Q.1 Distinguish Between Fraud and Misrepresentation. Ans

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Q.1 Distinguish between fraud and misrepresentation.

Ans: -

Although most individuals use the terms “fraud” and


“misrepresentation” synonymously, the two are far from being
same. In fact they can be looked upon as complete opposites. In a
case involving civil wrong, the representing party can claim
monetary compensation for the fraud/misrepresentation (whichever
the case may be) as well as terminate the terms and conditions of
the liaison.

When the representing party knows that his or her plea is baseless
and untrue, then this individual is committing fraud. However, there
are many individuals who are convinced wrongly of a situation by a
third party. In such a case, it is one of misrepresentation because
the defendant actually believes the basis of his or her plea.

Fraud is a crime punishable by the law because it is an intentional


wrong committed by the party. In misrepresentation there are no
such consequences, generally speaking.

If a fraud is to proven, then each of the following parameters need


to be proven in a court of law:

1. The physical proof presented by the defendant


2. The proof thus presented is incorrect
3. The defendant purposely made false representations (was
aware of the falsehood)
4. The false proofs were made with the intention of duping the
plaintiff
5. The defendant succeeded in duping the plaintiff
6. The plaintiff suffered loses due to the fraud
If you are a plaintiff involved in committing a misrepresentation
then you must prove the following parameters:

1. Validity of the evidence presented by the plaintiff


2. The claims were with regard to some legal agreement
between the defending and the pleading party
3. False representation of facts at the time of entering into the
agreement
4. The plaintiff was induced into entering the agreement by the
defendant
5. The agreement resulted in loss for the plaintiff
6. This loss was a gain for the defendant

Although it may not be possible for the plaintiff to prove the


defendant as a fraudster, it is still possible for the former to validate
his situation as that of a misrepresentation.

Difference between fraud and misinterpretation:-

1. In misrepresentation the person making the false statement believes


it to be true. In fraud the false statement is person who knows that
it is false or he does not care to know whether it is true or false.

2. There is no intention to deceive the other party when there is


misrepresentation of fact. The very purpose of the fraud is to
deceive the other party to the contract.

3. Misrepresentation renders the contract voidable at the option of the


party whose consent was obtained by misrepresentation. In the
case of fraud the contract is voidable It also gives rise to an
independent action in tort for damages.
4. Misrepresentation is not an offence under Indian penal code and
hence not punishable. Fraud, In certain cases is a punishable
offence under Indian penal code.

5. Generally, silence is not fraud except where there is a duty to speak


or the relations between parties is fiduciary. Under no
circumstances can silence be considered as misrepresentation

6. The party complaining of misrepresentation can’t avoid the contract


if he had the means to discover the truth with ordinary deligance.
But in the case of fraud, the party making a false statement cannot
say that the other party had the means to discover the truth with
ordinary deligance.
Q.2 What are the remedies for breach of contract.
Ans:-
Remedies for breach of contract being a fountainhead of a
correlative set of rights and obligations for the parties, would be of
no value, if there were no remedies to enforce the rights arising

there under. The party committing breach of contract is called the


‘guilt party’ and the other party is called the ‘injured’ or ‘aggrieved’

party. In case of breach of contract, the aggrieved party would have


one or more, but not all, of the following remedies against

the guilty party.

The remedies are:


1. Suit for rescission,

2. Suit for damages,

3. Suit for quantum meruit,

4. Suit for specific performance,


5. Suit for injunction,

1. Suit for rescission :


The breach of contract no doubt discharges the contract, but the
aggrieved party may sometimes need to approach the court to
grant him a formal rescission, i.e. cancellation, of the contract.
This will enable him to be free from his own obligations under
the contract.

