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It is often asked if India can be an IT super power in global context. The answer has to be with too many caveats. As a nation India is equal to the developed countries in its intellect, and innovative prowess. But its business - commercial - industrial classes are not free from sloppiness, shoddiness, lack professionalism, professional ethics, and healthy commercial culture.
The launching pad of any firm is publicity. In this Indians go great lengths. They promise attractive Terms and Conditions -- short of the Moon -- swaying even the indifferent. Though many of the Indian firms do not honour their promises, since Indians as a class lack consumer awareness, they shy away from and are even afraid of being upfront. More so, when Indian judiciary grinds like god's mill and legal resolutions mean waiting for the dooms day.
What is said above is especially true of India's IT industry which may turn out to be a millstone round the nation's neck. Narration of some encounters and experiences should drive this home.
A computer purchased nearly an year ago from a firm (whose key player is often featured in Indian Computer magazines) with built-in modem did not have India anywhere in its configuration. When the buyer tried to register the purchase with the multi-national firm with which this firm has tie-up it was rejected for this very reason stating that use of the modem violated International Regulations. When the buyer contacted the firm it had only outlandish excuses to offer. Every time the buyer started the computer after he tried to send the registration, he got a screeching message on the screen - Are you still in Yugoslavia? Or? Something like that. Obviously, it is invidious and insulting to any self-respecting person.
Ever since the buyer bought the computer it has been having problems after problems; and the buyer's attitude turned out to be similar to that of the grandma towards the ominous clock of her grandson, which she surreptitiously threw away to ward off evils. Its modem was replaced, Windows 98 was reloaded, motherboard was replaced, and hard disk was reformatted -- all a number of times.
India does not have many ISPs. Rather than taking this as an opportunity, some of the firms have been indulging in deception. To begin with they offered packages such as 1 for 5 for 500 (one hour every day for five years for Rs.500), and unlimited package for two years (total 17520 hours at the rate of 24 hours a day for two years).
Later they began arm-twisting. Clients began to get emails from the firm of the unlimited package fame that if the package is not converted into an alternative before a stipulated date the connection would be deactivated. When a client took up the matter with its Vice-President, the latter, knowing full well the person's social standing and access to the media regretted for what happened, and at his instance the Customer Care Manager informed that the emails restricting usage were not meant for him!
The other firm (of the 1 for 5 for 500 fame) began selling its package with the parrot-talk "one hour free every day; Rs.10 per hour for excess use", without giving the Terms and Conditions.
In one instance, barely two months after this package was installed the connection was deactivated. When contacted, the Customer Care informed that the firm would waive the penalty for reconnection if he paid for the excess use immediately. He refused and called up the firm's Vice-President. The VP apologised, and restored the connection in 15 minutes.
Appreciating the VP's professionalism the user sent him a letter the next day along with a cheque. When the connection was deactivated again, two months later, he emailed the same VP that this time he would proceed against the firm legally. He did not realise that the VP had left for good. When he contacted another VP, he got a red-bordered, red-lettered email, deeply regretting the inconvenience caused. But the connection was not restored.
The aggrieved user contacted practically every person worth his name in this firm, gathered information for a case against it, and on his lawyer's advice sent a notice to the firm. On the day he sent the notice, probably as a coincidence, three persons -- Executive Legal, General Manager, and Customer Care Manager -- appeared before his house without notice. They said they had restored his connection and wanted the cheque! Obviously, they were on a collection-spree. That this happened a month after the connection was deactivated for no fault of the user, and the refusal of the firm to reactivate it even after repeated telephone calls and emails is a pointer.
When the user asked the General Manager why he refused to send him the Terms and Conditions after his request for the same on phone and through email, he said it is too bulky. When he asked him, in that case why he did not send it by post or at least bring it with him, his said yes, I should have done so.
After the trio left, the user had the Terms and Conditions emailed to him by another VP whom he had contacted, and the Terms and Conditions did not exceed a few pages.
The user made it clear to the trio that since he has already decided to proceed against the firm legally he would not make any payment to them.
Later, after the due date given in the notice, he got a reply from the Executive Legal, which is, as usual, self-defending, and ending with the threat that "you will be doing so at your own risk and cost".
The user also took up the matter with the Editor of a leading, and probably the best Indian computer magazine. The Editor's reply is also a pointer:
"Dear...,
True, customer care and support are not the strong points with many Indian companies. With growing competitive environment, let's hope a culture will set in. Thanks & regards".
A related and probably more alarming issue is Internet Plagiarism. Plagiarism and copyright violations in the print media have been an internationally flourishing business, and the victims are mostly from the developing countries as they do not have adequate access to technology and publications abroad. But with the ongoing "Internet revolution" they are much more vulnerable.
To cite just two instances. While using a Search Engine a scholar found that his book was listed against the name of another person. The matter was taken up with the dealer mentioned below the listing. But nothing was heard .
Another, and a more perilous example is, the racket of promoting India abroad. While using a Search Engine a scholar found that the page contained only a brief mention of the author of an important article, no reference to the source and date of its publication, and the article was mentioned against the name of another person. This was obviously contrived to give the impression that the person who reproduced the article is its author. The page mentioned "no email", and there was no way of contacting the person. After some hard work it was discovered that his web site is part of an Indian Foundation in the U.S. of America, and the person who appropriated the article is none other than its President!
After this, the user took up the matter with the search site. That site promptly directed him to Google. When Google was contacted, the "Google Tech" sent an email, which is worth reproducing in public interest:
"Dear...,
"We have just performed a search for the site in question and found it on both the internet and within our own index. We recognize the annoyance and exasperation that this situation may represent to you, but there is nothing that Google can do to remove the offending content without the cooperation of the site administrator.
Google is a provider of information, not a mediator. Even if we were able to eliminate the offending page from our index, it would still be on the Web. Every few weeks our robots sweep the Web for content. If the site is still available on the Web when we crawl, we will likely pick it up and add it to our index again. Only an administrator can, by including code that blocks our robots or placing a request with us, prevent his/her page from being listed. Without administrator cooperation we cannot exclude material available on the Internet from our index. We will honour the judgments of a legal authority against any party found to be violating copyright.
Please contact us if you are able to obtain the cooperation of the site's administrator or a court order against the offending site. We are sorry that we cannot be of more assistance on this matter."
The issues which the above narrative raise are at least four: the need for (a) stringent specifications and proper mechanisms to ensure that Computer and Internet related markets are not sleazy and exploitative, nationally and internationally; (b) adequate mechanisms for protecting "intellectual property rights" by preventing intellectual prostitution by those after easy money; (c) those churning out computer technology on a rapid, intense, and massive scale to realise that if the technology has to have a human face, they should also churn out mechanisms to ensure that it is not abused; and (d) for the realisation that Cyber age should not mean competitive annihilation of whatever is left of human values.
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