July 16th, 2009 at 08:52pm
Under Banking Law
Critical Analysis of Information Technology Act, 2000
Till year 2000, India did not have any legislation governing cyber space or Information Technology Law. To give consideration to the Model Law on Electronic Commerce adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and to give legal recognition to electronic commerce the Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted. Though this is comparatively a new legislation as far as others areas of law are concerned, still 8 years have passed since this act was enacted and in these 8 years Technology has changed at a much faster pace. Though law cannot possibly be expected to keep pace with changes in technology, still there are few areas in the current cyber laws which need some attention.
Spamming
Spam may be defined as Unsolicited Bulk E-mail. Initially it was viewed as a mere nuisance but now it is posing major economic problems. I think almost all of us receive many unwanted mails daily. Though there are some technical methods to deal with spam, they are not very effective and adequate in dealing with this menace. In the absence of any adequate technical protection, stringent legislation is required to deal with the problem of spam. The Information Technology Act does not discuss the issue of spamming at all. USA and the European Union have enacted anti spam legislation. In fact Australia has very stringent spam laws under which the spammers may be fined up to 1.1 million dollars per day.
Pornography
Though the Information Technology Act talks about publishing of information which is “obscene” in nature, it doesn’t specifically define what is obscene and what may be classified as pornography. Even the punishment for pornography is not sufficient in India. In China the punishment for maintaining pornographic website is life imprisonment but by the proposed amendment in IT Act the imprisonment is being reduced to two years from the present five year imprisonment. Also the intermediaries are exempted from any liability. Though legislations worldwide contain severe provisions for child pornography there is no mention of child pornography in the Indian Act. It is interesting to note down that the Information Technology Act prohibits publishing of pornography but viewing of pornography is not an offence under the act.
Phishing
According to Wikipedia, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail and often directs users to enter personal and financial details at a website. Phishing is an example of social engineering technique used to fool users. There is no law against phishing in the Information Technology Act though the Indian Penal Code talks about cheating, it is not sufficient to check the activity of phishing. Recently a phishing attack was noticed on the customers of State Bank of India in which a clone of the SBI website was used. What is worse is that even SBI has not alerted its customers. So the need of the hour is a legislation which prohibits the activity of phishing in India.
Data Protection in Internet Banking
Data protection laws primarily aim to safeguard the interest of the individual whose data is handled and processed by others. Internet Banking involves not just the banks and their customers, but numerous third parties too. Information held by banks about their customers, their transactions etc. changes hand several times. It is impossible for the banks to retain information within their own computer networks. High risks are involved in preventing leakage or tampering of data which ask for adequate legal and technical protection. India has no law on data protection leave alone a law governing an area as specific as protection of data in electronic banking.
The Information Technology Act talks about unauthorized access but it does not talk about maintaining integrity of customer transactions. The act does not lay down any duty upon banks to protect the details of customers and clients. U.K has a data protection law which was enacted 10 years back that is in 1998 under which banks or any person holding sensitive information may be held liable for damages if it fails to maintain adequate security protection in respect of data. In India, a bank’s liability would arise out of contract as there is no statute on the point.
Privacy Protection
Privacy and data protection are important issues that need to be addressed today as information technology assumes greater importance in personal, professional and commercial spheres. The European Union and the United States have strict policies relating to privacy and protection of personal data when such data or information is being transferred out of their domain.
It also pertinent to note here, that the absence of a specific privacy law in India has resulted in a loss of substantial foreign investment and other business opportunities. This deficiency has also served as an obstacle to the real growth of electronic commerce. Thus, a statute addressing various issues related to privacy is of utmost importance today, if not an entire act can be brought into force, then at least specific provisions relating to privacy and data protection be incorporated into the Act.
Conclusion
These were some of the most important shortcomings of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Though an amendment was proposed in the Act in 2005, the bill has still not been passed and moreover the bill also fails to address these issues and shortcomings. It seems quite evident that by the time the bill is passed, it would have become obsolete and ineffective.
