Airtel And Tata Teleservices Limited Are Violating Internet Intermediary Rules Of India

Indian telecom companies are taking Indian laws for granted. For instance, Airtel and Tata Teleservices limited (TTL) are already in cyber law violation controversy. Both Airtel and TTL have violated the mandates of Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 (PDF) of India.

This is contrary to the stringent stand taken by Indian government and telecom regulatory authorities of India against foreign telecom companies. At a time when Indian government is zealously enforcing the cyber law of India, it is really surprising that Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL) and Airtel are violating Indian cyber law. There may be a case that both TTL and Airtel may not be aware of the contraventions and violations they have been committing. It is equally possible that both TTL and Airtel have been deliberately and knowingly violating the provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000.

According to various sources, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL) and Airtel are violating IT Act 2000 and complaints have been filed against them at Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Both Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL) and Airtel have failed to observe cyber law due diligence as required by the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the intermediary guidelines prescribed under the IT Act, 2000.

See: Ground Report for more.

Intellectual Property (IP) Disputes Have Increased Tremendously

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have assumed tremendous importance these days and both individuals and organisations are doing their level best to protect and enforce the same. As a result, the IP battles are increasing world over and India has also witnessed a growth in IPR disputes.

IP like trade secrets, patents, copyright, trademarks, etc have become crucial for the growth and expansion of various businesses. Add to it the domain names and you cover the cyberspace and techno legal areas as well.

Intellectual property (IP) disputes have increased tremendously. As more and more individuals and organisations have started asserting their IP claims, the litigation and court cases have also increased.

At the international level, the international trade commission (ITC) has recently held that Apple and Microsoft did not violate the patent rights of Google. Kim Dotcom has accused Google, Facebook, Twitter etc of violating his two step authentication patent.

Mozilla has also issues a cease and desist notice to Gamma International for maliciously using its brand and reputation. The Japanese Company Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has also accused Chinese Company CSR Sifang of stealing its Shinkansen Bullet Trains.  

The U.K. Supreme Court has also decided that storing of cache on a users computer of the copyright protected work is not copyright infringement. Similarly, the supreme court of India also held that Novartis has no patent rights in its product Glivec. U.S. Pharmaceutical Company Merck Sharp and Dohme’s (MSD) has also appealed before Division Bench of Delhi High Court.  

On the Trademark and Domain Name fronts, India has submitted Instrument of Accession to the Madrid Protocol for International Registration of Marks. In a domain squatting case, Tata Sons And Tata Infotech won domain name lawsuit against Arno Palmen. The objection and dispute resolution for ICANN’s new GTLDs registrations is also in full swing. The Financial Times and Times of India are also fighting trademark battle in Supreme Court of India.

On the legislation front, the recent Indian Copyright Amendment Act, 2012 (CAA 2012) has incorporated provisions related to digital rights management. These include protection of technological measures used by copyright owners and making their unauthorised circumventions punishable under the Copyright Act. Similarly, the proposed U.S. legislation would target companies using stolen intellectual property of U.S.

This trend of protection of IP is going to be more severe in future. The IP portfolio management in India and online brand protection in India is going to be a trick issue and individuals and companies must keep this trend in mind.  

Nursery Admissions In Delhi: High Court To Delivery Judgment Today

Nursery admissions in Delhi are a good source of black money for schools in the form of donations and seats purchasing that are otherwise available to general public. The right to education act of India has failed to curb this evil practice of schools and schools in Delhi are openly flouting the norms and laws of India.

To a greater extent the nursery admissions process in Delhi can be compared to a legalised education mafia in Delhi. There are many schools that are following and not following the norms laid down by the directorate of education, Delhi.

We hope our Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Delhi are taking note of these negative developments and would come to the rescue of helpless parents. We have also started an online petition and protest campaign against the defaulting schools.

We have also contacted Prime Minister, Chief Minister of Delhi and Shashi Tharoor and are waiting for their official response.

Meanwhile the Delhi High Court may pronounce its judgement/order regarding the point’s criteria presently adopted by schools in India.

The present point criterion is a breeding ground for corrupt practices and schools are openly misusing the same to mint money.

