Information Society

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Meaning of Information Society

Information is now a vital resource in development activities of any society. Material Machine and Energy were considered as dominant factors which influence the societal development. The term Information Society can be expressed in different concepts. In a common parlance, it refers to a growing materially affluent service society where information rather than material, machine or energy is the dominant technology. It attempts towards a society characterized by increasing responsiveness towards individual human needs and towards presentation of ecological harmony and balance.

Characteristics of Information Society

The following can be described as some characteristics of an information society.

· Most of the members are engaged in productive pursuits that are knowledge intensive, knowledge generating and knowledge based.
· A communication network that freely circulates information so that this information is consistently, efficiently and effectively acted upon in making of choices.

Thus, in an information society the dominant factor for its development is information. Almost everything is decided on the basis of information, which has been provided by means of an information network. The decision pattern of the members of the society is now blended with the information he receives now, and the traditional concepts of values.

Theft of information

Theft is an offence under all laws. A person will be guilty of theft where he dishonestly appropriates the property of another with the intension of permanently depriving the owner of that property. Oxford dictionary defines theft as “dishonest appropriation of another’s property with intent-to deprive him or her of it permanently.” It is the felonious taking and carrying away of the property of another. Therefore, for theft, there should be a property and the intension to deprive the owner of permanently. The owner losses possession of the property and the thief acquires the possession.

Property means Right of Action for things that can be exchanged. Important types of property include real property (land), personal property (other physical possessions), and intellectual property (rights over artistic creations, inventions, etc.). A property is referred as something owned. It is defined as including ‘money and all other property, real or personal, including things in action and other incorporeal property. The first question with regard to the information theft is that, is it possible to lose the possession of information? With the special feature of information that it cannot be taken away from the mind of a person, it is very difficult to prove the condition of depriving the owner of property. Unlike the situation where, for example, a car is stolen, possession of the information will not be lost. So, a counter proposition can be that of the exclusive possession of knowledge or information. The second question is that whether information might be regarded as property for the purpose of the law of theft. To a certain extent this question is resolved and accepted that information may be considered as a property.

On the basis of the above prepositions, it can come to a conclusion that, information theft is possible. There have been a growing number of cases of information theft over the past few years. While more and more electronic security measures have been going up to protect people’s possessions and information, these new technologies have bugs and design flaws that are opening up whole new worlds for a technologically advanced criminal. Information thefts are done in different ways. Some of them are summarized below.


Credit Card Number Theft

This type of theft is done by creating a quick and dirty web site (which could be hosted for free, and anonymously) advertising some fictional product, and including a form for buying online. Instantly the perpetrators would have a list of credit card numbers linked with names and mailing addresses, ready to use for anything they want. People are using credit cards for more and more of their purchases as time go on. This is opening up a larger and larger arena for a credit card fraud. Credit cards are especially easy to use fraudulently, because they require no extra identification number to use. All that a thief needs is pure information-they don’t need the card, but just the number on the card. Recently, with people spending more on purchases transacted over the internet, credit card fraud is becoming easier. When a user visited to this web site and giving his credit card number, they will be stored by the site and would be used for anything they want to do.

ATM Spoofing

This is done by setting up a complete fake ATM machine inside a shopping centre. It looked and worked just like a real one, except that after giving it your card and typing in your PIN, it would refuse you service saying it was out of order. It then had a record of the card and PIN numbers of all the people who tried to use the machine. In one such reported case, the thieves then used legitimate ATM machines all over town to withdraw over $3,000 from these accounts.

Pin Capturing

This is done by hiding a video camera aimed at the keys on the ATM machine. After each successful PIN number identification that they recorded, the thief would go to check for a discarded receipt at the ATM. If he found one, had the card number and the PIN number.

Database Theft

There are large databases of customers’ information built up slowly and legally by mild-mannered, legitimate internet companies. For example, BMG Music Service lets customers give their credit card numbers when they sign up, so they don’t need to bother each time they make a purchase. There are thousands of users of this service, many of whom likely use this feature. The information of customers is hacked from these databases.

Cyberspace

The word ‘cyberspace’ was coined by William Gibson in his science fiction, Necromancer, published in 1984. It has subsequently become widely used as a means of representing the clear-or virtual-location within which electronic activities are undertaken. In an electronic communicating system, it is very difficult to locate the exact place of conversation occurred. For example, a contract is made by two parties through a telephone conversation. Each party’s words will be received by the other and there are rules regarding time and place of contract for the two ends ofthete1ephone call. Still, the overall conservation does not occur at either end of the connection. It virtually takes place anywhere in the telephone line between the parties of conversation. The imaginary location where the words of the parties meet in conversation is what is referred to as cyberspace. Thus, Cyber Space is a place where entry is not bound by geographic boundaries. Any person who lives in this Cyber Space is a part of the community referred to as the Netizen.

In the physical world today, there are requirements for documents to be in writing and for hand - written signatures. Due to the rapid development of electronic commerce, these requirements should be translated into the electronic realm. In order to get legal validity for this type of translation, there should be proper legislation by way of amendment of the existing ones. The advent of e-commerce and the use of the digital medium as an alternative to the physical have created some new legal issues where there are no clear answers.

The users of information technology must have trust in the security of information and communication and communications infrastructures, networks and systems. They should have trust in the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data on them. They should also have trust in the ability to prove the origin and receipt of data. Since communication and transactions occurring over a faceless network, there is a need of reliable methods to authenticate a person’s identity and to ensure the integrity of the electronically transmitted documents.

