Zero Piracy Without Pain- Is Karnataka Government lagging behind?
It has been reported that Red Hat India, a joint venture of Red Hat
Inc --a leading supplier of Linux systems --has entered into a strategic
alliance with ER&DCI, a organisation under the ministry of information
technology to popularize Linux in the government sector.
It is high time that the "Silicon Valley of India" which has thousands
of Linux experts in the country has to take initiatives to develop alternative
operating systems. Encouraging Redhat could be one of the initiatives required.
Details here.
Cyber Defamation- A case in Delhi
A report has been received from CyberLaw India.com about a Case
in Delhi High Court about Cyber Defamation.In view of the academic interest in this type of Case, it is
reproduced here with brief comments.
Details here.
Hague Convention- Should India Keep out?
In a fast changing world, keeping abreast with knowledge and information
is a tough task for the common man...when the lack of upgradation could
cause you a loss of existing property or land you in jail in some foreign
land, then upgradation of knowledge becomes critical to the survival itself.
The Hague Conference precisely has this effect on the community.
One of the biggest problems with the Convention is that..The worst laws in each country will
become the strongest threat to the Community in all member countries...
The public and the law community need to start reading about all the laws of the
current Hague member countries since they may become relevant to Indians if India ever decides to join
this mad convention.
Detailed Story here.
RBI Announces New Guidelines for Interent Banking
A new guideline for Banking operations on the Interent applicable within the jurisdiction of the Reserve bank of India
has been announced.
Details here.
Related Article in Economic Times
The Hague Convention and Its Impact on Interent
The fight for Jurisdiction on Interent has entered a new phase with
the Hague Conference on Private International Law suggesting a new
treaty to set the rules for jurisdiction for nearly all commercial and
civil litigation. As drafted, it will extend the reach of every country's
intellectual property laws, including those that have nothing to do with
the Internet.
Detailed Story here.
The Fight for Jurisdiction over Cyber Space
The Case of Yahoo and the French Government over the rights of Yahoo.com
to auction Nazi memorabilia is heating up into a debate on the fundamental
aspects of Jurisdiction over Cyber space.
The solution to this has to be looked at both in the short term and
the long term.
Detailed Story here.
People call DMCA "Stinking"
Indian legislators are considering passing a Copyright law for the digital media similar to
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of USA. Since our legislators have a tendency to blindly follow
foreign legislations, it is necessary for us to remind them from time to time about what the people
in USA think about this Act.
DMCA is so harsh in respect of Contributory infringemnet that
it has even enouraged DVD manufacturers to device copyright protection mechanisms
that can destroy the DVD player itself if used without license. No wonder the author of the following article
calls DMCA "stinking."
Detailed Story at IDG.net
Mumbai Cyber Crime Cell
Mumbai Cyber Crime Cell has announced the telephone numbers which can be used by public to lodge complaints.
Public can write to cyber crime cell, or contact them on the phone 2620406 or 2625028.
Mumbai police under an investigation lead under the supervision of Jt CP B S Mohite, DCP (EOW)
Pradip Sawant, and ACP D K Jadhav and assisted by The Enquiry Officer, PI Zahid, and PSIs S Rane and
M Naik recently handled a complaint about "harassment" of a woman by some body who had posted her address and telephone number
in a public guest book. The Police have got the offending message removed after contacting the administrator of
the web site.
If the investigation is continued to its logical conclusion, it can reveal the identity of the
person who posted the message just as in the case of the Delhi Bomb hoax case. In the interest of preventing
recurrence of such incidents, we urge the Police to continue the investigations until the offender is apprehended
and punished.
Naavi.com also requests Cyber Crime Cells in other cities to publicise their
contact addresses and telephone numbers so that public can contact them easily in case they need
to lodge Complaints on Cyber Crimes. They should also make arrangements to receive such complaints through digitally signed e-mails.
Police should also think if by getting the message removed from the guest book
in a hurry, they have lost an easy opportunity to trace and consolidate the evidence in the event of
the case going to the prosecution stage.
Detailed Story at TOI
Bail Granted in the E-Mail Bomb Hoax Case
It has been reported that the Mr Joseph Jose who had been arrested for
having sent a bomb hoax to a news paper in Delhi through E-Mail has been granted
bail by a Delhi Court.
The case had attracted attention because it was the first Cyber Case
to have been cracked through tracing of an e-mail origin. Now it appears that the difficulty of
proving evidence in a case of this kind, in the Indian Courts, under the present set of practices, will also
be under severe test.
Has the Police collected conclusive evidence? Has it been preserved properly? Do our Judges relish
discussions on all the technicalities of IP headers, Mail spoofing, and other jargons that may
be traded in the Court room?....
Are the Public Prosecutors trained enough in Cyber Laws to match their wits with a Cyber Law expert like Mr Pavan Duggal? ..
will all be put to test.
Let's hope that atleast now the PP s all over the Country rush to
Cyber Law Colleges wherever they are available, to brush up their knowledge.. so that,
if not in the present case, when a real terrorist is caught on the net, he can be
effectively prosecuted.
Detailed Press Release here.
Re-enactment of the Bal Bharati Case in USA
Some time back we discussed in detail the case of a Delhi School student..an exactly similar case has been reported
from USA.
