Google Is Either A Victim Or Accomplice To Illegal SEO Activities In India

Ever since the cyber law of India has been amended through the information technology amendment act 2008 (IT Act 2000), Indian cyber law has become a draconian tool in the hands of Indian government and its agencies. Indian government is censoring and controlling information that it considers to be controversial.

The bigger question is whether Google is helping India in this illegal and unconstitutional exercise of Indian government or private persons or organisations working for the Indian government? The answer definitely seems to be yes though it is still not clear whether it is “intentional” or “without knowledge” of the Google? But with so many news items and Blog posts musing about this fact, it is difficult to believe that Google is not aware of this situation.

Another aspect that is presently operating in India is unethical and illegal search engine optimisation (SEO) activities. It seems a combination of censorship and evil search SEO is openly and fearlessly operating at Google’s platform in general and Google India in particular. Google is definitely aware of this phenomenon yet it has still not reacted in any manner. This is lessening the trust and respect of users in Google.

The latest in the series is a constitutional analysis by Praveen Dalal of the proposed National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (Bill) proposed by the unique identification authority of India (UIDAI). This exclusive analysis in India has discussed the positive and negative aspects of the Bill that is meant to provide legitimacy to the Aadhar project of India or UID project of India. However, from the very beginning it has been dumped so deep into Google news database that it could not find its genuine and appropriate place. This is due to the unethical SEO activities happening at Google India

The Nandan Nilekani led Aadhar project and UIDAI is unconstitutional as it is neither supported by any law nor it has any safeguards for protecting civil liberties of Indians. With suppressing the public inputs and suggestions, it is just proving the points raised therein.

SOURCE: CIO

Aadhar Project Of India Must Be Suspended And UIDAI Should Be Dissolved Till Proper Laws Are In Place

By
Pritesh N Munjal

Now it is settled that the aadhar project of India and UIDAI are not legally constituted authorities, they being illegal and unconstitutional bodies is well settled. None can now doubt that the all important Aadhar project is now managed for the benefits of private individuals without any public interest element for the benefit of Indians.

Further, the unconstitutional nature of aadhar project and UIDAI is also further aggravated with its proposed amalgamation with endemic e-surveillance projects like National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project Of India (CCTNS Project), etc that confers tremendous and unregulated powers in the hands of Indian government and its agencies.

Further, in the absence of any privacy law, data protection law and other similar laws, these powers become draconian. The cyber law of India, incorporated in the information technology act 2000, has already been made e-surveillance friendly and cyber crimes friendly.

In similar circumstances, the Natgrid project has been stalled after civil liberty experts objected to its continuance on similar grounds. In fact, demands for scrapping aadhar projects have been on rise.

Time has come to suspend the aadhar project of India and dissolve the UIDAI till proper laws are in place.

What Is Ailing The Aadhar Project Of India And UIDAI?

By
Ram K Kaushik

A constitutional analysis of the Bill proposed by the UIDAI Chairman Mr. Nandan Nilekani and analysed by Praveen Dalal has revealed that both the UIDAI and Aadhar project of India are still unconstitutional.

The Human Rights Centre of India has been keeping a close eye upon unconstitutional projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc and providing its valuable inputs and suggestions from time to time. This analysis is the latest of this series.

After much protest by civil liberties experts, the UIDAI was forced to propose the Bill that although very good for administrative purposes yet miserable for civil liberties purposes.

It is surprising that both Aadhar project of India and the UIDAI are operating without any law empowering them to act.

This is strange as the Indian government has deemed it fit to confer extreme powers in the hands of an authority that does not exists in the eyes of law.

Further, due the controversial nature of the work assigned to UIDAI, civil liberties violations are bound to arise in future.

UIDAI And Aadhar Project Of India Has Still To Cover A Long Way

By
Catherine Fernandes

A constitutional analysis of the Bill by Praveen Dalal claims that both the UIDAI and Aadhar project of India are still unconstitutional. Praveen Dalal is also the founder of the first Human Rights Centre of India.

According to the analysis, neither UIDAI nor Aadhar Project of India is legally supported by any law. Even the proposed Bill would also take some time before it can come to the rescue of UIDAI.

So much so that even if the proposed Bill becomes an effective and binding law today itself, it is far from being a law respecting the civil liberties of India.

Fundamental rights like right to privacy are at great stake due to the proposed Aadhar project. To aggravate the position, the aadhar project would combine its database with national census, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc.

This would not only violate the civil liberties of Indians but would also make India an e-police State and endemic e-surveillance society.

The Bill is, however, a good administrative scheme as per the analysis and it enhances the transparency, accountability and fairness for the dealings of UIDAI.

The Proposed Bill By UIDAI And Aadhar Project Would Not Protect Civil Liberties

By
Gunjan Singh

A constitutional analysis of the proposed National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (Bill) by Praveen Dalal claims that both the UIDAI and Aadhar project of India are far from being constitutional.

The proposed Bill fails to provide safeguards regarding violation of civil liberties of Indians and it incorporated many verbatim provisions of cyber law of India, i.e. information technology act 2000.

The main objective of the Bill is to streamline the administrative aspects of Aadhar project and UIDAI. Till now both Aadhar project and UIDAI are not supported by any legal framework.

In fact, the Bill would take many months/years to become final and enforceable law. Till the Bill becomes an enforceable law, no legal sanction can be attributed to it.

In short, as on the date of writing of this article and many subsequent months, both UIDAI and Aadhar project of India would be spending hard earned public money without any statutory right to do so.

Needless to mention is that this expenditure would be primarily incurred for the purpose of violating civil liberties of Indians. It seems to be “double jeopardy” to me.

Mr. Nandan Nilekani Your Aadhar Project And UIDAI Is Still Unconstitutional

By
Kunal Koel

A constitutional analysis of the proposed National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (Bill) by Praveen Dalal has revealed that both the UIDAI and Aadhar project are still “unconstitutional”.