Cyber law is a term used to describe the legal issues related to’ use of communications technology, particularly “cyberspace”, i.e. the Internet It is less a distinct field of law in the way that property or contract are, as it is an intersection of many legal fields, including intellectual property, privacy, freedom of expression, and jurisdiction. In essence, cyber law is an attempt to apply laws designed for the physical world to human activity on the Internet.


Jurisdiction and Sovereignty

One of the principles in case of laws of lands is with regard to the jurisdiction and sovereignty. A law can be enforced by an authority that has jurisdiction on the act or place and is sovereign. Issues of jurisdiction and sovereignty have quickly come to the fore in the era of the Internet. The Internet does not tend to make geographical and jurisdictional boundaries clear, but Internet users remain in physical jurisdictions and are subject to laws independent of their presence on the Internet. As such, a single transaction may involve the laws of at least three jurisdictions:

1. The laws of the state/nation in which the user resides
2. The laws of the state/nation that apply where the server hosting the transaction is located; and
3. The laws of the state/nation which apply to the person or business with whom the transaction takes place.

So a user in India conducting a transaction with another user in Britain through a server in USA could theoretically be subject to the laws of all three countries as they relate to the transaction at hand.

Jurisdiction is an aspect of state sovereignty and it refers to judicial, legislative and administrative competence. Although jurisdiction is an aspect of sovereignty, it is not coextensive with it. The laws of a nation may have extra-territorial impact extending the jurisdiction beyond the sovereign and territorial limits of that nation. This is particularly problematic as the medium of the Internet does not explicitly recognize sovereignty and territorial limitations. There is no uniform, international jurisdictional law of universal application, and such questions are generally a matter of conflict of laws, particularly private international law. For example, where the contents of a web site are legal in one country may be illegal in another. So, there should be a uniform jurisdictional code, otherwise, the legal practitioners are generally left with a conflict of law issue.

Another major problem of cyber law lies in whether to treat the Internet as if it were physical space (and thus subject to a given jurisdiction’s laws) or to act as if the Internet is a world unto itself (and therefore free of such restraints). There are strong arguments for and against of the above two perspective. John Perry Harlow proposes a new perspective known as Declaration of Cyber secession which is the perspective of absolute free to inhabit with no legal constraints. Though theoretically attractive, cyber secession initiatives have had little real impact on the Internet or the laws governing it. In practical terms, a user of the Internet is subject to the laws of the state or nation within which he or she goes online. Simply put, legal conduct in one nation may be decidedly illegal in another. In fact, even different standards concerning the burden of proof in a civil case can cause jurisdictional problems.


Contract Act under Cyber Law

In laws of contract, place of contract is important. The law of the place of contract is applicable to that contract. Similarly, the geographical location where conduct occurs is one of the major factors determining which country’s laws are applicable to the activities. The global network of communication actually made some problems with regard to the national boundaries. Hence the need for a new legal regime in cyberspace is argued. Although there is a clear role of some form of industry self regulation, this technique leave unrepresented the vast numbers of individual who deal with Internet Service Providers and the increasing number of organizations offering goods and services over the Internet Laws relating to contract, tort, defamation, evidence, broadcasting, media, data protection, intellectual property all have a role to play as do provisions of civil and criminal law. In fact, the inhabitants of cyberspace, depending upon the nature of their activities, may theoretically be subject to the jurisdiction of virtually all of the world’s legal systems.

Offer, Acceptance and legal enforceability are considered as most important factors of a contract. The growth of e-commerce on the Internet depends, to a large extent, on the confidence of traders in forming legally enforceable contracts online. The key activities associated with the formation of an enforceable contract do take part on the Internet, namely, the offer is communicated by the offeror, and acceptance is received by the offeror from the acceptor. An offer can be communicated orally or in writing; and in the e-commerce environment, it is through Internet. Electronic acceptance of the contract through e-mail, e- form is valid, in much the same way that a fax message is. The offeror can display terms and conditions as a legal notice, on his website. Visitors to the site, who choose to proceed further, even after reading the notice, may be construed to accept the conditions imposed by it. However timing of acceptance of the offer determines when the contract is formal. In this case, the e-mail of acceptance has to reach the offeror who may say that the contract will get formed only after its receipt.

In case of problems about jurisdiction, the problems are about the jurisdiction of the parties and jurisdiction of the website. These leads to the issues related to the identity of parties and the role ‘pf’ digital signatures on the Internet. Another problem is related to the establishment of competency of the parties to enter into a contract. All these issues and a few others are critical to the creation of an enforceable electronic contract. In Contract Act, when the offeree posts an acceptance, it becomes valid irrespective of whether it reached to the offeror or not. Some of the issues are dealt with the IT Act, 2000. It covers the attribution of electronic records, Acknowledgment of receipt, time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic record.

Section 11 to 13 of the IT Act relate to the formation of an online contact between two parties that is solely mediated electronically. The originator of the electronic record sends it as a message which is deemed to have been received by the addressee, if he sends an acknowledgment, or conducts him in a manner so as to let the originator know that the message has been received by him. The two parties can agree on the formation of the contract depending on whether the acknowledgment of receipt of the electronic record by addressee has been stipulated as a condition by the originator. It has been mandated, and then the contract will be deemed to be formed only after receipt of the acknowledgment from the addressee. In the alternative case, if the originator does not receive any acknowledgment, or any indication that the addressee has received the electronic record sent by him, the originator can re-transmit the message stating that the time frame by which the acknowledgment should come, failing which the originator can treat the electronic record as thought it had never been sent.

