Mar 31

View credit card statement online

Posted in cyberlaw, government, internet, media, technical

You can view your ICICI credit card statement online at

https://infinity.icicibank.co.in/web/cards/creditcardNLI/jsp/ccNonLoginPage.jsp

For generating a 3D secure code for online transactions (Visa /Mastercard), use

https://www.3dsecure.icicibank.com/ACSWeb/EnrollWeb/ICICIBank/main/index.jsp?utm_source=GA&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=3dsecure-RHS-banner-4

If your computer is hacked or ISP connection is insecure, the hacker may use the credit / debit card number entered to generate the 3D secure code himself and you will not be able to use the debit card for online transactions.  In such cases, the card will have to be blocked to prevent misuse online.

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Mar 17

Paypal India changes from March 1, 2011

Posted in business, exchange rate, government, internet, media, PAN

For a few days after March 1, 2011, Paypal users in India got the following notification after logging in to their Paypal account.

Notification for PayPal users in India
With effect from 1 March 2011, you are required to comply with the requirements set out in the notification of the Reserve Bank of India governing the processing and settlement of export-related receipts facilitated by online payment gateways (“RBI Guidelines”).

1.Any balance in and all future payments into your PayPal account may not be used to buy goods or services and must be transferred to your bank account in India within 7 days from the receipt of confirmation from the buyer in respect of the goods or services; and
2.Export-related payments for goods and services into your PayPal account may not exceed US$500 per transaction. Click here to learn more.
Go to My Account

The notification did not appear for a few days, but it is now again visible.

Other than blocking mass payments , no other major changes have appeared in Paypal site for Indian users. Many personal and premier account holders have been able to send money from their account and receive money, though some Paypal business account holders have had the $500 restriction implemented and accounts limited. Paypal users who have written to Paypal support have been told that their accounts are being monitored. A similar rule seems to be implemented in  Turkey without advance notification with users unable to pay from Paypal balance.

Till January 2010, any Paypal user could have one business and one personal account as per Paypal’s Terms of Service. After Paypal wanted users to associate a PAN number with each account, some users had to choose between the business and personal account, since a PAN number could be associated with one account only.  With the new changes users now face the following disadvantages:
1. They are forced to withdraw at the prevailing exchange rate, earlier they could time their withdrawals to get the best exchange rate.
2. Higher exchange rates for payments in US$ -  Visa/ Mastercard charge around Rs 47/$ , Paypal charges approx. Rs 46/$ .

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Mar 3

Unpaid contributors and internet companies

Posted in business, internet, media

Many internet companies have very high valuations and a major part of the value for some of these companies is created by  unpaid contributors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/business/media/14carr.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=business

Some platforms offer revenue sharing, but for most of the larger companies the content is created free of cost and the platform owner incurs the cost of hosting, promotion and moderation of the free content.

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Feb 13

Slander

Posted in business, internet, law, media

From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slander

Slander : a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report

Some quotes about the mindset of those who slander and / or spend their lives listening to slander

He that flings Dirt at another dirtieth himself most.
–Thomas Fuller (1654—1734)
English writer and physician.

A tongue prone to slander is the proof of a depraved mind.
–Publilius Syrus (85—43 B.C.)
Latin writer of mimes

Slander meets no regard from noble minds; only the base believe what the base only utter.
      – John Bellers

Reference :

http://www.giga-usa.com/quotes/topics/slander_t001.htm

http://www.someworthwhilequotes.com/SLANDERSMILES.html

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Jan 30

Changes in Paypal User agreement

Posted in exchange rate, government, internet, media

From https://www.paypal-apac.com/india/

In order to comply with the RBI Guidelines, our user agreement in India will be amended for the following services as follows:

1.Any balance in and all future payments into your PayPal account may not be used to buy goods or services and must be transferred to your bank account in India within 7 days from the receipt of confirmation from the buyer in respect of the goods or services; and

2.Export-related payments for goods and services into your PayPal account may not exceed US$500 per transaction.

Many online publishers / webmasters earn more than $500 from advertising from  a single source, so the ad network will either split the payments or use alternate payment methods.  As conditions change, you always find new methods.

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Jan 22

Field work, fact and fiction

Posted in cyberlaw, internet, media

This article on India’s knowledge bankruptcy

http://www.livemint.com/2011/01/21202028/India8217s-knowledge-bankru.html?d=1

summarises how little field work or practical experience are used by many “experts”. Even those working in “high -tech” areas will readily believe in hearsay and gossip which is not based of facts but often concocted by different individuals for personal gain.

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Dec 22

Top selling books in 2010 in India

Posted in internet, media

From

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?269646

Through India has a large number of people with some knowledge of English, it appears that reading books is not very popular, since only 1 author in India sells about 1 million copies of his book in one year.

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Nov 23

Books, authors, online and offline publishers in India

Posted in internet, media, technical

As an online publisher ,  I have often wondered how the number of  visitors to my websites compare with best selling authors in India.

From http://business.in.com/printcontent/17642

An English book was considered a bestseller if it sold 10,000 copies. Five Point Someone and each of the other books he wrote sold a million.

I have been reading a lot of books in the last few months and books published offline are usually of  much better quality than most of the content online (especially if it is India specific).  An online publisher with a network of websites gets more than one lakh visitors a month , more than a million visitors a year,  but monetizing the websites can be difficult.  Profits depend both on your technical and writing skills.

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Nov 10

Book reading in India

Posted in business, internet

Unlike developed countries like USA, UK  and even other  countries like Russia , where millions of books are sold, reading books is not a popular activity in India.

From http://indiaedunews.net/In-Focus/April_2009/Book-reading_disappearing_in_India_-_Javed_Akhtar_7969/

“Do you know how books are selected in some of the homes in my city of Mumbai? They are chosen by interior decorators… by interior decorators! If you have brown-coloured furniture and carpet, you must have brown-coloured books,” the award-winning poet told sources.

Another article

http://expressbuzz.com/magazine/book-reading-a-dead-culture-in-india/65191.html

Reading books (and not just for exams) improves your knowledge and creativity and is important for innovation.   The quality of  India specific online content is quite poor and there is little incentive for  real experts to share their information online. Books may be expensive,  but they are worth spending money on.

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Nov 3

Privacy and power

Posted in cyberlaw, government, internet

The power of  the internet and  mobile communications has been overestimated for one reason – there is no privacy when you are online.   When you realise you are under surveillance,  you are willing to pay a price for privacy  – buy a book ” Schneier  on Security” costing Rs 1000+ though the same information is available for free online.

Links to 2 articles from the book

The Value of Privacy

Privacy and Power

the proverb  -  “Who watches the watchers?” is very relevant today, especially in the Indian context.

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