Section 79
The Information Technology Act 2000 declared that no person providing any service as a network service provider shall be liable under the Act, rules or regulations made there under for any third party information or data made available by him if he proves that the offence or contravention was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence or contravention.
Network Service Providers came under the category of intermediaries.
Read more about intermediaries in chapter XII of IT Act 2000.
However, the latest amendments to the IT Act 2000 entitled Information Technology (Amendments) Act 2008 has added more to the basket of Intermediaries preventing their exposure to liabilities in certain cases. The amended Section 79 in this regard states as under :
"(1) Not withstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force but subject to the provisions
of sub-sections (2) and (3), an intermediary shall not be liable for any third party information, data, or
communication link made available or hasted by him.
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply if—
(a) The function of the intermediary is limited to providing access to a
communication system over
which information made available by third parties is
transmitted or temporarily stored or hasted,
or Exemption from liability of intermediary in
certain cases.
(b) The Intermediary does not—
(i) initiate the transmission,
(ii) select the receiver of the transmission, and
(iii) select or modify the information contained in the transmission.
(c) The intermediary observes due diligence while discharging his duties under this Act and also
observes such other guidelines as the Central Government may prescribe in this behalf.
(3) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall not apply if—
(a) the intermediary has conspired or abetted or aided or induced, whether by threats or promise or
authorize in the commission of the unlawful act.
(b) upon receiving actual knowledge, or on being notified by the appropriate Government or its agency
that any information, data or communication link residing in or connected to a computer resource
controlled by the intermediary is being used to commit the unlawful act, the intermediary fails to
expeditiously remove or disable access to that material on that resource without vitiating the
evidence in any manner."
Read more About the Amendments in IT Amendments Act 2008
