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.

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.

Is Online Gambling And Betting Legal In India?

As a leading techno legal ICT law firm of India, Perry4Law is frequently approached for numerous techno legal issues. One of them pertains to e-commerce laws and regulations in India.

Recently many queries have been raised about the applicable online gambling laws and regulations in India.  We have also observed that e-commerce legal compliances in India are not followed in true letter and spirit. This may be due to lack of knowledge about applicable e-commerce laws but ignorance of laws is no excuse.

If e-commerce players do not follow the laws of the land, they may found themselves in uncomfortable situations. For instance, cyber law due diligence, Internet intermediary liability and cyber due diligence for Indian companies are some of the issues that have been ignored by almost all e-commerce players of India.

Coming back to the burning issue whether online gambling and online betting is legal in India or not? We have already covered the legality of online gambling and betting in India and other e-commerce compliance requirements in India but we would briefly cover the same once again.

The golden rule for deciding whether online gambling in India is legal or nor 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.

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: E-Commerce Laws and Regulations In India.

E-Commerce Compliances In India

E-commerce is the latest entrepreneur bandwagon in India. Thousands of e-commerce portals have emerged during the year 2012. However, in the zest of earning profit, legal and compliance requirements pertaining to e-commerce have been totally ignored by almost all the e-commerce portals.

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.

This has posed serious threat to not only lives of millions but also to the socio-economic and law and order situation n India. Regulatory bodies covering these fields must be more vigil while keeping a tab upon illegal and unethical activities of those e-commerce portals that are flouting the laws of India.  

There are many techno legal compliance requirements that e-commerce portals of India must comply with. At Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) we believe that cyber law due diligence, Internet intermediary liability and cyber due diligence for Indian companies must be kept in mind by various e-commerce websites and players.

Presently, cyber law compliances, due diligence and techno legal compliances are not followed by various e-commerce websites in India. There is an urgent need to scrutinise these e-commerce portals and prosecute the guilty for violations of Indian laws.

It would amount to adoption of double standards by Indian government if it plays harsh upon foreign companies but leaves Indian companies and e-commerce portals untouched. Let us hope Indian government would do the needful in this regard as soon as possible.

Source: E-Commerce Laws And Regulations In India.

Online Gambling Laws And Regulations In India

Online gambling in India has aroused great interest among many e-commerce entrepreneurs of India. This is because online gambling is a very remunerative and profit oriented business. However, online gambling is also a complicated business filed as many laws and technical issues have to be resolved at the same time.

We have a central law on gambling called the Public Gambling Act of 1867. Similarly, we have many state laws on gambling that are mostly based upon the central law. Further, almost all the state laws are regulating real world or offline gambling in India. The exception in this regard can be found in the laws applicable in places like Goa and Sikkim.

Recently Goa has made its casino laws very stringent keep in mind the money laundering, black money and tax evasion issues in mind. Similarly, Sikkim is also in the process of harmonising its laws with the central laws.

As far as judiciary is concerned, the Supreme Court of India has made a distinction between skills based and chance based gaming activities. Of course, each case depends upon its own facts and circumstances and the respective state law and we cannot apply one decision uniformly in all cases of gambling and online gambling. 

The e-commerce laws and regulations in India are still at the infancy stage. As a matter of fact, a majority of e-commerce portals and players in India are not following the laws of the land in true letter and spirit. Surprisingly, there is a general misconception among the e-commerce players of India that for running an e-commerce website in India they need not to follow much law. On the contrary, there are well recognised legal requirements to start an e-commerce website in India and the legal formalities required for starting e-commerce business in India.

The chief among these e-commerce players are online pharmacies, online gambling and gaming portals, electronics e-commerce websites, etc. They fail to understand that use of technology has brought additional legal issues that are primarily techno legal in nature. Their continued ignorance may bring civil, criminal and financial penalties. The recent spate of FDI crackdowns by India government proves this point.

At Perry4Law and Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) we believe that cyber law due diligence, Internet intermediary liability and cyber due diligence for Indian companies must be kept in mind by various e-commerce websites and players. The skill and chance and state subject legal arguments are not sufficient to comply with complicated techno legal requirements of India as on date. So before launching an e-commerce portal, the concerned person or company must make it sure that techno legal requirements are duly complied with.

Source: E-Commerce Laws And Regulations In India.