By
Geeta Dalal
Multinational companies have been trying new
policies and strategies to maximise their profits. Sometimes these
policies are legally sustainable whereas at other times they violate
laws and regulations of one or more nations.
Recently it was reported that Indian
government would ascertain beneficiary in Walmart probe to
ascertain possible violation of Indian laws. Similarly allegations of
tax avoidance have been labeled against Amazon,
Google and Starbucks regarding UK Tax Laws. Apple
has been fined by Beijing Court for unauthorised sale of e-book.
An e-book
price escalation lawsuit has been settled by Penguin Group.
The European
Commission and publishers’ settlement for e-book price fixing
is also known to public.
These developments took place in the year 2012. The
year 2013 may see more regulatory actions against big multinational
companies and technology companies. The Ireland route of tax
management may also be closely monitored. In fact, on 21 December
2012, an Agreement to Improve International Tax Compliance and to
implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was entered
into between Ireland and United States.
Not only taxation issues but even anti trust issues
may see more focus. For instance, Google is already facing an
antitrust investigation relating to its search services in the hand
of European Union (EU) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Google has
already settled $22.5 million settlement with FTC over charges that
it bypassed Safari browser privacy settings that blocked cookies.
Samsung Electronics will be facing charges from the European
Commission for breaking antitrust rules in its refusal to provide
competitors like Apple access to its technology. The European
Commission believes that Samsung abused its dominant position in the
market by filing patent lawsuits against its rival Apple
Meanwhile, the FTC is investigating Google
over possible antitrust violations and will subject Facebook to
audits of its privacy policy for the next 20 years. FTC would
ascertain whether Google's search engine results favour Google
products over its rivals'. Although FTC was ready to settle that case
before the holidays, without harsh remedies, late last month it
shelved the inquiry and put stronger penalties back in play. A
resolution is expected in January.
Regarding Facebook, FTC negotiated a consent order with Facebook to settle charges that it had engaged in “unfair and deceptive practices” when changes in its settings revealed personal information that Facebook users had regarded to be private. As part of the settlement, Facebook agreed to audits of its privacy policies for 20 years.
Facebook was also in controversy recently when its subsidiary, Instagram, proposed to deploy users' pictures to serve targeted advertisements. Facebook had to change that plan due to public protests. This is a good sign for privacy protections of the users/consumers of these companies.
Unfortunately, public awareness about privacy
protection and data protection is still very poor in India. Even we
have no dedicated privacy
protection laws in India and data
protection laws in India. However, this does not mean that
multinational companies and technology companies can take Indian
users and consumers lightly.
Source: Legal Enablement Of ICT Systems In India.