The time of dispatch of the electronic record is deemed to be the time at which the electronic record enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator. Likewise, the time of receipt of an electronic record is taken to be the time it enters the computer resource designated by the addressee. These sections further clarify that the place of business of both the parties will be taken to be the place(s) where the electronic record will be deemed to have been originated, and received, respectively. This will be the case irrespective of where the computer resources of both parties may be located.


Contracts of Adhesion

Contract of adhesion is a contract you didn’t really bargain over in any way, but which was presented as more of a take-it-or-Leave-it offer. This type of contract is often offered by certain websites dealing with some products. For example, in case of a website providing news letter say, ABC.com, puts the following message at its web site: “You may obtain a one-year subscription to our newsletter ABC News for the special low price of Rs 150.00 for each monthly issue, simply by filling in your name and e-mail address on the form below and then clicking the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button. By subscribing, you agree to the terms and conditions set forth in our Subscriber’s Contract; to read the Subscriber’s Contract, click on ‘CONTRACT TERMS’ below.” Now, suppose you fill in your name and e-mail address and click SUBSCRIBE, but you don’t actually take the time to look at, let alone read, the Subscriber’s Contract but at that moment you have a contract with ABC. There was an offer [to deliver the weekly newsletter to you], a specification of the behavior that the offeror deems to constitute acceptance of the offer [clicking on the SUBSCRIBE button], and consideration for the contract [the offeror will deliver the newsletter to you and you will pay Rs.150.00 per issue]. This “click wrap contract” is an example of what the law calls a “contract of adhesion.

Generally speaking, adhesion contracts are legally enforceable. Actually we enter into contracts like this all the time - e.g., when we buy something from the supermarket (without any chance to negotiate about the price of the item), or order some item from a restaurant, or park our car in a commercial lot, or undertake any of the other innumerable transactions where we agree, in effect, to pay the asking price for some good or service by virtue of some act of availing ourselves of the good or service.

But the question is: What are the terms of the contract? In particular, have you accepted the terms of the Subscriber’s Contract even if you haven’t read it? If you do something that is, prohibited by the Subscriber’s Contract, can ABC sue you for breach of contract? The basic principle of contract is the consensus ad idem. That is identity of mind. In Contract Acts there are provisions for the breach of contract. In those Acts also, the contract made in the above manner is interpreted as valid and breach of contract attracts remedy. In cyber-laws also the Contract of adhesion finds a place.

Securities Exchange Board Of India (SEBI)

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Introduction

The Government has set up the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by a notification of Ministry of Finance issued on 12 April, 1988. SEBI is the apex body for the development and regulation of the stock market in India. After 4 years a separate legislation namely Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 has been enacted. Till then it was acted as an advisory body performing the following functions:
  • To collect information and advise the government on matters relating to stock and capital market.
  • Licensing and regulation of merchant bankers, mutual funds, etc.
  • To prepare the legal drafts for regulatory and development role of SEBI.
  • To perform any other functions as may be authorized to it by the Central Government.


By abolishing the office of Controller of Capital Issues (CCI) and by transferring some of the powers of Securities Contracts (Regulations) Act 1956 to SEBI, it was given statutory powers by an ordinance on 30th January. 1992. Thus, at present SEBI is armed with statutory power of regulating the primary market and supervising the functioning of stock exchanges in the country.SEBI’s Act 1992 provides for the establishment of a Board to protect interest of the investors in securities and promote the development of ital market and to regulate the security market and for matters connected with or incidental there to. The SEBI Act contains 7 chapters and 28 sections.

Objectives of SEBI

The primary objective of SEBI is to promote healthy and orderly growth -of the securities market and secure investor protection. The objectives of SEBI are as follows:

1.To protect the interest of investors, so that, there is a steady flow of savings into the capital market.
2.To regulate the securities market and ensure fair practices.
3.To promote efficient services by brokers, merchant bankers, and other intermediaries, so that, they become competitive and professional.

Functions of SEBI (Sec. 11)

The SEBI Act, 1992 has entrusted with two functions, they are

1.Regulatory functions and
2.Developmental functions

Chapter 4 of the Act deals with the Regulatory and Developmental functions of SEBI
a) Regulatory Functions: These include

1.Regulation of stock exchange and self regulatory organizations.
2.Registration and regulation of stock brokers, sub-brokers, Registrars to all issues, merchant bankers, underwriters, portfolio managers etc.
3.Registration and regulation of the working of collective investment schemes including mutual funds.
4.Prohibition of fraudulent and unfair trade practices relating to securities market.
5.Prohibition of insider trading
6.Regulating substantial acquisition of shares and takeover of companies.

b) Developmental Functions: These include

1.Promoting investor’s education
2.Training of intermediaries
3.Conducting research and publishing information useful to all market participants.
4.Promotion of fair practices
5.Promotion of self regulatory organizations

Powers of SEBI

In order to carry out its objectives, the following are the powers exercised by SEBI.

1.Power to call periodical returns from recognized stock exchanges.
2.Power to compel listing of securities by public companies.
3.Power to levy fees or other charges for carrying out the purposes of regulation.
4.Power to call information or explanation from recognized stock exchanges or their members.
5.Power to grant approval to bye-laws of recognized stock exchanges.
6.Power to control and regulate stock exchanges.
7.Power to direct enquiries to be made in relation to affairs of stock exchanges or their members.
8.Power to make or amend bye-laws of recognized stock exchanges.
9.Power to grant registration to market intermediaries.
10.Power to declare applicability of Section 17 of the Securities Contract (Regulation) Act 1956, in any State or area, to grant licenses to dealers in securities.

