Virtual Law Campus (VLC) Of PTLB

Online legal education in India is still at the infancy stage. In fact, the concept of online education has not been accepted with full heart in India so far. Another area of concern is the academic nature of our educational system where there is no real choice between skills and degree. A blind race to acquire a degree would not bring any tangible benefits except unemployment and frustration. This is the reason why India must stress upon skill based education and trainings.

Skills based education and training can be effectively imparted if we adopt online education or e-learning methodology. This is more so in the legal education field that has mostly remained untouched by the use of information technology for educational purposes.

Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has been working in the direction of establishment and working of online legal education in India for long. Not only this, PTLB Virtual Campus is also providing many techno legal skills development, training and education courses in India and around the world through online education, distance learning and e-learning modes. We are also helping young school children in choosing the most appropriate courses for legal career. However, our courses have been designed for stakeholders ranging from school children to teaching faculties.

Taking these initiatives a step further, PTLB has launched two dedicated initiatives in these fields. These are launching of dedicated websites for virtual legal education campus (VLEC) of India and virtual law campus (VLC) of India by PTLB. These websites would be fully functional very soon and virtual legal education would get a new shape and meaning in India. Further, we have also launched Twitter accounts named PTLB Virtual Campus and Virtual Law Campus that would help in better coordination and information sharing between PTLB and various stakeholders.

The aim of these two initiatives and other educational projects of PTLB is to impart online legal education ranging from traditional fields to the most contemporary topics. For instance, PTLB has been managing online cyber law education in India for long. Cyber law is a contemporary legal area that requires techno legal expertise. There are very few cyber law education institutions in India and even lesser are cyber law experts in India. Thus, the demand for cyber law professionals is very great in India and other jurisdictions.

Similarly, areas like cyber security, cyber forensics, e-courts, online dispute resolution (ODR), e-discovery, etc also require qualitative educational institutions. The traditional universities or colleges are constrained by their own rules and courses but online education platforms are free to provide qualitative and customised techno legal courses.

PTLB is in the course of adding and introducing novel, qualitative and highly efficient training, skills development and education tools and technologies. We are also introducing some very unique and highly required techno legal and other courses that are not properly represented in present times. PTLB is also exploring tie ups and collaborations with universities, colleges and other online learning platforms in India and abroad.

Our initial idea is to use PTLB Virtual Campus for various techno legal courses, trainings and skills development programs like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, etc. Whereas we intend to use Virtual Law Campus for legal fields and law courses that are imparted in universities and colleges. However, both Virtual Legal Education Campus (VLES) and Virtual Law Campus (VLC) would primarily cater the requirements of legal courses, trainings and skills developments initiatives though we may add other techno legal courses as well. PTLB would share more details about PTLB Virtual Campus, VLEC and VLC very soon.

Source: TLSDI.

Cyber Crimes And Cyber Attacks Insurance In India: A Techno Legal Perspective

Insurance business is well structured and well established in India. Even the regulatory framework in the traditional insurance sector is well managed by Indian government. With the passage of time, new avenues are now available for the insurance business. One such avenue comes from the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in our daily lives and the misuse of the same by criminal elements.

Perry4Law has been advocating use of cyber insurance since 2004 and from that year onwards we have been keeping a close watch upon the developments in this field at both national and international levels. Cyber insurance was adopted by developed nations earlier than India as it is only now that Indian insurance companies and Indian companies and other individuals have realised the importance of cyber insurance.

Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000) prescribes adoption of adequate cyber security practices and cyber law due diligence (PDF) by Indian companies and individuals. Even technology companies, financial institutions and e-commerce websites are required to observe cyber due diligence in India and this requirement cannot be ignored anymore. A special attention must be given to the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011 (PDF) and Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules 2011 (PDF) by those engaged in technology related business in India.

Regulatory compliance requirements under the Indian Companies Act 2013 (PDF) have added many legal obligations on the part of Indian companies and their directors. These include the liability of directors for cyber law and cyber security breaches and a liability for not following cyber law and cyber security legal obligations while conducting the functions of their respective companies.

Foreign companies and e-commerce websites having a business presence in India would now be required to register in India. This would also make them amendable to Indian laws and to face legal obligations for their non compliances. For instance, the recent cyber breach at Target Corporation has exposed it to litigation in multiple jurisdictions around the world.

