Introduction
ICT
is made up of certain basic elements.
The elements have all been present since
the birth of the technology, but their relative
significance and their visibility are still
changing. The elements are automation,
information, communication, integration,
and sensation.1The ICT sector includes
computer hardware and software, tele
communications, consumer electronics,
and Internet-based contents, applications
and services.2
ICT stands for Information
and Communication Technology, that is,
technologies that store, transmit, and/or
process information and communication.
Although the term can be read literally to
include all kinds of information-processing
technologies, such as printing presses,
Xerox machines, and abacuses, the term is
generally used to indicate “modern” or
“high” technology, electronic dataprocessing technologies.3The growth of
Information Communication Technology
(ICT) marks a revolutionary turn in the
twentieth century. Compared to other
Attorney -at- Law
lecturer in Law, Institute of Human Resources
Advancement
University of Colombo
Lecturer, Department of Legal Studies, Open
University
centuries, twentieth century is marked by
rapid development in the areas of
commerce, communication and
globalization. The developments made in
the ICT sector has had a propound impact
on this rapid evolution from Alexander
Graham Bell’s telephone to Sir Timothy
John Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web.
This growth has brought dramatic changes
by revolutionizing our customs and
traditional methods of conducting business,
communication and other activities which
were based on paper methods. The days of
analogy system with terrestrial transmitters
are being rapidly overtaken by digital
technology with satellite technology4
.The
ICT cluster of technologies emerged around
the time of the Second World War and since
then they have been the most important
driver of global economic and social
growth and change. Earlier clusters were
based on textile machinery in the late
1700s, the steam engine (including railways
and steam ships) in the early 1800s;
electricity and steel in the late1800s; and
1P. Seipel, Law and Information Technology:
Swedish Views (Swedish Government Official
Reports, Stockholm 2002)
2M. Fransman, The New ICT Ecosystem (1st
edn, Cambridge, CUP 2010), Preface
3J. Koops et al, Starting Points for ICT
Regulation: Deconstructing Prevalent Policy
One-liners (1st edn, T.M.C. Asser Press,
2006)28
4A.J. Mambi, ICT Law Book (1st ed, Mkuki Na
Nyota, Tanzania 2010), Preface.
©All rights reserved
ISSN 1800-055X Vol. Iv
the internal combustion engine, oil and
petrochemicals in the early 1900s.
According to Mambi5
ICT advances since
the end of the 20th century have led to
multiple convergences of content,
computing, telecommunications and
broadcasting. The development of ICT has
led to significant social, economic and
consequently legal changes. Technological
change has one of its widest impacts on
society and everyday life through ICT.6
The sheer impact of the new developments
in the field of ICT necessitated for its proper
regulation. ICT law can be identified as that
branch of law which tries to regulate the
ICT activities of a country. There are no
fixed definitions for the term ‘ICT Law’.
According to Mambi, it can be briefly
defined as, the legal subject that emanated
from the development of technologies, the
innovation of computers and other related
devices, the use of Internet and Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI), etc.
Law regulates technologies and solves
conflicts and co-ordination problems
related to those technologies. However,
new technologies have had more powerful
impacts on nature and on society and on our
individual and organisational
interrelationships with others. This means
that there are also new risks, which must be
managed. The new developments in
Information and Communication
Technologies have significantly affected
the traditional legal concepts and brought
about the necessity for the review and the
reform of the law receptive to modern
electronic dimensions. The role of the law
is to recognise, regulate human conduct and
5Ibid, Page 2
to enforce such regulation. Law is a method
of technological risk management and plays
a constantly increasing role in that regard.
With the development of ICT, most of the
traditional ways in which people used to
engage in commerce and communication
changed and with it came the instantaneous
methods of doing things which would have
otherwise taken much longer. However,
with these advantages came many risks and
disadvantages that needed to be managed as
well. Today we speak of online transactions
without paper money, and in the same time
we also speak of cyber hacking and cyber
theft almost like two sides of the same coin.
In considering the development of ICT in a
Sri Lankan context, it can be said that we
have been trend followers rather than trend
creators in this arena. Sri Lanka has
inherited many of its laws from the British
and mainly in the areas of commercial law.
Even after gaining its independence, Sri
Lankan legislature was very reluctant to
part ways with its British inheritance. Even
regarding laws which have been enacted in
the country regarding ICT have been
influenced by the British tradition. Several
enactments have been introduced to both
take the advantages of the rapid growth in
the ICT sector and to tackle the problems
created with the boom of the same sector.
Even though the ICT boom started to occur
from the 1970’s, Sri Lankan legislature did
not take cognizance of the fact till the mid
1990’s and it went on from there till the
middle of the first decade of the new
millennium.