Powers delegated to SEBI under SCRA

The following are the powers delegated to SEBI under Securities Contract (Regulations) Act, 1956.

1.Power to call for periodical returns from stock exchange.
2.Grant approval to any recognized stock exchange to make bye-laws for the regulation or control of contracts.
3.Power to make or amend bye-laws of recognized stock exchanges.
4.Power to compel a public company to list its shares in any stock exchange.
5.icensing of dealers in securities in certain areas.
6.Power to appoint any person to make enquiries into the affairs of stock exchange.
7.Power to suspend business of any recognized stock exchange.
8.Power to prohibit contracts in certain cases.


Role of SEBI

The SEBI shall create a conductive atmosphere for the proper functioning of the capital market. The atmosphere includes the rules and regulations, trade practices, customs and relations among institutions, brokers, investors and companies. It shall have to get the trust of the investors in safeguarding their interest. This can be achieved by meeting the needs of persons connected with the securities market and establishing proper co-ordination among the three main groups - investors, corporate sector and intermediaries. SEBI shall create proper infrastructure, so that, the market automatically facilitate expansion and growth of business to middlemen like brokers, jobbers, merchant banks, mutual funds, commercial banks, etc. SEBI shall also create the framework for more open, orderly and un-prejudicial conduct in relation to takeover and mergers of corporate sector to ensure fair and equal treatment of all security holders. SEBI plays the dual role of regulation and development. The major roles of SEBI are discussed below:

1.It shall device laws with unified set of objectives, single administrative authority and an integral frame work to deal with all the aspects of the security market.
2.It shall also play an active role in interacting with institution of Chartered Accountants ·of India in upgrading and making more effective the accounting and auditing standards.
3.It shall introduce a system of two stage disclosure at the time of initial issue and make compulsory for the company to provide detailed information to all the stock exchange journals.
4.It will examine the feasibility of introducing a dealer’s network, by which securities can be bought or sold over the counter like in retail shop. This will smoothen liquidity and investment opportunities.
5.It shall work as an authoritative institution, to see that the intermediaries are financially sound and equipped with professional and competent manpower.
6.It will ensure that the rules are versatile and not rigid to provide automatic and self regulatory growth.

Organization of SEBI

The SEBI Act provides for the establishment of a Statutory Board consisting of six members. The chairman and two members are to be appointed by the Central Government, one member to be appointed by the Reserve Bank and two members having experience of securities market to be appointed by the Central Government.SEBI has divided the activities into four operational departments. They are primary market department, issue management and intermediary’s department, secondary market department and institutional department. Each department is headed by an Executive Director.

1.Primary Market Department: It deals with all policy matters and regulatory issues relating to primary market, market intermediaries and redressal of investor grievances.
2.Issue Management and Intermediaries Department: This department is concerned with vetting of offer documents and other things like registration, regulation and monitoring of issue related intermediaries.
3.Secondary Market Department: This department looks after all the policy and regulatory issues for the secondary market, administration of the major stock exchanges and other matters related to it.
4.Institutional Investment Department: This department is concerned with framing policy for foreign institutional investors, mutual funds and other matters like publications, membership in international organization etc.

In addition to the above, there are two other departments - Legal Department and Investigation Department.
SEBI has two advisory committees, one each for primary and secondary markets. The committees are constituted from among the market players, recognized investor associations and eminent persons associated with capital market. These committees are non-statutory committees.

SEBI and Central Government

The Central Government has power to issue directions to SEBI Board, supersede the Board, if necessary and to call for returns and reports as and when necessary. The Central Government has also power to give any guideline or to make regulations and rules for SEBI and its operations.

The activities of SEBI are financed by grants from Central Government, in addition to fees, charges etc. collected by SEBI. The fund called SEBI General Fund is set up, to which, all fees, charges and grants are credited. This fund is used to meet the expenses of the Board and to pay salary of staff and members of the body.


SEBI Guidelines
[Guidelines for Primary Market – Guidelines for Public Issue – Guidelines for Secondary Market - Guidelines for Foreign Institutional Investors - Guidelines on Bonus Issues – Guidelines on Right Issue – Guidelines on Underwriters]

1. Guidelines for Primary Market

New company

A new company is one which has not completed 12 months commercial production and doesn’t have audited results or where the promoters do not have a track record. Such companies will have to issue shares only at par.

A new company set up by existing companies with a five year track record of consistent profitability and a contribution of at least 50 % in the equity share of new company, it can issue its shares at premium i.e., it is free to price its issue.

Private and Closely held companies having a track record of consistent profitability for at least three years shall be permitted to price their issues freely. The issue price shall be fixed only after consulting with the lead managers to the issue.

Existing listed companies will be allowed to raise fresh capital by freely pricing expanded capital, provided the promoter’s contribution is 50% on first Rs.loo crores of issue, 40% on next Rs.2oo crores, 30% on next Rs.3oo crores and 15 % on balance issue amount.

In the case of composite issues (rights cum: public issue) by existing listed companies, differential pricing shall be allowed. However, justification for the price difference should be given in the offer document.Lock in period is five years for promoter’s contribution from the date of allotment or from the commencement of commercial production whichever is later. At present, the lock in period has been reduced to one year.

