Ms. Sushmita Sen vs [insert name here]

One Indian 'newspaper' - called so only because it is printed on paper - today reported about cyber squatters buying web domain names based on some 'bollywood' personalities.

Who would say that www.liveindia.com is Priyanka Chopra’s site or that www.fisheyenetwork.com is Pooja Bhatt’s? Others like Kareena Kapoor are totally disinterested in a cyber presence.

Says Kapoor, “I’m a hardcore Bollywood heroine and have no clue about the net or its misuse. Neither do I own a domain name. My staff handles all my mail.” Like Kareena many stars are shocked when told that their domain names could be abused and turned into porn sites.

Fisheyenetwork.com is not Pooja Bhatt's personal website, it is about her production company 'Fisheye Networks.' And, Kareena Kapoor '[has] no clue about the [inter]net or its misuse'. Maybe she had forgotten that it was just a few months before that a clip showing her tongue-wresting with her 'boyfriend' in a bar. The movie, caught on a mobile phone camera, was widely circulated through email and was available for downloads in some 'desi' websites (so was I told). Maybe she thought they were sent through 'MMS' alone, which is beyond the reach for most mobile users - cost of handset (which is coming down), cost of sending one big MMS (which they say is coming down), etc.

The main story was about Sushmita Sen, who said she was going to sue the squatter. While the news article is new, the news that the name sushmitasen.com was taken up by some Toronto guy is old.

Domain: SUSHMITASEN.COM

Created: 2003-05-30
Updated: 2005-06-27
Expires: 2006-05-30

Registrant
SUSHMITASEN.COM
c/o Nameview Whois IDentity Shield
141-757 W. Hastings St., Suite #777
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6C 1A1

For two years, didn't anyone know about this? Moreover, this has been registed by a name which doesn't look like a company to me. With the guy 'under the care of ' of Nameview Whois IDentity Shield (nameview.com)Repeated requests to view the webpage nameview.com were refused.

“The guy who has stolen the domain name is sitting in Toronto,” fumes Sen. “He should brace himself for a nightmare as I’m taking him to court.”

I have no experience of any courts, even within India, atleast till now. But, judging by the court cases that newspapers (real ones) report about, I think I must laugh at her naivety. Or, I could be wrong in this one.

Dear Lord!!

I know North Indian guys know nought about South India or the North East. But, I just can't belive the conversation that just happened near the water cooler. We were chatting about where he and his team came from, they had all come from the same place - Pune. He then asked me where I was from. 'Tamil Nadu,' I said. He then lobbed a question straight back to me - Aren't Tamil people called Andhrites? I could just utter 'Oh My God!' That must've been the nadir. He then asked me what language 'they' spoke (Telugu) and told me he always got confused between Tamil and Telugu! What could I have said?