house.
The I.T. Act, 2000 defines the terms −
 access in computer network in section 2(a)
 computer in section 2(i)
 computer network in section (2j)
 data in section 2(0)
 information in section 2(v).
To understand the concept of Cyber Crime, you should know these laws. The object of
offence or target in a cyber-crime are either the computer or the data stored in the
computer.

Nature of Threat

Among the most serious challenges of the 21st century are the prevailing and possible
threats in the sphere of cybersecurity. Threats originate from all kinds of sources, and
mark themselves in disruptive activities that target individuals, businesses, national
infrastructures, and governments alike. The effects of these threats transmit significant
risk for the following −

 public safety
 security of nations
 stability of the globally linked international community
Malicious use of information technology can easily be concealed. It is difficult to
determine the origin or the identity of the criminal. Even the motivation for the
disruption is not an easy task to find out. Criminals of these activities can only be
worked out from the target, the effect, or other circumstantial evidence. Threat actors
can operate with considerable freedom from virtually anywhere. The motives for
disruption can be anything such as −

 simply demonstrating technical prowess

 theft of money or information
 extension of state conflict, etc.
Criminals, terrorists, and sometimes the State themselves act as the source of these
threats. Criminals and hackers use different kinds of malicious tools and approaches.
With the criminal activities taking new shapes every day, the possibility for harmful
actions propagates.

Enabling People

The lack of information security awareness among users, who could be a simple school
going kid, a system administrator, a developer, or even a CEO of a company, leads to a
variety of cyber vulnerabilities. The awareness policy classifies the following actions
and initiatives for the purpose of user awareness, education, and training −
 A complete awareness program to be promoted on a national level.
 A comprehensive training program that can cater to the needs of the national
information security (Programs on IT security in schools, colleges, and
universities).
 Enhance the effectiveness of the prevailing information security training
programs. Plan domain-specific training programs (e.g., Law Enforcement,
Judiciary, E-Governance, etc.)
 Endorse private-sector support for professional information security
certifications.

Information Technology Act

The Government of India enacted The Information Technology Act with some major
objectives which are as follows −
 To deliver lawful recognition for transactions through electronic data
interchange (EDI) and other means of electronic communication, commonly
referred to as electronic commerce or E-Commerce. The aim was to use
replacements of paper-based methods of communication and storage of
information.
 To facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and
further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the
Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and
for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Information Technology Act, 2000, was thus passed as the Act No.21 of 2000. The
I. T. Act got the President’s assent on June 9, 2000 and it was made effective from
October 17, 2000. By adopting this Cyber Legislation, India became the 12th nation in
the world to adopt a Cyber Law regime.

Mission and Vision Cybersecurity Program

Mission

The following mission caters to cybersecurity −

 To safeguard information and information infrastructure in cyberspace.
 To build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats.
  To reduce vulnerabilities and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a
combination of institutional structures, people, processes, technology, and
cooperation.

Vision

To build a secure and resilient cyberspace for citizens, businesses, and Government.

Cyber Law - Objectives

The recent Edward Snowden revelations on the US surveillance program PRISM have
demonstrated how a legal entity network and computer system outside a particular
jurisdiction is subject to surveillance without the knowledge of such legal entities.
Cyber cases related to interception and snooping are increasing at an alarming rate. To
curb such crimes, cyber laws are being amended quite regularly.

Emerging Trends of Cyber Law

Reports reveal that upcoming years will experience more cyber-attacks. So

organizations are advised to strengthen their data supply chains with better inspection
methods.
Some of the emerging trends of cyber law are listed below −
 Stringent regulatory rules are put in place by many countries to prevent
unauthorized access to networks. Such acts are declared as penal offences.
 Stakeholders of the mobile companies will call upon the governments of the
world to reinforce cyber-legal systems and administrations to regulate the
emerging mobile threats and crimes.
 The growing awareness on privacy is another upcoming trend. Google’s chief
internet expert Vint Cerf has stated that privacy may actually be an anomaly.
 Cloud computing is another major growing trend. With more advancements in
the technology, huge volumes of data will flow into the cloud which is not
completely immune to cyber-crimes.
 The growth of Bitcoins and other virtual currency is yet another trend to watch
out for. Bitcoin crimes are likely to multiply in the near future.
 The arrival and acceptance of data analytics, which is another major trend to be
followed, requires that appropriate attention is given to issues concerning Big
Data.

