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India's IT state to restrict surfing
October 20, 2004
Bangalore - India's southern state of Karnataka, of which the technology hub of
Bangalore is the capital, is to restrict the use of Internet cafe to fight
cybercrime and pornography, an official said Thursday.
Proposed new laws will make it compulsory for those using cybercafe to carry a
photo-identity card and enter their details on an address book to be kept at
the counter.
If no identity card is available, customers will be photographed by a webcamera
at the cafe and their photographs will be stored in the computer for a year.
"The main aim is to prevent the misuse of cybercafe," said M.K. Shankaralinge
Gowda, secretary in the state's Information Technology and Biotechnology
Department. "It is meant to fight cybercrimes and pornography."
The law would be passed very soon, Gowda told AFP. "A bit of regulation is
necessary and we do not want freedom to be misused."
Industry pundits, IT bodies and users, however, slammed the planned
legislation, arguing it was an infringement of individual rights and will deal
a severe blow to the industry which has been fighting to bring Internet access
to the poor.
India's premier IT body, the National Association of Software and Service
Companies (Nasscom), said the move would not help tackle the problem of
security or pornography.
"It is not a good idea at all," said Nasscom president Kiran Karnik. "We
understand that there are security compulsions but this step will not be useful
or good to tackle it as the system can still be abused either by the cafe's
owner or by customers."
Kiran said a majority of the Internet users in India used cybercafe as they
could not afford to buy a computer.
"I do not think checking and registration of subscribers is a good idea. It
also infringes on individual freedom," he told AFP.
"This move will kill (the cybercafe business. In India Internet access is a
problem. The rich own personal computers while the poor cannot even afford to
use it," he added.
According to Nasscom, there were an estimated 13 million Internet users in
India last year. The base grew from less than a million subscribers in 1998.
Ashish Saboo, president of the Association of Public Internet Access Providers,
a body of cybercafe owners, said the government step would hit the industry
hard.
"Operating a cybercafe is no longer a lucrative business," said Ashish. "When
these regulations come into effect, I wonder how many will still risk
operating?"
He said revenues of cybercafe were on the decline even though "about 30% " of
India's total Internet users depend on them.
Over the couple of years fierce competition has cut the cost of accessing the
Internet at cybercafe to as little as 15 rupees (about RM2.50) an hour.
K. Kartik, a business management student who was waiting outside a cybercafe in
downtown Bangalore for his turn to surf the Internet, called on the government
to scrap its plan.
"This is not an appropriate way to tackle cybercrimes, terrorists or
pornography viewers. I will object to being photographed. It is an absurd
solution," he said.
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