2. Suit for damages :


The word ‘damages’ means monetary compensation for loss
suffered. Whenever a breach of contract takes place, the remedy
of ‘damages’ is the one that comes to mind immediately as the

consequence of breach. A breach of contract may put the


aggrieved party to some disadvantage or inconvenience or may
cause a loss to him. The court would desire the guilty part to
accept responsibility for any such loss of the aggrieved party and
compensate him adequately. The quantum of damages is
determined by the magnitude of loss caused by breach.

3. Suit for quantum meruit :


The term quantum meruit means ‘as much as earned’. It implies
‘a payment deserved by a person for the reason of actual work
done’. When a party has done some work under a contract, and
the other party repudiates the contract or somehow the full
performance of the contract becomes impossible, then the party
who has done the work can claim remuneration for the work
under a suit for quantum meruit. Likewise, where one party has
expressly or impliedly requested another to render him a service
without specifying any remuneration, but the circumstances of the
request imply that the service is to be paid for, there is implied a
promise to pay quantum meruit. Even in the case of where the
person who has done the work is the one who is guilty of breach
of contract, he too is entitled to be paid quantum meruit. But
there is an exception – such a contract must have involved work
that was indivisible and it must not have been a contract for

lumpsum remuneration.

4. Suit for specific performance:


In certain cases of breach of a contract, damages may not be an
adequate remedy. Then the Court may direct the party in
breach to carry out his promise according to the terms of the
contract. This is a direction by the Court for specific
performance of the contract at the suit of the party not in
breach. But in general, Courts do not wish to compel a party to
do that which he has already refused to do.
Chapter 2 of the Specific Relief Act,1963 lays down detailed rules
on the specific performance of Contracts.
Cases where specific performance may be ordered:
(i) Where there exists no standard for ascertaining the
actual damage caused to the aggrieved party by
the non- performance
(ii) Where monetary compensation will not be
adequate relief. Example a contract for sale of a

rare antique
(iii) Where plaintiff’s property is held by the defendant in
the capacity of his agent or trustee
(iv) Where the act to be done is in
performance of trust
Cases where specific performance will not be ordered:
(i) Where monetary compensation is
adequate relief
(ii) Where contract is made by the agent or trustee in
violation of his powers
(iii) Where the contract is of a personal nature, such as a
contract to marry or a contract of service
(iv) Where the court cannot supervise the performance of
promise as it involves performance of a continuous
duty
(v) Where the contract is in its nature revocable
(vi) Where the contract is made by a company in excess of
its powers as laid
down in its Memorandum of Association

5. Suit for injunction :


‘Injunction’ is a court order or decree to a person asking him
to refrain from doing a contemplated act or from continuing
an ongoing act. Such an order of injunction becomes a
remedy for the aggrieved party when the court orders the
guilty party to refrain from doing precisely that which is
causing the breach of contract. In a way, injunction is a mode
of securing the specific performance of the negative terms of
a contract. But for the performance of the positive terms of
the contract, the aggrieved party may seek other remedies
like damages.

Q.3 Distinguish between indemnity and guarantee.


Ans:-
Introduction
Guarantees and indemnities are both long established forms of
what the law terms suretyship. There are important legal
distinctions between them.

What is what?
A guarantee is For a promise to someone that a
third party will meet its
obligations to them “if they don’t
pay you, I will”
Example of Guarantee “if they don’t pay you, I will”
An indemnity Is a promise to be responsible
for another’s loss, and to
compensate them for that loss
on an agreed basis
Example of Indemnity “if it costs you more than £250
to fix that, I will reimburse you
the difference”.

Section 4 of the venerable Statute of Frauds Act 1677 requires


guarantees to be in writing if they are to be enforceable. There is no
such requirement in the case of an indemnity, although of course
written agreement is always best as a matter of practice and for
proof. Further, a guarantee provides for a liability co-extensive
with that of the principal. In other words, the guarantor cannot be
liable for anything more than the client. The document will be
construed as a guarantee if, on its true construction, the obligations
of the surety are to “stand behind” the principal and only come to
the fore once an obligation has been breached as between the
principal and the financier. The obligation is a secondary one,
reflexive in character. An indemnity however, provides for
concurrent liability with the principal throughout and there is no
need to “look first” to the principal. In essence it is an agreement
that the surety will hold the financier harmless against all losses
arising from the contract between the principal and the financier.
It is not always obvious whether a clause or agreement is a
guarantee or an indemnity.