Final Year Law Student
Symbiosis Law School, Pune
India
July 14th, 2009 at 01:06pm
Under Juvenile Law
Sadly, today many youths get into trouble with the law. In fact, in many parts of the world and in the United States itself, this trend is on the rise. While sociologists and social workers along with the police and the courts are trying to resolve the causes of youthful delinquency, once a crime has been committed it is time to contact a juvenile lawyer.
The juvenile lawyer is special in that, in addition to a degree in law, the lawyer must possess a vast amount of patience and a fine understanding of the thought patterns of teens and other children. The reasons for this are simple. Children, like their older models, adults, lie. While it’s generally more transparent when a juvenile is being dishonest, there are often extenuating circumstances for such deception, usually involving protecting a friend or family member from incarceration, and thus emboldening the child to maintain the lie at all costs.
For this reason, juvenile lawyers have the added task of determining whether their client is the true culprit, or if he or she was influenced by an adult or an older child.
Further, the arrest itself is important. It is of great importance that the police follow proper procedure in all arrests. Due to the nature of arresting a youth, many police while polite, will often violate the legal rights of a child, feeling that a child is beneath such understanding or need of such procedure. It is the duty of the juvenile lawyer, subsequently, to determine if procedure was followed correctly, and if not, to document this and prove it in a court of law.
Moreover, sometimes getting at the truth is more than just sifting through a pile of police reports and ruminating upon the tangled cobweb of data. It is with the art of the interview where the juvenile lawyer either shines or falls flat on her face. This includes speaking not only with police officers, hospital personnel, witnesses, and other relevant people, but especially with discussing the situation with the child in question.
This involves not only gleaning information about the case from the youth, but comforting him or her, while at the same time explaining the legal situation in terms the child can understand. In some cases, juvenile lawyers have had to explain the law in simplified terms for the minds of children as young as 9 or 10 years of age.
It is no easy task, yet the juvenile lawyer also gains great joy when she can aid her clients successfully.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:20am
Under Entertainment Law
What do you do if you find yourself, suddenly, in a legal bind? Who do you turn to if you do not have the slightest idea of your rights as a citizen and you do not have your own lawyer? Believe it or not, lots of folks have been caught in this kind of a jam. But lucky for them, more often than not, the solutions are no more than a click away.
A resourceful legal website is certainly beneficial to anyone who needs quick and accurate information about a law suit or anyone who wants to learn more about legal matters. Since people are accustomed to logging on to their computers for all sorts of reasons–to read breaking headlines, check the weather forecast, download recipes, and book airline tickets etc.—it is logical to think that they would turn to a computer when searching for answers to a range of legal concerns.
What is more, a website is an obvious way to promote your company and attract new clients. There are numerous elements that could appear on your site. A full-fledged site defines your company’s mission, explains its background, introduces its employees, and lists contact information. But you can also include several different elements. Consider the following:
- a dictionary of legal terms
- a variety of legal forms
- a directory of lawyers (organized by specialty or geography)
- FAQs and an “Ask the Expert” column
- links to articles covering timely lawful issues
- legal case histories
No matter what your company specializes in, a website can be tailored to cover your areas of expertise. It is also possible to make it as interactive as you desire. Perhaps you want to link to lively message boards and current blogs, or offer the opportunity to have live chats with lawyers. Whatever elements you include, the ultimate purpose of a functional, practical site is to provide information in a way that is as accessible and helpful as possible.
Let’s face it, the ordinary citizen is pretty clueless when it comes to determining lawful behavior, be it at home, at the office, at work, or at play. While we all have an idea of what is legitimate and permissible, most of us don’t grasp the exceptions to the rule or understand the fine print.
Of course, it is impossible to cover every aspect of the law on one website and it is impossible to list all the fields of interest here. But a carefully constructed legal website can, indeed, be a source of comfort and a fount of information for the general public. Here are a few examples of the subjects you might choose to address on your website (either in depth or in a general manner):
- Bankruptcy laws
- Accident insurance
- Copyright law
- Entertainment law
- Investment law
- Criminal law and criminal procedures
- Discrimination laws
- Employment laws
- Family law
It is about time the field of law earned a positive reputation. Your company can blaze the trails by putting up an attractive, effective site that not only showcases your services, but also bestows valuable knowledge on those in need.
Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate, specializing in small business development, for Apollo Hosting. Apollo Hosting provides
website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers.
July 13th, 2009 at 06:20am
Under Appeals and Writs
From Mr. R.S. Praveen Raj, http://secularcitizen.net/
Right to Information viz. RTI is a part of fundamental rights under Article 19(1) of the Constitution, which says that every citizen has freedom of speech and expression. The people cannot express themselves unless they know what’s happening in the systems that govern them. Every citizen, being the tax payee has the authority as the masters in a democratic system to know how the government bodies and public authorities, meant to serve them, are functioning.
But it is quite unfortunate that the Government authorities are still hesitant to part with the information under their control. It is in this context that the recently passed ‘Right to Information Act’ becomes very significant. Right to Information Act, 2005 is a public drafted legislation to set out a mechanism to avail information in the hands of Public authorities and Government Officials. It does not confer any new right, but simply lays down the procedures on how to apply for information under the control of public authorities, and how to avail it.
The preamble of Right to Information Act, 2005 says – “Democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed”. As sounded by its preamble, the Act envisages a corruption-free and transparent governance and polity. The Act covers not only the Executive, but the judiciary and the legislature also. It extends to the entire gamut of central, state and local government systems including those bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed by government and also those Non-government organizations substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by government. Information relating to any private body that can be accessed by a public authority also comes under the ambit of RTI Act, 2005.
The RTI Act defines “Information” as any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advice, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, and data material held in any electronic form. It is interesting to learn that “Right to Information” also covers
Inspection of work, documents, records; taking notes, extracts, or certified copies of documents or records; and taking certified samples of material. It implies that any citizen can exercise his right to invigilate the transparency and accountability of governance or even insist that a particular civil work be performed in his presence. Any citizen can avail a copy of every bill settled from funds controlled by any of the public authorities and even the statement of accounts of every activity/project/event funded or organized by the Public Authority. Public authority is also obliged to provide reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons, and publish all relevant facts while formulating important decisions affecting the public. Another interesting aspect of RTI Act is that there is “Penalty for forfeiture of information”.
Section 4(2) of the Act says that “it shall be the constant endeavor of every public authority to provide as much information suo moto to the public at regular intervals through various means of communication, including internet, so that the public shall have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information”. So the dream is the change of mindset from maintenance of Official Information in Secret to Maximum Voluntary disclosure of information.
Having told the philosophy of Right to Information, it is imperative that the ways and means of availing the information shall be set. So the RTI Act directs that ‘
Every Public Authority shall designate as many Public Information Officers (PIO) in all the administrative units or Offices under it as may be necessary to provide information to persons requesting information”. PIO is also required to help any person making the request orally to reduce the same in writing. The Act further stipulates that “every public authority shall designate an Officer at each sub-divisional or other sub-district level as Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) to receive the applications for information or appeals under this RTI Act for forwarding the same forthwith to the respective PIO or 1st Appellate Authority or Information Commission. The Burden of proving that PIO/APIO has acted reasonably and diligently in discharge of his functions or obligations under RTI Act will be on the respective PIO/APIO.
PIO may seek assistance of any other Officer as he or she considers it necessary for the proper discharge of his or her duties. Section 5(5) of RTI Act says that such Officer will be deemed as PIO for the purposes of providing the information requested. All the Burden including liability for Penalty on defiance of information will stand transferred to the Deemed PIO, if PIO transfers the request to such Officer with a note indicating the same
The Request for information has to be submitted to PIO or APIO in writing or through electronic means in English, Hindi or Official language of the area with a nominal Fee of Rs. 10/-. (There is no fee for persons Below Poverty Line). PIO can demand additional sum of Rs. 2 for each page created or copied for giving it as information to the requestor or Rs. 50/- per diskette/floppy if the same is given in electronic form. Incase if Inspection of work is requested no fee is chargeable for the first hour, but Rs. 5/- each for every subsequent hours.
