Oman moved one step closer to creating a digital society by introducing an electronic transaction law or E-law on May 17, 2008. The measure is a part of the Sultanate's national IT strategy. Says Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi, CEO, Information Technology Authority (ITA), "One of the most important aspects of building an e-governance environment is to create trust. The E-law is a platform that creates this."
Following the Royal decree promulgating an E-law, all Internet-based transactions acquire a legal validity. For example, an electronic signature will have as much validity as a physical signature.

Armstrong Jeyakumar, MBA Programme Manager and Lecturer, Majan College explains, "Cyber laws or E-laws regulate commerce which may, fully or partially, be transacted online. These laws are based on the premise that e-commerce is structurally different from conventional trade and so need a different set of regulations."

The spectrum
E-law covers a wide range of areas pertaining to electronic commerce like buying and selling on the Net, credit card transactions, domain names, contractual liability for defective hardware and software, terms of Internet contract, data protection etc. The adoption of online commerce needs two things - trust and security. These two attributes can be guaranteed only by a legal environment. For example, retail transactions like buying and selling on the Internet involves a financial transaction creating the need for legal protection. An E-law is essential to identify the parties involved and bringing in an authentication of the deal. "Once these two criterion is fulfilled a transaction becomes secure," says Jeyakumar. Moreover in case of a breach of contract both the parties are aware of the legal redressal at their disposal.

The law is expected to give a big fillip to online commerce in the Sultanate. Till now the use of online banking in the Sultanate has been in the low double digits but analysts expect this to grow at a rapid clip from here. The ITA is creating a central portal for all electronic transactions taking place in the Sultanate. Any person can log onto the portal using a log in name and a password. This portal will facilitate online commerce and protect the interest of the parties involved.

Though an online process saves time and cost most companies in the Sultanate encounter the last mile problem as customers are hesitant to try out the electronic option due to security concerns. With a comprehensive set of cyber laws in place consumers will be more confident about pushing the execute button. Says M K Janaki Raman, General Manager, Bahwan ITBahwan IT, "All companies and individuals will gain from the law."

As Oman emerges as an important investment destination for international investors, there has been a growing demand for such a law. "Whenever we speak to companies abroad, there are always queries about an E-law. With this law in place organisations like OCIPED can promote Oman as an attractive investment destination," says Ruzaiqi.

Distance traversed
The law has been in the works for more than a year now as law firms from the Sultanate and abroad worked out the fine print. Luckily, the authorities did not have to reinvent the wheel completely as a number of precedents for such a law exist. The United Nations E-law being the most well known one. The Council of European Convention 2007 has a separate section on cyber laws. Though such references exist there was a need to localise them to suit the needs of the Sultanate. A gap analysis was carried between the prevailing laws and what was needed and a final draft was drawn. The ITA is following up the E-law by sending it to different ministries asking them to update their regulations in accordance with the Royal decree.

The law was published in the gazette on June 2, 2008, brining it into force
To make the law effective there is a need to generate awareness about its provisions. Says G Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Jawad Sultan Technologies, "A number of measures can be taken to combat e-fraud if people get to know about cyber laws and their usage." The ITA has lined up a number of initiatives for the purpose. One, the details of the legislation are being put up on the ITA website. Second, a full day workshop on E-law will be conducted in Salalah in August. Third, the E-law will get its fair share of voice during ITA's second roadshow this year.

Another critical piece of the jigsaw is to train the stakeholders or government officials. The ITA is rolling out a massive effort to train 93,000 government employees from the third quarter of 2008. All government departments are being brought onto the same IT platform creating a seamless process. Says Raman, "ITA is taking a lot of steps in the right direction and this will have a good impact."

Concerted efforts
As the Internet is not bound by national boundaries, crimes on the Net are international in nature, raising a question mark on country-specific laws. "There is a need for countries to accept the idea of dual criminality wherein a person who commits a cyber crime is considered to be a criminal not only in that jusridiction where the crime has been committed but also in the country where he resides," says Jeyakumar. This is a complicated issue as it calls for combined sleuthing by various countries.

Aware of the need for more co-operation, the ITA is working closely with FIRST, a global non profit organisation in the field of Internet security. FIRST brings together a variety of computer security incident response teams from government, commercial, and educational organisations to combat Internet based crimes. Says Ruzaiqi, "FIRST has a project called CERT which works in the area of Internet security and we are establishing its centre in the Sultanate." A number of hacking incidents recently have been traced back to Russia and the authorities are working on curbing them.

Scandinavian countries have had the most advanced ICT laws followed by North America and East Asia. "Cyber regulations fit in with their focus on the quality of life," says Jeyakumar. In the region Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE have cyber laws and with the E-law in place, Oman is set to join the comity of nations which is in the vanguard of promoting a digital society.

© Oman Economic Review 2008

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