And an example...
Some of the differences were highlighted by the Court of Appeal
in the 2007 case Pitts and Ors v Jones. The appellants bringing
the claim were minority shareholders in a company of which the
other party was managing director and majority shareholder.
The majority shareholder had negotiated the sale of the company to
a purchaser who had agreed to buy the shares of the minority at
the same price. The appellants were summoned to the sale
completion meeting and were told that as part of the terms agreed
their shares would be purchased after a delay of six months. On
being made aware of the risk of the purchaser becoming insolvent
within this period they declined to sign the documents but relented
when the majority shareholder undertook verbally to pay if the
purchaser failed to do so. The purchaser did subsequently
become insolvent and could not pay for the minority shareholders’
shares, so they sued the majority shareholder on his undertaking to
pay them. The Court of Appeal found that, while all the other
necessary elements of a legally binding contract were present
(offer, acceptance, consideration and the intention to create legal
relations), the undertaking given to the minority shareholders was
unenforceable since it was a guarantee and was not in writing.
The minority shareholders lost the value of their shares and were
left with no recourse.

How to tell which is which


Whether the security document is a guarantee or an indemnity (or
both) is a matter of construction. There is a mass of case law on the
distinction, but ultimately it comes down to the document in
question. Considerations are as follows:

• The words used; the fact that one label or another is used is
not determinative but it may demonstrate what the parties
were attempting to achieve;
• Whether the document purports to make the surety liable for
a greater sum than could be demanded under the principal
contract, in which case the inference is that he is undertaking
an obligation to indemnify;
• Whether a demand upon the principal debtor is defined as a
condition precedent to proceeding against the surety – in
which case the document may well best be read as a
guarantee;
• An indemnity comprises only two parties- the indemnifier and
the indemnity holder. A guarantee is a contract between three
parties namely the surety, principal debtor and the creditor.
Summary
Case law iterates the need to seek proper legal advice and at bare
minimum, use a written agreement clearly stating the parties’
intentions.

Append below some salient points pertaining to the


difference/distinction between Indemnity and Guarantee:

Indemnity Guarantee
Comprise only two parties- the There are three parties namely
indemnifier and the indemnity the surety, principal debtor and
holder. the creditor
Liability of the indemnifier is The liability of the surety is
primary secondary. The surety is liable
only if the principal debtor
makes a default. The primary
liability being that of the
principal debtor.
The indemnifier need not The surety give guarantee only
necessarily act at the request of at the request of the principal
the indemnified. debtor.
The possibility of any loss There is an existing debt or duty,
happening is the only the performance of which is
contingency against which the guarantee by the surety.
indemnifier undertakes to
indemnify.

Q4. What is the distinction between cheque and bill of


exchange.
Ans:-

Checks and bills of exchange are negotiable instruments and have


been used by many people worldwide for many decades.
Understanding these two instruments would be a fundamental task
for any person who wishes to undertake banking as a career or
even a past time activity.

What is a negotiable instrument?

The term negotiable instrument literally means a written document


transferable by delivery. It can be a promissory note, bill of
exchange or check payable either to order or to a bearer

What is bill of exchange?

Many statutes have defined the bill of exchange as “an instrument


in writing containing an unconditional order , signed by the
marker ,directing a certain person to pay a certain sum of money
only to ,or to the order of , a certain person or to the bearer of the
instrument”.

But, what is a check?