Detailed Story here.
Zero Piracy Without Pain
It is not only the Karnataka Government that wants a good name for
itself in the world market that it is a promoter of the "Zero Piracy Principle".
Even the people of Karnataka would like to be known as "Zero Piracy Population"
and uphold the tradition of Kannadigas as law abiding people...The path to "Zero Piracy" has one "Stricter Enforcement Route"
which is painful and could be devastating, as also a "Painless" route suggested
above.
Does Karnataka Government has the will? to show the way? or will
it leave it to Mr Chandrabau Naidu to take the lead in this aspect also?..
Or will it the opportunity for the MP or Maharashtra Chief Minister to
steal the show?
Detailed Story here.
A Revolutionary Thinking is Required in Financing Software
Projects
Finance is a critical input for any successful industrial venture...The only option for the software entrepreneurs today is to approach
Venture Capital financiers of various description including "Angle Investors"
and "Incubators"...Now, as a part of "Reducing Piracy of Software" there is a need to encourage
flow of funds to the software entrepreneurs...In a Government backed financing project it is possible to
structure the financing as a "Reverse Convertible Equity Financing".
I urge Karnataka Government to introduce
such an innovative financial instrument as a part of an "Udyama Kranti
Yojana" (Entrepreneurial Revolution Programme) and combine it with policies
for encouragement of "Open Souce Software", and "Indigenous Software
Development". This will be an integrated strategy for "Zero Piracy without
Pain".
Detailed Story here.
Convergence Bill to become law by February..says Mr Pramod Mahajan"
Detailed Story at TOI
Bomb Hoax Through E-mail Cracked by Delhi Police
It has been reported that an employee of American Express Bank hacked himself into
an e-mail account of a company and sent out a bomb hoax ro a news paper office. The Police have successfully traced
the culprit and arrested him.
Let's congratulate Delhi Police for this succesful investigation of the Cyber Case.
Detailed Story in Nesbytes.com
Encourage Open Source Initiatives and Copyleft
One of the critical activities in which a Democratic Government elected
for the people , by the people and runs on the taxes from the people, should
indulge in, is to bring essential products of consumption to the
public at reasonable costs and if feasible, at no costs.
In the present context of Government initiatives to prevent Software
Piracy, any attempt by the Government to support Copyright enforcement
initiatives without showing concern for alternative strategies for reducing
the need for Copyright infringement will amount to an unfair use of public
resources.
Do we have the courage to discuss this controversial need of the Cyber
Society? Send your Comments to Naavi.
Detailed Story here.
More Alternatives to Challenge .com extensions
Columbian country code extension is .co has become a new threat to the
.com registrations. Just as .tv domain became a popular name in no time, .co may also become popular.
Along with .ws and new.net names, the domain name arena is hotting up as nevr before.
Detailed Article in CIOL
Alternate Strategies to Prevent Software Piracy-
Encourage Indigenous Software Developers
If Software Piracy has to be reduced, one of the steps that the Government
has to take is to remove whatever incentive is encouraging
Piracy.......
It is necessary for Karnataka Government which has declared
its intention to be a "Zero Piracy State" to also take some initiatives
that would support and encourage indigenous development of low cost software
and also initiate policies where by Government departments increase their
usage of "Open Source" software wherever possible. These and related issues
should be the focus of discussion in this year's IT.com at Bangalore.
Detailed Story here.
The Introduction of New Domain Names –Problems and Panacea
With .info and .biz domain names up for registration now, Trade Mark owners
have a new worry to handle. Advocate Unni discusses the options available for registrants.
An Analytical article from mr Unni, Advocate from
Kottayam.
The War Against Piracy..Need For Positive Remedies
It has been reported that the Government of Karnataka has declared
that the State Government would be a “zero piracy organisation” and also
make Bangalore, the knowledge capital of the country, as “zero piracy territory”
by March 2002.
Even though, the move of the Karnataka Government needs to be appreciated
in the interest of preserving a law abiding society, there is need to use
this opportunity to remind the Government to introspect on the measures
it needs to take to eliminate the "Root Cause" of "Software Piracy".
I suggest that the Karnataka Government will dedicate
this year's IT.Com to deliberate on the issue of "Alternate Strategies
to Reduce Software Piracy".
I invite suggestions from the public to be sent to Naavi.com for
consolidation and presentation to the Karnataka Government.
Detailed Story here.
Driving Sense into Trade Mark Owners
In a replay of Maruti Udyog's Claim on the word "Maruti" as a Trade mark,
a French Company Leonardo Finance has sought to establish its right on the word "Leonardo".
It has made a bizarre claim that its trademark was diluted by the fact that search-engine searches
for "Leonardo" prominently turn up links to pages affiliated with the international nonprofit arts
and sciences group Association Leonardo and its Leonardo Journal. The Company argued that Association
Leonardo should pay over $1 million in damages. Fortunately the Courts have rejected the claim.
The judgement comes as a great relief when the Cyber society is reeling under the
onslought of the Trade Mark and Copyright owners.
Detailed Article in Wired News
Also Read RIAA's dispute with Web Radio Companies
