ISLAMABAD, Jan 10: In the fight against cyber crimes, the new prevention of electronic crimes law is now in force that covers a wide range of crimes and awards severe punishments, including life imprisonment and death penalty.

The ordinance to make provision for prevention of the electronic crimes promulgated and enforced on December 31, 2007, was officially announced at a press briefing here on Thursday.

From sending unwanted SMS to illegal access, the ordinance covers any criminal act through electronic device, software and internet.

Punishments range from three years for indecent use of SMS and monetary frauds to death penalty for crimes that may threaten national security.

The ordinance also covered provisions for illegal electronic entry into the systems of any sensitive installations. The ordinance promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf, gave exclusive powers to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate and charge cases against such crimes.

“This makes the job easy because it solves the predicament of who will tackle the problem,” Caretaker IT Minister Dr Abdullah Riar said during the briefing held to highlight the enactment of the Electronic Crimes Ordinance 2007.

Highlighting the second important feature of the law, the minister said that a seven-member tribunal related to cyber crimes would also be formed in one month, which would be called Information Communication Technologies Tribunal.

The reporters were informed that although there was no record of the various e-crimes committed in the country, still financial losses were tremendous.

“But now there is a system in place. We have the law, the designated investigation agency and the courts,” the minister said.

The law covered e-fraud, e-forgery, system damage, unauthorised access to code, misuse of encryption, spoofing, and cyber terrorism to mention a few.

Electronic complaints against such crimes could also be lodged at www.nr3c.gov.pk.