The Act mandates that the PIO shall provide the requested information as expeditiously as possible, but in no way later than 30 days. However the public authorities can take 5 days more to part with the information sought, if such request is made through APIO. But in any case where the requested information involves the question of “life or liberty”, such information should be given within 48 hours.
Section 6(2) of RTI Act makes it clear that a person requesting information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details. However this freedom implies that the citizens shall show a greater sense of responsibility on the part of the use of information in the media and elsewhere. (Dissemination shall be in Public Interest.). In view of the national security, Intelligence and Security Organisations such as IB, RAW of Cabinet Secretariat, BSF, SPG, CISF, DRDO, Special Branch CID of Andaman & Nicobar, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Narcotics Control Bureau etc. have been exempted from stringent provisions of the RTI Act. But it is very interesting to note that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations are not exempt from disclosure even in the case of those organizations. That conveys the very intention of this Legislation.
Now comes the real question – What is the remedy if the requested information is denied? RTI Act establishes an Independent and Non-judicial appellate mechanism in which a body called “Information Commission” (Central Information Commission and State information Commissions) has been set as the apex body. Further Section 23 of the Act asserts that ‘No court shall entertain any suit, application or other proceedings in respect of any order made under this Act and no such order shall be called in question otherwise than by way of an appeal under this Act’. But this provision cannot be interpreted as a complete bar on jurisdiction of courts, since the options of Writ petitions and Special Leave petitions always subsists. Information Commission also would entertain the complaints from any one who is aggrieved on account of any matter relating to obtaining information under this law including the cases where the public authority refused to accept the RTI Request.
In order to give an opportunity for the ‘public authority’ to review its on decision as to the denial of Information requested from PIO, the Act requisitions that an Officer senior in rank to PIO be appointed as the First Appellate Authority, to whom the aggrieved citizen can appeal within thirty days of expiry of time limits within which he/she should have received the information requested. The First Appellate Authority (AA) shall ordinarily dispose of the appeal within thirty days or latest by the forty-fifth day with reasons for availing such prolonged period. An appeal to the respective Central or State Information Commission may be made within a period of 90 days from the date of decision of the Appellate Authority or from the date of expiry of time limit for the disposal of the first appeal made before the first Appellate Authority.
Information Commission may, at the time of deciding any complaint or appeal, impose upon PIO, a fine of Rs. 250 per day, up to a maximum of Rs. 25,000/-, if he/she has without any reasonable ground: refused to accept an application for information; or delayed furnishing of information; or malafidely denied information; or knowingly given incomplete, incorrect, or misleading information; or destroyed information that has been requested; or obstructed furnishing of information in any manner. So the Act has teeth; it can not only bark but bite also. But of course the PIO will be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before any penalty is imposed on him
. The RTI Act extends its arm further to declare that if PIO persistently violates his obligations under RTI Act, Information Commission shall recommend for disciplinary action against such PIO under the service rules applicable to him.
Though the Right to Information Act moots complete transparency in the governmental system, it is also equally important that the strategic information pertaining to the State and any personal information devoid of larger public interest be exempted from disclosure. Accordingly Section 8 (1) of the RTI Act bars the disclosure of the following information.