The analysis has claimed that the Bill is still not a valid piece of legislation till it is approved by both the Houses of the Parliament, receives President’s assent and then finally notified in Official Gazette by the Government of India.

The analysis also reveals that the Bill never intended to provide adequate safeguards for protection of civil liberties in India.

The analysis came as a part and parcel of the project managed by him and known as Human Rights Protection in Cyberspace (HRPIC). This is the exclusive Human Rights Centre in India that is analysing various issues, including matters pertaining to UIDAI and Aadhar project.

The analysis also claims that the proposed Bill also has many positive features that if supplemented with good privacy and data protection law may go a long way in clearing legal hurdles for the UIDAI.

The Proposed Bill By UIDAI And Nandan Nilekani Are Still Unconstitutional Says Praveen Dalal

The National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (Bill) has been recently proposed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The Bill, if made a law, would be called National Identification Authority of India Act, 2010 (Act). Here are some of the salient features of the Bill:

(1) The Bill is still not a valid piece of legislation till it is approved by both the Houses of the Parliament, receives President’s assent and then finally notified in Official Gazette by the Government of India.

(2) The Bill is not a comprehensive one and neither has it intended to cover all the aspects of Aadhar project of India. The Bill’s main objective is to provide legitimacy to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) renamed as the National Identification Authority of India (NIDAI) and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

(3) The Bill has picked up many provisions of the Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) for various issues. One of them also pertains to the extra territorial application of the Bill.

(4) The Bill is a good piece of work as far as administrative aspects of Aadhar project is concerned. However, it has almost nothing to offer regarding protecting civil liberties of Indians. Privacy issues, data protection issues, etc are missing from the Bill.

(5) By making the IT Act 2000 a base for many of its provisions, the Bill has incorporated the weaknesses and lacunas of the same. It seems the members drafting the Bill did not take pain to do some good research and formulate new and better provisions.

(6) The Bill’s greatest strength is its Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model through which it is seeking the expertise and assistance of various individuals, institutions, etc. The Bill is also great to the extent it catering the requirements of Research and Development regarding some of the most crucial aspects of contemporary times.

(7) The Bill has its own list of Offences and Penalties. The list though not adequate but if supported by different and supplementary legislations would strengthen the Bill. These provisions have been inspired by the IT Act 2000 with all its limitations and demerits.

(8) Provision regarding delegation of authority of the NIDAI is also incorporated to bring flexibility among the functioning of the authority. The only fact that has to be kept in mind is that this delegation must not be abused for private gains of private players.

(9) The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being in force. Thus, other law would supplement the provisions of this Bill and make it more effective.

In short, this is a great enabling legislation for the UIDAI/NIDAI and its administrative functions. It has taken care of most of the aspects that would allow the authority to perform its functions effectively, transparently and with accountability. Proper care has been taken to use PPP Model as well as to use the expertise of others.

On the negative side, the Act does not cater the civil liberties requirement that is also the toughest challenge before it and the first and foremost challenge for its authority. This may be due to the fact that the Act never intends to cater the civil liberties requirements and has left it for the Indian government through a separate legislation.

The NIDAI would face the challenge of “Unconstitutionality” on two counts. Firstly, the authority must be constituted by a proper law. This requirement would be fulfilled if the Bill is made an enforceable law. The second is that it must not violate the Civil Liberties of Indians. This is a tricky issues and the same has also been avoided by the present Bill. The Indian government has promised to enact laws regarding privacy and data protection very soon.

If the Bill and those laws are combined, they may take care of the constitutionality attacks and the NIDAI may proceed further for its tasks. But for the time being, both Aadhar Project and UIDAI/NIDAI are “Unconstitutional” Project and Authority.

SOURCE: HRPIC BLOG

Is Indian Government Serious About Privacy And Data Protection Laws Of India?

By
Shayam Prasad

If any thing that Indian government is very good at delivering is, it pertains to making false promises and empty claims. The latest in this series is its promise to formulate suitable privacy and data protection law(s) in India.

Firstly, in April 2009 the department of information technology (DIT) and Cert-In declared that they would set up an IT regulatory body, which will monitor the security and privacy aspects of IT and BPO companies.

Then in May 2010 the chairman of UIDAI and Aadhar project Nandan Nilekani declared that he would come up with data protection and privacy law of India within a month.

Now almost at the end of June 2010 the Indian government has constituted a Group of Officers under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training to develop a framework that could balance the country’s interests and concerns on privacy, data protection and security and which could respect the domain legislations on the subject. The Group is supposed to submit its report within three months i.e. till September 2010. On the basis of that report the government may take some action.

The truth is that Indian government is using the data protection and privacy laws issue as a faced to push its illegal and unconstitutional projects like Aadhar/UID, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc.

If the Indian government is so sure and committed about bringing a suitable privacy law or data protection law, it can stop these controversial projects till the time these laws are formulated. But the government would not do so because it cannot afford to postpone project on the basis of an assurance that it never intends to fulfill.

Indian government is just gaining time and trying to mislead the civil liberties activists who are demanding for a privacy law for these unconstitutional projects.

Technical Glitch With Google Search Engine Results

Dear readers of our Blogs Cyber Laws In India and Techno Legal News And Views Form India (TLNAV). We are having some issues with the Blog search results and web search results of Google India.

As a measure of precaution and to defeat any possible rouge editor or sub editor in India or elsewhere from manipulating Google India’s results, we are forced to post our articles, news, views, etc at multiple platforms. This process will also defeat any unethical and illegal search engine otimisation (SEO) that may have adverse impact upon search engine results.

Although we strictly discourage cross postings and multiple postings, they may continue for the time being till things do take the right shape.

We regret any inconvenience to any person, institution, reader, Google, etc. Kindly bear with us, if possible.