II. Guidelines for Public Issue

1.Abridged prospectus has to be attached with every application.
2.A company has to highlight the risk factors in the prospectus.
3.Objective of the issue and cost of project should be mentioned m the prospectus.
4.Company’s management, past history and present business of the firm should be highlighted in the prospectus.
5.Particulars regarding the company and other listed companies under the same management which made any capital issue during last three years are to be stated in the prospectus.
6.Justification for premium, incase premium is to be stated.
7.Subscription list for public issues should be kept open for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 40 working days.
8.The collection centers should be at least 30 which include all centers with stock exchanges.
9.Collection agents are not allowed to collect application money in cash.
10.The quantum of issue shall not exceed the amount specified in the prospectus. No retention of over subscription is permitted.
11.Minimum number of shares per application has been fixed at 500 shares of face value of Rs.loo/-
12.The allotments have to be made in multiples of tradable lot of 100 shares of Rs.1O each.
13.Issues by way of bonus, rights etc. to be made in appropriate lots to minimize odd lots.
14.If minimum subscription of 90% has not been received, the entire amount is to be refunded to investors within 120 days.
15.The capital issue should be fully paid up within 120 days.
16.Underwriting has been made mandatory.

III. Guidelines for Secondary Market


Stock Exchanges

1.Board of Directors of stock exchange has to be reconstituted so as to include non members, public representatives and government representatives to the extent of 50% of total number of members.
2.Capital adequacy norms have been laid down for members of various stock exchanges depending upon their turnover of trade and other factors.
3.Working hours for all stock exchanges have been fixed uniformly.
4.All the recognized stock exchange will have to inform about the transaction within 24 hours.
5.Guidelines have been issued for introducing the system of market making in less liquid scrips in a phased manner in all Stock Exchanges.

Brokers

1.Registration of brokers and sub-brokers is made compulsory.
2.In order to ensure professional qualification and financial solvency, capital adequacy norms for registration of brokers have been evolved.
3.Compulsory audit of broker’s book and filing of audit report with SEBI have been made mandatory.
4.For greater transparency and accountability in broker-client relationship, SEBI has made it mandatory for brokers to disclosetransaction price and brokerage separately in the contract notes issued to the clients.
5.No broker is allowed to underwrite more than 5% of public issues.

IV. Guidelines for Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)

1.Foreign Institutional Investors have been allowed to invest in all securities traded in primary and secondary markets.
2.There would be no restriction on the volume of investment for the purpose of entry of Foreign Institutional Investors.
3.The holding of Single Foreign Institutional Investor in a company will not exceed the ceiling of 5 % of the equity capital of the company.
4.Disinvestment will be allowed only through stock exchanges in India.
5.Foreign Institutional Investors have to pay a concessional tax rate of 10% on long term capital gain (to others - 20%) and 30% on short term capital gains. A tax rate of 20% on dividend and interest is prescribed.

V. Guidelines on Bonus Issues

The following are the SEBI guidelines relating to the issue of bonus shares.

1.There should be a provision in the Articles of Association of the company for the issue of bonus shares. If not, the company should pass a resolution for capitalization of reserves and should be recommended by the Board of Directors.
2.The bonus issue is made out of free reserves built out of genuine profits or share premiums collected in cash only.
3.Reserves created by revaluation of fixed assets are not ‘permitted to be capitalized.
4.The declaration of bonus issues in lieu of dividend is not to be made.
5.Bonus issues are not permitted, unless the existing partly paid shares are fully paid.
6.No bonus issues shall be permitted, if the company has defaulted in respect of payment of statutory dues to the employees.
7.No bonus issue can be made within 12 months of any public issue or right issue.
8.No bonus issue will be permitted if the company defaults in payment of principal or interest on fixed deposit or on debentures.
9.When a company announces the issue of bonus shares, it must be implemented within 6 months from the date of such proposal and shall not have the option of changing the decision.
10.The bonus issues after public or right issues shall not dilute the value or rights of the holders of fully or partly convertible debentures.

VI. Guidelines on Right Issues

1.Where composite issues are made by listed companies, they can be issued at different prices.
2.Gaps between the clearance dates of right issues and public issues should not exceed 30 days.
3.If right issues of listed companies exceed Rs.50 lakhs, issue should be managed by an authorized merchant banker.
4.Underwriting of right issues is not mandatory but as per SEBI Rules right issues can be underwritten.
5.No preferential allotment shall be made along with the right issues.
6.If the company doesn’t receive minimum subscription (90% of the issue amount) within 120 days from the date of opening issue, the entire subscription should be refunded within 128 days with interest @ 15 % p.a. for delay. .
7.The proposed right issue should not dilute the value or rights of fully or partly convertible debenture holders.
8.The issue should not exceed the quantum specified in the prospectus i.e., no part of over subscription is retained.
9.Within 45 days of closure of rights issue, a report in the prescribed form along with compliance report duly signed by the statutory auditor should be forwarded to SEBI.
10.All listed companies making rights issue shall issue an advertisement in at least two All India newspapers about the dispatch of letters of offer, opening date, closing date etc.

VII. SEBI Guidelines on Underwriters

1.No person can act as an underwriter, unless he holds certificate of registration granted by SEBI.
2.The certificate of registration is valid for 3 years from the date of issue.
3.The total underwriting obligations shouldn’t exceed 20 times of his net worth.
4.The underwriter should subscribe securities within 30 days of the receipt of the intimation from the company.
5.The underwriter should furnish within six months from the end of the financial year a copy of the Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Account, the statement of capital adequacy requirement etc. as required by SEBI.
6.The books of accounts should be maintained for a period of 5 years.