a) Information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence;
b) Information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court;
c) Information, the disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature;
d) Information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, (unless larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information);
e) Information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, (unless the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information);
f) Information received in confidence from foreign Government;
g) Information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes;
h) Information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
i) Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers. (However, after the decision is taken and the matter is complete or over, the decision, the reasons thereof and the material leading to the decision shall be made public);
j) Information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless larger public interest demands its disclosure
Further, Section 9 of the Act insists that any information that i
nfringes the copyright of any person other than the State should not be disclosed. While Section 8 and Section 9 prevents the disclosure of the kind of information mentioned above, the Act maintains vide
Section 10(1) that ‘access may be provided to that part of the record, which is not exempted from disclosure, and which can reasonably be severed from any part of that contains the ‘exempt information’
You would also be delighted to learn about an important decision of the Full Bench of Central Information Commission (Decision dated 23rd April 2007), which declared that there is “No fiduciary relationship” in respect of “Evaluated Answer Sheets”, while maintaining accepting that there existed “Fiduciary Relationship” between a) Lawyer and Client; b) Doctor and Patient; c) Bank and Customer; d) Trustee and Beneficiary; e) Organisation and Reporting Officer in respect of CR of an Employee etc. Therefore the Information Commission directed that the answer sheets should ordinarily be disclosed in all circumstances, but subject to the scrutiny under S. 8 (1) and Section 9 of RTI Act. The Commission stated further that the evaluated answer sheets could be disclosed withholding the name of the Examiner, in view of the fact that the disclosure of identity of the examiners might pose a danger to the life and safety of the Examiner. The decision also implies that marks given by each of the Interview board members are givable without revealing their identity.
So RTI Act, 2005 is the most pretty and powerful legislation that the democratic India gifted to its citizens. Its Supremacy is being reiterated in Section 22 of the Act, which states that ‘
The Provisions of RTI Act will be having the overriding effect on any contradicting provisions in Official Secret Act, 1923, and any other law for the time being in force or any other instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this Act”
Let me add a few sagas of successful RTI ventures as an anecdote here. The first story is from a north Indian village. Mazloom Nadaf, a 70-year old rickshaw puller had no scope for his long-awaited dream until he found light in RTI. The story reads as follows – Nadaf did not get any response for the first five years on his application on Indira Awas Yojana – India’s National housing Scheme. Five years later, authorities demanded Rs. 5000/- from him to process the application. But he refused to give the money and, instead approached the legal aid centre of an NGO working in Madhubani district and sought their assistance in drafting and filing an RTI application. In his RTI request, Mazloom asked for the daily progress report made on his application to avail of the Indira Awas Yojana. The application was filed with the Circle Officer for his block who forwarded the same to the Block Development Officer (BDO). The BDO on receiving the RTI application called Mazloom and treated him like a VIP and with a lot of respect handed over a Cheque of Rs. 15,000 (first installment payment) under the Indira Awas Yojana. He was also promised that he would get the subsequent installments in time.
Right to Information Act was also effectively used by residents of a village in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district to put an end to the practice of selling grains from ration shops in the black market. Mr. Revat Ram, Secretary, Jagruk Yuvak Manch of the areas was Instrumental in this achievement. Revat Ram and his friends used the RTI Act to get all records of their ration shop in Himmatsar village and exposed how grains meant for the poor were being black-marketed at a ration shop in Bikaner. After the move, the villagers got the dealer removed. Besides losing dealership, the ration shopkeeper was also forced to pay poor families in the village over Rupees Four Lakhs, the cash equivalent of the grains he had sold illegally.
“They threatened us and also offered money. But we refused, because we wanted to ensure that people in our village get the grains they deserve from the government. And we did not get scared in fighting for the rights of our people” – Says Mr. Revat
.
The message of RTI Act is very clear – Uproot corruption and make the governmental system totally transparent and accountable to the people. So Government Employee is no longer a Government Servant. He/She has to transform to a Public Servant in Letter and Spirit.
To End with, I wish to quote the father of our nation
-”The real Swaraj will come not by the acquisition of authority by a few but by the acquisition of capacity by all to resist authority when abused
“.
Is it that the Independent India needed 58 years to realize what Mahatmaji told?
R S PRAVEEN RAJ
Scientist – IP Management & Technology Transfer
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology (NIIST),
(Formerly RRL, Trivandrum), Industrial Estate P.O., Pappanamcode,
Thiruvananthapuram – 695 019.
http://secularcitizen.net/profile-of-blog-owner/
July 10th, 2009 at 08:54pm
Under Computer Law
“As computer hardware capacity increases, software becomes more bloated.”
