E-governance, Issues Concerning Democracy, National Sovereignty, Personal Freedom, Emerging Social Issues from Cyberspace, Digital Divide, Promotion of Global Commons, Open Source Movement, Laws and Entities Governing Cyberspace, Domestic Laws: Background of IT ACT – Part I, IT Act – Part II, International Treaties, Conventions and Protocols Concerning Cyberspace, Guidelines Issued by Various Ministries

1. Regulation of Cyberspace

2. E-governance
 E-governance is the short form of ‘electronic governance’.
Governance includes those processes and systems by which
an organization or a society operates. If governance is done
through the use of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) It is said to be E-governance.
 Thus in general E-governance denotes use of ICT in any
organization i.e. governing through electronic mode. But the
term is now used with a particular meaning and in a particular
context.
 E-governance uses ICT to induce changes in the delivery and
standards of governance services and more importantly, in
the way citizens interact and participate in governance.
 The meaning and use of the term E-governance is with
reference to the functions which are being performed by the
Government of any country.

3. COMPONENTS OF E-GOVERNANCE
 Government-Citizen Interface
 Government – Government Interface
 Government – Business Interface
 Government – Employee Interface
 Government – Society Interface

4. BENEFITS OF E-GOVERNANCE:
 Automation of Administrative Processes: Till now the
administrative process has been largely manual and involves
a large bureaucratic structure. ICT can be used to make this
system automatic.
 Workforce Reduction: The present governmental structure
is a behemoth. The government employs a large work force
for its various functions
 Better Service Delivery: E-governance would integrate
various departments to provide a single point of delivery of
services to citizens. Service delivery at the click of a button is
possible
 Technical & Supportive Role: ICT can be used to create a
paper free or a least paper office. It is possible to store the
entire information of the whole office in the hard disc of a
computer

5.  Transparency: E-governance aims at providing information
to all without discrimination.
 Economic Development: E-governance can bring
economic development to the remote areas of the country
 Social Development: E-governance brings all-round
changes not only in the governance but also in society
 Innovative Role: E-governance can be used to initiate new
governance services or new mechanisms for improved
service delivery
 Change in the Administrative Culture: E-governance will
change the administrative culture by making it more open,
transparent, accountable and responsive and citizen oriented

6. The challenges faced in implementing E-
governance are:
-> Lack of Resources
-> Lack of Infrastructure
-> Digital Divide
-> Lack of Relevant Information in Local Languages
-> Building E-governance Capacity
-> Security Issues in Cyberspace
-> Reluctant Bureaucracy

7. Digital Divide
 The term ‘Digital Divide’ combines two words in
itself: ‘Digital’ & ‘Divide’.
 The term ‘Digital’ here refers to Information &
Communication Technology (ICT) while ‘Divide’
means differences, disparity or gap.
 The term also refers to gaps between groups in
their ability to use ICTs due to varying literacy and
technical skills, and thegap in availability of quality,
useful digital content.
 The term was used for the first time in the mid-
1990s in reference to the disparity in Internet
access between rural and urban United States of
America.

8. IMPACT OF DIGITAL DIVIDE
 On Employment
In order to understand the impact of the divide on
employment we have to see how ICT has changed the work
scenario in the economy. By removing the obstacles to
communication ICT has made work independent of location.
ICT has created a new class of skilled workers who are highly
paid.
 On Development
ICT is associated with productivity improvements.
The exploitation of the ICT gives industries of a country a
competitive advantage. ICT opens up a whole new avenue of
economic activities including development of hardware and
software, online services, and many others.

9.  On National and Social Interest
Access to the ICT is an important
component of civil life. Telephone (including mobile services)
is often considered important for of security, and in
emrgencies. Internet is an important source of many vital
information regarding career, civic life, safety

10. PROMOTIONS OF GLOBAL COMMONS:
 Internet is a non-monetized domain of
communications, it is global in nature, an open
global commons, and is made up of a host of other
publicly accessible networks for the common
benefit.
 It has drastically reduced the cost of long distance
communication as it connects a hundred- thousand
networks of the entire world, which may be hosted,
by Government agencies, private companies,
universities etc. Similarly the content of Internet is a
voluntary common, anyone can be publishers, and
every type of subject matter of all levels of quality is
available.

11. OPEN SOURCE MOVEMENT
 Open source is a set of principles and practices
that promote access to the design and productions
of goods and knowledge. The term is commonly
applied to the source code knowledge.
 The term is commonly applied to the source code
of software that is available to the general public
with relaxed or non-existent intellectual property
rights.
 Open source denotes that the origins of a product
are publicly accessible in part or in whole.
 Open source groups, like those behind Linux
Operating System.

12. HISTORY OF OPEN SOURCE
 The history of open source is actually a very
interesting one. To start with, in the beginning there
was only one free (Libre) software.
 To start with, in the beginning there was only one
free (Libre) software.
 Later on proprietary software was born and it
quickly dominated the software landscape to the
extent that now it is usually considered as the only
possible model by many people.
 However, in recent times the free software has
again gained popularity During the 80’s and the
early 90’s open source software continued its
development.

