An app developer’s bid to obtain Rs 1 crore from Reliance Industries in return for the “JioHotstar” domain has taken a wrong turn as the Mukesh Ambani-owned company rejected his demand. According to the Delhi-based techie who calls himself a “Dreamer”, Reliance is also contemplating legal action against him.
In 2023, the app developer bought the domain name “JioHotstar.com” in anticipation of an expected merger between Reliance’s JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. The anonymous app developer signed his letter as “a dreamer,” and approached Reliance Industries with a proposal that Reliance Industries would fund his higher education in exchange for the domain.
The Delhi-based techie has dropped an update on the JioHotstar webpage informing that an executive from the Reliance Industries Ambujesh Yadav reached out to him. The techie said that he “requested” that the company pay him £93,345, which is approximately Rs 1 crore. He claimed that this money would go as his tuition fees for EMBA program at Cambridge University, however, his request was denied.
“An Executive from Reliance reached out – Ambujesh Yadav Ji, AVP, Commercials. A request was made for £93,345, which represents the tuition fees for the EMBA program. The request has been denied. Reliance will proceed with legal action. I hope they will reconsider this kind request. I wish such a large group could help,” the update shared by the app developer reads.
Further, the techie defended his act of buying the JioHotstar.com domain in 2023 saying that JioHotstar was not even in existence at that time and that nobody had JioHotstar trademark at the time he made the domain purchase.
“I don’t have the power to stand against Reliance. I don’t feel I infringed any trademark when I bought this in 2023, since JioHotstar was not even in existence at that time. No body had trademark for JioHotstar when i bought it. I might automatically lose access of this domain in few hours. If any legal professional could help, I would be grateful,” the techie said.
Did the app developer hypothesise Jio and Hotstar merger or was it deliberate cybersquatting?
In his letter, the developer said that he purchased the domain in 2023 after reading news about Disney+ Hotstar’s dwindling viewer base following the loss of IPL streaming rights, as well as Disney’s apparent plans to sell or merge Hotstar with an Indian rival.
“I am an app developer based in Delhi, currently working on my startup. In early 2023, while scrolling through social media, I came across a news piece stating that Disney+ Hotstar was losing daily active users after losing the IPL streaming license, and Disney is considering selling or merging Hotstar with an Indian competitor,” the letter reads.
While the techie claimed to have “hypothesised” Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 and Hotstar merger since Sony and Zee were pursuing their merger. He thought that only Reliance-owned Viacom 18 is the major competitor left with enough resources to acquire Disney+Hotstar.
“This led me to hypothesize that, since Sony and Zee were pursuing their own merger, Viacom 18 (owned by Reliance) is the only major player with sufficient resources to acquire Disney+ Hotstar. This reminded me of when Jio acquired the music streaming service Saavn, they rebranded it to JioSaavn, and changed the domain from Saavn.com to JioSaavn.com. I thought, “If they acquire Hotstar, they might rename it to JioHotstar.com.” I checked for the domain, and it was available. I was excited, as I felt that if this happened, I could fund my goal of studying at Cambridge,” the techie said in his letter addressed to Executive of Reliance Industries.
About his Cambridge dream, the developer said: “In 2021, I was working on a project that was selected for the Cambridge University Accelerate program. It was a transformational experience for me. I couldn’t crack IIT and always wanted to learn from the best, coming from a Tier-II college, being selected for this program was an incredibly valuable and practical experience. The startup program taught me many valuable lessons and provided insights into the ins and outs of startups for free, which was amazing. However, it was limited in scope – after all it was just a startup program.”
Speaking about his intention behind buying the said domain, the techie said: “When I saw this domain become available, I felt things might just fall into place. My intention of buying this domain was simple: if this merger happens, I might be able to fulfill my dream of studying at Cambridge.”
The Delhi-based techie’s letter leaves the reader with the impression that he bought the JioHotstar.com domain much before the news of a potential Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 and Hotstar merger emerged. However, upon checking, OpIndia found that the anonymous techie with a Cambridge dream had bought the JioHotstar.com domain on 20th September 2023, the very same day the news about merger talks between Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 and Disney+Hotstar came up.
The facts of the matter suggest that it anonymous app developer’s move might have been cybersquatting and not mere result of a hypothesis. Notably, cybersquatting is the act of registering or utilising a domain name that is identical to a brand, company name, or personal name in order to profit from them.
Interestingly, the techie was also quite audacious to suggest a branding approach to Viacom 18, saying that since the JioCinema and Hotstar merger talks are likely to materialise, only one site would be retained either JioCinema or Hotstar, they should go with JioHotstar.com. “I believe JioHotstar.com would be a very fitting brand name for the merged entity. It maintains the brand equity of both brands and provides a rational transition for the current users of both sites,” the techie said.
While the techie claims that this branding strategy might effectively blend the brand strengths of JioCinema and Hotstar, delivering a seamless experience for customers switching between the platforms, it is quite likely that Reliance would have gone for JioHotstar.com as the brand name for the merged entity much like its previous merger with music streaming application Saavn which post-merger became JioSaavn.
Notably, as per the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, abusive registration of domains including cybersquatting can be challenged in court. Elaborating on the same, UDRP says: “Under the policy, most types of trademark-based domain-name disputes must be resolved by agreement, court action, or arbitration before a registrar will cancel, suspend, or transfer a domain name. Disputes alleged to arise from abusive registrations of domain names (for example, cybersquatting) may be addressed by expedited administrative proceedings that the holder of trademark rights initiates by filing a complaint with an approved dispute-resolution service provider.”
Reliance Industries is yet to issue a statement if it is indeed initiating legal proceedings against the techie. However, his act was in bad faith, and even with the heart-touching “fund my education” story, cybersquatting and in a way extorting money from a company is unethical and illegal.