Create Awareness

While the U.S. government has declared October as the National Cybersecurity
Awareness month, India is following the trend to implement some stringent awareness
scheme for the general public.
The general public is partially aware of the crimes related to virus transfer. However,
they are unaware of the bigger picture of the threats that could affect their cyber-lives.
There is a huge lack of knowledge on e-commerce and online banking cyber-crimes
among most of the internet users.
Be vigilant and follow the tips given below while you participate in online activities −
 Filter the visibility of personal information in social sites.
 Do not keep the "remember password" button active for any email address and
passwords
 Make sure your online banking platform is secure.
 Keep a watchful eye while shopping online.
 Do not save passwords on mobile devices.
 Secure the login details for mobile devices and computers, etc.

Areas of Development

The "Cyberlaw Trends in India 2013" and "Cyber law Developments in India in 2014"
are two prominent and trustworthy cyber-law related research works provided by
Perry4Law Organization (P4LO) for the years 2013 and 2014.
There are some grave cyber law related issues that deserve immediate consideration
by the government of India. The issues were put forward by the Indian cyber law
roundup of 2014 provided by P4LO and Cyber Crimes Investigation Centre of India
(CCICI). Following are some major issues −

 A better cyber law and effective cyber-crimes prevention strategy

 Cyber-crimes investigation training requirements
 Formulation of dedicated encryption laws
 Legal adoption of cloud computing
 Formulation and implementation of e-mail policy
 Legal issues of online payments
 Legality of online gambling and online pharmacies
 Legality of Bitcoins
 Framework for blocking websites
 Regulation of mobile applications
With the formation of cyber-law compulsions, the obligation of banks for cyber-thefts
and cyber-crimes would considerably increase in the near future. Indian banks would
require to keep a dedicated team of cyber law experts or seek help of external experts
in this regard.
The transactions of cyber-insurance should be increased by the Indian insurance
sector as a consequence of the increasing cyber-attacks and cyber-crimes.

International Network on Cybersecurity

To create an international network on cybersecurity, a conference was held in March

2014 in New Delhi, India.
The objectives set in the International Conference on Cyberlaw & Cybercrime are as
follows −
 To recognize the developing trends in Cyberlaw and the legislation impacting
cyberspace in the current situation.
 To generate better awareness to battle the latest kinds of cybercrimes impacting
all investors in the digital and mobile network.
 To recognize the areas for stakeholders of digital and mobile network where
Cyberlaw needs to be further evolved.
 To work in the direction of creating an international network of cybercrimes.
Legal authorities could then be a significant voice in the further expansion of
cyber-crimes and cyber law legislations throughout the globe.

Cyber Law is the law governing cyber space. Cyber space is a very wide term and
includes computers, networks, software, data storage devices (such as hard disks, USB
disks etc), the Internet, websites, emails and even electronic devices such as cell phones,
ATM machines etc.

Law encompasses the rules of conduct:

1. that have been approved by the government, and
2. which are in force over a certain territory, and
3. which must be obeyed by all persons on that territory.

Violation of these rules could lead to government action such as imprisonment or fine or
an order to pay compensation.

Cyber law encompasses laws relating to:

1. Cyber Crimes
2. Electronic and Digital Signatures
3. Intellectual Property
4. Data Protection and Privacy

Cyber crimes are unlawful acts where the computer is used either as a tool or a target
or both. The enormous growth in electronic commerce (e-commerce) and online share
trading has led to a phenomenal spurt in incidents of cyber crime. These crimes are
discussed in detail further in this chapter. A comprehensive discussion on the Indian
law relating to cybercrimes and digital evidence is provided in the ASCL publication
titled “Cyber Crimes & Digital Evidence – Indian Perspective”.