Cyber breaches in India would raise complicated cyber law issues in the near future. For instance, cyber security issues of e-commerce business in India need to be discussed and implemented by Indian government and insurance companies. Similarly, cyber due diligence must also be outlined and implemented for online payment makers. Maintenance and inspection of document in digital form under corporate laws of India would also raise privacy, data protection (PDF) and cyber security issues.

All these aspects need a dedicated techno legal framework that is presently missing in India. Similarly, corporate frauds investigations in India would need scientific technologies and methods like e-discovery, cyber forensics, etc. If cyber security (PDF) and cyber forensics (PDF) trends in India are considered, this is a big challenge for Indian government, insurance companies and other corporate stakeholders. If cyber insurance has to be considered to be a potential source of revenue by insurance companies and adequate protection by Indian companies, they have to work hard in their respective fields.

Merely entering into an insurance agreement for cyber insurance purposes would create more trouble than solutions as complicated techno legal issues are involved in international cyber crime and cyber attack cases. For instance, insurance companies and affected companies may also face and have to tackle conflict of laws in cyberspace, authorship attribution for cyber crime and cyber attacks, refusal and non cooperation by foreign governments and companies in cyber crimes investigations, etc.

In these circumstances, not only the cyber insurance agreements must be properly drafted by insurance companies but techno legal investigation skills must also be used for investigating cyber crimes and cyber attacks cases by both the affected companies and insurance companies.

Source: International Legal Issues Of Cyber Attacks.

International Legal Issues Of Cyber Attacks By Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO)

Anybody who has dealt with international cyber law and cyber security related issues must be aware that it is really tough to solve such cases. Being transnational in nature, cyber law and cyber security issues require international cooperation among various nations and law enforcement agencies.

For instance, if a simple exercise of internet protocol tracking is undertaken, it takes months before any information is received from a foreign jurisdiction. Even in such cases, these are exceptional cases and not a general practice. In this process, the crucial digital evidence is lost forever and the cyber crimes investigation becomes a cold trail.

As there is a severe conflict of laws in cybersapce, it is very important to be aware of various technology related laws of various jurisdictions. However, it is not possible to be aware of all the laws of various jurisdictions. In order to spread public awareness in this regard, Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) has been managing a dedicated blog on international legal issues of cyber attacks and cyber security. It is the exclusive techno legal blog on the topic not only in India but in entire world.

The blog has covered many techno legal aspects like use of cyber espionage malwares, need for the national security policy of India, legal immunity against cyber deterrent acts in India, open source intelligence through social media websites, protection of Indian cyberspace, national counter terrorism centre (NCTC) of India, cyber security challenges of India, cyber preparedness of India, the Wassenaar Arrangement and cyber security issues, intelligence agencies reforms in India, banking cyber security, techno legal analysis of Gameover Zeus, cyber crimes insurance in India, smart cities cyber security in India, etc.

As on date we have no dedicated cyber security laws in India. This is the reason why cyber security is more ignored than complied with in India. Even the blooming e-commerce industry of India is devoid of required cyber security practices and requirements. Cyber security of banks in India is also not upto the mark. This has forced the Reserve Bank of India to constitute a IT subsidiary that would consider, monitor and prescribe cyber security related rules, regulations and practices for banks in India. Even the Companies Act 2013 has prescribed cyber security obligations for the directors of companies. This is in addition to the cyber law obligations of banks and directors of Indian companies.

It is well understood that international legal issues of cyber attacks are not easy to handle. Nevertheless, Indian government cannot afford to ignore this situation and it must urgently work towards making Indian cyber security robust, resilent and effective. P4LO hopes that our readers would find our blog on international legal issues of cyber attacks, cyber law and cyber security useful.

Source: CSRDCI.

Indian Online Poker Law Needs Legal Reforms Says Perry4Law

A very common question that is frequently asked is whether playing online poker in India is legal or illegal? Similarly, it is also often asked whether running of an online poker website in India is legal or illegal. Online gaming industry of India is fast maturing. However, in the absence of adequate laws in this regard, the online poker websites in India are heading towards legal troubles. There is an urgent requirement to bring regulatory reforms regarding online poker industry of India, says New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law.  

Indian people are real fanatics of gambling; which has incited numerous operators to open websites of online gambling in India. However, the latter risk committing a crime, given that the law which governs the market of online gambling in the country remains fuzzy. According to Praveen Dalal, a partner of the firm Perry4Law of New Delhi, specialist of data-processing law, the legality of a room of online poker depends on its domain name and its organization mode. That causes a vast confusion within operators and authorities. Recently, the Mumbai crime branch has dismantled websites of gambling which operated illegally. Numerous other gambling websites could also know the same fate for a reason of non conformity to Indian laws.