Introduction
ICT
is made up of certain basic elements.
The elements have all been present since
the birth of the technology, but their relative
significance and their visibility are still
changing. The elements are automation,
information, communication, integration,
and sensation.1The ICT sector includes
computer hardware and software, tele
communications, consumer electronics,
and Internet-based contents, applications
and services.2
ICT stands for Information
and Communication Technology, that is,
technologies that store, transmit, and/or
process information and communication.
Although the term can be read literally to
include all kinds of information-processing
technologies, such as printing presses,
Xerox machines, and abacuses, the term is
generally used to indicate “modern” or
“high” technology, electronic dataprocessing technologies.3The growth of
Information Communication Technology
(ICT) marks a revolutionary turn in the
twentieth century. Compared to other
Attorney -at- Law
lecturer in Law, Institute of Human Resources
Advancement
University of Colombo
Lecturer, Department of Legal Studies, Open
University
centuries, twentieth century is marked by
rapid development in the areas of
commerce, communication and
globalization. The developments made in
the ICT sector has had a propound impact
on this rapid evolution from Alexander
Graham Bell’s telephone to Sir Timothy
John Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web.
This growth has brought dramatic changes
by revolutionizing our customs and
traditional methods of conducting business,
communication and other activities which
were based on paper methods. The days of
analogy system with terrestrial transmitters
are being rapidly overtaken by digital
technology with satellite technology4
.The
ICT cluster of technologies emerged around
the time of the Second World War and since
then they have been the most important
driver of global economic and social
growth and change. Earlier clusters were
based on textile machinery in the late
1700s, the steam engine (including railways
and steam ships) in the early 1800s;
electricity and steel in the late1800s; and
1P. Seipel, Law and Information Technology:
Swedish Views (Swedish Government Official
Reports, Stockholm 2002)
2M. Fransman, The New ICT Ecosystem (1st
edn, Cambridge, CUP 2010), Preface
3J. Koops et al, Starting Points for ICT
Regulation: Deconstructing Prevalent Policy
One-liners (1st edn, T.M.C. Asser Press,
2006)28
4A.J. Mambi, ICT Law Book (1st ed, Mkuki Na
Nyota, Tanzania 2010), Preface.
©All rights reserved
ISSN 1800-055X Vol. Iv
the internal combustion engine, oil and
petrochemicals in the early 1900s.
According to Mambi5
ICT advances since
the end of the 20th century have led to
multiple convergences of content,
computing, telecommunications and
broadcasting. The development of ICT has
led to significant social, economic and
consequently legal changes. Technological
change has one of its widest impacts on
society and everyday life through ICT.6
The sheer impact of the new developments
in the field of ICT necessitated for its proper
regulation. ICT law can be identified as that
branch of law which tries to regulate the
ICT activities of a country. There are no
fixed definitions for the term ‘ICT Law’.
According to Mambi, it can be briefly
defined as, the legal subject that emanated
from the development of technologies, the
innovation of computers and other related
devices, the use of Internet and Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI), etc.
Law regulates technologies and solves
conflicts and co-ordination problems
related to those technologies. However,
new technologies have had more powerful
impacts on nature and on society and on our
individual and organisational
interrelationships with others. This means
that there are also new risks, which must be
managed. The new developments in
Information and Communication
Technologies have significantly affected
the traditional legal concepts and brought
about the necessity for the review and the
reform of the law receptive to modern
electronic dimensions. The role of the law
is to recognise, regulate human conduct and
5Ibid, Page 2
to enforce such regulation. Law is a method
of technological risk management and plays
a constantly increasing role in that regard.
With the development of ICT, most of the
traditional ways in which people used to
engage in commerce and communication
changed and with it came the instantaneous
methods of doing things which would have
otherwise taken much longer. However,
with these advantages came many risks and
disadvantages that needed to be managed as
well. Today we speak of online transactions
without paper money, and in the same time
we also speak of cyber hacking and cyber
theft almost like two sides of the same coin.
In considering the development of ICT in a
Sri Lankan context, it can be said that we
have been trend followers rather than trend
creators in this arena. Sri Lanka has
inherited many of its laws from the British
and mainly in the areas of commercial law.
Even after gaining its independence, Sri
Lankan legislature was very reluctant to
part ways with its British inheritance. Even
regarding laws which have been enacted in
the country regarding ICT have been
influenced by the British tradition. Several
enactments have been introduced to both
take the advantages of the rapid growth in
the ICT sector and to tackle the problems
created with the boom of the same sector.
Even though the ICT boom started to occur
from the 1970’s, Sri Lankan legislature did
not take cognizance of the fact till the mid
1990’s and it went on from there till the
middle of the first decade of the new
millennium.
