Indian States Monitoring Cybercafe Users

[Judi Lynn]

Indian States Monitoring Cybercafe Users
Southern Indian State to Monitor Cybercafe Users to Combat Online Crime, Terrorism
By S. SRINIVASAN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

BANGALORE, India Jan 10, 2006 — The southern Indian state of Kerala will join two other states in requiring cybercafes to record the names and addresses of their customers in an effort to combat online fraud, virus attacks and terrorism, an official said Tuesday.

The new rules would require cybercafes to verify the identities of Internet surfers and record their home addresses and visiting times, said M. Vijayanunni, the top administrator of Kerala's government.
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Two Indian states Karnataka and Gujarat have imposed similar rules, hoping such records would help trace threatening e-mails or unauthorized credit-card transactions. Two other states, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, do some monitoring of cybercafes without having specific laws.

Several other Asian countries and cities, most prominently China, require registration at cybercafes. Italy is the only European Union country to require Internet cafes to record ID information, but nonmember Switzerland does require that customers show ID.
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