Tally 9

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Tally 9 is the world’s first concurrent multi-lingual business accounting and inventory management software. Tally has been designed specifically for Indian business owners like you, who have always wanted to maintain accounts in an Indian language of your choice. Tally 9 is so technologically advanced that it can operate in almost all Indian languages concurrently! That means, you can maintain accounts in any Indian language, view it in another and print it in yet another language of your choice... at the same time!

Tally 9 empowers business owners to manage business smoothly. Designed keeping in mind the needs of the Indian businessman, it has several key additions in terms of functionality.

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Freedom from dependence on accounting professionals is yet another clear benefit that Tally 9 enables… right from day one! You can let your accountant enter information in any Indian language that he is comfortable with and you can review it in your preferred language –at just the click of a button.
Backed by the heritage of incredible simplicity, Tally 9 takes one more significant step towards ensuring that concrete business advantages are realized from accounting on computers.

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Service Tax
Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)
Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT)
Excise for Traders

What Makes Tally 9 The Best?

Simplicity in usage
Speed in navigation
Power of information management
Flexibility in adapting to your business
Concurrent multi-lingual capability
No codes for convenience
Real-time reporting
Online help for user friendly experience

Tally 9 - Best For Advanced Business Financial Management

Multiple Companies
Multi Currency Accounting
Multiple Financial Years
Comparison of Data using Multi-Columnar Reporting
Memo Vouchers
Post-dated Vouchers
User-defined Voucher Types
Sales and Purchase Extracts
Cash Flows
Daily Balances & Transaction Values
Interest Calculations
Percentage based Reporting


Tally 9 allows you to get the information you require in the format you need. Just create your format in any ODBC compliant software like MS-Word or MS-Excel, and pull data from Tally. To create any report you want. Like Audit Reports and Schedule VI forms. Or internal reports. You can even generate your export documentation by pulling data from Tally.

• MailTally Harness the power of the Internet! Tally 9 uses the SMTP protocol for e-mail. Now, e-mail invoices to your customer. Or your purchase order. In fact, e-mail any Tally report or document as easily as you print! Even reminder letters and statement of accounts need not be printed and posted. Simply e-mail them. It is not only postage cost that you save, you save on so much of your valuable time.

• E-Tally You can improve your company's efficiency by sharing information with your extended enterprise: your customers, your bankers, your business partners and other associates. Now publish all reports and documents from Tally 9 to a secure part of your website, using either FTP, HTTP or secure HTTP protocols, in HTML format. You can use this feature to inform customers the new price-range and stocks available for sale. Or publish reports that your CEO can access, while traveling, using any internet browser.

• XML Tally Tally 9 enables you to exchange information with non-Tally systems, using XML. You can now share data across locations, amongst business associates and partners, and make your workflow seamless. You can now collaborate with others and share information like never before.

• On-line Help Tally 9 has built in Context Sensitive Help. Press the Help button while in Tally, and it will bring up the relevant topic.

• "Scenario" management The new "Scenario" Management capability allows you to plan, as well as analyse your business performance, under varying assumptions. You can get different views of your accounts and inventory information by selectively including Optional Vouchers and/or Reversing Journals and Memos. Use this feature for forecasting and planning. Prepare reports including provisional figures without affecting actual accounts using reversing journals that automatically reverse. This is useful for reporting interim statements.

• Print Preview This facility helps you check printed report formats and layouts before actual printing takes place.

• Direct Access to the Internet Tally 9 allows you direct access to Web Browsing from within Tally.

• Tally 9 Cutting Edge technology

Tally 9 has achieved major technological breakthroughs to enable you to benefit from collaborative technology such as protocol support for HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, ODBC, and Raw Sockets with data interchange formats like XML, HTML, SOAP, SDF and related formats, rule-based collaboration supporting export, upload and synchronization.

Keyboards

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Key boards- Type

In computing, a keyboard is an input device partially modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons, or keys which act as electronic switches. A keyboard typically has characters engraved or printed on the keys, and each press of a key typically corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in sequence. While most keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters), other keys or simultaneous key presses can produce actions or computer commands. In normal usage, the keyboard is used to type text or numbers into a word processor, text editor, or other program. In a modern computer the interpretation of key presses is generally left to the software. A computer keyboard distinguishes each physical key from every other and reports all key presses to the controlling software. Keyboards are also used for computer gaming, either with regular keyboards or by using special gaming keyboards which can expedite frequently used keystroke combination. A keyboard is also used give commands to the operating system of a computer, such as the Control-Alt-Delete combination, which brings up a task window or shuts down the machine.





The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout arranges keys so that frequently used keys are easiest to press, which reduces muscle fatigue when typing common English.

Types

Standard keyboards

Standard keyboards such as the 104-key Windows keyboards include alphabetic characters, punctuation symbols, numbers, and a variety of function keys. The internationally-common 102/105 key keyboards have a smaller 'left shift' key and an additional key with some more symbols between that and the letter to its right (usually Z or Y).

Keyboards with extra keys such as multimedia keyboards have special keys for accessing music, web, and other oft-used programs, a mute button, volume buttons or knob, and standby (sleep) button. Gaming keyboards have extra function keys which can be programmed with keystroke macros. For example, ctrl+shift+y could be a keystroke that is frequently used in a certain computer game. Shortcuts marked on color-coded keys are used for some software applications and for specialized for uses including word processing, video editing, graphic design, and audio editing.










