Use of e-mail against govt to be checked

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a campaign against the people involved in spreading ill-motivated and concocted stories through e-mails and text messages against the civilian leadership, interior ministry sources said here on Sunday.Interior Minister Rehman Malik has directed the relevant agencies to assist the FIA to counter such anecdotes against the political government, the sources maintained. A similar campaign has also been initiated against the proscribed organisations using the Internet for malicious propaganda against security forces.The director general FIA has been instructed to monitor and check these stories and messages and take necessary action under the Cyber Crime Act. Strict action is being taken against all the culprits in the next few days as the FIA has already done a lot of work on it. Simultaneously, Interpol/Lyon has also been requested to identify those e-mail addresses and websites registered abroad which are being used for such stories.It is pertinent to mention here that under the Cyber Crime Act, the violators can be punished for 14 years of imprisonment besides confiscation of property. Any Pakistani living abroad and violating the provisions of the Cyber Crime Act can also be charged under the Act and is liable for deportation to Pakistan. All Internet Service Providers shall be checked physically by the FIA on daily basis, the sources concluded.APP adds: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday that a special centre had been set up to investigate and take action against offensive e-mails and SMS. Talking to a private TV channel, he said: ìWe have set up a special centre where people can report offensive e-mails and SMS and we will apprehend the offender within 48 hours.îThe minister said this campaign was started about two weeks ago and had only been made public now. “We have received numerous complaints about offensive e-mails and SMSs and have also arrested a man from Azad Kashmir, who was spreading damaging e-mails against our security officials,” Malik said. “We have marked some websites that are based abroad and our teams will be paying a visit to these countries soon. The Interpol too will be helping us, as the whole world is united against cyber crime,” he said. “People can also register their complaints at inister@interior.gov.pk, he added.