The Indian Music Industry, a body which represents most of the music labels in India, has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court supporting India's IT Rules, 2011, which allow content (comments, files etc) on the Internet to be taken down within 36 hours, without any notice to the content creator/uploader. This petition has been filed in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed in Kerala High Court by Shojan Jacob, which challenges the constitutionality of the IT Rules. What The Indian Music Industry's Petition Says The Indian Music Industry, in its petition makes the following arguments: - The Internet is the fastest and most wide spread medium for diffusion of sound recordings in digital form. This is done through ISPs. - Many websites allow streaming, reproducing, adapting, distributing, communication, transmitting, disseminating or displaying and downloading songs, without taking any license from copyright owners. Owners of websites are unknown, and it's impossible to track. However, ISPs have details of the owners of the website, and it is practically impossible for copyright owners to take action against people located outside India. - The IT Rules allow the designated officers to block the contents of the website. "It has become necessary for us to get ourselves impleading the write petition and therefore a formal application for impleading our self as impleading in additional respondent No. 3 which may be allowed this Hon'ble Court otherwise we will be put much irreparable loss and injury," the petition says. A download link for the…