In general, Negotiable instrument Act usually brings the definition


for the check as follows;

“A Check is bills of exchange drawn on specified banker and not


expressed to be payable otherwise than on demand and it includes
the electronic image of a truncated check and a check in the
electronic form”

By looking at these definitions it is possible to understand that the


check being a species of the bill of exchange, it must satisfy almost
all the essential features of a bill.
Thus, it is clear that both instruments must be signed by the drawer
and those contain an unconditional order to pay certain sum of
money to the order of a specified person or the bearer.

However, there are some significant differences between a check


and a bill of exchange. These are,

Cheque Bill of Exchange

It is drawn on a banker It may be drawn on any party or


individual.
It has three parties - the drawer, There are three parties - the
the drawee, and payee. drawer, the drawee, and the
payee.

It is seldom drawn in sets Foreign bills are drawn in sets

It does not require acceptance It must be accepted by the


by the drawee. drawee before he can be made
liable to pay the bill.
Days of grace are not allowed to Three days of grace are always
a banker allowed to the drawee.
No stamp duty is payable on Stamp duty has to be paid on bill
checks of exchange.
It is usually drawn on the printed It may be drawn in any paper
form. and need not necessarily be
printed.

However it should be noted that the drawer of a bill is usually


discharged from liability if it is not duly presented for payment.

Q5. Distinguish between companies limited by shares and


companies limited by guarantee.

Ans:-
A company limited by guarantee is a lesser known type of
business entity which is generally formed by non-profit purposes
and has members instead of shareholders.

There are both some similarities and differences between the two
groups.

Members and shareholders enjoy limited liability, however in cases


where a share based company is liquidated; the latter might be
required to pay all amounts of unpaid monies relating to the shares
they hold.

For example, if an individual shareholder holds 100 shares of £1


each, all of which remains unpaid at the time of dissolution, then
they would be required to pay £100 to the company.

Most companies limited by guarantee have a constitution which


states that each member is only required to pay £1 should it be
dissolved.

Assuming that an average shareholder holds more than one share


in a company, members in a business limited by guarantee do
appear to have less risk attached to their positions.

Profit Making Status

Perhaps the most fundamental difference between the two types of


limited companies is that those with shares generally exist for profit
making purposes.
Companies limited by guarantee however, are non-profit making
organisations and are usually registered to provide a specified
service to the public or a particular segment of the population.

The memorandum and articles of association of each would also


differ as companies limited by shares usually have very general
objects clauses which allow them to pursue any legal trade or
activity.

Objects of companies limited by guarantee

Companies limited by guarantee however, often have very specific


objects and detailed rules pertaining to which areas they can
engage in.

Charities, which are often of this type, might have restrictions


imposed on them by their major donors who wish to ensure that
their donations will be spent according to their wishes and not in a
manner which they would not approve.

By having a defined set of objects, companies limited by guarantee


which are seeking to raise funds might find it easier to do so
because they would be able to demonstrate that sufficient
restrictions exist to protect the donor’s intentions.

Removing the Word Limited

Companies limited by guarantee can have the word “limited”


removed from their name under section 30 of the Companies Act.

Company directors, secretary and declarant

Both types of companies are bound by the same requirements to


have at least one director, a secretary and a declarant at the time
of incorporation and throughout any period of its existence.
When forming a company limited by guarantee, members are listed
in the same manner in which shareholders would be, even though
no allotments are made to them.

Q6. What is the definition of cyber crime.

Ans:-

INTRODUCTION:

The term ‘cyber crime’ is a misnomer. This term has nowhere been
defined in any statute /Act passed or enacted by the Indian
Parliament. The concept of cyber crime is not radically different
from the concept of conventional crime. Both include conduct
whether act or omission, which cause breach of rules of law and
counterbalanced by the sanction of the state.

Before evaluating the concept of cyber crime it is obvious that the


concept of conventional crime be discussed and the points of
similarity and deviance between both these forms may be
discussed.

