The 140-year-old Press and Registration of Books Act, enacted during the British period, may undergo extensive overhaul to bring into its ambit the online news portals and web editions of newspapers.
Till now the PRB Act of 1867 had been covering only the hard copy editions of printed newspapers and books. Online news portals and web editions of newspapers did not fall within its jurisdiction.
"The print is no longer the print on paper we have had. It has also gone online on computer screens instead of the paper. The press is no longer the old galley printing press. A paper now can be published in facsimile form through dedicated telecom lines in distant cities," a senior official of the