| The decision of the Union Cabinet to amend the Act has come at a time when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured investors abroad about India's sensitivity to their concerns on data theft. |
| The scope of Section 72 of the Act is also being expanded to provide for criminal liability in case of leak of information. |
| "This will prevent any intermediary and service provider, that has secured any material or information from a user entering into a contract with it, from passing it on to others without the consent of the user. Violations will invite imprisonment for a term of up to two years or fine of up to Rs 5 lakh or both," an official of the department of information technology said. |
| The Cabinet has also approved a proposal to amend Section 43 of the IT Act, under which a person involved in hacking of computers will be liable for punishment of up to two years or fine of up to 5 lakh or both. |
| The department of information technology is also keen to reduce crime like e-commerce frauds through digital signatures and impersonation such as phishing, and identity theft. |
| It has proposed to insert a new section in the Indian Penal Code, under which the punishment for identity theft may be extended to two years and a fine, while the penalty for impersonation may be extended to 5 years and a fine. |
| Similarly, publication of sexually explicit material through computers or any other communication instrument will result in imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh. Repeated violations will result in imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. |
| The government has also proposed new rules for electronic signatures. |
| Further, the strength of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal is being increased to three from one member at present. |
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