Multimedia keyboards
have special keys for
accessing music,
websites, and
computer programs.

Smaller keyboards have been introduced for laptops, PDAs, cellphones, or users who have a limited workspace. The size of a standard keyboard is dictated by the practical consideration that the keys must be large enough to be easily pressed by fingers. To reduce the size of the keyboard, the numeric keyboard to the right of the alphabetic keyboard can be removed, or the size of the keys can be reduced, which makes it harder to enter text. Another way to reduce the size of the keyboard is to reduce the number of keys and use chording keyer, i.e. pressing several keys simultaneously. For example, the GKOS keyboard has been designed for small wireless devices. Other two-handed alternatives more akin to a game controller, such as the AlphaGrip, are also used as a way to input data and text. Another way to reduce the size of a keyboard is to use smaller buttons and pack them closer together. Such keyboards, often called a "thumbboard" (thumbing) are used in some personal digital assistants such as the Treo and BlackBerry and some Ultra-Mobile PCs such as the OQO.











Keyboards on laptops such as this
Sony VAIO usually have a shorter
travel distance for the keystroke and
a reduced set of keys.

Numeric keyboards contain only numbers, mathematical symbols for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, a decimal point, and several function keys (e.g. End, Delete, etc.). They are often used to facilitate data entry with smaller keyboard-equipped laptops or with smaller keyboards that do not have a numeric keypad.

Non-standard or special-use types

A keyset or chorded keyboard (also called a chord keyboard or chording keyboard) is a computer input device that allows the user to enter characters or commands formed by pressing several keys together, like playing a "chord" on a piano. The large number of combinations available from a small number of keys allows text or commands to be entered with one hand, leaving the other hand free to do something else. A secondary advantage is that it can be built into a device (such as a pocket-sized computer) that is too small to contain a normal sized keyboard. A chorded keyboard designed to be used while held in the hand is called a keyer.













The Microwriter MW4 (circa 1980) uses
a chording keyboard in which several key
presses are needed for each letter.

 Virtual keyboards, such as the I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard, project an image of a full-size keyboard onto a surface. Sensors in the projection unit identify which key is being "pressed" and relay the signals to a computer or personal digital assistant. There is also a virtual keyboard, the On-Screen Keyboard, for use on Windows.

Touchscreens such as with the iPhone and the OLPC laptop can be used as a keyboard. (The OLPC initiative's second computer will be effectively two tablet touchscreens hinged together like a book. It can be used as a convertible tablet PC where the keyboard is one half-screen (one side of the book) which turns into a touchscreen virtual keyboard.)

Foldable keyboards are made of soft plastic which can be rolled or folded over for travel. When in use, the keyboard can conform to uneven surfaces, and it is more resistant to liquids than a standard keyboard.


How To Invoice

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HOW TO INVOICE:


Once you've sold the product or provided the service, its invoice time. An invoice not only shows the customer or client how much money is due but provides tax information. Both you and your customers need to be able to track how much GST (Goods and Services Tax.) and/or PST (Provincial Sales Tax/Retail Sales Tax) is paid or owed, for instance. Because invoices are such an important part of your business records, it's important to get them right.

WHAT HAS TO BE ON THE INVOICE?

There are certain pieces of information that have to be on your invoices. Your invoice must include:

* Your business name
* The date of the invoice
* Your Business Number
* The purchaser's name
* A brief description of the goods or services performed
* The total amount paid or payable
* The terms of payment
* an indication of items subject to GST at 6% or HST at 14%, or that the items are exempt, and either the total amount of GST/HST charged, or a statement that the GST/HST is included and the total rate of tax
* if applicable, an indication of items subject to PST (also known as RST) at the provincial rate, or that the items are exempt, and either the total amount of PST charged, or a statement that the PST is included and the total rate of tax.So what does a complete invoice look like? Here's an invoice sample that you can use as an invoice template.

_______________________________________________________
Sample Invoice
**************
Cypress Technologies
Suite 7, 77 Marwood Place
Crestwood, B.C., V6T 7Q7
1-888-888-888

Sarah's Computer Bin
8424 Business Plaza
Vancouver, B.C., V9W 2T2

Att'n: Sarah Norgaard

INVOICE FOR:

1 HP OfficeJet Inkjet Color Printer $583.97
GST $35.03
PST$ 43.80

TOTAL PAYABLE: $662.80

GST Registration No. 888888888

Invoice No. 754

Date of Invoice: Month Day, 2006

To be paid within 30 days of invoice date.
___________________________________________________________

To use this sample invoice, just copy it into Word or some other word processor, and substitute your relevant data, using your own customized business letterhead, if you like, and formatting as you desire. This is a product invoice from one business to another in the same province; if you provide services, rather than sell products, you may wish to use the subheading "Description of the Work Performed" along with the Invoice for heading.

Note the statement at the bottom of the invoice, saying that the invoice amount is due within 30 days. You'll often see invoices that say, "Payable upon Receipt", but that's just asking for trouble, because you don't necessarily know when your customer or client is seeing the invoice - even if you've emailed it. Using a specific terms statement like the one on this invoice gives your customer a due date, and helps you to avoid collection problems.

Invoices are even easier to do if you use accounting software. Accounting software designed for small businesses can not only be used as POS (Point of Sale) systems and print out invoices on the spot, but make it easier to calculate and keep track of taxes, such as the GST.