Crime And Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project Of India

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project of India (CCTNS Project) is one of the most important projects of India. It has the potentials to bring the much needed and great police reforms in India. At the same time it can magnificently increase the police powers and their capabilities. As the power increases, so must be the accountability, transparency and responsibility. It is at this point that CCTNS Project of India fails drastically.

Although CCTNS project is a very ambitious project of Indian government yet it is not supported by any legal framework that can provide safeguard against its misuses. On the one hand we have CCTNS that is the most comprehensive modernisation and reformative initiative of government of India to streamline law enforcement in India till date. On the other hand the project is in its initial stage and it may face both technical as well as legal challenges and civil liberties issues.

The truth is that the present projects like Aadhar/UID, National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid), CCTNS, etc are simply unconstitutional in the absence of good and effective privacy laws, data protection laws and many such similar laws. However, the government of India is pushing these projects very hard due to industrial lobbying and to provide unlawful and illegal gain to some companies. Now the question arises what is CCTNS project and from where it is deriving its authority?

CCTNS is a plan scheme conceived in the light of experience of a non-plan scheme namely - Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA). CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Pan of Govt of India. CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing through adopting of principle of e-Governance and creation of a nationwide networking infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled-state-of-the-art tracking system around 'Investigation of crime and detection of criminals'.

The objectives of the Scheme can broadly be listed as follows:

1. Make the Police functioning citizen friendly and more transparent by automating the functioning of Police Stations.

2. Improve delivery of citizen-centric services through effective usage of ICT.

3. Provide the Investigating Officers of the Civil Police with tools, technology and information to facilitate investigation of crime and detection of criminals.

4. Improve Police functioning in various other areas such as Law and Order, Traffic Management etc.

5. Facilitate Interaction and sharing of Information among Police Stations, Districts, State/UT headquarters and other Police Agencies.

6. Assist senior Police Officers in better management of Police Force.

7. Keep track of the progress of Cases, including in Courts.

8. Reduce manual and redundant Records keeping.

Under the CCTNS Project, approx. 14,000 Police Stations throughout the country has been proposed to be automated.

The modernisation of police force in India cannot be successfully achieved till India acquires a techno-legal expertise. However, at least a good beginning has been made by Indian government and it would go a long way in modernisation of law enforcement in India. The government must, however, enact a suitable legal framework that can protect civil liberties of Indians from excessive police acts.

SOURCE: MYNEWS

The Search Debacle Of Google India

Some of our news and search results at Google have been systematically removed from the news search and Google search. Through this post we are trying to analyse what may be the reason for the same. The latest to face censorship at the hands of Google is our article regarding civil liberty violations by Indian government through projects like Aadhar/UID Project, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc. These projects are not supported by any law and they are also violative of right to privacy and other constitutional rights of Indians.

Meanwhile, another Blog entry of one of our authors disappeared in similar fashion from Google search engine. We presumed that the controversial nature of the entry forced Google India to do that. This does not discourage us and we reposted the entry again here. Now this entry appeared in Google search engine but once again disappeared. Is Google trying to suppress this issue by brute force and without clarification.

At times you may feel frustrated by the fact that your article or news appearing at the Google news database or search engine disappears without any reason. You may consider it as a technical glitch or attribute the same as some mistake at your part that forced the Google to remove the contents.

But what if this becomes a routine activity that also regarding only those news or search results that are deemed to be controversial by the government?

Obviously, this is a deliberate and systematic act on the part of the search engine and government of a nation where that search/news database is operating.

Many of our articles and news are systematically removed from time to time by Google India. Initially we thought it to be a technical glitch. However, when the frequency of this exercise increased and many of our news and articles disappeared without any reason or cause, we were forced to write up this piece of our apprehension. It may be right or it may be wrong, you decide the same and enlighten us.

The government of India gained draconian, unconstitutional and illegal e-surveillance, Internet censorship, website blocking and many such Orwellian powers through the information technology amendment act, 2008 (IT Act 2008). The IT Act 2008 amended the sole cyber law of India i.e. information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) and conferred unregulated and unreasonable e-surveillance and censorship powers upon Indian government and its agencies. Till now the Indian government has not prescribed procedural safeguards and guidelines subject to which these Orwellian powers can be exercised. As a result the government is using these powers without any accountability and transparency.

Obviously, all tech companies and search engines must also comply with the official as well as unofficial, legal as well as illegal demands of Indian government and its agencies. It seems Google India is doing just the same.

Now since the words and deeds are out an explanation from Google India in this regard would be appreciated. We may be wrong in our analysis but then we cannot be wrong on all the occasions.

We would also keep on posting about any such incidence in future when we face similar problem from any tech company or search engine.

UPDATE: Thanks to CIO platform and other people and supporters, some of the search results in Google Blog and Google Search have reappeared.

SOURCE: CIO

Identity Thefts Are Increasing In India

By
Gunjan Singh

Identity thefts are on rise in India. This is due to the lax cyber law of India. Indian cyber law is incorporated in information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000). IT Act 2000 was amended by the information technology amendment act 2008 (IT Act 2008) and it made the cyber law of India a very weak law. So much so that the present cyber law of India has made India a safe heaven for cyber criminals and all sorts of cyber crimes are being committed in India.

To aggravate the situation, Indian police is not aware of cyber law and cyber crimes. Even the officers at the Cyber Crime Investigation Cells like Mumbai are clueless regarding cyber crimes. Even their boastful claims regarding cyber forensics capabilities are false and groundless.

We would cover more identity thefts issues I general and cyber crimes in India in particular in our subsequent posts. It would be better if the government of India makes suitable amendments in the cyber crime friendly legislation of India.

