HC restrains SMS alerts on Indo-Pak ODIs

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday restrained telecom operators from exploiting commercially and disseminating any information relating to scores, alerts and updates or other events or happenings via short messaging services to mobile phones, relating to the India-Pakistan ODI series.

Justice M Chockalingam granted the interim stay on a suit filed by M/s Marksman Marketing Services Pvt Ltd.

Chockalingam, who granted the interim injunction for four weeks, ordered notices to Bharati Tele-Ventures, New Delhi, Bharat Sanchar Nigam, New Delhi, Reliance Infocomm, Mumbai, Hutchison Essar, Mumbai, Idea Cellular Registered Office, Aircel Cellular, Chennai, Aircel, Coimbatore, Spice Telecom, Punjab, Tata Indicom, Mumbai, Sify, Chennai, Yahoo Web Services India, Mumbai, India Times, New Delhi, IMI Mobile, Hyderabad, Phoneytunes.Com, New Delhi, Rediff.Com India, Mumbai, Pyro Mobile, Hyderabad, On Mobile Asia Pacific, Cricinfo India, Chennai, Board of Cricket Control of India and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

In its suit, the company submitted that M/s Vectracom Pvt Ltd had entered into an agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on December 29 last year for exclusive global SMS rights to the cricket matches.

The PCB had granted exclusive rights for disseminating information relating to scores, alerts, updates or other events or happenings via SMS to Vectracom.

By an agreement, Vectracom had granted exclusive rights for the entire territory of India to the petitioner to commercially exploit and disseminate information relating to scores, alerts, updates or other events or happenings in respect of the Indo-Pak cricket matches to the petitioner by an agreement.

As per the agreement, all mobile operators in India should obtain permission from the petitioner for disseminating information on the cricket matches via SMS, it contended.