It would be a good decision on the part of Delhi High Court to quash the present point system and suggest a better point system so that justice can be done to the children and right to education act.

Source: Cjnews India.

Intellectual Property (IP) Laws Firms In India

Intellectual property (IP) laws firms in India are playing a major role in the global IP protection and enforcement. Many individuals and companies are utilising the services of Indian law firms and lawyers to protect their respective IP rights.

However, techno legal issues have complicated the traditional IP rights management. These days information technology is increasingly being used world over that is both facilitating and infringing the IP rights of others. Thus, role of traditional IP law firms has significantly changed. 

These days an IP rights can be protected only if the law firm or lawyer is/are good at both IP and technical aspects. This is the point where cyber law firms in India assume significant that can manage both IP related and IT related aspects. This requirement has made a clear distinction between traditional and contemporary intellectual property rights services in India.

There are many good IPRs law firms in India that are catering the requirements of various IPRs holders. However, Perry4Law is the exclusive techno legal ICT law firm of India that is providing many techno legal services in India of unique nature. These include corporate, technology and IPRs service as well.

Indian IP law firms and lawyers must adopt the technological revolution that is changing the entire service sectors world over. As more and more IT is being used to protect and enforce IP rights at global level, ignoring IT issues is not a wise option.

International treaties and agreements have further extended the otherwise territorial nature of IP protection and rights. Now even international treaties have recognised that IP enforcement must be made keeping in mind the technological developments.

For instance, with the adoption of Madrid agreement and Madrid protocol by India, trademarks protection in India would be given a new meaning. International registration of trademarks under Madrid agreement and Madrid protocol would also increase in future.

The IP law firms and lawyers of India must change gears now as even the Indian government has adopted technological methods to file and pursue IP rights in India. E-filing of various IP applications along with their online dealing is gradually becoming popular in India. Perry4Law has set the example that others must follow in India.

Source: Cjnews India.

Online Gambling Laws In India

Running online businesses in India require compliance with e-commerce laws and regulations of India. There are many techno legal issues of online business in India that must be complied with before an online store or platform is opened. The exact nature of such legal compliances depends upon the nature of online business.

Surprisingly, the e-commerce compliances in India are really bad and Indian government and various regulatory bodies have not taken any action in this regard so far. For example, cyber law due diligence, Internet intermediary liability and cyber due diligence for Indian companies are some of the compulsory legal issues that have been ignored by almost all e-commerce players of India.

According to India’s leading e-commerce law firm Perry4Law, the most vulnerable categories that have opened their online shops pertain to online pharmacies, online gambling and gaming, electronics, etc. These e-commerce portals are not at all complying with the respective laws of these segments.

Even the Indian government is lax in implementing the regulatory and compliance requirements against these illegal online pharmacies, gambling portals and other similar e-commerce platforms.

In this entire mess a question that requires urgent answer is whether online gambling and betting is legal in India? According to Perry4Law, the golden rule for deciding whether online gambling in India is legal or not has to be judged by many factors that depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case and upon state to state. There are many states in India where gambling is legal and few where even online gambling and betting is legal. However, there are some states like Mumbai where online gambling is expressly prohibited and made a punishable offense. So it depends upon the state where you wish to carry the online gambling and betting business.

Then there is the rule of skills versus chance as laid down by the courts of India. As a general rule, where the game involves application of skill on the part of the player and the element of chance is minimal, the activity would be considered to be a game and not an act of gambling. However, the applicability of this test of skill versus chance may not be applicable to online or Internet games, betting and gambling as various judicial decisions pertaining to different sets of facts and circumstances and can be distinguished easily in subsequent litigations.

Finally, economic and taxation legislations like tax laws of India, anti money laundering laws, etc are also involved while operating online casinos, online gambling and betting and online gamming platforms.  The provisions of these economic legislations are very stringent in nature and can cause great detriment to the owner or operator of the online casino, gambling and betting website.

Perry4Law recommends that to be on a safer side, it is better to comply with various techno legal laws of India while opening an online gambling, gaming and betting platform rather than facing the punitive provisions of Indian laws.

Source: Techno Legal Thoughts.