InDIA
InDIA
ACCoRDInGLY, tHE DIRECtIVE ADDREssEs not onLY
CoPYRIGHt, BUt ALso LIABILItY UnDER otHER AREAs
of LAW, sUCH As DEfAMAtIon AnD oBsCEnItY
be fulfi lled by transmitting the retained copy, rather than retrieving the
Conclusion
material from the original source on the network.
Under Section 79 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008,
Storage of information on systems or networks at the direction of
the level of safe harbour will be governed by the actions of the intermediary
users: infringing material on websites (or other information repositories)
in respect of the data/information being hosted/transmitted by it. Section
hosted on their systems. It applies to storage at the direction of a user.
79 provides a graduated scale, whereby the liability of the intermediary is
directly linked to the manner of its processing and making available the
Information location tools: referring or linking users to a site that impugned content through its services. It clearly absolves the intermediary
contains infringing material by using information location tools, such as from liability for any third-party content as long as the intermediary
hyperlinks, online directories and search engines.
complies with the legal caveats. However, provisions under Section 79
also refer to vague terms such as ‘due diligence’, which ISPs are required
Th e EU’s approach to the issue of ISP liability is set forth in the
to comply with in order to enjoy the protection of the provision. Th e term
e-Commerce Directive. Th is adopts the defi nition of ‘information society
itself is undefi ned in the act and is open to judicial interpretation based
service’ under Directive 98/34/EC, and addresses the civil and criminal
upon the subject matter of each case. Further, until the government issues
liabilities of ISPs acting as intermediaries. Th e directive provides that ISPs guidelines that fully defi ne due diligence, confusion is bound to prevail.
will not be held liable under any fi eld of law where an application of strict Th e new Section 79, while clearly a step forward, can still be considered
liability would impair the expansion of electronic commerce within the ambiguous and uncertain until the provision is judicially interpreted and
EU. Th is approach is termed ‘horizontal’ because it addresses liability
central government guidelines are made available to the public at large.
regardless of the grounds of claim by a rights holder or injured party.
Accordingly, the directive addresses not only copyright, but also liability
under other areas of law, such as defamation and obscenity. Under the Himanshu Bagai is a senior associate at Luthra & Luthra Law Offi ces. He can
e-Commerce Directive, an ISP is exempt from liability when it serves as be contacted at: hbagai@luthra.com
a “mere conduit” or provides “temporary caching” for the sole purpose of
making the transmission of content more effi cient, or when it is of a mere
technical, automatic and passive nature, and where the ISP has neither Himanshu Bagai is a senior associate at Luthra & Luthra Law
knowledge nor control over the content being transmitted or stored. ISPs
offi ces. His primary area of practice is IP litigation, with particular
providing content storage must act “expeditiously” to remove or disable
emphasis on copyright and trademark infringement actions, and
access to content upon receipt of “actual knowledge or awareness” of
emerging areas of law such as life sciences law.
“illegal activities”.
96 World Intellectual Property Review Digest 2009 www.worldipreview.com
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