Electronic signatures are used to authenticate electronic records. Digital signatures

are one type of electronic signature. Digital signatures satisfy three major legal
requirements – signer
authentication, message authentication and message integrity. The technology and
efficiency of digital signatures makes them more trustworthy than hand written
signatures. These issues are discussed in detail in the ASCL publication titled
“Ecommerce – Legal Issues”.
Intellectual property is refers to creations of the human mind e.g. a story, a song, a
painting, a design etc. The facets of intellectual property that relate to cyber space are
covered by cyber law.
 copyright law in relation to computer software, computer source code,
websites, cell phone content etc,
 software and source code licences
 trademark law with relation to domain names, meta tags, mirroring, framing,
linking etc
 semiconductor law which relates to the protection of semiconductor integrated
circuits design and layouts,
 patent law in relation to computer hardware and software

Need for Cyber Law

There are various reasons why it is extremely difficult for conventional law to cope with
cyberspace. Some of these are discussed below.
1. Cyberspace is an intangible dimension that is impossible to govern and regulate
using conventional law.
2. Cyberspace has complete disrespect for jurisdictional boundaries. A person in
India could break into a bank’s electronic vault hosted on a computer in USA and
transfer millions of Rupees to another bank in Switzerland, all within minutes.
All he would need is a laptop computer and a cell phone.
3. Cyberspace handles gigantic traffic volumes every second. Billions of emails
are crisscrossing the globe even as we read this, millions of websites are being
accessed every minute and billions of dollars are electronically transferred
around the world by banks every day.
4. Cyberspace is absolutely open to participation by all. A tenyear- old in Bhutan
can have a live chat session with an eightyear- old in Bali without any regard for
the distance or the anonymity between them.
5. Cyberspace offers enormous potential for anonymity to its members. Readily
available encryption software and steganographic tools that seamlessly hide
information within image and sound files ensure the confidentiality of
information exchanged between cyber-citizens.
6. Cyberspace offers never-seen-before economic efficiency. Billions of dollars
worth of software can be traded over the Internet without the need for any
government licenses, shipping and handling charges and without paying any
customs duty.
7. Electronic information has become the main object of cyber crime. It is
characterized by extreme mobility, which exceeds by far the mobility of
persons, goods or other services. International computer networks can transfer
huge amounts of data around the globe in a matter of seconds.
8. A software source code worth crores of rupees or a movie can be pirated across
the globe within hours of their release.
9. Theft of corporeal information (e.g. books, papers, CD ROMs, floppy disks) is
easily covered by traditional penal provisions. However, the problem begins
when electronic records are copied quickly, inconspicuously and often via
telecommunication facilities. Here the “original” information, so to say, remains
in the “possession” of the “owner” and yet information gets stolen.
Jurisprudence of Indian Cyber Law, Object and Scope of the
IT Act 2000
The primary source of cyber law in India is the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT
Act) which came into force on 17 October 2000.
 The primary purpose of the Act is to provide legal recognition to electronic
commerce and to facilitate filing of electronic records with the Government.
 The IT Act also penalizes various cyber-crimes and provides strict punishments
(imprisonment terms upto 10 years and compensation up to Rs 1 crore).
 An Executive Order dated 12 September 2002 contained instructions relating
provisions of the Act with regard to protected systems and application for the
issue of a Digital Signature Certificate.
 Minor errors in the Act were rectified by the Information Technology
(Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2002 which was passed on 19 September
2002.
 The IT Act was amended by the Negotiable Instruments (Amendments and
Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002. This introduced the concept of electronic
cheques and truncated cheques.
 Information Technology (Use of Electronic Records and Digital Signatures)
Rules, 2004 has provided the necessary legal framework for filing of documents
with the Government as well as issue of licenses by the Government.

It also provides for payment and receipt of fees in relation to the Government bodies.

On the same day, the Information Technology (Certifying Authorities) Rules, 2000
also came into force.
 These rules prescribe the eligibility, appointment and working of Certifying
Authorities (CA). These rules also lay down the technical standards, procedures
and security methods to be used by a CA.
 These rules were amended in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
 Information Technology (Certifying Authority) Regulations, 2001 came into
force on 9 July 2001. They provide further technical standards and procedures to
be used by a CA.
 Two important guidelines relating to CAs were issued. The first are the
Guidelines for submission of application for license to operate as a Certifying
Authority under the IT Act. These guidelines were issued on 9th July 2001.
 Next were the Guidelines for submission of certificates and certification
revocation lists to the Controller of Certifying Authorities for publishing in
National Repository of Digital Certificates. These were issued on 16 th December
2002.

The Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 2000 also came into
force on 17th October 2000.
 These rules prescribe the appointment and working of the Cyber Regulations
Appellate Tribunal (CRAT) whose primary role is to hear appeals against orders
of the Adjudicating Officers.
  The Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal (Salary, Allowances and other
terms and conditions of service of Presiding Officer) Rules, 2003 prescribe
the salary, allowances and other terms for the Presiding Officer of the CRAT.
 Information Technology (Other powers of Civil Court vested in Cyber
Appellate Tribunal) Rules 2003 provided some additional powers to the CRAT.