- Bryce’s Law
INTRODUCTION
Ever wonder why our computers typically last no more than three years? Many contend it is because of the fast pace of technological advancements. Maybe. But I tend to believe there is a little more to it than just that, namely “Parkinson’s Law.” For those of you who may have forgotten, “Parkinson’s Law” was devised by C. Northcote Parkinson, noted British historian and author. His original book, “Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress,” was introduced in 1958 and was a top-selling management book for a number of years (it is still sold today). The book was based on his experience with the British Civil Service. Among his key observation’s was that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Basically, he suggests that people make work in order to rationalize their employment. Consequently, managers create bureaucracies and superfluous work to justify their existence, not because it is really needed.
As an aside, CEO’s clearly understood Parkinson’s Law, which became the driving force behind the flattening of corporations in the 1990’s, such as General Electric under Jack Welch’s reign.
AS APPLIED TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Whereas Parkinson was primarily concerned with people, his law is equally applicable to machines, particularly computers; for example, Parkinson’s Law can be applied to computing in terms of “Data expands to fill the space available for storage.” Years ago I had a Compaq Presario computer with 50mb of disk space, which I considered substantial at the time. I never dreamt I would be able to fill up the hard drive. But, of course, I did (as well as other PC’s I have had over the years). My current PC has a hard drive with a capacity of 224gb and though I’m a long way from filling it up, inevitably I know I will for two reasons: I now feel more comfortable with downloading large multimedia files (MP3, AVI, WMV, etc.), PDF files, data base files, and other larger file formats, and; Second, because developers have become sloppy in programming.
Back when memory and disk space were at a premium, there was great concern over the efficient use of computer resources. Program code was written very tightly and consideration was given to file size. For example, establishing a simple file index was scrutinized carefully. But as the computer capacity grew and hardware prices declined, developers became less interested in efficient programming. To illustrate, not too long ago packaged software installation programs were delivered on 3.5″ diskettes. Today, it is not uncommon to use multiple CD’s to install the same products. This means that as computer hardware capacity increases, software becomes more bloated. This is but one example of Parkinson’s Law as applied in computing.
An another example, let’s consider data transmission lines as used in networking. It doesn’t seem long ago we were using 14.4 baud modems over telephone lines. I remember when we doubled the speed to 28.8 and then 56.4. It seemed like the sky was the limit with every increase. But eventually performance seemed to slow to a crawl. Was it because the technology was aging or was it because our web pages were becoming bigger and more complicated requiring greater data volume over the lines? Frankly, it was the latter. Today, DSL and cable are commonplace in households as well as in business and “dial-up” is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. But as data volume increases with the number of subscribers, will we ever hit a wall in terms of capacity with DSL and cable? Undoubtedly. Again, more due to Parkinson’s Law then anything else.
Make no mistake, computer hardware and software vendors are acutely aware of the role of Parkinson’s Law. It is what allows them to build-in planned obsolescence into their products. As consumers reach capacity, they can either add additional capacity or, more likely, purchase new computers.
There is undoubtedly an incestuous relationship between hardware and software vendors. Hardware enhancements are primarily implemented to increase capacity in order to overcome software inefficiencies, and software vendors make their products more bloated as hardware enhancements are introduced. To illustrate the point, is it a coincidence that every major release of Windows requires additional hardware support? Hardly. This is done more by design than by accident.
CONCLUSION
Parkinson’s Law is just as much a part of computer technology as it is in the corporate world. But what would happen if we decided to “flatten” computer technology in the same manner that Jack Welch flattened G.E.? Keep in mind, Welch did so to eliminate bureaucracy and force his workers to become more efficient and focus on the true problems at hand. By flattening the “bloatware” we would probably get a lot more mileage out of our computers. But I guess that wouldn’t be good for selling computers (or the economy).
I guess Parkinson’s Law and the viscous circle of computing will be with us for quite some time.
Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida, a management consulting firm specializing in Information Resource Management (IRM). Mr. Bryce has over 30 years of experience in the field. He is available for training and consulting on an international basis. His corporate web page is at:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/He can be contacted at:
timb001@phmainstreet.comCopyright © 2006 MBA. All rights reserved.