Exclusive Techno-Legal Cyber Security Research And Training Centre Of India (CSRTCI)

By
V K Singh

Cyber security in India has not received the attention of Indian policy makers. As a result India has witnessed many sophisticated cyber security attacks against its computer systems operating at crucial departments and places from time to time. Even the terrorists are using technology to further their nefarious objectives in India. The problem is that Indian government, like any other government, is not capable of tackling cyber security issues single handedly. It needs private sector support to achieve this task.

According to Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of the exclusive techno-legal cyber security research and training centre of India (CSRTCI), cyber security in India needs an urgent rejuvenation. He informs that till now Indian government has not thought it fit to consider cyber security as a part of National Policy.

It is obvious that India is finding it difficult to gather necessary cyber security expertise and this is resulting in a weak cyber security. Fortunately, private initiatives like CSRTCI are bridging the much needed gap of cyber security in India. The centre is providing techno-legal solutions for areas like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, critical ICT infrastructure protection, cyber war, etc. It is also providing techno-legal solutions for Indian projects like CCTNS, Natgrid, NCTC, etc.

CSRTCI also maintains a “repository” of software and tools for areas like cyber security, cyber forensics, penetration testing, malware analysis, encryption, stegnography, etc. It also maintains a rich techno-legal literature, articles, databases, etc for ready reference.

However, the most important and crucial achievement of the CSRTCI is that it has an “Exclusive Techno-Legal Repository” of software and research literature. It also has expertise for “aggressive defence” and human rights protection in cyberspace. In short, it is a single place destination for the techno-legal cyber security and allied fields.

The government of India and private sector of India must concentrate upon cyber security as soon as possible. Further, there is an emergent need to make proper amendments in the otherwise impotent, weak and ineffective cyber law of India. The increasing cyber crimes in India is also attributable to the “welcoming law” of India incorporated in the information technology act 2000 that instead of deterring the cyber criminals is in fact encouraging them to indulge in cyber crimes.

CCTNS Project Of India Needs Techno-Legal Expertise

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project Of India (CCTNS Project) is a very ambitious project of Indian government. It is the most comprehensive modernisation and reformative initiative of government of India to streamline law enforcement in India till date. The project is in its initial stage and it may face both technical as well as legal challenges and civil liberties issues.

CCTNS is a plan scheme conceived in the light of experience of a non-plan scheme namely - Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA). CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Pan of Govt of India. CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing through adopting of principle of e-Governance and creation of a nationwide networking infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled-state-of-the-art tracking system around 'Investigation of crime and detection of criminals'.

The objectives of the Scheme can broadly be listed as follows:

1. Make the Police functioning citizen friendly and more transparent by automating the functioning of Police Stations.

2. Improve delivery of citizen-centric services through effective usage of ICT.

3. Provide the Investigating Officers of the Civil Police with tools, technology and information to facilitate investigation of crime and detection of criminals.

4. Improve Police functioning in various other areas such as Law and Order, Traffic Management etc.

5. Facilitate Interaction and sharing of Information among Police Stations, Districts, State/UT headquarters and other Police Agencies.

6. Assist senior Police Officers in better management of Police Force.

7. Keep track of the progress of Cases, including in Courts

8. Reduce manual and redundant Records keeping

Under the CCTNS Project, approx. 14,000 Police Stations throughout the country has been proposed to be automated.

The modernisation of police force in India cannot be successfully achieved till India acquires a techno-legal expertise. However, at least a good beginning has been made by Indian government and it would go a long way in modernisation of law enforcement in India. The government must, however, enact a suitable legal framework that can protect civil liberties of Indians from excessive police acts.

SOURCE: PTLB BLOG

India Is Engaging In Citizen Profiling And E-Surveillance Activities

By
Ram K Kaushik

India has been pushing “unconstitutional projects” in the name of welfare schemes and national interest. Projects like Aadhar/UID project, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc are simply illegal and unconstitutional. Even the Natgrid project has been stalled due to lack of procedural safeguards and adequate privacy protection. Similarly, Aadhar project and UIDAI are both not governed by any law at all.

Indian government is imposing unconstitutional project upon Indians with blatant violation of their civil liberties. This was the main reason for the launch of Human Rights Centre of India so that it can protect civil liberties of Indians in cyberspace. The Centre started keeping a close eye upon the unconstitutional projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc. Simultaneously, a separate initiative titled “Aadhar Watch Initiative” was also launched to analyse the constitutionality of the aadhar project.

The real reasons for the launch of projects like Aadhar are to enhance e-surveillance capabilities of India that also without any procedural safeguards. At the same time to provide unregulated and unreasonable e-surveillance, Internet censorship and website blocking powers upon itself and its agencies, Indian government amended the sole cyber law of India i.e. information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) through the information technology amendment act 2008 (IT Act 2008).

However, Indian government and its agencies cannot achieve these unconstitutional tasks without having a complete control over information, both online and offline. For online information, it is forcing tech companies like Google to screen online contents. Some of my colleagues have constantly maintained that many of their news reports have been systematically deleted by Google India. Although we considered it to be a technical glitch yet now we are sure that they were neither accidental nor technical glitch. We would provide a techno-legal analysis of this censorship by any concerned person or company very soon.

As far as offline information is concerned, project like Aadhar, Natgrid, National Census, etc would provide complete database of Indian citizens and those residing in India. This is the real reason why projects like Aadhar have been imposed even despite stiff resistance from civil liberty activists. Even Nandan Nilekani has adopted the method of bureaucratisation by promising for a privacy and data protection law for Aadhar project and UIDAI but delivering nothing but loud and empty words.

Meanwhile, the Indian government “once again” announced that it would enact data protection and privacy law for India. It seems the government of India has finally accepted the suggestions of Praveen Dalal in this regard, at least in letter if not spirit.

It is surprising that Indians are so gullible that they do not understand the purpose of these unconstitutional projects. With a complete control over the information of Indian citizens, their lives would be a real hell as we are not governed by a good government and intelligent bureaucracy. Choice is yours: protest or face the consequences.

Why Google News Items Are Disappearing From Its News Database?