On 17th March 2003, the Information Technology (Qualification and Experience of

Adjudicating Officers and Manner of Holding Enquiry) Rules, 2003 were passed.
 These rules prescribe the qualifications required for Adjudicating Officers. Their
chief responsibility under the IT Act is to adjudicate on cases such as
unauthorized access, unauthorized copying of data, spread of viruses, denial of
service attacks, disruption of computers, computer manipulation etc.
 These rules also prescribe the manner and mode of inquiry and adjudication by
these officers.

The appointment of adjudicating officers to decide the fate of multi-crore cybercrime

cases in India was the result of the public interest litigation filed by students of
Asian School of Cyber Laws (ASCL).

The Government had not appointed the Adjudicating Officers or the Cyber Regulations
Appellate Tribunal for almost 2 years after the passage of the IT Act. This prompted
ASCL students to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court asking
for a speedy
appointment of Adjudicating officers.
The Bombay High Court, in its order dated 9th October 2002, directed the Central
Government to announce the appointment of adjudicating officers in the public media to
make people aware of the appointments. The division bench of the Mumbai High Court
consisting of Hon’ble Justice A.P. Shah and Hon’ble Justice Ranjana Desai also ordered
that the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal be constituted within a reasonable time
frame.
Following this the Central Government passed an order dated 23rd March 2003
appointing the “Secretary of Department of Information Technology of each of the
States or of Union Territories” of India as the adjudicating officers.

The Information Technology (Security Procedure) Rules, 2004 came into force on
29th October 2004. They prescribe provisions relating to secure digital signatures and
secure electronic records. Also relevant are the Information Technology (Other
Standards) Rules, 2003.

An important order relating to blocking of websites was passed on 27th February,

2003.

Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IND) can instruct Department of

Telecommunications (DOT) to block a website.
The Indian Penal Code (as amended by the IT Act) penalizes several cyber crimes.
These include forgery of electronic records, cyber frauds, destroying electronic evidence
etc. Digital Evidence is to be collected and proven in court as per the provisions of the
Indian Evidence Act (as amended by the IT Act).
In case of bank records, the provisions of the Bankers’ Book Evidence Act (as
amended by the IT Act) are relevant. Investigation and adjudication of cyber crimes is
done in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the IT
Act.

The Reserve Bank of India Act was also amended by the IT Act.

Unicitral Model Law

1. The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration was adopted

by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on
21 June 1985, at the close of the Commission's 18th annual session. The General
Assembly, in its resolution 40/72 of 11 December 1985, recommended "that all
States give due consideration to the Model Law on International Commercial
Arbitration, in view of the desirability of uniformity of the law of arbitral
procedures and the specific needs of international commercial arbitration
practice".
2. The Model Law constitutes a sound and promising basis for the desired
harmonisation and improvement of national laws. It covers all stages of the
arbitral process from the arbitration agreement to the recognition and
enforcement of the arbitral award and reflects a worldwide consensus on the
principles and important issues of international arbitration practice. It is
acceptable to States of all regions and the different legal or economic systems of
the world.
3. The form of a model law was chosen as the vehicle for harmonization and
improvement in view of the flexibility it gives to States in preparing new
arbitration laws. It is advisable to follow the model as closely as possible since
that would be the best contribution to the desired harmonisation and in the best
interest of the users of international arbitration, who are primarily foreign
parties and their lawyers.
BACKGROUND TO THE MODEL LAW
The Model Law is designed to meet concerns relating to the current state of national
laws on arbitration. The need for improvement and harmonisation is based on findings
that domestic laws are often inappropriate for international cases and that considerable
disparity exists between them.