CONVENTIONAL CRIME-

Crime is a social and economic phenomenon and is as old as the


human society. Crime is a legal concept and has the sanction of the
law. Crime or an offence is “a legal wrong that can be followed by
criminal proceedings which may result into punishment.” The
hallmark of criminality is that, it is breach of the criminal law. Per
Lord Atkin “the criminal quality of an act cannot be discovered by
reference to any standard but one: is the act prohibited with penal
consequences”.
A crime may be said to be any conduct accompanied by act or
omission prohibited by law and consequential breach of which is
visited by penal consequences.

CYBER CRIME

Cyber crime is the latest and perhaps the most complicated


problem in the cyber world. “Cyber crime may be said to be those
species, of which, genus is the conventional crime, and where either
the computer is an object or subject of the conduct constituting
crime” “Any criminal activity that uses a computer either as an
instrumentality, target or a means for perpetuating further crimes
comes within the ambit of cyber crime”

A generalized definition of cyber crime may be “ unlawful acts


wherein the computer is either a tool or target or both” The
computer may be used as a tool in the following kinds of activity-
financial crimes, sale of illegal articles, pornography, online
gambling, intellectual property crime, e-mail spoofing, forgery,
cyber defamation, cyber stalking. The computer may however be
target for unlawful acts in the following cases- unauthorized access
to computer/ computer system/ computer networks, theft of
information contained in the electronic form, e-mail bombing, data
didling, salami attacks, logic bombs, Trojan attacks, internet time
thefts, web jacking, theft of computer system, physically damaging
the computer system.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL AND CYBER


CRIME-
There is apparently no distinction between cyber and conventional
crime. However on a deep introspection we may say that there
exists a fine line of demarcation between the conventional and
cyber crime, which is appreciable. The demarcation lies in the
involvement of the medium in cases of cyber crime. The sine qua
non for cyber crime is that there should be an involvement, at any
stage, of the virtual cyber medium.

REASONS FOR CYBER CRIME:

Hart in his work “ The Concept of Law” has said ‘human beings are
vulnerable so rule of law is required to protect them’. Applying this
to the cyberspace we may say that computers are vulnerable so
rule of law is required to protect and safeguard them against cyber
crime. The reasons for the vulnerability of computers may be said
to be:

1. Capacity to store data in comparatively small space-

The computer has unique characteristic of storing data in a very


small space. This affords to remove or derive information either
through physical or virtual medium makes it much more easier.

2. Easy to access-

The problem encountered in guarding a computer system from


unauthorised access is that there is every possibility of breach
not due to human error but due to the complex technology. By
secretly implanted logic bomb, key loggers that can steal access
codes, advanced voice recorders; retina imagers etc. that can
fool biometric systems and bypass firewalls can be utilized to get
past many a security system.

3.Complex-
The computers work on operating systems and these operating
systems in turn are composed of millions of codes. Human mind
is fallible and it is not possible that there might not be a lapse at
any stage. The cyber criminals take advantage of these lacunas
and penetrate into the computer system.

4.Negligence-

Negligence is very closely connected with human conduct. It is


therefore very probable that while protecting the computer
system there might be any negligence, which in turn provides a
cyber criminal to gain access and control over the computer
system.

5. Loss of evidence-

Loss of evidence is a very common & obvious problem as all the


data are routinely destroyed. Further collection of data outside
the territorial extent also paralyses this system of crime
investigation.

CYBER CRIMINALS:

The cyber criminals constitute of various groups/ category. This


division may be justified on the basis of the object that they have in
their mind. The following are the category of cyber criminals-

1. Children and adolescents between the age group of 6 – 18


years –

The simple reason for this type of delinquent behaviour pattern


in children is seen mostly due to the inquisitiveness to know and
explore the things. Other cognate reason may be to prove
themselves to be outstanding amongst other children in their
group. Further the reasons may be psychological even. E.g. the
Bal Bharati (Delhi) case was the outcome of harassment of the
delinquent by his friends.