By
V K Singh

At times you may feel frustrated by the fact that your article or news appearing at the Google news database or search engine disappears without any reason. You may consider it as a technical glitch or attribute the same as some mistake at your part that forced the Google to remove the contents.

But what if this becomes a routine activity that also regarding only those news or search results that are deemed to be controversial by the government? Obviously, this is a deliberate and systematic act on the part of the search engine and government of a nation where that search/news database is operating.

Many of our articles and news are systematically removed from time to time by Google India. Initially we thought it to be a technical glitch. However, when the frequency of this exercise increased and many of our news and articles disappeared without any reason or cause, we were forced to write up this piece of our apprehension. It may be right or it may be wrong, you decide the same and enlighten us. We are keeping open this article for public comments subject to moderation.

The latest to face censorship at the hands of Google is our article regarding civil liberty violations by Indian government through projects like Aadhar/UID Project, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc. These projects are not supported by any law and they are also violative of right to privacy and other constitutional rights of Indians.

The government of India gained draconian, unconstitutional and illegal e-surveillance, Internet censorship, website blocking and many such Orwellian powers through the information technology amendment act, 2008 (IT Act 2008). The IT Act 2008 amended the sole cyber law of India i.e. information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) and conferred unregulated and unreasonable e-surveillance and censorship powers upon Indian government and its agencies. Till now the Indian government has not prescribed procedural safeguards and guidelines subject to which these Orwellian powers can be exercised. As a result the government is using these powers without any accountability and transparency.

Obviously, all tech companies and search engines must also comply with the official as well as unofficial, legal as well as illegal demands of Indian government and its agencies. It seems Google India is doing just the same.

Now since the words and deeds are out an explanation from Google India in this regard would be appreciated. We may be wrong in our analysis but then we cannot be wrong on all the occasions.

We would also keep on posting about any such incidence in future when we face similar problem from any tech company or search engine.

Access To Justice for Marginalised People Of India

Of late, the Law Minister Mr. Veerappa Moily has been very active in suggesting judicial reforms in India. They are very good reforms and if implemented in a timely manner would drastically reforms the judicial system of India. Indian judicial system needs a complete overhaul.

Of late, Indian judicial system has become a play ground for men with long purses and poor and marganilised segments of India are not even aware what justice is all about. The Law Ministry is considering this aspect and trying to bring suitable reforms so that justice may be delivered to the poor at their doorsteps.

This is a very good initiative provided it is performed in a planned and holistic manner. Moily has already mooted an idea of mobile courts on trains. State legal service officials will travel in the special train that will function as a Lok Adalat and Gram Nyayalaya. Further, Moily has also been very active in releasing under trials that are undergoing trails for petty offences but over crowding the prisons. The proposed National Litigation Policy (NLP) would also bring suitable legal and judicial reforms in India.

However, there are grey areas as well. Till now most of the legal and judicial reforms proposed by Moily have remained as mere promises far from being actual implementation. Further, Moily is also shy in using information and communication technology (ICT) for legal and judicial reforms in India.

For instance, the failure of e-court project of India has ultimately resulted in its scrapping. This was a very crucial project that got sacrificed due to lack of accountability, planning, expertise and many more factors. Think about the benefits it could have produced for the dying legal and judicial system of India.

Take the mobile train courts scenario. A better result could have been achieved through e-courts by not even leaving the court or chamber of a judge or lawyer. The extra costs and manpower could be saved by a good e-court model.

The problem seems to be lack of expertise to establish and manage effective e-courts in India. There is just a single techno-legal e-courts training, research and consultancy Centre in the entire world. Fortunately, the same is an Indian centre and the same can be handy while inculcating techno-legal ICT skills among judges, lawyers, court staffs, etc.

Of course, appropriate training is required before the judges, lawyers, court staff, etc can actively use e-courts. Even that aspect has been taken care of by the online platform of Perry4Law Techno-Legal Base (PTLB). The judges, lawyers, etc can learn about important techno-legal fields like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, telecommunications laws, e-courts, etc even while sitting in their respective chambers. Further, training in the area of online dispute resolution (ODR) is also available. We hope Law Minister Moily would consider these initiatives while bringing suitable legal and judicial reforms in India.

SOURCE: BAR & BENCH TRAINING BLOG

Google Voice Now Available To US Citizens

By
Shayam Prasad

In a much awaited move, Google has opened up its Google Voice facility to people of US. Previously, Google Voice was available upon “invitation only”. Now anybody having a Google account and living in US can have this wonderful service.

But what is Google Voice? Google Voice is an application that helps you better manage your voice communications. It has many rich and useful Features and the best part is they are free if you live in US.

Google Voice has introduced one number to ring all your phones, voicemail that works like email, free calls and text messages to the U.S. and Canada, low-priced international calls and more. The only catch was you had to request and receive an invite to try it out but now even that requirement has been waived.

Though Google has opened up sign-ups, Google Voice is still limited to everyone in the U.S. for now. But in future it would also be available in other countries, including India.

Meanwhile, Frontier Communications Corp. sued Google Inc. over patent infringement for the Google Voice service. The suit seeks to stop Google from using a one-number technology, which Frontier says infringes on its patent.

We would come up with a complete review of this product as well as the techno-legal issues involved in it, including the patent infringement suit, subsequently after consulting best techno-legal experts of India.

Digital Forensics Research, Training And Educational Centre Of India

By
V K Singh

Digital forensics in India is a new concept and as such there are very few firms, organisations or companies that can provide services in this crucial field. Further, when the issues involved are both technical and legal, it is very difficult to find experts who can provide a techno-legal analysis of the digital evidence. It seems there is an urgent need of good and effective digital forensics research and training institutions in India.

However, at least one good initiative in this regard can be found in the form of India’s exclusive digital forensics research, training and educational Centre. It is the exclusive centre that is providing “techno-legal” digital forensics litigation services, consultancy services, research, education, training, KPO and LPO services, etc.

