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This article was first published as an Offshoring Weblog from India on a global technology knowledge sharing website. Martha M(alice)d in Legal Land ? Like Alice in Wonderland, or perhaps as Martha Stewart's legal battles, we sometimes find ourselves lost in legal loops. Over the past few days, legal issues have been surfacing all around. Microsoft is being sued by the European Commission. (so what's new about Microsoft's legal issues as some may ask ?) A Group of US Based IT Professionals are suing the US government in a Class Action Suit asking for the same protection to them for job losses due to offsourcing as is provided to manufacturing workers. |
US Secretary John Snow was on an Indian TV Channel mid week complaining about how the US legal system was hurting businesses. Colin Powell was suggesting that India open up it's markets to US Based Lawyers. (This is also what the current Indian government wants to do as per today's (23rd February 2005) newspaper reports.) Since Gartner expects one Major Offshoring Disaster in 2004, (which incidentally did not happen;) it would perhaps land up as a legal battle. Either in Indian or US courts. Both India and the US being democracies have strong legal systems, though with some differences. The US legal system is perceived as Lusty. (Remember the swarms of lawyers who flew down to India two decades ago, just after the Union Carbide Bhopal Gas Disaster, seeking to represent victims in India ?) The Indian legal system is perceived as a Laggard. Slow to deliver justice. Many times, even if reincarnates after death, one may possibly find that the judicial system has not yet delivered a verdict in one's cases of the last birth. However, things are changing. Fast Track Courts are being set up in India. Lusty Meets Laggard ? One of my friends in California, decided to shift his profession from IT to law. His reasoning was that with all the offshoring happening in technology services, his vast and deep IT knowledge would help decode legal tangles of his customers who offshored to India. Perhaps some of us could look at Technology Legal Services (especially in the areas of Patents and Copyrights) as alternative Careers. A Lesson for some of us. |
Bill Gates (son of a famous Seattle lawyer) has been quoted as saying that if you can program in C++, you can understand any legal document. He should know. A Last Word. In your offshoring Dealings. Perhaps, Let Lawyers Lie. (Low). Truth. Trust. Timeliness. These should be the Keywords for an Offshoring Relationship. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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