Right To Be Forgotten Online. Privacy Law Vs Freedom of Information.

The recent decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in favor of a Spanish man upholding his "Right To Be forgotten" online has evoked mixed responses from Privacy Activists and Freedom of Information Activists. The European Court of Justice earlier this year ruled that an Individual has the "Right To Be forgotten" online and ordered tech giant Google to remove all previous negative links related to him on its search index. 

The above case filed by a Spanish man before the ECJ related to an old news clipping regarding the debt he owed which he subsequently paid up. He argued before the ECJ that his old debt was history and that the old news item was no longer relevant and his fortunes have changed in the subsequent years and hence demanded removal of those links from Google search results.

The above ruling has snowballed into a debate between Right to Privacy and Freedom of Information or Right to Know.The new decision allows Internet users to request companies like Google, Bing or Yahoo to delete information relating to individuals or entities that may be irrelevant, outdated or inadequate. 

This recent decision has been good news for criminals, stalkers, fraudsters, pedophiles, sexual offenders who can now request any undesirable links related to their crimes be removed from Google searches. But Google said it will evaluate each request in an attempt to create a balance between Privacy Rights of an Individual and the Public Right to Information. 

Subsequent to the ECJ decision Google received over 41,000 requests to be forgotten. These included requests from people accused of various crimes, child porn offenders, and other crimes.

The above decision leaves a dilemma for countries like India without a Privacy Law in place. A link to request the "Right to be Forgotten" can be found at https://support.google.com/legal/contact/lr_eudpa?product=websearch 

Electronic Will or E-Will Services now Available on the Web!

There are two things that are certain in One’s Life. One being Taxes and the second is Death!

Ask anyone who has experienced a “Near Death Experience” in their Real Life or Virtual Life, they will tell you the importance of writing a Will. Writing a Will allows you to distribute your assets both virtual and non-virtual assets to those as per your wish.  In the absence of a Will, your assets will be distributed to your dear ones as per the prevailing laws of the land and not as per your wishes.

For those who are E-illiterates, a traditional brick and mortar lawyer at the corner of the street would suffice to write a will before they “kick the bucket”.  But in today’s Digital Age, E-literates prefer getting their will done on the Web by way of E-Will Services before they “Kick the Mouse”.  

Writing a Will is more important now-a-days and may seem complicated in today’s Digital Environment where most of us have a “Second Life” in the Virtual Environment and own innumerable Digital Assets, like Bitcoins, email documents, attachments, secret messages in our mailbox, cloud, Whatsapp, royalties from photos on Instagram, revenues from Ebooks, Adsense, Websites, Blogs, and more. These digital assets are in addition to our traditional assets like real estate, shares, bank deposits and the like.

In order for a Will to be legally valid there are many legal requirements to be followed failing which a Will can be held invalid in the eyes of law.

And now you can make a Will on the Web with the help of E-will writing services that offer seamless Will services at ease which can be delivered to you via email or at your doorstep in a print format at you convenience. The E-Will is drafted by legal experts taking into consideration the religion and community of the person, wishes, and other factors. The information and data are totally secure and encrypted to ensure confidentiality and privacy.  

So what are you waiting for? Make sure you get your E-Will written before you “Kick the Mouse” and don’t forget to include your digital assets as well.

kick the mouse, kick the bucket, kicking the mouse, kicking the bucket, 

Legal Status of Electronic Cigarettes or E-Cigarettes

Like any other products in the Digital Age, an electronic version of a cigarette has finally arrived. Yes, the conventional cigarette is also available in the Electronic Form namely Electronic Cigarette (electronic nicotine delivery systems-ENDS) which is the new fad among the "Internet Generation" and tobacco users all over the world. An “E-Cigy” as the New Generation calls it fondly, is a battery operated product that delivers nicotine and comes in different flavors like menthol, peach, peppermint and so on. 

                          Photo courtesy: Lindsay Fox via Flickr Creative Commons. 