The legality of online poker is still a grey area in India, and while the game’s popularity continues to surge on the subcontinent, the Indian government has some fairly strict restrictions when it comes to granting official licenses for online poker rooms meaning only a few gambling operators have so far managed to obtain one.

At present, the specific Indian law that relates to online gambling and poker is the Information Technology Act of 2000, as well as other laws such as the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Public Gambling Act. As a result, an unlicenced poker room may find its access blocked by Internet service providers, even though there is an exemption in Indian law for games of skill. This is because the country’s government has still to decide whether or not online poker games fall into that category and so the atmosphere of uncertainty continues to exist in India.

The crux of the legal position seems to be that if an online poker website is following the laws of India while operating in India, it is legal to play online poker in India. However, if the laws of India are breached during such online presence both the cyber law of India and other applicable state laws may be attracted.

India Moves Ahead In The Direction Of Cyber Command For Armed Forces

In the present times of sophisticated cyber attacks, having a centralised cyber command for armed forces of India is a must requirement. This cyber command has been long due and announcement regarding its establishment have been made by Indian government from time to time. The latest announcement in this regard has been made by India government that a tri service cyber command for Armed Forces of India would be established very soon.

However, as has been rightly pointed out that without implementation everything is just a dream. On the implementation aspect, India is still grappling with the issues like cyber warfare, cyber espionage and cyber terrorism, etc. In these circumstances, a dedicated cyber warfare policy of India (PDF) must be formulated as soon as possible.

The Cyber Security Trends and Developments in India 2013 have shown many glaring cyber security problems (PDF) of India.  Establishment of offensive and defensive cyber security capabilities of India is one of the most prominent requirements of present times.

For too long cyber security issues have been dumped due to bureaucratic red tape. Now once again the bureaucratic process has been set in motion. For crucial issues like cyber security, the bureaucratic process and formalities should be kept at minimum.

Source: Cyber Security Issues In India.

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.  

Rule Of Law Does Not Apply To Indian Politicians And VIPs

India has two entirely different set of rules for its politicians/VIPs and ordinary men. When it comes to protecting the VIPs/politicians all constitutional rights and freedoms are given widest interpretation. However, when it comes to ordinary citizen, neither the Indian constitution nor his rights are of any significance.

Indian politicians and VIPs are least bothered about giving their biometric details citing privacy reasons. Similarly, they are also wary of the phone tapping provisions of the same laws that apply to us in an unrestricted and uncontrolled manner.

What do you think?

References:

(1) Is India Adopting Double Standards Regarding Privacy Rights And Telephone Tapping?

(2) The Cyber Security, Data Security And Civil Liberties Implications Of Aadhaar Project And Biometric Collection By UIDAI In India

(3) Central Monitoring System (CMS) Of India

(4) Civil Liberties Protection In Cyberspace

(5) Radia Tapes, Ratan Tata’s Privacy, Fundamental Rights And Public Interest

(6) Standing Committee On Home Affairs Recommends Safeguards For Phone Tapping Of Politicians

(7) Indian Central Monitoring System Project Needs PMO Intervention

Open Source Hadoop Book

Apache Hadoop is a well known name with great utility. Apache Hadoop is an open-source software framework that supports data-intensive distributed applications, licensed under the Apache v2 license. The Apache™ Hadoop® project develops open-source software for reliable, scalable, distributed computing.

The Apache Hadoop software library is a framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models. It is designed to scale up from single servers to thousands of machines, each offering local computation and storage. Rather than rely on hardware to deliver high-availability, the library itself is designed to detect and handle failures at the application layer, so delivering a highly-available service on top of a cluster of computers, each of which may be prone to failures.

To make this experience even better, Mark Kerzner and Sujee Maniyam have released an open source Hadoop book for Hadoop fans. The book is titled "Hadoop illuminated” and it can be read in multi page and single page formats.

The authors want to make learning about Hadoop and its ecosystem fun and engaging. The book is accompanied by its project on GitHub. The book is work in progress and is in alpha stage. The authors will be updating and adding to it.

The feedback of various stakeholders is welcome.

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.

