Iran will put into effect a recently passed law which aims at reducing cybercrimes and providing surfers with more security in cyberspace. The law, which has been ratified by the Parliament (Majlis) and approved by the Guardian Council as well, stipulates punishments for specified illegal activities in cyberspace.
Under an article of the law pertinent to ‘secret information’ and ‘invasion of privacy’, for instance, an individual will be subject to punishment in the form of a fine or imprisonment if they release other individuals’ private information without their approval in a smearing act.
According to article XXIV of the legislation, Internet Service Providers (ISP) are required to store all the data sent or received by each of their clients. ISPs may delete the data no sooner than 3 months after the expiry of each client’s contract. However, article XXXVI and XXXVII forbid surveillance of private data unless a court order has been issued or in cases threatening national security.
To speed up the implementation of the law, a committee has been set up and tasked with defining the exact instances of cyberspace offenses to be dealt with. In defense of the law, Prosecutor General Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi said on Sunday that the law aims to protect the rights of the people and prevent violation of their privacy in cyberspace. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued an order on the implementation of… >>>