2. Organised hackers-

These kinds of hackers are mostly organised together to fulfil


certain objective. The reason may be to fulfil their political bias,
fundamentalism, etc. The Pakistanis are said to be one of the
best quality hackers in the world. They mainly target the Indian
government sites with the purpose to fulfil their political
objectives. Further the NASA as well as the Microsoft sites is
always under attack by the hackers.

3. Professional hackers / crackers –

Their work is motivated by the colour of money. These kinds of


hackers are mostly employed to hack the site of the rivals and get
credible, reliable and valuable information. Further they are ven
employed to crack the system of the employer basically as a
measure to make it safer by detecting the loopholes.

4. Discontented employees-

This group include those people who have been either sacked
by their employer or are dissatisfied with their employer. To
avenge they normally hack the system of their employee.

MODE AND MANNER OF COMMITING CYBER CRIME:

1. Unauthorized access to computer systems or networks /


Hacking-
This kind of offence is normally referred as hacking in the generic
sense. However the framers of the information technology act 2000
have no where used this term so to avoid any confusion we would
not interchangeably use the word hacking for ‘unauthorized access’
as the latter has wide connotation.

2. Theft of information contained in electronic form-

This includes information stored in computer hard disks,


removable storage media etc. Theft may be either by
appropriating the data physically or by tampering them through
the virtual medium.

3. Email bombing-

This kind of activity refers to sending large numbers of mail to


the victim, which may be an individual or a company or even
mail servers there by ultimately resulting into crashing.

4. Data diddling-

This kind of an attack involves altering raw data just before a


computer processes it and then changing it back after the
processing is completed. The electricity board faced similar
problem of data diddling while the department was being
computerised.

5. Salami attacks-

This kind of crime is normally prevalent in the financial


institutions or for the purpose of committing financial crimes. An
important feature of this type of offence is that the alteration is
so small that it would normally go unnoticed. E.g. the Ziegler
case wherein a logic bomb was introduced in the bank’s system,
which deducted 10 cents from every account and deposited it in
a particular account.

6. Denial of Service attack-

The computer of the victim is flooded with more requests than it


can handle which cause it to crash. Distributed Denial of Service
(DDoS) attack is also a type of denial of service attack, in which
the offenders are wide in number and widespread. E.g. Amazon,
Yahoo.

7. Virus / worm attacks-

Viruses are programs that attach themselves to a computer or a


file and then circulate themselves to other files and to other
computers on a network. They usually affect the data on a
computer, either by altering or deleting it. Worms, unlike viruses
do not need the host to attach themselves to. They merely make
functional copies of themselves and do this repeatedly till they
eat up all the available space on a computer's memory. E.g. love
bug virus, which affected at least 5 % of the computers of the
globe. The losses were accounted to be $ 10 million. The world's
most famous worm was the Internet worm let loose on the
Internet by Robert Morris sometime in 1988. Almost brought
development of Internet to a complete halt.

8. Logic bombs-
These are event dependent programs. This implies that these
programs are created to do something only when a certain
event (known as a trigger event) occurs. E.g. even some
viruses may be termed logic bombs because they lie dormant
all through the year and become active only on a particular
date (like the Chernobyl virus).

9. Trojan attacks-

This term has its origin in the word ‘Trojan horse’. In software
field this means an unauthorized programme, which passively
gains control over another’s system by representing itself as an
authorised programme. The most common form of installing a
Trojan is through e-mail. E.g. a Trojan was installed in the
computer of a lady film director in the U.S. while chatting. The
cyber criminal through the web cam installed in the computer
obtained her nude photographs. He further harassed this lady.

10. Internet time thefts-

Normally in these kinds of thefts the Internet surfing hours of the


victim are used up by another person. This is done by gaining
access to the login ID and the password. E.g. Colonel Bajwa’s
case- the Internet hours were used up by any other person. This
was perhaps one of the first reported cases related to cyber
crime in India. However this case made the police infamous as to
their lack of understanding of the nature of cyber crime.