A. Inadequacy of domestic laws

1. A global survey of national laws on arbitration revealed considerable disparities
not only as regards individual provisions and solutions but also in terms of
development and refinement. Some laws may be regarded as outdated,
sometimes going back to the nineteenth century and often equating the arbitral
process with court litigation. Other laws may be said to be fragmentary in that
they do not address all relevant issues. Even most of those laws which appear to
be up-to-date and comprehensive were drafted with domestic arbitration
primarily, if not exclusively, in mind. While this approach is understandable in
view of the fact that even today the bulk of cases governed by a general
arbitration law would be of a purely domestic nature, the unfortunate
consequence is that traditional local concepts are imposed on international cases
and the needs of modern practice are often not met.
2. The expectations of the parties as expressed in a chosen set of arbitration rules
or a "one-off" arbitration agreement may be frustrated, especially by a
mandatory provision of the applicable law. Unexpected and undesired
 restrictions found in national laws relate, for example, to the parties' ability
effectively to submit future disputes to arbitration, to their power to select the
arbitrator freely, or to their interest in having the arbitral proceedings conducted
according to the agreed rules of procedure and with no more court involvement
than is appropriate. Frustrations may also ensue from non-mandatory provisions
which may impose undesired requirements on unwary parties who did not
provide otherwise. Even the absence of non-mandatory provisions may cause
difficulties by not providing answers to the many procedural issues relevant in
an arbitration and not always settled in the arbitration agreement.

B. Disparity between national laws

1. Problems and undesired consequences, whether emanating from mandatory

or non-mandatory provisions or from a lack of pertinent provisions, are
aggravated by the fact that national laws on arbitral procedure differ widely.
The differences are a frequent source of concern in international arbitration,
where at least one of the parties is, and often both parties are, confronted
with foreign and unfamiliar provisions and procedures. For such a party it
may be expensive, impractical or impossible to obtain a full and precise
account of the law applicable to the arbitration.
2. Uncertainty about the local law with the inherent risk of frustration may
adversely affect not only the functioning of the arbitral process but already
the selection of the place of arbitration. A party may well for those reasons
hesitate or refuse to agree to a place which otherwise, for practical reasons,
would be appropriate in the case at hand. The choice of places of arbitration
would thus be widened and the smooth functioning of the arbitral
proceedings would be enhanced if States were to adopt the Model Law which
is easily recognisable, meets the specific needs of international commercial
arbitration and provides an international standard with solutions acceptable
to parties from different States and legal systems.

ISP Guideline
1. ISPs must prevent unlawful content, messages or communications from being carried
on their network. This includes objectionable, obscene, unauthorized and other
content.
2. Once specific instances of such content are reported to the ISP by the enforcement
agencies, they must immediately prevent the carriage of such material on their
network.
3. ISPs must ensure that content carried by them does not infringe “international and
domestic cyber laws”.
4. The use of ISP networks for anti-national activities would be construed as an offence
punishable under the Indian Penal Code or other laws.
5. ISPs are required to comply with the IT Act provisions. They are responsible for any
damages arising out of default in this compliance.
6. ISPs must ensure that their networks cannot be used to endanger or make vulnerable a
networked infrastructure.
7. ISPs must ensure that their services are not used to break-in or attempt to break-in to
Indian networks.
8. ISPs must provide, without any delay, all the tracing facilities to trace nuisance,
obnoxious or malicious calls, messages or communications transported through their
equipment and network. These tracing facilities are to be provided to authorized
officers of Government of India including Police, Customs, Excise, Intelligence
Department officers etc.
9. ISPs must provide necessary facilities to the Government to counteract espionage,
subversive acts, sabotage or any other unlawful activity.

Cyber Law - Intellectual Property Right

Intellectual property rights are the legal rights that cover the privileges given to
individuals who are the owners and inventors of a work, and have created something
with their intellectual creativity. Individuals related to areas such as literature, music,
invention, etc., can be granted such rights, which can then be used in the business
practices by them.
The creator/inventor gets exclusive rights against any misuse or use of work without
his/her prior information. However, the rights are granted for a limited period of time
to maintain equilibrium.
The following list of activities which are covered by the intellectual property rights are
laid down by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) −

 Industrial designs
 Scientific discoveries
 Protection against unfair competition
 Literary, artistic, and scientific works
 Inventions in all fields of human endeavor
 Performances of performing artists, phonograms, and broadcasts
 Trademarks, service marks, commercial names, and designations
 All other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary, or
artistic fields

Types of Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual Property Rights can be further classified into the following categories −

 Copyright
 Patent
 Trade Secrets, etc.
Advantages of Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual property rights are advantageous in the following ways −
 Provides exclusive rights to the creators or inventors.
 Encourages individuals to distribute and share information and data instead of
keeping it confidential.
 Provides legal defense and offers the creators the incentive of their work.
 Helps in social and financial development.