The Legal Status of Electronic Cigarettes is currently creating a dilemma for law enforcement and healthcare officials. These include factors related to health, medical policies, speed of innovation of new products and legality of innovation. While some countries follow the WHO convention on tobacco control, some have restrictions on its use in public places, confined places like bars, restaurants, and clubs. E-Cigarettes that contain nicotine are illegal in some countries while nicotine-free E-Cigarettes are legal.

In European Union, sale of E-Cigarettes to persons under 18 years of age is prohibited. In the United Kingdom, sale and use of Electronic Cigarettes are legal and E-Cigarettes are not covered by the smoking ban. In the United States, sale and use of Electronic Cigarettes are regulated and in the absence of a Federal Law, some states in the US prohibit the sale of E-Cigarettes to persons below 18 years of age.  Some countries where Electronic Cigarettes are legal are Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, India and China.Some places where E-cigarettes are illegal include Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Panama.

Some argue that the nicotine in Electronic Cigarettes contain less harmful ingredients than a conventional cigarette which comes with tar and other carcinogenic material.  They also argue that the "Electronic Version" helps smokers quit their habit and even helps to reduce the number of conventional cigarettes they smoke regularly.

Like in any electronic version of a new innovation, sales of E-Cigarettes are growing rapidly and the E-Cigarette industry is valued more than $15 billion . The traditional tobacco lobby is feeling a dip in their revenue due to the fad for the “E-Cigy” among youngsters and is lobbying for a ban in countries like India.  The online sales figures of E-Cigarettes are a clear indication of its popularity, disclosed an E-tailer who spoke to TechLegalWorld and wished to remain anonymous since he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the E-commerce giant selling E-Cigarettes in India.

For those looking to kick their habit and the cigy butt, check out the below link;

http://tripleclicks.com/14705629/detail.php?item=36096

Domain Name Disputes & Trade Marks - Legal Remedies.

“What is worth copying is prima facie worth protecting” – Justice Patterson observed almost a century ago in the case of University of London v University of Tutorial Ltd.

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  The exponential growth of websites and blogs in the cyberspace has raised new legal issues in the realm of Intellectual Property rights in the cyberspace thereby creating gray areas in the emerging Technology Law.  The current Domain Name Dispute Resolution Mechanism enables trademark holders to enforce their legal rights over domain names in the Cyberspace.

The advent of the Internet coupled with globalization and e-commerce has resulted in companies, governments, NGOs, and individuals scrambling for domain names for an online presence to market their goods and services in a global environment. 
 
The explosive demand for domain names has led to cyber squatting and domain name hijacking whereby genuine owners of trademarks including companies having found to their surprise that their domain name has been hijacked by cyber pirates on the Internet which has forced them to get back their legitimate trade mark/domain name after a protracted legal battle involving enormous amount of time and money. 

Intellectual Property rights including artistic works, names, images, symbols, designs, layouts are today being misused on the Internet with the click of a mouse.  Cyber pirates have found it easy to register domain names that belong to reputed companies, individuals etc with the ulterior motive of cashing in later for a huge profit.

Legal Remedies: Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) is currently managed by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which has framed rules and regulations with regard to handling and settling Domain Name Disputes. However the aggrieved party can also approach the appropriate court of law for other remedies.

The various types of Domain Disputes that arise are;
     1. Domain Name registered in bad faith
     2. Domain Name identical or confusingly similar to a Trademark           or a Service Mark.
     3. Where the domain name owner has no legitimate right or interest in the same.

The Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) provides for domain name dispute resolution mechanisms for .IN domains in India.

The various types of Intellectual Property Disputes in the Cyberspace are;
    1.  Domain Name Hijacking.
    2.  Cyber Squatting & Typo Squatting.
    3.  Protest websites & hate websites.
    4.  Linking, Framing & Link Farming.
    5.  Metatag and Keyword disputes.

Conclusion: Start-ups, individuals, NGOs, proprietorship, partnership, small and medium businesses, and large companies need to be aware and vigilant in the cyberspace of their legal rights and enforce them in a timely manner to prevent a protracted legal proceeding which involves both time and money.

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