- complied by
Sonam Bagla
(III bcom mm)
Facts of the case :
Tata Indicom employees were arrested for manipulation of the electronic 32-bit number (ESN) programmed into cell phones that were exclusively franchised to Reliance Infocomm.
The court held that such manipulation amounted to tampering with computer source code as envisaged by section 65 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Case Details:
Reliance Infocomm launched a scheme under which a cell phone subscriber was given a digital handset worth Rs. 10,500/- as well as service bundle for 3 years with an initial payment of Rs. 3350/- and monthly outflow of Rs. 600/-. The subscriber was also provided a 1 year warranty and 3 year insurance on the handset.
The condition was that the handset was technologically locked so that it would only work with the Reliance Infocomm services. If the customer wanted to leave Reliance services, he would have to pay some charges including the true price of the handset. Since the handset was of a high quality, the market response to the scheme was phenomenal.
Unidentified persons contacted Reliance customers with an offer to change to a lower priced Tata Indicom scheme. As part of the deal, their phone would be technologically "unlocked" so that the exclusive Reliance handsets could be used for the Tata Indicom service.
Reliance officials came to know about this "unlocking" by Tata employees and lodged a First Information Report (FIR) under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act and the Copyright Act.
The police then raided some offices of Tata Indicom in Andhra Pradesh and arrested a few Tata Tele Services Limited officials for reprogramming the Reliance handsets.
These arrested persons approached the High Court requesting the court to quash the FIR on the grounds that their acts did not violate the said legal provisions.
Issues rose by the Defense in the case:.
1.It is always open for the subscriber to change from one service provider to the other service provider.
2.The subscriber who wants to change from Tata Indicom always takes his handset, to other service providers to get service connected and to give up Tata services.
3.The handsets brought to Tata by Reliance subscribers are capable of accommodating two separate lines and can be activated on principal assignment mobile ( NAM 1 or NAM 2). The mere activation of NAM 1 or NAM 2 by Tata in relation to a handset brought to it by a Reliance subscriber does not amount to any crime.
4.A telephone handset is neither a computer nor a computer system containing a computer programmed.
5.There is no law in force which requires the maintenance of "computer source code". Hence section 65 of the Information Technology Act does not apply.
Courts Observation:
1.As per section 2 of the Information Technology Act, any electronic, magnetic or optical device used for storage of information received through satellite, microwave or other communication media and the devices which are programmable and capable of retrieving any information by manipulations of electronic, magnetic or optical impulses is a computer which can be used as computer system in a computer network.
2.The instructions or programmed given to computer in a language known to the computer are not seen by the users of the computer/consumers of computer functions. This is known as source code in computer parlance.
3.A city can be divided into several cells. A person using a phone in one cell will be plugged to the central transmitter of the telecom provider. This central transmitter will receive the signals and then divert them to the relevant phones.
4.When the person moves from one cell to another cell in the same city, the system i.e., Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) automatically transfers signals from tower to tower.
5.All cell phone service providers have special codes dedicated to them and these are intended to identify the phone, the phone's owner and the service provider.
6.System Identification Code (SID) is a unique 5-digit number that is assigned to each carrier by the licensor. Every cell phone operator is required to obtain SID from the Government of India. SID is programmed into a phone when one purchases a service plan and has the phone activated.
7.Electronic Serial Number (ESN) is a unique 32-bit number programmed into the phone when it is manufactured by the instrument manufacturer. ESN is a permanent part of the phone.
8.Mobile Identification Number (MIN) is a 10-digit number derived from cell phone number given to a subscriber. MIN is programmed into a phone when one purchases a service plan.
9.When the cell phone is switched on, it listens for a SID on the control channel, which is a special frequency used by the phone and base station to talk to one another about things like call set-up and channel changing.
10. If the phone cannot find any control channels to listen to, the cell phone displays "no service" message as it is out of range.
11. When cell phone receives SID, it compares it to the SID programmed into the phone and if these code numbers match, cell knows that it is communicating with its home system. Along with the SID, the phone also transmits registration request and MTSO which keeps track of the phone's location in a database, knows which cell phone you are using and gives a ring.
12. So as to match with the system of the cell phone provider, every cell phone contains a circuit board, which is the brain of the phone. It is a combination of several computer chips programmed to convert analog to digital and digital to analog conversion and translation of the outgoing audio signals and incoming signals.
13. This is a micro processor similar to the one generally used in the compact disk of a desktop computer. Without the circuit board, cell phone instrument cannot function.
14. When a Reliance customer opts for its services, the MIN and SID are programmed into the handset. If some one manipulates and alters ESN, handsets which are exclusively used by them become usable by other service providers like TATA Indicom.
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