Comments on: Blank Out http://calamur.org/gargi/2006/08/22/blank-out/ A Point of View Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:55:51 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: gargi http://calamur.org/gargi/2006/08/22/blank-out/comment-page-1/#comment-1190 gargi Thu, 07 Sep 2006 01:16:03 +0000 http://calamur.org/gargi/?p=572#comment-1190 Hi Unknown Indian welcome to POV. Thank you. I agree that the law is silly, but i disagree that the court ought to strike it down arbidly. If someone takes out a PIL against the law - for violation of fundamental rights - and then the court stirkes out down it is one thing, but in situations like this I am not sure that the judiciary can over rule the legislature. And nor should it. ultimately our legislators are directly accountable to us - not the judiciary. And, I personally see too much judicial intervention as being dangerous for democracy in the long run. I really don't think that this particular case is judicial activism - it is more a situation of implemening a clearly stated law. It is more a case of moral majority gone haywire, and possibly many of us armchair activists need to get off our armchairs and counter this kind of shit :) Hi Unknown Indian
welcome to POV. Thank you.
I agree that the law is silly, but i disagree that the court ought to strike it down arbidly. If someone takes out a PIL against the law – for violation of fundamental rights – and then the court stirkes out down it is one thing, but in situations like this I am not sure that the judiciary can over rule the legislature. And nor should it.
ultimately our legislators are directly accountable to us – not the judiciary. And, I personally see too much judicial intervention as being dangerous for democracy in the long run.
I really don’t think that this particular case is judicial activism – it is more a situation of implemening a clearly stated law.
It is more a case of moral majority gone haywire, and possibly many of us armchair activists need to get off our armchairs and counter this kind of shit :)

]]> By: Unknown Indian http://calamur.org/gargi/2006/08/22/blank-out/comment-page-1/#comment-1189 Unknown Indian Sat, 02 Sep 2006 05:28:50 +0000 http://calamur.org/gargi/?p=572#comment-1189 Nice post and discussion. But this act has been there for 10 years - just like a number of other stupid laws which languish in the books without implementation. (One of the newspapers carried a series of articles on such laws a long time ago). And the Bombay High Court has subsequently expanded the ban on A certified movies to include DTH. Any sensible Court would have struck down the sections of the law - and would certianly not try and regulate channels broadcast from outside India which are not governed by Indian law. So this is yet another case of judicial activism run amuck. For my views, please read <a href="http://unknownindianrantings.blogspot.com/2006/08/bombay-high-court-strikes-again.html" rel="nofollow"> this </a> Nice post and discussion. But this act has been there for 10 years – just like a number of other stupid laws which languish in the books without implementation. (One of the newspapers carried a series of articles on such laws a long time ago). And the Bombay High Court has subsequently expanded the ban on A certified movies to include DTH. Any sensible Court would have struck down the sections of the law – and would certianly not try and regulate channels broadcast from outside India which are not governed by Indian law. So this is yet another case of judicial activism run amuck. For my views, please read this

]]> By: Vishnu Vyas http://calamur.org/gargi/2006/08/22/blank-out/comment-page-1/#comment-1188 Vishnu Vyas Fri, 25 Aug 2006 02:49:05 +0000 http://calamur.org/gargi/?p=572#comment-1188 <blockquote>The path to hell is paved with good intentions</blockquote>

The path to hell is paved with good intentions

]]> By: gargi http://calamur.org/gargi/2006/08/22/blank-out/comment-page-1/#comment-1187 gargi Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:40:07 +0000 http://calamur.org/gargi/?p=572#comment-1187 Hi Kamla the last time i read the FICCI report - i remember something around 60% of cable operators owned or controlled by the big 3. Cable operators have always been a sort of double edged sword for the big channels - granting connectivity, but witholding declarations. Which means that channel distribution revenues are way below what they should be in a transparent declaration system. Having said that - DTH only launched last year. I read figures of 1 million odd homes a couple of months ago. Currently there are 3 packages all of which offer the samething (another idiotic piece of legislation - if a DTH platform does not have exclusive content, then what differenciates it -- i the consumer do not buy the platform, i buy hte content). And the confusion levels are phenomenal. In my building society all 3 turned up and we still don't know who gives what. In any case I don't see a vertical growth path for DTH - but a much steadier growth. It's not going to be like cable or mobile penetration. Its' going to be more like internet growth. C&S homes on the other hand deliver 60-65 million homes to the channel. Now while the channel may only get a fraction of it as distribution revenue, the 60-65 million base makes it attractive to advertisers. VOD requires atleast a T1 line for making it worthwhile to the consumer. Those will take a bit of time to permeate. Until all these platforms reach a certain critical number - in terms of revenues, cable will still play an important role. advertisers look at households. And cable gives the numbers Hi Kamla
the last time i read the FICCI report – i remember something around 60% of cable operators owned or controlled by the big 3.
Cable operators have always been a sort of double edged sword for the big channels – granting connectivity, but witholding declarations. Which means that channel distribution revenues are way below what they should be in a transparent declaration system.

Having said that – DTH only launched last year. I read figures of 1 million odd homes a couple of months ago. Currently there are 3 packages all of which offer the samething (another idiotic piece of legislation – if a DTH platform does not have exclusive content, then what differenciates it — i the consumer do not buy the platform, i buy hte content). And the confusion levels are phenomenal. In my building society all 3 turned up and we still don’t know who gives what. In any case I don’t see a vertical growth path for DTH – but a much steadier growth. It’s not going to be like cable or mobile penetration. Its’ going to be more like internet growth.
C&S homes on the other hand deliver 60-65 million homes to the channel. Now while the channel may only get a fraction of it as distribution revenue, the 60-65 million base makes it attractive to advertisers.
VOD requires atleast a T1 line for making it worthwhile to the consumer. Those will take a bit of time to permeate.
Until all these platforms reach a certain critical number – in terms of revenues, cable will still play an important role. advertisers look at households. And cable gives the numbers

]]> By: gargi http://calamur.org/gargi/2006/08/22/blank-out/comment-page-1/#comment-1186 gargi Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:08:42 +0000 http://calamur.org/gargi/?p=572#comment-1186 Hi Amit at the meta level everything is freedom of one sort or the other. I think that any Democratic Set up the state & special interest groups will always try and curb some freedoms, and it is up to us the citizens to ensure that they don't. It really doesn't matter whether it is the first ammendment or the fundamental rights. If activists in the US did not push the envelope in terms of freedom of expression, much as they push the envelope in terms of the 2nd ammendment - the right to bear arms - then they too would just be words on paper. The 1st ammendment is effective because people fight for it. Fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution will be effective if we fight for it. Both will be impotent if we are apathetic. Hi Amit
at the meta level everything is freedom of one sort or the other.

I think that any Democratic Set up the state & special interest groups will always try and curb some freedoms, and it is up to us the citizens to ensure that they don’t. It really doesn’t matter whether it is the first ammendment or the fundamental rights.

If activists in the US did not push the envelope in terms of freedom of expression, much as they push the envelope in terms of the 2nd ammendment – the right to bear arms – then they too would just be words on paper.
The 1st ammendment is effective because people fight for it.
Fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution will be effective if we fight for it.
Both will be impotent if we are apathetic.

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