LAHORE: Though the federal government has announced punishment for sending indecent, provocative and ‘ill-motivated’ messages through e-mail and SMS, neither the Pakistan Telecommun-ication Authority nor the Federal Investigation Agency has a system to screen such communication in bulk. 

However, the FIA will only launch investigation on receiving such complaints. ‘We can have a system to detect culprits in such cases on receiving complaints but there has been no mechanism to screen millions of e-mails or SMS,’ FIA Director (Punjab) Azam Joya told Dawn on Monday. 

‘Some 22 cases and 48 inquiries are under way relating to unauthorised use of computers and, threatening and indecent emails in Punjab,’ he said, adding this year the agency had also disposed of 48 such probes.

PTA chairman Dr Muhammad Yasin said the authority had nothing to do with detecting objectionable SMS. ‘It is exclusive domain of FIA,’ he clarified.

‘In the absence of any mechanism to screen millions of emails and SMS, the government apparently wants to merely warn those who have launched propaganda against its top functionaries,’ observes representative of a cell phone company. 

The FIA will book a culprit in such cases under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance. Under this law a violator faces imprisonment up to 14 years, besides confiscation of his or her property.

The ordinance was promulgated in Dec 2007. Interestingly, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Tribunals, which were to be established in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi to deal with the cases exclusively related to the cyber crimes, have yet to see light of the day. 

‘In the absence of the anti-cyber crimes tribunals, the related cases are being sent to district and sessions courts,’ Mr Joya said.