Digital forensics in India has not grown to its full potential. This is mainly due to a weak and ineffective cyber law of India. The Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act 2000) is an ineffective cyber law that cannot meet the requirements of present times. Further, it is also deficient regarding digital forensics perspective.

Indian government has also not done enough to provide good techno-legal training to police force in India. As a result the police force of India is unable to effectively deal with cyber crimes.

Even the cyber crimes cells of India are not well trained to apply cyber forensics properly. They are not aware when to apply what procedure to get the best results. They are not aware what they have to do at the cyber crime scene to bring the best evidence. For instance, picking up of monitor and keyboards instead of CPU is very common practice among the police force people not realising that CPU must be seized in all cases.

If police officers, lawyers, cyber law professionals, computer forensics professionals, judges, etc wish to have real and effective cyber forensics training, they may consider enrolling at the online platform managed by India’s leading techno-legal training institution named Perry4Law Techno-Legal Base (PTLB).

For lawyers and judges a separate online platform has been launched by PTLB. This platform would provide techno-legal training to lawyers and judges of India as well as other nations.

If you are looking for a techno-legal career or may be in a profession that demands techno-legal knowledge, you may consider enrolling for various courses, training and skill development programs of PTLB.

Online Training For Lawyers And Judges Worldwide

By
Editor LNAV

Globalisation of services is resulting in an increased number of judicial dealing with matters pertaining to information and communication technology (ICT). Areas like cyber law, cyber forensics, telecom, etc are increasingly agitated before the traditional courts and tribunals.

This is a challenging task and the judges and members of various tribunals and forums must be well versed with these fields of litigation. Even arbitrators must be aware about these areas as lots of cases pertaining to ICT are referred to arbitration.

Perry4Law Techno-Legal Base (PTLB) is well aware of this much needed field of specialisation, we have launched many platforms for not only the members of bar and bench but also for professionals from all segments of life.

We have been receiving requests for training for judges from African countries, Middle East counties, etc. Similarly, we have also been receiving requests for training of judges and court staff regarding e-courts.

PTLB has launched an online platform for training and education of lawyers and judges all over the world.

For e-courts trainings, the exclusive e-courts training and consultancy Centre of India would impart training to judges, courts staffs, etc.

We hope the judges, lawyers, court staffs, etc all over the world would find our initiatives useful.

Data Protection, Privacy Rights And Civil Liberties In India

By
Cjnews Platform

Indian cyberspace is devoid of human rights activists who can protect the rights of Indians in cyberspace. Fortunately, we have an exception in the form of Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and leading techno-legal expert of India. He has been fighting against the governmental anarchy and arbitrariness for many years. In particular, he has suggested that projects like Aadhar/UID, National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), etc are violative of provisions of Indian Constitution, hence are unconstitutional.

Till now no NGO or individual has taken such a bold stand. Similarly, no NGO or individual has also inspired the GOI so much to formulate effective data protection and privacy law as has been done by Praveen Dalal. We salute his incessant quest for protection of civil liberties of Indians.

It seems the government of India (GOI) has finally accepted the suggestions of Praveen Dalal regarding enacting data protection and privacy laws in India. The GOI has decided “once more” to enact laws pertaining to data protection and privacy rights for Indians. While this is very good news but we are not sure whether this would materialise or would be just another time gaining tactics of GOI. In the past as well the GOI has failed to do so.

Till now it is clear that GOI does not possess the requisite expertise to formulate a comprehensive privacy and data protection law for India. Times and again there were incidences when the GOI promised to enact laws to prevent violation of civil liberties of Indians, yet they proved to be mere words and negative tactics of gaining time. Even the assurance of Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of Aadhar project of India and UIDAI, proved to be of the same type and no law was finally offered by him for UIDAI till date.

However, the civil liberty activists of India were never on rest. The quest for privacy law and data protection law started when dissatisfied with the pathetic conditions of human rights in India, Praveen Dalal launched the first ever Human Rights Centre of India. The Centre started keeping a close eye upon the unconstitutional projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc. Simultaneously, a separate initiative titled “Aadhar Watch Initiative” was also launched by him to analyse the constitutionality of the aadhar project.

These initiatives are too important and too active to be ignored by GOI. They have also inspired the GOI to enact the proposed privacy and data protection law. Let us hope that this time the GOI is serious and may take the help of these initiatives, if need arises.

Be A Good Cyber Lawyers And Cyber Law Professional In India

By
Kunal Koel

Technology related laws are assuming great importance these days. When everything is virtually connected with information technology, regulatory and legal issues are bound to arise. While traditional legal fields are well saturated yet contemporary fields like cyber law are wide open.

However, there is a limitation with the cyber law field. You cannot learn cyber law through the traditional academic model. You have to learn the practical aspects of technical and legal issues involved with various technology laws.

In short, you have to choose between academic degrees and diplomas on the one hand and specialised techno-legal training and skill development on the other.

At Perry4Law Techno-Legal Base (PTLB) we provide the “Exclusive” techno-legal training and skill development and capacity building programs and courses. PTLB covers both traditional legal fields as well as contemporary legal fields of practice.

Further, PTLB is the exclusive institution of the World that provides domain specific techno- legal training and skill development through “Online Platforms” like Cyber Law, Bar Examinations, Lawyers Trainings, etc.

If you wish to be a good cyber law professional, leave the crowd of ordinary diploma holders and acquire some first hand training and practical experiences from any reputed institution.

Why Bar Examination Of India 2010 Is In Trouble?

By
Shayam Prasad

Legal education in India is in urgent need of reforms. For many years legal education has been ignored making it inferior and non professionals. For some reason, the government of India (GOI) woke up from its long and persistent sleep and decided to give legal education a shot of life.