Nursery Admissions: Online Petition And Protest Against Corruption In Schools Of Delhi

An online movement is taking a big shape in New Delhi where some of public spirited colleagues and members of legal fraternity have joined hands to fight against corruption existing in the schools of Delhi.

The aim of this movement is to consolidate the hardships faced by parents during seeking admission at schools in Delhi. The education lobby of schools is too powerful that even our government needs hard push to take legal action against them.

Our online movement is primarily requesting the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs. Sheila Dikshit and Hon’ble Delhi High Court and Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to interfere and punish the guilty schools and their management and the corrupt individuals.

To consolidate the work that we have already done in this regard, we are providing the links of the following articles:

(1) Right To Education: A Successful Failure Of India

(2) Nursery Admissions: Schools In Delhi Are Openly Flouting Laws And Norms

(3) Nursery Admissions In Delhi-The Legalised Education Mafia

(4) Education Mafia In New Delhi: Are PM Manmohan Singh And CM Sheila Dikshit Listening?

(5) Schools In Delhi That Do Follow And Do Not Follow Laws And Norms

Some of these articles are also available at here, here and here and we would keep on updating the list from time to time.

We hope parents would come forward to share their experience, good or bad, with us so that we can provide a holistic picture to our government and courts.

We also expect our justice oriented courts to take notice of the development happening in Delhi and take suo motu action against the guilty schools and individuals.

We also request the Delhi High Court to consider the averment and material made available in this article as part of the ongoing public interest litigation (PIL) as the court has powers to do so.

Source: Cjnews India.

Schools In Delhi That Do Follow And Do Not Follow Laws And Norms

Harassment at the hands of school authorities is very common in Delhi. Even our government is well aware of this harassment but it has failed to take any action against the defaulting schools and their managements.

We have started an online campaign against corruption in Delhi schools. We have been covering about this aspect at our online platforms and inviting the opinions and views of public, including legal experts, media professionals, parents and other individuals.

As background information about our initiative, please see the following articles in this regard:

(1) Right To Education: A Successful Failure Of India

(2) Nursery Admissions: Schools In Delhi Are Openly Flouting Laws And Norms

(3) Nursery Admissions In Delhi-The Legalised Education Mafia

These articles are also available at here, here and here.

We have also started an online movement that is primarily requesting the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs. Sheila Dikshit and Hon’ble Delhi High Court and Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to interfere and punish the guilty schools their management and the corrupt individuals.

Please see Education Mafia In New Delhi: Are PM Manmohan Singh And CM Sheila Dikshit Listening? and give your valuable contribution. 

In this article we are covering the positive as well as negative acts or/and omissions on the parts of various schools in Delhi.

(1) Schools In Compliance: The following schools are prima facie complying with the laws and norms laid down by Indian government and directorate of education:

(a) Bal Bharti Public School, Ganga Ram Hospital Marg (1st List released)

(b) Hans Raj Model School, Punjabi Bagh (1st List awaited)

(2) Schools At Default: The following schools are prima facie not complying with the laws and norms laid down by Indian government and directorate of education:

(a) APJ School, Pitampura

(b) Bal Bharti Public School, Pitampura

(c) Bal Bharti Public School, Rohini

(d) DAV Public School, Pushpanjali Enclave

(e) Dwarka International School

(f) Lancer’s Convent

If you are a Parent who believes that any particular school, whether in the list already covered by us or otherwise, is complying with or not complying with the laws and norms applicable in Delhi, please feel free to contact us at ram.ok@rediffmail.com with your comments. 

If you are a School/School management, whether in the list already covered by us or otherwise, and you believe that you are complying with the laws and norms applicable in Delhi, please feel free to contact us at ram.ok@rediffmail.com with your comments. 

We will keep on updating this list as the developments unfold from time to time. We would also provide the legal basis, based upon legal suggestion by lawyers, upon which we have formed the opinion that a particular school is complying with or flouting the norms and applicable laws while submitting our petition to Hon’ble Delhi High Court, Hon’ble Supreme Court, Prime Minister of India and Chief Minister of India.

Source: Techno Legal Thoughts.

Nursery Admissions In Delhi-The Legalised Education Mafia

When right to education act was introduced by India, I was very optimistic that education related vices would be curbed to a greater extent in India. Now the recent events have proved me absolutely wrong.

Take the example of the present nursery admissions in the schools of Delhi. The schools are openly flouting the laws and norms in Delhi and the Indian government and Delhi government is silently watching the show. 

