It is our opinion* that India's new IT Act 2008 (Amended) incorporates a safe harbor provision, which single handedly changes the countrys approach to user generated content and piracy of copyright content on the web and mobile. Please note that though the Act has been passed by both houses of Parliament (unfortunately, without any debate), it is yet to be notified by the President of India, and hence hasn't become a law yet. What is a Safe Harbor? A safe harbor provision in the US' Digital Millennium Copyright Act ensures that platforms are not held liable for the content on their site, or content that they are inadvertently providing access to, if it cannot be proven that they actively conspired in having that content put up. That situation changes when a company is notified about the violation, wherein they can act upon dealing with the specific violation within a certain timeframe. The Indian IT Act incorporates a similar provision. Our interpretation* of section 79 of the the IT Act is as follows: "An intermediary is not responsible for any third party content or links made available by him, as long as he doesn’t select the content, the receiver or modify the information; Has done due diligence, and removes the information on receiving actual knowledge, or being notified by a government agency." Do take a look at the detailed act here. The Impact of Safe Harbor: Content And Comment Liability More than any other company, the incorporation of Safe Harbor is…
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