Law Ministry of India also became alive to the needs of legal and judicial reforms in India and Mr. Veerappa Moily showed his keen interest for bringing legal reforms in India.

The Supreme Court of India also participated in the discussion through Bar Council of India v. Bonnie FOI Law College and Ors.

Realising that legal education must now be rejuvenated, the Bar Council of India (BCI) also declared the introduction of bar examination in India. From here started the whole problem and as per the latest updates the decision to conduct bar exams in India started a legal quandary in India.

So what went wrong with the much needed legal reforms initiatives of India? I think the most prominent anomaly is although the intentions of BCI were benign yet they were executed in an unplanned, haste and unprepared manner. The BCI must appreciate that maintaining the quality of legal education in India is no more a passive role but requires active and collaborative acts on its part.

Till now maintaining the legal education standards by BCI is an “internal and closed function”. The BCI has not tied up with people and institutions that can bring quality and effectiveness to legal education in India. The BCI must approach the legal education with an open mind and collaborative approach. The BCI also is not willing to use technology for bringing transparent and effective legal reforms.

A very good option could have been making necessary arrangements and collaboration with techno-legal law firms like Perry4Law. Why BCI has not approached and tied up with law firms is still not clear. Online platforms like Lawyers Training Blog show clearly what technology in general and law firms like Perry4Law in particular can offer for legal and judicial reforms in India.

The BCI must urgently change its role from a closely held body to collaborative and open body. It has many ambitious projects in its contemplation but it must understand that no matter howsoever good the intentions may be they are useless in the absence of proper planning and decision making.

Exclusive Techno-Legal ODR Research, Training, Education And Services Centre Of India

By
Kunal Koel

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) are two of the most important areas of practice for lawyers and legal professionals. While ADR requires good knowledge of law yet ODR requires a practical knowledge of both law and technology. Besides, ODR is still unknown to Indian business community and disputing parties.

It is obvious that an ODR expert must have both technical as well as legal knowledge and expertise. At Perry4Law we understand this crucial requirement and provide ADR and ODR Training and Services to concerned parties all over the World. Perry4Law has the privilege of being the “Exclusive” Techno-Legal ICT Law Firm of the World.

Perry4Law is also managing an Online Dispute Resolution Centre of India (ODRCI). This is the exclusive techno-legal centre of India/World. The Centre provides ADR and ODR services of world renowned quality. It provides traditional ADR services like Arbitration, Mediation, Reconciliation, etc. It also provides highly specialised techno-legal ADR services in the fields of cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, etc. The Centre also provides ODR services of highly specialised nature covering areas like ICT, cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, cyber espionage, information and identity theft, corporate espionage, etc.

To strengthen this initiative and the traditional litigation system, Perry4Law is also managing the “Exclusive” Techno-Legal E-Courts Training and Consultancy Centre of India.

India is in the process of rejuvenating its ADR law and mechanisms. However, India has still not shown its willingness to adopt ODR for dispute resolution and ICT driven methods like E-Courts for traditional dispute resolution. Let us hope the same would be done very soon by Law Ministry of India in general and Mr. Veerappa Moily in particular.

All India Bar Examination Rules 2010 Notified

The Bar Council of India resolution at its meeting held on 30 April to amend Part VI, Chapter III of the Bar Council of India Rules (Conditions for Right to Practice) was published in the Gazette of India on June 12, 2010. Click here to see the scanned copy of the Gazette notification. We would provide the analysis of the same very soon.

Perry4Law Has Emerged As The Leader Of Techno-Legal LPO And KPO Service Providers In The World

Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) are the buzz words these days. There are very few players in the field of KPO as the same requires domain specific knowledge that is hard to possess. This is more so regarding techno-legal field. In fact, till now Perry4Law is leading techno-legal LPO and KPO provider of the world.

In an article written by my friend V.K.Singh on the techno-legal LPO and KPO services of Perry4Law, his idea got the support and recognition of many KPO service providers.

One of the commenter is Contact Center Philippines that mentions that there is a difference between the current LPO assignments and future KPO assignments as the latter requires “domain-specific expertise” that very few firms actually possess in India. Similarly, the market for information and communication technology (ICT)-related LPO and KPO services in India is still emerging and more is expected from market leaders like Perry4Law in the said market.

It further states that LPO and KPO assignments are bound to increase owing to developments like the global financial meltdown that has now unnerved the US. More and more corporate houses and investment banks from the US are looking towards the Indian LPO industry for legal advice. In the present globalised world, India is surely heading for a great start.

It seems techno legal LPO and KPO services have got the attention of at least the ICT driven LPO and KPO players. More development and growth is expected from market leaders like Perry4Law in this regard.

Cyber Forensics Capabilities Of Pune Cyber Crime Cell

By
V K Singh

Is Indian police tech savvy? This is a crucial question as law enforcement needs to be technically sound to solve cyber crimes. The cyber law of India is a very weak piece of legislation giving rise to many cyber crimes. This makes the task of law enforcement tedious as solving a cyber crime is not an easy task. To put further pressure upon the law enforcement are those cases that does not fall into the category of cyber crimes but are otherwise related to tracing a missing person or offender.

Of late, Indian police is becoming more and more successful in tracing the missing persons or absconding criminals. However, is Indian police, especially the Pune cyber crime cell, exaggerating their cyber forensics skills? Or is it the misleading and ignorant reporting by media that gives a totally misleading picture of them?

As per a recent news, the Pune cyber crime cell officials solved a case of missing girls. While this is a good work worth complementing them yet how they solved the case using cyber forensics is still a mystery? As per the report the cyber crime cell officials analysed the data on hard disks of computers the missing girls used at their home and on the basis of the SMS they sent to their mother, the police traced their location in Punjab.

This is absurd behaviour on the part of Pune cyber crime cell. Why did they analyse the hard disks at all when they can trace the missing persons from their mobile location? Tracing a person form his/her mobile location is not only instantaneous but also more effective that engaging in the exercise of hard disk analysis.