INVOICE

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INVOICE:

An invoice is essentially a detailed bill left by vendors and outside suppliers for goods or services rendered to a company. A typical invoice might list the quantity of each item, prices, billable hours, service description and a contact address for payment. While some expenses may be paid out of a general fund or petty cash account, an invoice is usually paid through an accounts payable department by the posted due date.

An invoice is a legal document which can be used as evidence of an incurred debt. The recipient of the goods or services can challenge the legitimacy of individual charges, but the invoice itself is considered a bonafide debt. Sometimes a vendor or serviceman cannot collect on a bill immediately, so their company will send an invoice at a later date for payment. The actual daily expense of a service may be so low that a company will simply wait for a larger invoice to cover all of the costs at once. Vending machine attendants and bottled water providers may only send one invoice a month instead of billing the company a few dollars a day for supplies.

Not all invoices are bills of sale, however. A manufacturer may send out a 'shipping invoice', which details all of the parts and accessories included in a particular order. This shipping invoice should be compared to the actual parts received by the store or customer. Car dealers also receive an invoice from the factory which details the actual price of the basic vehicle and any optional equipment installed. The dealer may offer a discount to the customer which seems to fall below the invoice price.

The use of an invoice as evidence of a legitimate debt can sometimes be abused. Unscrupulous companies may generate false invoices to account for missing funds or to inflate sales numbers to stockholders. An invoice is only enforceable and legal if corroborative evidence (inventory, duplicate bills, etc.) proves the goods actually exist or the service was actually performed. Companies and individuals do have the right to challenge suspicious invoices in a court of law.

Some companies who use invoices frequently will design their own forms, but generic invoice forms can be ordered at office supply stores. There are also computer programs available which can generate specialized invoice forms through the use of templates. A professional invoice should contain detailed information on the goods or services, clear and accurate prices and current contact information for any billing questions a client may have.

Trackball

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A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor. Large tracker balls are common on CAD workstations for easy precision. Before the advent of the touchpad, small trackballs were common on portable computers, where there may be no desk space on which to run a mouse. Some small thumbballs clip onto the side of the keyboard and have integral buttons with the same function as mouse buttons.

The trackball was invented by Tom Cranston and Fred Longstaff as part of the Royal Canadian Navy's DATAR system in 1952, eleven years before the mouse was invented. This first trackball used a Canadian five-pin bowling ball.

When mice still used a mechanical design (with slotted 'chopper' wheels interrupting a beam of light to measure rotation), trackballs had the advantage of being in contact with the user's hand, which is generally cleaner than the desk or mouse-pad and doesn't drag lint into the chopper wheels. The late 1990s advent of scroll wheels, and the replacement of mouse balls by direct optical tracking, put trackballs at a disadvantage and forced them to retreat into niches where their distinctive merits remained important. Most trackballs now have direct optical tracking which follows dots on the ball. Some mice, in place of a scroll wheel, acquired a small trackball between the buttons, useful in maps and other circumstances calling for scrolling in two dimensions.

Special Applications

Large tracker balls are sometimes seen on computerized special-purpose workstations, such as the radar consoles in an air-traffic control room or sonar equipment on a ship or submarine. Modern installations of such equipment may use mice instead, since most people now already know how to use one. However, military mobile anti-aircraft radars and submarine sonars tend to continue using trackballs, since they can be made more durable and more fit for fast emergency use. Large and well made ones allow easier high precision work, for which reason they are still used in these applications (where they are often called "tracker balls") and in computer-aided design.

Trackballs have appeared in computer and video games, particularly early arcade games (see a List of trackball arcade games) notably Atari's Centipede and Missile Command. "Football", by Atari, was the first arcade game to use a trackball, released in 1978 - though Atari spells it "trak-ball". Console trackballs, once common in the early 1980s, are now fairly uncommon: the Atari 2600 and 5200 consoles had one as an optional peripheral, with a joystick as standard. The Bandai Atmark, a Japanese console introduced in 1995 had a trackball as standard for its game-pad. Trackballs are also preferred by many so-called professional gamers, who value their consistency highly. A trackball requires no mouse-pad and enables the player to aim swiftly (in first person shooters). Trackballs remain in use in pub golf machines (such as Golden Tee) to simulate swinging the club.

Computer gamers have been able to successfully use trackballs in most modern computer games, including FPS, RPG, and RTS genres, with any slight loss of speed compensated for with an increase in precision. Many trackball gamers are competent at "throwing" their cursor rapidly across the screen, by spinning the trackball, enabling (with practice) much faster motion than can be achieved with a mouse and arm motion. However, many gamers are deterred by the time it takes to 'get used to' the different style of hand control that a trackball requires. Trackballs have also been regarded as excellent complements to analog joysticks, as pioneered by the Assassin 3D 1996 trackball with joystick pass-through capability. This combination provides for two-hand aiming and a high accuracy and consistency replacement for the traditional mouse and keyboard combo generally used on first-person shooter games. Many such games natively support joysticks and analog player movement, like Valve's Half-Life and id Software's Quake series.

Trackballs are provided as the pointing device in some public internet access terminals. Unlike a mouse, a trackball can easily be built into a console, and cannot be ripped away or easily vandalised. Two examples are the Internet browsing consoles provided in some UK McDonalds outlets, and the BT Broadband Internet public phone boxes.

Because trackballs for personal computers are stationary, they may require less space for operation than a mouse, and may simplify use in confined or cluttered areas such as a small desk.

The world's first trackball working on the invented by Tom Cranston, Fred Longstaff and Kenyon Taylor Royal Canadian Navy's DATAR project in 1952. It used a standard Canadian five-pin bowling ball.