Intellectual Property Rights in India

To protect the intellectual property rights in the Indian territory, India has defined the
formation of constitutional, administrative and jurisdictive outline whether they imply
the copyright, patent, trademark, industrial designs, or any other parts of the
intellectual property rights.
Back in the year 1999, the government passed an important legislation based on
international practices to safeguard the intellectual property rights. Let us have a
glimpse of the same −
 The Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999, facilitates the establishment of the mail
box system for filing patents. It offers exclusive marketing rights for a time
period of five years.
 The Trade Marks Bill, 1999, replaced the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act,
1958
 The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999, was signed by the President of India.
 The sui generis legislation was approved and named as the Geographical
Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Bill, 1999.
 The Industrial Designs Bill, 1999, replaced the Designs Act, 1911.
 The Patents (Second Amendment) Bill, 1999, for further amending the Patents
Act of 1970 in compliance with the TRIPS.
Intellectual Property in Cyber Space
Every new invention in the field of technology experiences a variety of threats. Internet
is one such threat, which has captured the physical marketplace and have converted it
into a virtual marketplace.
To safeguard the business interest, it is vital to create an effective property
management and protection mechanism keeping in mind the considerable amount of
business and commerce taking place in the Cyber Space.
Today it is critical for every business to develop an effective and collaborative IP
management mechanism and protection strategy. The ever-looming threats in the
cybernetic world can thus be monitored and confined.
Various approaches and legislations have been designed by the law-makers to up the
ante in delivering a secure configuration against such cyber-threats. However it is the
duty of the intellectual property right (IPR) owner to invalidate and reduce such mala
fide acts of criminals by taking proactive measures.

Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted
by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in
exchange for the public disclosure of an invention.

A Patent is a legal monopoly, which is granted for a limited time by a country to the
owner of an invention. Merely to have a patent does not give the owner the right to use
or exploit the patented invention. That right may still be affected by other laws such as
health and safety regulation, or the food and drugs regulation or even by other patents.
The patent, in the eyes of the law, is a property right and it can be given away, inherited,
sold, licensed and can even be abandoned. As it is conferred by the government, the
government, in certain cases even after grant or even if it has been, in the meantime,
sold or licensed, can revoke it.

The primary goal of the patent law is to encourage innovation and commercialization of
technological advances. Patent law incentivizes inventors to publicly disclose their
inventions in exchange for certain exclusive rights. A patent protects inventions. These
inventions can include new and useful processes, machines, manufactures,
compositions of matter as well as improvements to these. Certain computer programs
may fall within the subject matter protected by both patents and copyrights. In this
respect the patent system compliments copyright protection by providing protection for
functional aspects of the software, which are not protected by copyright. Unlike with
copyright protection, to get patent protection one must first apply for and be granted a
patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Unlike the copyright
registration process, the patent application process is expensive, complex, difficult, and
time consuming and generally should not be attempted without the assistance of an
experienced patent attorney or agent

Copyright
A copyright is a collection of rights automatically vested to you once you have created
an original work. To understand how these rights can be used or licensed, it is helpful to
analogize them to a bundle of sticks, where each stick represents a separate right vested
to you as the owner. These rights include the right to reproduce the work, to prepare
derivative works, to distribute copies, to perform the work publicly, and to display the
work publicly.

As the copyright owner, you have the authority to keep each “stick,” to transfer them
individually to one or more people, or to transfer them collectively to one or more
people. This can be accomplished through licensing, assigning, and other forms of
transfers. The power of copyright allows you to choose the way your work is made
available to the public.

Trademark?
According to the USPTO, “a trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that
identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. A
service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes
the source of a service rather than goods. Examples include brand names, slogans, and
logos. (The term “trademark” is often used in a general sense to refer to both
trademarks and service marks.)” Similar to copyright, a person does not need not
register a trademark or service mark to receive protection rights, but there are certain
legal benefits to registering the mark with the USPTO. There is rarely an overlap
between trademark and copyright law but it can happen — for instance, when a graphic
illustration is used as a logo the design may be protected both under copyright and
trademark.

Law related to semiconductor layout & design

Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout Design(SICLD) Act, 2000, has come into
operation in India w.e.f. 4th September 2000. As per the provisions of this Act, Registrar
Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry under the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been appointed with its head
office.The Registry maintains the Register of Layout-Designs and records in it the
registered layout-designs with the names, addresses, and descriptions of the proprietor
and such other matters related to the registered layout-designs.