It seems the Pune cyber crime cell is just trying to bring home the point that they know cyber forensics. The truth is that they do not know the basic of cyber forensics otherwise they would not have gone for this redundant exercise of hard disk analysis (if at all they have done so).

It also seems that ultimately the officials used triangulation method to trace the absconding girls. This is the right process that was used but why the drama of cyber forensics skill and cyber forensics lab?

Bar Examination Of India 2010 Challenged Before Court

By
Editor LNAV

As expected the bar examinations proposal of Bar Council of India (BCI) witnessed its first legal challenge. Six law graduates have approached the Gujarat High Court challenging the BCI’s resolution that requires students like them to clear the bar exams for getting a licence to practice law in India. The division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi has posted the matter for hearing Wednesday.

The Petitioners have challenged the provisions of rules 9, 10 and 11 of the Advocates Act, 1961 that require that a person applying for licence to practice in courts must be a law graduate. The BCI resolution on the other hand imposes an additional and unmentioned requirement of bar exams. This decision was bound to be challenged before various high courts of India.

In the present case the petitioners completed their graduation in law in 2008-09 and completed specialisation in 2009-10. They maintain that the BCI would conduct the examination December 5, 2010 and this would lead to loss of six months to them due to implementation of the new rules. They have requested for a declaration from the high court that directs the BCI to grant them the licence to practice, while the petitioners would appear in the exams later. The continuation of the licence would be subject to the result of the test.

There are other grounds as well on the basic of which the bar exams may be challenged. For instance, the proposed bar exams may be challenged as being unfair and unreasonable.

The proposed exam may also be challenged on the basis that it violates the principles of administrative law of India. For example, the way BCI has involved Rainmaker without any democratic, open and transparency selection procedure is against all principles of fairness and reasonableness.

Further, since Rainmaker also appears to be both coordinator of bar exam as well as distributor of study material and many more aspects, there is an obvious, patent and inherent conflict of interest that is not permissible by Indian laws.

Another ground of challenge is that the proposed exam is devoid of any qualitative standards under whose banner the BCI is conducting the exam. If the main purpose of bar exam is maintaining the quality of the lawyers in India, the very same purpose is defeated by making the bar exams an empty formality. The present scheme of bar exams is nothing but an empty formality with no merit consideration but a redundant barrier for final year law graduates.

If BCI is really serious about the bar exams it must remove all the illegalities and irregularities of its acts or omissions.

Competitive Skill Is The Key For Success To Lawyers Of India

By
Gunjan Singh

Globalisation has changed the way services are provided all over the world. Even legal services have been witnessing many changes in the present gloabalised and highly competitive markets. Naturally, Indian lawyers must be competitive enough to stay in the race.

Indian lawyers must pay special attention to skill development and capacity building initiatives. India is a signatory to WTO/TRIPS Agreement and it has to open up its service sector sooner than later. Even the Law Minister Mr. Veerappa Moily has not ruled out the possibility of allowing foeign law firms and lawyers in India.

Some areas where the present generation of lawyers must pay attention are cyber law, intellectual property rights (IPRs), competition law, mergers and acquisitions, etc. The Law Ministry of India and the Bar Council of India (BCI) must make special efforts to inculcate contemporary legal acumen among Indian lawyers.

Wardriving Must be Made Illegal Suggests Praveen Dalal

By
Shayam Prasad

A very interesting, though controversial, question is whether wardriving is legal or illegal to perform? Wardriving is the act of searching for wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle, using a laptop, portable computer or PDA.

There are no laws that specifically prohibit or allow wardriving. Google is in news for acquiring data from wireless networks through measures that go well beyond mere wardriving. This has raised many eyebrows and presently many have suggested of taking a criminal action against Google. So what is the legal status of wardriving exercise?

According to Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and leading techno-legal and cyber forensics expert of India, legality of wardriving is a complicated issue and there is no uniformity regarding the same. In fact we do not have legal provisions regarding wardriving in any part of the World. Although wardriving may not be an offence, yet if a person actually accesses the concerned network, this amounts to unauthorised access and is a punishable offence. As per news sources, the only exception seems to be Finland that has recently allowed the use of an unsecured wireless networks, informs Dalal.

So where does Google’s episode fits in this scenario? Google has undoubtedly done far beyond mere wardriving, says Dalal. I have personally analysed the report prepared by the internal audit company appointed by Google, and it shows something more than mere wardriving. In fact the report is just a limited technical analysis and a techno-legal analysis would bring more facts into limelight, says Dalal.

The inability to provide clear provisions mentioning the legality or illegality of wardriving is the real problem and time has come to expressly declare it either legal or illegal, suggests Dalal. In my personal opinion, wardriving should be made a punishable offence if it is accompanied by a criminal or malicious intent, opines Dalal.

The present events would determine the fate of wardriving but what is obvious is that technology enthusiastics would prefer to consider it to be legal whereas privacy advocates and law making authorities of various nations may vote in favour of its illegality.

Develop Capacity Before Foreign Law Firms Are Allowed In India

By
Kunal Koel

Entry of foreign law firms in India is a moot question before the Indian government. There is no doubt about the proposition that entry of foreign law firms in India depends upon a reciprocal arrangement and similar treatment for lawyers of all those countries who claim such entry of law firms in India.

Although the matter is sub-judice before Madras High Court yet the outcome would not make much difference till the same is finally settled by the Supreme Court of India. Particular important are the obligations under the WTO regarding opening of service sector of India for foreign players. This includes legal profession as well but the government is treading very cautiously.

What is most important for the Bar Council of India (BCI) to understand is that it must immediately start capacity building measures for the legal fraternity of India. There is an emergent need to rejuvenate the skills of Indian lawyers as very soon there would be no difference between a national practice and international practice.