13. International Law and the
importance of treaties
 In the last decades, relations among States have
become increasingly complex – heightening the need to
strengthen and promote international law and the rule of
law at the national and international levels.
 The United Nations Secretary-General has, in numerous
statements and reports, consistently emphasized the
importance of participation in and the domestic
implementation of treaty-based norms and international
legal principals.
13

14. 14
LAW
National Law Foreign Law International Law

15. 15
Sources of
international law
(Art. 38 of the
Statute of the ICJ)
Treaties
International
custom
General
principles
of law
Judicial
decisions
and teachings

16. Treaties
Bilateral
treaties
Multiple bilateral
treaties
Multilateral
treaties
16

17. The Vienna Convention 1969 defines a treaty as
"an international agreement concluded between
States in written form and governed by international
law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in
two or more related instruments and whatever its
particular designation" (article 2(1)(a)).
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What is a “Treaty”

18. Rule of Law
The international rule of
law contributes to order
and stability, and
enhances each nation’s
independence and
security.
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19. Rule of Law and the Treaty Framework
 SG Ban Ki-Moon is
making the rule of law an
important theme of his
tenure. He has stated
that “[t]ogether, by
participating in the
international treaty
framework, we can
succeed in advancing our
mission of building a
global society based on
respect for the rule of
law.”
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20. UN Office of Legal Affairs
 The Office of the Legal Counsel
 The General Legal Division
 The Codification Division
 The International Trade Law Division, the
Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the
Sea
 The Treaty Section
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21. Treaty Section
Objectives
 Contribute to the rule of law by:
◦ Improving access to treaties and treaty related
information;
◦ Promoting broader State participation in the
multilateral treaty framework;
◦ Enhancing understanding of technical and legal
aspects of participating in treaties and registering
treaties with the Secretariat.
21

22. Treaty Section Activities
 Assist States in signing and becoming party
to treaties
 Advise on issues and questions of
international treaty law
 Perform the function of the SG as depositary
for multilateral treaties
 Advise on reservations, declarations and
final clauses to treaties
 Register treaties submitted under Article 102
of the UN Charter
 Publish treaties in the UN Treaty Series
 Provide capacity-building trainings and
organize special treaty events
22

23. UN General Assembly support
for treaties
 The 2005 Outcome Document of the General
Assembly High-Level Summit supported the
annual Treaty Event and specifically
encouraged “States that have not yet done
so to consider becoming parties to …
treaties” in a range of subject areas.
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24. Information Technology Act, 2000
 The Information Technology Act, 2000 (also known
as ITA-2000, or the IT Act) is an Act of the Indian
Parliament (No 21 of 2000) notified on 17 October
2000. It is the primary law in India dealing
with cybercrime and electronic commerce.
 It is based on the United Nations Model Law on
Electronic Commerce 1996 (UNCITRAL Model)
recommended by the General Assembly of United
Nations by a resolution dated 30 January 1997.
 The bill was passed in the budget session of 2000 and
signed by President K. R. Narayanan on 9 May 2000.
The bill was finalised by group of officials headed by
then Minister of Information Technology Pramod
Mahajan.

25. Guidelines Issued by Various Ministries
 Different ministries under the Government of India
as also State Governments have come out with
guidelines and policy related to information
technology.
 Under the Government of India the most important
guidelines pertaining to the information and
communication technologies have been issued by
the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology and under it the Department of
Information Technology and also the Department of
Telecommunications.
 Guidelines and regulations issued by regulators
like the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India also
have a strong bearing on the subject

26. Broadband Policy , 2004
 The Ministry of Communication and Information
Technology came out with the Broadband Policy in
2004, recognising the potential of the ubiquitous
Broadband service in the growth of GDP and
enhancement in quality of life through societal
applications including tele-education, tele-
medicine, egovernance, entertainment as well as
employment generation by way of high speed
access to information and web-based
communication.
 The policy explains: it is a fact that the demand for
Broadband is primarily conditioned and driven by
Internet and PC penetration.

27. In Internet Domain Name –Policy
Framework
 Department of Information Technology of the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology came up
with an .IN Internet Domain Name – Policy Framework
and Implementation in October 2004
 Globally, there are approximately 60 million Internet
domain names registered.
 Of these, about 40 million are in generic top level
domain (gTLD) category, while the remaining 20 million
are in country code top level domain (ccTLD) category.
 The administration of gTLD rests with the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), an internationally organized non profit
corporation, with membership from different countries
and experts in the field.

28. Draft Policy guidelines on Web-site
Development, Hosting and Maintenance
 The Department of Administrative Reforms and
Public Grievances under the Ministry of Personnel,
Public Grievances and Pensions issued Draft
Policy guidelines on Web-site Development,
Hosting and Maintenance for the guidance of other
ministries and departments of the government.
 The guidelines have been laid down with the
objective of inspiring and facilitating the “realization
of an e-government, which encompasses interlaid
the development and deployment of citizen centric
services through web enabled processes,
electronic workflows, enabled applications,
collaborative partnerships and participation of
citizens, clients and stakeholders”.