11. Web jacking-


This term is derived from the term hi jacking. In these
kinds of offences the hacker gains access and control over the
web site of another. He may even mutilate or change the
information on the site. This may be done for fulfilling political
objectives or for money. E.g. recently the site of MIT (Ministry
of Information Technology) was hacked by the Pakistani
hackers and some obscene matter was placed therein. Further
the site of Bombay crime branch was also web jacked.
Another case of web jacking is that of the ‘gold fish’ case. In
this case the site was hacked and the information pertaining
to gold fish was changed. Further a ransom of US $ 1 million
was demanded as ransom. Thus web jacking is a process
where by control over the site of another is made backed by
some consideration for it.

CLASSIFICATION:

The subject of cyber crime may be broadly classified under the


following three groups. They are-

1. Against Individuals

a. their person &


b. their property of an individual

2. Against Organization

a. Government
c. Firm, Company, Group of Individuals.

3. Against Society at large


The following are the crimes, which can be committed against the
followings group

Against Individuals: –

i. Harassment via e-mails.


ii. Cyber-stalking.
iii. Dissemination of obscene material.
iv. Defamation.
v. Unauthorized control/access over computer system.
vi. Indecent exposure
vii. Email spoofing
viii. Cheating & Fraud

Against Individual Property: -

i. Computer vandalism.
ii. Transmitting virus.
iii. Netrespass
iv. Unauthorized control/access over computer system.
v. Intellectual Property crimes
vi. Internet time thefts

Against Organization: -

i. Unauthorized control/access over computer system


ii. Possession of unauthorized information.
iii. Cyber terrorism against the government organization.
iv. Distribution of pirated software etc.

Against Society at large: -


i. Pornography (basically child pornography).
ii. Polluting the youth through indecent exposure.
iii. Trafficking
iv. Financial crimes
v.Sale of illegal articles
vi.Online gambling
vii. Forgery

The above mentioned offences may discussed in brief as follows:

1. Harassment via e-mails-

Harassment through e-mails is not a new concept. It is


very similar to harassing through letters. Recently I had
received a mail from a lady wherein she complained about the
same. Her former boy friend was sending her mails constantly
sometimes emotionally blackmailing her and also threatening
her. This is a very common type of harassment via e-mails.

2. Cyber-stalking-

The Oxford dictionary defines stalking as "pursuing stealthily".


Cyber stalking involves following a person's movements
across the Internet by posting messages (sometimes
threatening) on the bulletin boards frequented by the victim,
entering the chat-rooms frequented by the victim, constantly
bombarding the victim with emails etc.

3. Dissemination of obscene material/ Indecent


exposure/ Pornography (basically child pornography) /
Polluting through indecent exposure-

Pornography on the net may take various forms. It may


include the hosting of web site containing these prohibited
materials. Use of computers for producing these obscene
materials. Downloading through the Internet, obscene
materials. These obscene matters may cause harm to the
mind of the adolescent and tend to deprave or corrupt their
mind. Two known cases of pornography are the Delhi Bal
Bharati case and the Bombay case wherein two Swiss couple
used to force the slum children for obscene photographs. The
Mumbai police later arrested them.

4. Defamation

It is an act of imputing any person with intent to lower the


person in the estimation of the right-thinking members of
society generally or to cause him to be shunned or avoided or
to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule. Cyber
defamation is not different from conventional defamation
except the involvement of a virtual medium. E.g. the mail
account of Rohit was hacked and some mails were sent from
his account to some of his batch mates regarding his affair
with a girl with intent to defame him.

4. Unauthorized control/access over computer system-

This activity is commonly referred to as hacking. The Indian


law has however given a different connotation to the term
hacking, so we will not use the term "unauthorized access"
interchangeably with the term "hacking" to prevent confusion
as the term used in the Act of 2000 is much wider than
hacking.

