The government is adding provisions in order to legalize the complete use of digital signatures. This will mean that people who will use fake signatures will be treated as criminals, the same as the hardcore gangsters and fraudsters.
Meanwhile cyber squatters who buy domain names of corporate companies during ‘land rush’ at cheap prices, generally $9.99 per domain name, and sell them at an increasingly higher rate are now being taken to court by most corporations to avoid paying those few million dollars. Companies such as Google in the past have won domain names which are related to their trademark.
‘Land Rush’ is a period when individuals apply for unregistered domain names of companies and its lasts for a day or two.
For instance, Google has taken cyber squatters to court for 40 domains that were related to its trademark. These domain names were either terminated or transferred to Google.
Cyber squatting though is illegal reaps a fortune for a few. A few cyber squatters had bought tata.org, tatatea.com, tatapower.com, tata teleservices and other Tata domain names in order to sell the domain names for a few million dollars at a later date.
More importantly, even generic domain names with no trademark like Sex.com and diamonds.com were sold for $ 14 Million and $ 7.5 Million respectively. This means that domain names having a lot of credibility attached, whether trademarked or not, are valued highly across the globe.
Indian IT laws have become more stringent towards cyber criminals including cyber squatters. The current congress government is gearing to make the Information Technology Act 2000 more stringent and more complete. The provisions from not only the Indian-Penal-Code (IPC) will be included but also from the Code of Criminal Procedures (CCP) 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act (IEA) 1872.
This move will strengthen the government’s weaponry and artillery to make sure that cyber criminals who use fake digital signatures and cyber squatters who defame or misuse a brands trademarks and goodwill do not go scott free. The government wants to protect big business houses and corporations, especially ones who rely on the internet as the only source of income generation.
Cybersquatting, according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.
Sex.com and diamonds.com are generic names and does not infringe on any trademark and the owners of these domains can’t be considered cyber squatter’s.
Hi Ravi,
Thank you for commenting on WATBlog.
We highly appreciate your feedback and comments on our blog. As you have mentioned earlier about the facts, we have made the necessary changes on the post.
hey… i think u should explicit highlight the source of the story..
warm wishes as usual