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After a business lunch of salad and cappuccino, my guest from Malaysia tucked away his palm top and promised to e-mail further documents once he returned home to San Jose. He had travelled across the world to explain a new discount coupon scheme for the Net. He had spent two days hustling, bragging, selling, cajoling; in short, doing everything that a good salesman should do to bring in some tidy business.

Three days later, his e-mail arrived. There were five documents, topped with an NDA. "I've attached a bunch of PDFS and other documents. Please go through them at leisure," said the e-mail. "Kindly ensure you sign the attached two way NDA and fax it to me in the US before reading the technical papers." An NDA -- if you've come in late that's a Non-Disclosure Agreement -- to read the details of a product?

If you haven't been through an NDA, here are a few stray statements from one, so you may recognise an NDA when you have one thrust at you: "... not to make any use whatsoever at any time of such Proprietary Information except to evaluate internally whether to enter into the currently contemplated transaction or agreement with the Disclosing Party, and not to copy or reverse engineer any such Proprietary Information."

In the Internet business, people are completely paranoid. They don't want to reveal the details of an idea they want help with, they don't want to discuss details of why their push initiative failed, they don't want you to know whom they are lunching with or even what their favourite drink is! And God forbid you become privy to such information: chances are they'll press an NDA in your face.

Just after I faxed the signed NDA to San Jose, I met up with the chief of a major portal for dinner. They had plans for India that would make Japan and Germany swoon! Naturally, Portal Chief looked at me and whispered, "It's classified information." Jokingly, I said, "I'll sign the NDA." Midway through dinner, between the lobster bisque and the scampi prawns, while fishing out a book from his satchel, he spotted the NDA. "Ah!" he remarked, "Found it. Would you please sign a copy and return it to me?" Believe me, NDAs are the latest rage. And if you haven't signed a couple during the last week, consider your reputation toast!

BED 'N' BATH
Arran, Clare, Clarina, Carrick -- all names of stylish beds from The English Bed Company, which has offices in Delhi and Mumbai, The reason they are featured here is because their site at www.originalbed.com compares well with some British sites (see www.eatyourheartout. com from Milton Keynes for example), while having all the ambition of an Indian site. Buying a bed on the Net isn't recommended, but for those who want to check them out from their homes, it's perfect. Another site people setting up homes can visit is www.wovengoldtubs.com, where whirlpools, steam baths and showers in every imaginable shape, size, colour are on offer.

EZ DOES IT
LG Soft is busy setting up shop on the Net. Their site at www.commerznow.com is well designed and uses emerging technologies (make sure you have the latest plug-ins). A section of the online store is for LG staff -- a pointer for other companies trying to establish online businesses. However, an effort to purchase a palm top and a software package which were on offer turned out to be difficult. The shopping cart wasn't in action at the time I looked up the site, but that's a minor hitch. When it gets going, it will be a tremendous show case of ability. LG Soft is also offering its services in creating online stores for others.

SHOP TILL YOU DROP
A site called www.mumbaimart.com has a proposition -- recommend the site to a friend and you could win Rs 5,000. It reflects the innovative, quick-buck mentality of Net-based companies. The site promises a whole lot of things: restaurant listings (incomplete), movies (page doesn't say when it was last updated), and especially shopping. MumbaiMart says it will home-deliver beauty products, leather goods, watches, jewellery, and food and beverages -- but only for orders within Mumbai. All kinds of conditions apply, but it also provokes a question: what kind of after-sales service will Net-based stores offer? When a product malfunctions or its quality is poor, will they take the responsibility of exchanging it or repairing it?

E-GOVERNANCE
Indian government sites are going in for a major make- over. Take the Indian Parliament site at www.parliamentofindia.nic.in which is designed and maintained by the National Informatics Centre. It is now possible to find practically everything relating to the Indian Parliament in one place -- except that the list of Lok Sabha members is yet to be updated with their addresses and phone numbers. Nevertheless, the site is more than what one expects -- things can only get better from here.

Arun Katiyar is Chief Operating Officer of India Today Group Online. His e-mail address is akatiyar@india-today.com

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