The arrest of Bazee.com CEO, denial of his Bail and remand for 14 days has
raised the heat in the Netizen circles.
Questions are being asked whether the arrest was necessary for any further
investigation since it appeared that bazee.com had removed the offensive
material on coming to know of the possible offence and had earlier got a terms
and conditions agreement acknowledged by the person who put the material on
sale. It was also cooperative during the investigations.
Since bazee.com is now owned by the American firm e-bay.com and the arrested CEO
is stated to be an American Citizen, the issue will get world wide publicity.
The image that the Delhi Police project through the handling of this case and
the standards that the Judiciary will set for this Case will attract worldwide
attention.
It will not be surprising if the "Human Right Activists" now jump into the fray.
Fortunately, there is no "Secular, Pseudo Secular, Communal or Political angle
to this Case for the Human Right Activists to take a biased stand one way or the
other".
The undersigned has received some interesting comments from its readers on the
case.
- One anonymous caller has stated that
"We all know that in India trial of a criminal case takes place in two
stages. First by the media during investigation and then by the judiciary. There
is also the inevitable "Punishment Before Trial" and "Punishment (or acquittal)
After Trial". I feel that all this is part of the "Law taking Its Own Course".
When law can take its own course even in the case of a reverred Hindu Mutt head
and a senior citizen, why not for others?".
Another Says,
"I have received an sms from Airtel Live: here is the exact wording (with
time of sending and receiving)
[snip]
Sender: Airtel Live;
Sent: 12/18/2004 03:39 PM
Want to get naughty? ROAR with laughter to the latest naughty jokes. Great jokes
to share with friends at the party tonight. Dial 646931
[unsnip]
Needless to say, this is an uninvited sms, with no opt-out provision for
stopping such notices. I believe that the word 'naughty' implies that the jokes
will probably be obscene, and definitely will be sexual in nature. I also
believe that the service at 646391 is not free.
I request assistance to arrest and prosecute Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal for allowing
such messages to be sent via the Airtel network. Given the current status of Mr
Bajaj's case, I believe that holding Mr Mittal in jail for 14 days while the
case is investigated is the very least that should be expected by citizens of
India who, like me, object to receiving invitations to participate in illegal
obscene trafficking through telecommunication networks. I believe the legal term
for such activities is soliciting."
Yet Another Says
While on the subject of application of the IT Act, I think the municipal
commissioners of cities like Mumbai and Delhi ought to be arrested immediately
(and remanded to custody for a fortnight to enable proper investigations to be
carried out without giving them the opportunity to destroy vital evidence) for
allowing pornographic CDs to be sold on the streets by licensed hawkers. It
won't take very astute detectives to locate such CDs, all they need do is glance
at
every second hawker's wares.
Incidentally, what regard should citizens have for a judiciary that remands Mr
Bajaj to custody for a fortnight in a case, where even a complete ignoramus can
see that Baazee exercised reasonable and judicious precautions and prompt
remedial action when illegal activities were brought to its notice, as provided
for under the relevant Act?
Secondly, why was the Economic Offences Wing asked to make the arrest? Is the
cyber-purveying of materials objectionable under the IT Act an economic offence?
Why bother to set up cyber-crime cells, in that case?
And why have they not called for the arrest of the ceos and/or chairmen of the
banks through which the payments were made?
Another Person sent a formal complaint on Sify stating:
I am a practicing Company Secretary from Delhi and a regular visitor to your
site http://www.naavi.org/I take very much
interest in Cyber Crime Issues.
And glad to know, you work with Chennai Police on Cyber Crime issues.
Therefore, I would like to bring to your notice the sale of Erotic movies by
SIFY at the folllowing link:
http://sify.com/shopping/category.php?pid=13169517
Which is ofcourse in violation of Sec. 67 of IT Act, 2000 and the hot issue
now-a-days.
As was included in yesterday's article on Rediff...http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/15ekhan.htm
I think some step must be taken specially in this case, as SIFY is brand
name and this kind of things cannot be expected a company of such repute.
I will be grateful to you, if something is done in this direction.
I think it will be easier to take some action in Chennai, as SIFY has its
Head Office in Chennai only.
[P.S: The offending materials have since been removed from the site]
However unfair it may seem, there is one silver lining to the practice. There is
enough media attention on the case to warn others to keep away from
violating law.
Can this be the objective of the Police?
..perhaps yes..
...since any other way of educating the public is left only to die-hard
enthusiasts like the undersigned.
Now let us come to some serious discussions since the way this case will run
will establish certain aspects of "What Constitutes Due Diligence" in the case
of a Web site owner and nature of protection provided by Section 79 of
ITA-2000.
..To be continued
Naavi
December 19,2004
Also See
Bloggers Beware..Set of 10 articles
Advertising Code?..or Section 67 of ITA 2000?
Related Articles:
At
Sify.com
Sify.com :
Express India :
TOI :
HT
At Naavi.org:
Bazee Bite Wakes Up Sify
Are Mobile
Phone Service Providers Liable?
Buyers
of DPS Video also being Arrested
Bazee.Com
CEO Arrested
Wise Techies realize that Law Can Bite
US Video
Voyeurism Bill Goes for President's Signature
Delhi Police Register Case..Bazee Needs to Explain