For instance we analysed the first lists issued by various schools in the Pitampura region like Bal Bharti Pitampura, Bal Bharti Rohini, APJ Pitampura, DAV Pushpanjali, Lancer Convent, etc and none of them have mentioned the points earned by the selected students in a single list. Now how would parents analyse whether their wards have been excluded genuinely or deliberately from the first list.

The selection procedure has been deliberately kept in dark and unfair so that corrupt practices can be undertaken. If Schools like Bal Bharti, APJ, DAV, Lancer etc are neither conducting draws in front of parents nor providing the details of points earned by each applicant how can the fairness and transparency be ensured?

The right to education act has, in effect, legsalised the irregularities and wide spread corruption existing in the education segment of schools. Schools are openly engaging in unethical and illegal admission procedures and the Delhi government has kept its eyes closed and mouth shut.

The legal experts have rightly pointed out, the net result of the Right to Education Act is to give “Full Leverage” to Schools, imposing “Obligations” upon the Parents and “Abdicating” the Constitutional Duties on the part of the State.

We are in the process of obtaining views and opinions from legal luminaries, media experts, aggrieved parents, etc. If you have something to share with us in this regard, please contact us at ram.ok@rediffmail.com.

Source: Ground Report.

Transfer Pricing Order Issued Against Vodafone India

Tax related regulatory affairs are in limelight in India these days. The chief among these issues is the transfer pricing laws of India that are claimed to be violated by many multi national telecom companies in India.

For instance, Shell India has received a transfer pricing order from Indian tax authorities. Similarly, Nokia has been accused of violating income tax and transfer pricing laws of India. So much so that forensics analysis of Nokia’s computer used to download software in India has been undertaken by tax officials.

See Corporate Laws In India for more.

Transfer Pricing Laws In India

Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have provided a research report titled Global Taxation and Anti Competition Regulatory Issues In 2012 And Projections Report for 2013 by Perry4Law that is discussing these issues. The report highlights global taxation issues including the recent allegations of tax avoidance labeled against Amazon, Google and Starbucks regarding UK Tax Laws.

Even the foreign direct investment (FDI) are strict actions have been initiated by Indian government. After canceling the telecom licenses of many telecom companies, now Indian government would ascertain beneficiary in Walmart probe to ascertain possible violation of Indian laws. The Competition Commission of India (Procedure in Regard to the Transaction of Business Relating to Combinations) Regulations, 2011 have also been formulated by the Competition Commission of India in 2011 to regulate anti competition combinations. The same may be pressed more frequently in the year 2013.

Perry4Law and PTLB hope this research work would prove useful to all concerned.

See Corporate Laws In India for more.

Shell India Received Transfer Pricing Order From Indian Tax Authorities

Transfer pricing laws of India are frequently invoked by Indian income tax department these days.

Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) believe that the transfer pricing laws and valuation of the unlisted company needs further clarification from our legislature. Otherwise, litigations would keep on surfacing unnecessary.

In a listed company, the valuation is based on Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) formula, which is the average of six-month or two-week share price, whichever is higher. But in unlisted companies, the valuation can be based on fair market price, or book value, or returns on share based on a certification by an independent valuer.

See Corporate Laws In India for more.

Objection And Dispute Resolution For ICANN’s New GTLDs Registrations

Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have been sharing their views about the proposed new GTLDs by ICANN. Some of our views pertain to legal rights objections under ICANN's new GTLD program,  legal rights objection assistance for new GTLDs by Perry4Law,  trademark and brand protection under new GTLDs registration by ICANN, is your brand and trademark violated by new GTLDs, etc.  

It has been now notified by ICANN that the objection period has been extended to 13 March 2013. Once the objection filing period closes, all objections received will move through a dispute resolution process which will take approximately five months to resolve in most circumstances.

If you need professional legal services for making or defending various objections and disputes under the new GTLDs process, you may contact them if you deem it appropriate.

See: IPRs Services In India.

Nokia Accused Of Violating Income Tax And Transfer Pricing Laws Of India

Transfer pricing laws of India and income tax provisions are in limelight these days in India. Related issue like foreign direct investment (FDI) is also raised from time to time. Indian government would ascertain beneficiary in Walmart probe to ascertain possible violation of Indian laws.

In a significant and related regulatory development, the Competition Commission of India (Procedure in Regard to the Transaction of Business Relating to Combinations) Regulations, 2011 have also been formulated by the Competition Commission of India in 2011 to regulate anti competition combinations. The same may be pressed more frequently in the year 2013.

