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I.
PRELIMINARY
Short
Title, Extent, Commencement and Application
This Act
may be called the Information Technology Act, 2000.e or
contravention thereunder committed outside India by any
person.
&nbs
It shall
extend to the whole of India and, save as otherwise
provided in this Act, it applies also to any offencp;It shall
come into force on such date as the Central Governmany
reference in any such provision to the commencement of
this Act shall be construed as a reference to the
commencement of that provision. ent
may, by notification, appoint and different dates may be
appointed for different provisions of this Act and
Nothing
in this Act shall apply to,
a
"Negotiable Instrument "as defined in section 13 of the
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881;
a
"Power-of-Attorney" as defined in section 1 A of the
Powers-of-Attorney Act,1882;
a "Will"
as defined in clause (h) of section 2 of the Indian
Succession Act, 1925 including any otheuot;Trust"
as defined in section 3 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882;
a &qr testamentary
disposition by whatever name called;
any
"Contract for the Sale "or "Conveyance "of Immovable
property or any interest in such property;
any such
class of documents or transactions as may be notified by
the Central Government in the Official Gazette.
Definitions
In this
Act, unless the context otherwise requires,
"Access"
with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions
means gaining entry into, instructing or communicating
with the logical, arithmetical, or memory function
resources of a computer, computer system or computer
network;
"Addressee" means a person who is intended by the
originator to receive the electronic record but does
not include any intermediary;
"Adjudicating Officer" means adjudicating officer
appointed under subsection (1) of section 46;
"Affixing
Digital Signature" with its grammatical variations and
cognate expressions means adoption of any methodology
or procedure by a person for the purpose of
authenticating an electronic record by means of digital
signature;
"Appropriate Government" means as respects any matter.
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(i) |
enumerated in List II of the Seventh Schedule to the
Constitution; |
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(ii) |
relating to any State law enacted under List III of
the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, the State
Government and in any other case, the Central
Government; |
"Asymmetric Crypto System" means a system of a secure
key pair consisting of a private key for creating a
digital signature and a public key to verify the
digital signature;
"Certifying Authority" means a person who has been
granted a licence to issue a Digital Signature
Certificate under section 24;
"Certification Practice Statement" means a statement
issued by a Certifying Authority to specify the
practices that the Certifying Authority employs in
issuing Digital Signature Certificates;
"Computer" means any electronic, magnetic, optical or
other high-speed data processing device or system which
performs logical, arithmetic, and memory functions by
manipulations of electronic, magnetic or optical
impulses, and includes all input, output, processing,
storage, computer software, or communication facilities
which are connected or related to the computer in a
computer system or computer network; ore
computers through-
"Computer
Network" means the interconnection of one or m
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(i) |
the
use of satellite, microwave, terrestrial line or
other communication media; and |
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(ii) |
terminals or a complex consisting of two or more
interconnected computers whether or not the
interconnection is continuously maintained; |
"Computer Resource" means computer, computer system,
computer network, data, computer database or software;
"Computer
System" means a device or collection of devices,
including input and output support devices and
excluding calculators which are not programmable and
capable of being used in conjunction with external
files, which contain computer programmes, electronic
instructions, input data, and output data, that performs
logic, arithmetic, data storage and retrieval,
communication control and other functions;
"Controller" means the Controller of Certifying
Authorities appointed under sub-section (7) of section
17;
"Cyber
Appellate Tribunal" means the Cyber Regulations
Appellate Tribunal established under sub-section (1)
of section 48;
"Data"
means a representation of information, knowledge, facts,
concepts or instructions which are being prepared or
have been prepared in a formalised manner, and is
intended to be processed, is being processed or has
been processed in a computer system or computer
network. ,.and may be in any form (including computer
printouts magnetic or optical storage media, punched
cards, punched tapes) or stored internally in the memory
of the computer;
"Digital
Signature" means authentication of any electronic record
by a subscriber by means of an electronic method or
procedure in accordance with the provisions of section
3;
"Digital
Signature Certificate" means a Digital Signature
Certificate issued under sub-section (4) of section 35;
"Electronic Form" with reference to information means
any information generated, sent, received or stored in
media, magnetic, optical, computer memory, micro film,
computer generated micro fiche or similar device;
"Electronic Gazette" means official Gazette published in
the electronic form;
"Electronic Record" means data, record or data
generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in
an electronic form or micro film or computer generated
micro fiche;
"Function", in relation to a computer, includes logic,
control, arithmetical process, deletion, storage and
retrieval and communication or telecommunication from or
within a computer;
"Information" includes data, text, images, sound, voice,
codes, computer programmes, software and databases or
micro film or computer generated micro fiche;
"Intermediary" with respect to any particular electronic
message means any person who on behalf of another
person receives, stores or transmits that message or
provides any service with respect to that message;
"Key
Pair", in an asymmetric crypto system, means a private
key and its mathematically related public key, which
are so related that the public key can verify a digital
signature created by the private key;
"Law"
includes any Act of Parliament or of a State
Legislature, Ordinances promulgated by the President
or a Governor, as the case may be. Regulations made by
the President under article 240, Bills enacted as
President's Act under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of
article 357 of the Constitution and includes rules,
regulations, bye-laws and orders issued or made
thereunder
"Licence"
means a licence granted to a Certifying Authority under
section 24;
"Originator" means a person who sends, generates,
stores or transmits any electronic message or causes
any electronic message to be sent, generated, stored
or transmitted to any other person but does not include
an intermediary;
"Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this
Act;
"Private
Key" means the key of a key pair used to create a
digital signature;
"Public
Key" means the key of a key pair used to verify a
digital signature and listed in the Digital Signature
Certificate;
"Secure
System" means computer hardware, software, and procedure
that -:
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(a) |
are
reasonably secure from unauthorised access and
misuse; |
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(b) |
provide a reasonable level of reliability and
correct operation; |
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(c) |
are
reasonably suited to performing the intended
functions; and |
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(d) |
adhere to generally accepted security procedures; |
"Security
Procedure" means the security procedure prescribed
under section 16 by the Central Government;
"Subscriber" means a person in whose name the Digital
Signature Certificate is issued;
"Verify"
in relation to a digital signature, electronic record
or public key, with its grammatical variations and
cognate expressions means to determine whether
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(a) |
the
initial electronic record was affixed with the
digital signature by the use of private key
corresponding to the public key of the subscriber; |
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(b) |
the
initial electronic record is retained intact or has
been altered since such electronic record was so
affixed with the digital signature. |
Any
reference in this Act to any enactment or any provision
thereof shall, in relation to an area in which such
enactment or such provision is not in force, be
construed as a reference to the corresponding law or the
relevant provision of the corresponding law, if any, in
force in that area.
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