5. E mail spoofing-

A spoofed e-mail may be said to be one, which misrepresents


its origin. It shows it's origin to be different from which
actually it originates. Recently spoofed mails were sent on the
name of Mr. Na.Vijayashankar (naavi.org), which contained
virus.

Rajesh Manyar, a graduate student at Purdue University in


Indiana, was arrested for threatening to detonate a nuclear
device in the college campus. The alleged e- mail was sent
from the account of another student to the vice president for
student services. However the mail was traced to be sent
from the account of Rajesh Manyar.

6. Computer vandalism-

Vandalism means deliberately destroying or damaging


property of another. Thus computer vandalism may include
within its purview any kind of physical harm done to the
computer of any person. These acts may take the form of the
theft of a computer, some part of a computer or a peripheral
attached to the computer or by physically damaging a
computer or its peripherals.

7. Transmitting virus/worms-

This topic has been adequately dealt herein above.

8. Intellectual Property crimes / Distribution of pirated software-

Intellectual property consists of a bundle of rights. Any


unlawful act by which the owner is deprived completely or
partially of his rights is an offence. The common form of IPR
violation may be said to be software piracy, copyright
infringement, trademark and service mark violation, theft of
computer source code, etc.
The Hyderabad Court has in a land mark judgement has
convicted three people and sentenced them to six months
imprisonment and fine of 50,000 each for unauthorized
copying and sell of pirated software.

9. Cyber terrorism against the government organization

At this juncture a necessity may be felt that what is the need


to distinguish between cyber terrorism and cyber crime. Both
are criminal acts. However there is a compelling need to
distinguish between both these crimes. A cyber crime is
generally a domestic issue, which may have international
consequences, however cyber terrorism is a global concern,
which has domestic as well as international consequences.
The common form of these terrorist attacks on the Internet is
by distributed denial of service attacks, hate websites and
hate emails, attacks on sensitive computer networks, etc.
Technology savvy terrorists are using 512-bit encryption,
which is next to impossible to decrypt. The recent example
may be cited of – Osama Bin Laden, the LTTE, attack on
America’s army deployment system during Iraq war.

Cyber terrorism may be defined to be “ the premeditated use


of disruptive activities, or the threat thereof, in cyber space,
with the intention to further social, ideological, religious,
political or similar objectives, or to intimidate any person in
furtherance of such objectives”

Another definition may be attempted to cover within its


ambit every act of cyber terrorism.

A terrorist means a person who indulges in wanton killing of


persons or in violence or in disruption of services or means of
communications essential to the community or in damaging
property with the view to –

(1) putting the public or any section of the public in fear; or

(2) affecting adversely the harmony between different


religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or
communities; or

(3) coercing or overawing the government established by law;


or

(4) endangering the sovereignty and integrity of the nation

and a cyber terrorist is the person who uses the computer system
as a means or ends to achieve the above objectives. Every act done
in pursuance thereof is an act of cyber terrorism.

10.Trafficking

Trafficking may assume different forms. It may be


trafficking in drugs, human beings, arms weapons etc. These
forms of trafficking are going unchecked because they are
carried on under pseudonyms. A racket was busted in Chennai
where drugs were being sold under the pseudonym of honey.

11. Fraud & Cheating

Online fraud and cheating is one of the most lucrative


businesses that are growing today in the cyber space. It may
assume different forms. Some of the cases of online fraud and
cheating that have come to light are those pertaining to credit
card crimes, contractual crimes, offering jobs, etc.
Recently the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate Delhi found guilty a
24-year-old engineer working in a call centre, of fraudulently
gaining the details of Campa's credit card and bought a television
and a cordless phone from Sony website. Metropolitan magistrate
Gulshan Kumar convicted Azim for cheating under IPC, but did not
send him to jail. Instead, Azim was asked to furnish a personal
bond of Rs 20,000, and was released on a year's probation.

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