Vodafone is already managing a tax dispute with Indian government. In fact, Vodafone may invoke arbitration for fresh tax demands by India. Similarly, recently Shell India received a transfer pricing order from Indian tax authorities. Now Nokia has been accused of income tax and transfer pricing laws of India.

Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have provided a research report titled Global Taxation and Anti Competition Regulatory Issues In 2012 And Projections Report for 2013 by Perry4Law that is discussing these issues. The report highlights global taxation issues including the recent allegations of tax avoidance labeled against Amazon, Google and Starbucks regarding UK Tax Laws.

See Corporate Laws In India for more.

Legal Issues Of Entertainment And Media Industry In India

Media and entertainment industry of India is heading towards a big growth rate. Entertainment and media industry growth and challenges in India are also well known. Legal frameworks in this regard are in the process of improvement and modification in India.

Legal issues of media and entertainment industry of India are too diverse and wide to be discussed in a single article. This piece is covering some of the basic level legal issues of media and entertainment industry of India.

Indian media and entertainment industry may face the legal challenges of Intellectual Property rights (IPRs) laws and cyber law of India. IPRs laws like copyright, trademark, etc may be frequently violated and occasionally invoked to redress IPRs violations of media and entertainment industry in India. Similarly, online IPRs issues like domain name disputes may also be agitated in the future. Similarly, media and entertainment industry must keep in mind the mandates like “cyber due diligence” and other provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000.

Media and entertainment industry will also face technological challenges in future. For instance, the issues pertaining to digital preservation of entertainment industry products may assume significance in future.

Dispute resolution of media and entertainment industry is of paramount importance in India. With the growth of media and entertainment industry in India there are also increasing cases of disputes as well. A majority of these disputes pertain to intellectual property rights (IPRs) issues.

Disputes prevention and resolutions in the film and media industry of India is still evolving. We have to device methods like Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) in this regard.

Surprisingly, Asian Film and Media Industry are not considering utilising the Services of WIPO in this regard. Asian companies prefer to utilise tradition litigations methods instead of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or online dispute resolution (ODR).

Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has opened a techno legal ODR platform where ADR and ODR is used for resolving all sorts of commercial and civil disputes that can be resolved using ADR and ODR. PTLB would cover this issue subsequently in its other posts.

Source: IPRs Services In India.

Forensics Analysis Of Nokia’s Computer Used To Download Software In India

Nokia has been accused of violating income tax and transfer pricing laws of India. In order to strengthen its allegations and prove its point, the income tax department officials paid a visit to Nokia India’s factory at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, along with Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) officials from Hyderabad.

The idea was to verify and analyse Nokia India’s computers using cyber forensics methodologies that are suspected to be used for downloading software from parent company.

Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) believe that this is the right approach to gather digital evidence. The experience officials from the CFSL would consider all the aspects of cyber forensics, e-discovery, etc. Further, paper evidence scanning and e-discovery legal issues in India and optical character recognition (OCR) legal issues India should also be kept in mind by the CFSL officials.

See Cyber Forensics In India for more.

Dispute Prevention And Resolution In The Film And Media Industry

Film and Media Industry of India is heading towards a great growth. At the same time Film and Media Industry is also facing issues of Piracy, Copyright Violations, etc. The traditional methods of Litigation in India are not very encouraging. We have to device methods like Alternative Dispute resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). We must also encourage use of E-Courts in India.

Surprisingly, Asian Film and Media Industry are not considering utilising the Services of WIPO in this regard. They are still taking their disputes before traditional Courts.

At Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) they are very particular of these considerations and they Draft various Film and Media Industry related Agreement accordingly.

However, WIPO’s Mediation and Expedited Arbitration for Film and Media initiative cannot succeed till it is a part of “Holistic Effort” comprising of Law Firms and Professionals spread all over the globe.

Source: ICTPS Blog.

Direct Tax Benefits Issues Relating To Export Of Computer Software

The Government of India, through its Ministry of Finance/ Department of Revenue/ Central Board of Direct Taxes, has issued a clarificatory Circular No. 01/2013, F. No. 178/84/2012-ITA.I, dated 17th January 2013 pertaining to issues relating to export of computer software and corresponding direct tax benefits.

Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) are hereby discussing the Direct Tax Benefits Issues Relating to Export of Computer Software for our readers. We hope all the stakeholders would find this discussion useful.

See Corporate Laws In India for more.

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.