|
|
             |
BT DOTCOM: STATS & STRATS What's Hot! All said and not done, it's a time for celebration: finally, a law is in place to monitor the Indian internet economy. Dark clouds loom over HT's sunshine portal go4i.com, even as Indian Oil starts dreaming broadband. e-lead
 So, a beaming it minister Pramod Mahajan-who
will head a 21-member Cyber Regulatory Advisory Committee-has finally
made it official. For once, thanks to the it Act 2000, India is at the
forefront of legislation on the internet. However, at the risk of
sounding trite, it's early days yet. For one, there are gaps relating
to privacy and security. E-mail may now be official evidence, but any
eight-year-old can tamper with it. Then, e-commerce sites are happy,
but that's no reason to ignore issues related to taxation. Says Sanjiv
Agrawal, Head (Internet Group), Ernst & Young: ''Not the best law,
but some form of law is in place.'' Adds Sanjiva Dubey, CEO, Raffles
Software: ''The machinery is not yet equipped with the control
mechanism.'' |