ANKARA - A new Internet bill, which sets stiff penalties for individuals who use the Internet to commit crimes, has been drafted by the Turkish Justice Ministry, reported the Turkish Daily News.
The bill was sent to more than 100 bodies, including universities, top courts, relevant ministries and bar associations asking for their recommendations in order to make any possible final changes before submitting it to the Parliament.
According to the bill, if a person uses the Internet to hack into a network system and illegally alters information, attaches programs or inflicts damage, he can be jailed for up to five years.
If information and identity fraud is committed, through erasure or the altering of information on a network to produce a fake document, a one to three-year imprisonment is carried out.
Disguising personal identity or assuming that of someone else for financial gain will result in a prison term of up to one year provided that no other crimes are involved. Imitation of state departments, companies or any other official entity via the Internet carries a harsher penalty of between six months and three years imprisonment.
The new legislation is also set to crack down on child pornography in all electronic forms. The production for sale on the Internet of real or altered pornographic photos, videos, texts or voice recordings featuring children would result in a prison term of between eight and twelve years.