Let's Kill the Internet

In my last column, I was lamenting about how Bangalore seemed to falling out

of favor with the IT industry because of its lack of focus on some core physical

infrastructure requirements. This story is also about Bangalore, or rather, more

generally, Karnataka. I am surprised at how this government seems to be taking

decisions that seem calculated only to create public outcry and confusion.

Very soon cybercafé visitors will have to go through a range of security

checks before they can log on. They will need to provide names, addresses and

photo IDs (a passport, or a driving license, or a credit card, or a PAN card). I

am sure that most of the people who visit cybercafés won't have these

documents. And the ones that have these documents also have Internet access at

home.

IBRAHIM AHMAD The police seems to be still living in a never-land, where it is still possible, if only in theory, to reduce cybercrime by keeping a record of cybercafé visitors

The story does not end here. If the cybercafé visitor does not have these

documents, the manager will have to click his photo for the records. Obviously,

life of the cybercafé owner will also become hassled. I would not be surprised

if business gets affected and many of them decide to close shop. Obviously,

again, this bleak scenario is contingent upon the condition that the government

is able to ensure that all these security checks are carried out by cybercafé

owners.

It was not so very long ago that the Indian government said it would monitor

all the people who go to STD/ISD booths to make calls-they did not ask for the

ID cards of each caller, but wanted other details like names, addresses, and so

on. We know what happened to that.

For the first few weeks, callers had to fill in their personal details in a

register, and after that everybody forgot about it. I do not even know if that

policy still exists, if the government has forgotten about it, or if it has been

scrapped.

Unless and until we have a foolproof citizen ID system, and unless and until

we have an honest and sincere police force, this kind of a rule will only create

new problems rather than solve old ones. For instance, there are a lot of young

lovebirds chatting to each other, who will get scared and run away.

Incidentally, they also form a big chunk of the ISPs revenue contributors. Then,

there is a whole lot of people, again, in the young generation section of the

society, especially girls, who do not have any of these ID cards. They would

never want to get photographed on a web camera either. In fact, come to think of

it, not too many boys will be open to the idea either.

Effectively, the new rule will create a situation that will take these young

boys and girls away from Internet. This young generation, we must remember, is

the generation that has driven Internet usage everywhere in the world. Besides

this, the police will now harass so many of the cybercafé owners. In fact, this

rule is likely to be misused more often than used, and that too by the police

force itself.

If the news about government's plans to bring this rule to other places

like Delhi and Mumbai too is correct, then the problem will not just remain

confined to Karnataka. It will, instead, become a national problem. Even as, on

the one hand, the industry is trying to find ways and means to improve Internet

subscriber numbers, the government and its law enforcement agencies seem to be

living in a never-land, where it is still possible, if only in theory, to reduce

cybercrime by keeping a record of cybercafé visitors.

These rules, if implemented, can only drive people away from the 200,000-odd

cybercafés in the country. Besides, it raises vital questions about a number of

things: are there any safeguards envisaged for protecting the delicate

information the cybercafés user will be forced to hand out, and which could

well end up in the wrong hands?

My sincere advice to other state governments would be to not blindly follow

Karnataka, but to discuss the matter with the Internet service providers and

experts, and figure out better, more imaginative ways to control cybercrime.

The author is Editor of Dataquest IBRAHIM

AHMAD