PALLAVI PASRICHA
[ 2 Nov, 2006 2127hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

The favourite hangout joints of GenX a few years ago, cyber cafes have fallen from grace now. Is this the end of the cyber cafe culture?

A few years ago, they used to be choc-a-bloc with youngsters who wanted to chat, surf and, if possible, live in the cyber cafes. Today, at the mere mention of the name, any youngster worth his laptop grimaces and says, "How tacky!" Cyber cafes have indeed fallen on bad days and figures are a proof of that. So, while the number of internet users have seen a steady increase from 33 million in March this year to 37 million in September, only 39 per cent of them are using cyber cafes.

RITWIK DONDE

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2006 12:00:32 AM]
 
MUMBAI: When cyber cafés began mushrooming across Indian cities they were considered a window to the world, a source of knowledge and information. Parents and teachers were a happy lot, expecting the youth to make full use of the new technology.

But, having coming under constant security scanner and being touted as shady joints promoting vices, the industry seems to be in the doldrums, with a majority of small players exiting the business.

The Economic Times, TIMES NEWS NETWORK

K YATISH RAJAWAT AND RITWIK DONDE

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police’s decision to regulate internet cafes as public amusement places through a gazette notification has boiled over into a national issue. Nasscom, along with other national bodies, is trying to get the IT Act amended to regulate the cafes. The objective is to prevent state government and state police from coming up with their own norms to regulate the cafes.

The move to put in place a centralised legislation gained momentum after ET first reported (in issue dated September 22, ’06) the Mumbai Police’s initiative to regulate the cyber cafes in the city.