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The Delhi Government's plan for "IT for the masses" has fallen foul of a combination of unfavourable market conditions and internal disputes.
Hopes for widely available computer access and for Delhi to become a cyber city by 2003 seem unlikely to be realized.
One factor is that the Urban Development minister, Mr. Jagmohan, is dead set against allowing a change in the use of land for residential purposes to allow the creation of software houses or E-commerce businesses.
There is also an ongoing row over the viability of cyber cafes in the city. It is argued that with the cheapening of Internet access and the likelihood of its availability through cable TV, cyber cafes will soon become commercially inoperable.
Indian newspaper, The Hindu described the facts of the matter, saying, "computers still remain out of the reach of the common man".
An International ban on the malicious use of computer code could be implemented within two years. Officials from the EU and the US have criticized the Draft Convention on Cybercrime because although it makes viruses, back door programs and packet sniffers illegal, it only applies if it can be proved that they were being used with the intention of doing damage.
In a statement of concerns addressed to the 41 nations of the Council of Europe, a body of world security experts, stated that it is, "Impossible to reliably distinguish software used in computer crime from that used forβ¦legitimate pur-posesβ¦In fact, they are often identical."
However, once passed, all of the signatory nations will have to bring their laws into compliance with the legislation.
It is hoped that such measures will make it easier to impose harsher sentences for computer criminals. However, one security researcher, Bill Cheswick from Lucent Technology, warns that, "Not every country will sign, and there will be offshore data havens." He continued, "The bad guys can always store their programs on your machines."
The Draft Convention on Cybercrime can be found at http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/ EN/projets/cybercrime.htm
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