Google Censored NCTC News And Blog Posts In India

Another instance of censorship by Google in India has been reported. It has been reported that Google is now censoring national counter terrorism centre (NCTC) and intelligence agencies related news, search and blog results in India.

Indian government is under tremendous pressure from various parties and states after its proposal regarding establishment of NCTC in India. This is the reason why it has forced Google to censor NCTC and intelligence agencies related results in India. The news article first appeared in Google news but was censored by Google within an hour of its publication.

This act of Google is a gross violation of civil liberties in general and right to speech and expression in particular. Anticipating further censorship on the part of Google, the article in controversy has been reposted at another platform.

Some of the results that first appeared in Google search results and Google news and then disappeared are:

(a) National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) of India

(2) National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) of India Is Required

(3) Parliamentary Oversight of Intelligence Agencies of India Is Needed.

Indian government has finally succeeded in arm twisting Google and forcing it to remove articles and news that do not violate any provisions. In fact, these news and articles are discussing national security and nation interests of India that Indian government is not willing to undertake.

While it is obvious that Indian government wishes to silent all critical and contrary posts yet why Google is becoming a puppet of Indian government is not clear. The only explanation seems to be that Google is just keeping in mind its commercial interests and is least bothered about civil liberties of netizens. If this is the attitude of Google, its downfall has already begun.

Online Legal Courses In India By PTLB

Online education in India is slowly and steadily being used by many individuals and organisations. Legal education has also been streamlined due to use of information technology. For instance, legal e-learning in India is become one of the favourite methods of knowledge gaining in India. Similarly, e-learning for lawyers in India is increasingly being explored.

With the merger of technology and law, new fields and careers are emerging in India and world wide. Techno legal skills development in India is also seen as a requirement by Indian corporate sector. However, our present educational system is not stressing upon skills and practical trainings but is academic in nature.

In this background, techno legal training and educational institutions like Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) are playing a very crucial role in the techno legal education development in India. PTLB is the exclusive techno legal education and training institution of India that is providing online cyber law education in India, online cyber forensics courses in India, online cyber security courses in India, online ethical hacking courses in India, etc.

These courses and trainings are managed by the techno legal e-learning platform of PTLB. The entire process beginning from enrollment to successful completion of trainings is done in an online environment from the comfort of your homes.

Just fill the “application form” and send the same to the Address mentioned at the form along with “prescribe fees”. To get more idea about the courses and trainings of PTLB and the scope, nature, duration, fees, etc, of such courses, see FAQs before applying.

Techno Legal Issues, Privacy, Cyber Law And E-Discovery Updates 09-02-2012

Techno legal issues have started showing their effect in India. Areas like cyber law, privacy protection, data security, data protection, e-discovery, etc have dominated the Indian cyberspace for the last few weeks.

Court litigations have further shown that foreign companies and websites cannot ignore Indian laws in general and techno legal issues in particular. With the present trends, cyber litigations in India are going to increase in the year 2012.

The following news items are analysing all these issues from a techno legal perspective:

(1) Data protection laws in India,

(2) Privacy rights and laws in India,

(3) Human rights protection in cyberspace,

(4) Privacy rights, privacy laws and data protection laws in India

(5) Google’s strategy to tackle Indian legal disputes

(5) Google and Facebook to remove offending contents

(7) Google must address trademarks violations complaints

(8) Remedies for small copyright claims in United States

(9) DMCA compliant to Google Incorporation and legal notice to Google India

(10) Google’s Adwords and Adsense trademark policy

(11) Google’s new privacy policy and terms of service (ToR)

(12) India must invent alternative to DMCA complaints to Google and others

(13) Google and Facebook must comply with Indian laws

(14) National telecom security policy of India

(15) National Telecom Network Security Coordination Board (NTNSCB) of India

(16) Are Google, Facebook, etc heading for a trouble?

(17) Modernisation of Postal Department Of India

(18) Internet Intermediary Liability In India

(19) Legal arsenal for Delhi High Court to decide Google and Facebook case

(20) Will Delhi High Court deliver cyber justice to India?

(21) Video conferencing is a trouble technology in India

(22) Is Google deliberately avoiding compliance with Indian laws?

(23) Blogger is making country specific redirections

(24) Cyber litigations against foreign websites in India

(25) Websites blocking in India

(26) Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011

(27) Google, Facebook, etc must appoint nodal officers in India

(28) E-discovery for social media in India

(29) Data rooms and legal compliances in India

(30) Virtual data rooms and legal compliances in India

(31) Online legal due diligence in India

(32) Virtual legal due diligence in India

(33) Civil liberties protection in cyberspace

(34) E-courts in India

(35) E-courts training and consultancy centre of India

(36) Online dispute resolution in India

(37) Cyber forensics centre in India

(38) Cyber forensics research and training centre in India

(39) Techno Legal E-Learning in India

We hope you would find these updates useful.

Will Delhi High Court Deliver Cyber Justice To India?

Legal actions against offending foreign websites would certainly be taken in India whether such foreign websites like it or not. Presently, a criminal trial is pending before a trial court in New Delhi, India against companies like Google, Facebook, etc. Even the Delhi High Court would hear the case of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc on 02-02-2012 in this regard.

Cyber litigations against foreign websites would increase a lot in India. However, India has not enacted an appropriate regulatory and procedural mechanism to deal with websites that are deliberately and openly violating laws of India.

Fortunately, Delhi High Court has some very good suggestions available to it before the next hearing. Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) has suggested some very good and effective measures that can help India in getting its laws enforced against companies like Google. Facebook, etc. Google, Facebook and other companies must comply with Indian laws in order to operate in India.

In order to ensure that these companies comply with Indian laws, PTLB has also suggested certain safeguards in this regard. The chief among them is that Indian must formulate an alternative mechanism to DMCA complaint to Google and others to get its laws and regulations enforced at national and international level.

PTLB has also suggested:

(1) All subsidiary/Joint ventures companies operating in India that deal in information technology and online environment, must mandatorily establish a server in India. Otherwise, such companies and their websites should not be allowed to operate in India.

(2) A stringent liability for Indian subsidiaries dealing in information technology and online environment must be established by laws of India.

(3) More stringent online advertisement and e-commerce provisions must be formulated for Indian subsidiary companies and their websites.

Unfortunately, Indian computer emergency response team (CERT-In) and department of information technology (DIT) are not fulfilling their responsibilities under the information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) and its corresponding rules. For instance, blocking of websites in India has been imposed upon judiciary even though it is the primary responsibility of Cert-In and DIT.

The Delhi High Court has a great opportunity to formulate sufficient guidelines in this regard so that companies like Google, Facebook, etc comply with Indian laws. Presently, these companies are bypassing Indian laws by using the façade of subsidiary nature and by not complying with both US and Indian laws.