Cyberlaw is a term that deals with the Internet's relationship to technological and electronic elements, including computers, software, hardware, and information system. Simply, cyber law is the law that is used for stopping computer crime and abuse. Cyberlaw is important because it helps to control crime related to the internet. Cyberlaw is any law that applies to the internet and internet-related technologies. Cyberlaw is one of the newest areas of the legal system. This is because internet technology develops at such a rapid pace. Cyberlaw provides legal protections to people using the internet. This includes both businesses and everyday citizens. Understanding cyber law is of the utmost importance to anyone who uses the internet. Cyber Law has also been referred to as the "law of the internet." 

Cyber Law and Intellectual Property

An important part of cyber law is intellectual property. Intellectual property can include areas like inventions, literature, music, and businesses. It now includes digital items that are offered over the internet. IP rights related to cyber law generally fall into the following categories:

Copyright:  This is the main form of IP cyber law. Copyrights protect almost any piece of IP you can transmit over the internet. This can include books, music, movies, blogs, and much more.

Patents:  Patents are generally used to protect an invention. These are used on the internet for two main reasons. The first is for new software. The second is for new online business methods.

 Privacy: Online businesses are required to protect their customer's privacy. The specific law can depend on your industry. These laws become more important as more and more information is transmitted over the internet.

Areas of Cyber Law

• Computer Crime Law
• Data Protection and Privacy Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Electronic and Digital Signature Law
• Telecommunication Law

Cyber Law in Nepal

Globalization has helped Nepal to advance in the field of communication and the internet. With the evolution of new technology, there have been a large number of crimes related to the internet. So, cyberlaw has been an essential issue in Nepal.

"The electronic transaction and digital signature Act. - The ordinance " is popularly known as the cyber law of Nepal. The government of Nepal had passed this law on 30th Bhadra 2061 B.S. ( 15th September 2004 ). Electronic transactions act, 2063 was passed by the government in 2008 A.D. (2063 B.S.). Cyberlaw is the law that governs the legal issues related to the use of the internet. Similarly, it also includes other communication technology like intellectual property, privacy, freedom of expression, and jurisdiction. Since there has been a rapid development in the field of technology, cyber law has become an essential part to control any unnecessary activity related to it. Generally, cyber law comprises of:

• Electronic and digital signature
• Cybercrime
• Intellectual property
• Patents for inventions
• Trademark
• Copyrights
• Internet Gambling
• Privacy
• Defamation

Following are some of the important key features of the cyber law of Nepal:

1. Any tasks of deleting, stealing, and altering the computer sources; publishing illegal materials, breaking privacy, etc have been described as cybercrime. Anyone doing such activities will be brought under judiciary inquiry.
2. The law states that government has the right to punish cybercriminals.
3. They may be sentenced to up to two years of imprisonment or a fine up to Rs two lakh or both.
4. If anyone is found publishing wrong information on websites, then one has to pay NRs one lakh or five years of imprisonment or both.
5. Anyone helping in such crimes will be given half punishment compared to the criminal.

Computer Ethics

Computer ethics are a set of moral standards that govern the use of computers.  It is society’s views about the use of computers, both hardware, and software.  Privacy concerns, intellectual property rights, and effects on society are some of the common issues of computer ethics.

Privacy Concerns

• Hacking – is an unlawful intrusion into a computer or a network. A hacker can intrude through the security levels of a computer system or network and can acquire unauthorized access to other computers.
• Malware – means malicious software which is created to impair a computer system. Common malware is viruses, spyware, worms, and trojan horses.  A virus can delete files from a hard drive while spyware can collect data from a computer.
• Data Protection – also known as information privacy or data privacy is the process of safeguarding data that intends to influence a balance between individual privacy rights while still authorizing data to be used for business purposes.
• Anonymity – is a way of keeping a user’s identity masked through various applications.

Intellectual Property Rights

• Copyright – is a form of intellectual property that gives proprietary publication, distribution, and usage rights for the author. This means that whatever idea the author created cannot be employed or disseminated by anyone else without the permission of the author.
• Plagiarism – is an act of copying and publishing another person’s work without proper citation. It’s like stealing someone else’s work and releasing it as your work.
• Cracking – is a way of breaking into a system by getting past the security features of the system. It’s a way of skipping the registration and authentication steps when installing software.
• Software License – allows the use of digital material by following the license agreement. Ownership remains with the original copyright owner, users are just granted licenses to use the material based on the agreement.