Torts in the cyber world.

 Torts in the cyber world.

Introduction

With the invention of computers and the emergence of the internet, a new category of tort has

sprung into existence, namely cyber torts, such torts are committed in various ways which are

explained later on in this article, but the medium through which they are committed are always

virtual machines, such as, a computer, a mobile phone, or any device which can be used to

access the internet and change information there.

What is a tort?

A tort is a civil wrong for which a remedy is given in terms of damages, the damages that are

paid to the plaintiff (the person who suffers the damage and brings the suit to the court of law)

against the defendant (the person who commits the tort against the plaintiff and has to prove of

his innocence in the court) in terms of unliquidated damages (those damages whose amount for

the remedy is not fixed, it is fixed in accordance with the tort which is committed against that

person).

Essential Elements of a tort

There are three essential elements which constitute a tort, these are

(1) A Wrongful act

A wrongful act is any act which is violative of the law.

(2) A duty imposed by the law, and

A duty which is legally enforceable in the courts if violated.

(3) The act must give rise to legal or actual damage.

The wrongful act must give rise to a remedy in a suit for either liquidated damages (fixed value)

or unliquidated damages(value not fixed).

What are Cyber wrongs?

Computer wrongs include both civil wrongs as well as criminal wrongs, Cyber wrongs are the

wrongful acts committed over the internet, the only difference between a wrong and a cyber

wrong is that a cyber wrong involves the usage of technology in the commission of it i.e. the

medium through which a cyber wrong is committed is through technology, in the cyber world,

cyber wrongs are of two kinds, namely,

1. Civil cyber wrongs, such as a cyber tort,

A civil cyber wrong is one which is committed online and is civil in nature, such as a tort of

defamation committed online through a computer (or any device which has access to the

internet and is able to modify the information or post anything online, such as a mobile phone,

or a tablet) is used as a tool to commit that kind of wrong. Although not defined or addressed as

civil cyber wrongs, the essence of civil liability is defined under section 43 of the IT Act, 2000.

2. Criminal Cyber Wrongs

A criminal cyber wrong is a serious threat and it must be dealt with as soon as possible, a

criminal cyber wrong is a criminal wrong committed online through the use of technology, crimes

such as Hacking, information theft, denial of service attacks, etc. Although not addressed as

criminal cyber wrongs in any acts, but various wrongs of criminal nature are defined under the

IT Act, 2000, such as Child pornography defined under Section 67-A of the act.

Various Kinds of cyber torts

Cyber torts are committed in various ways, these include:

•Cyber Stalking or Cyber Harassing.

•Harassment via E-mails

•Cyber Stalking or Cyber Harassing.

•Harassment via E-mails

•Cyber defamation.

•Cyber-vandalism.

•Unauthorised access over someone’s virtual machine.

•Trafficking.

•Fraud and Cheating.