Beware of Cyber crimes
Beware of hacking into a website, manipulating data or even simply deleting files that aren't yours. A new Computer Crime Act will soon make cyber offences punishable acts, with the offenders liable to be fined Rs. 200,000 or face two years imprisonment or both.
Cabinet has already approved the draft legislation, and according to sources at the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Act will be taken up in Parliament shortly for enactment.
The Act, drafted by Committee on Law and Computer of the Council for Information Technology and Computer (CINTEC), will deem all unauthorised computer activities illegal with the offender liable to a fine not exceeding Rs.200,000 or imprisonment of maximum of two years.
According to Committee member Kolitha Dharmawardena, the activities to be deemed illegal include unauthorised disclosures, removal, deletion, obstruction and manipulation of information.
Cyber crimes when notified will be investigated by the CID with the assistance of computer experts assigned by the ministry and officials of the Attorney General's Department. "The investigation team will function as a committee and will be vested with special powers to monitor and investigate computer crimes and arrest the suspects," explained Dharmawardena.
"A new draft on 'intellectual property rights' will also be introduced soon to deal with issues relating to computer software piracy. This is expected to go side by side with the proposed Computer Crime Act," he said. "Eighty per cent of the computer software in the country is illegal," he said, adding that they could be prevented once the proposed Act has been fully enforced.
Source: www.sundayobserver.lk
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