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K.C. Gopakumar

Kochi , March 1

THE Kerala High Court on Monday upheld the government order declaring as "protected system" the software developed for the FRIENDS - a single window for collecting bills of various government departments and statutory bodies such as Kerala Water Authority (KWA), and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).

Mr Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair handed down the ruling while dismissing a writ petition filed by Mr B.N. Firoz, proprietor, Comtech IT Solutions, Thiruvananthapuram, claiming Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) over the software. The government had issued the order declaring the software as protected system under Section 70 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. As per the Section, those who secured or attempted to secure access to a protected system would be punished.

The court also ordered that the petitioner was prohibited from exercising any right over FRIENDS software or assigning it or dealing with it in any manner, affecting the exclusive right of the Government.

The single window collection centres, FRIENDS (Fast, Reliable, Instant, Effective Network Distribution of Service) had been set up in all over the State. In fact, the Government had entrusted the development for the software with the Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), Thiruvananthapuram, which in turn gave the work of setting up and providing continuous technical support and maintenance with the petitioner.

Dismissing the petition, the judge pointed out that the petitioner had no case since C-DIT had assigned the right to him. Besides, the software was "a government work" coming under Section 2(k) of the Copy Rights Act. The method adopted by the Government was to create an agency - C-DIT - as a total solution provider (TSP) and get the work done through a sub-contract.

There was nothing in the provisions preventing the government from assigning the copyright in government works to any other person.

More Stories on : Software | Courts/Legal Issues | E-Governance | Kerala

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