The Gamer and the Lawyer – Episode I (The Lawyer Strikes Back)

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Do send across your well researched and articulated email response to 6602@bridgelegal.in before the (EDITED BY POPULAR DEMAND) 25th of October, 2021.

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Bajnesh is the founder and CEO of Rage Gaming Private Limited, a company registered under the Indian Companies Act of 2013 that hosts one of the best websites in the country for all things ‘gaming’ – from commentaries and content on eSports tournaments and competitions (the company also accepts registration fees for tournaments which are passed along to organisers) to games such as Rummy and Poker that can be played using fiat currency or cryptocurrency, Bajnesh’s company does it all, operating from a swanky office in the luxurious Lower Parel (the elite of all elite locations) in Mumbai.

Bajnesh does not trust lawyers due to a bad experience with a particularly nasty one going by the name of GudduBhaiyya while playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (the extra toxic 2019 reboot) – he tells you this while the two of you happen to be seated next together at Bhiro’s weekday all-you-can-eat Sushi buffet (which costs only INR 1,500/-, inclusive of taxes, by the way, just don’t have the tempura). You, being a lawyer that wants to change his mind (and also wanting to bag a new client while classifying your sushi expenses as business expenditure), tell him that lawyers aren’t that bad (while knowing that they actually are) and that his business specifically needs legal insights and guidance due to the volatile state of gaming laws in the country. Bajnesh, however, cuts you off before you can take out your Nikroboft Dowersoint deck (which you keep on you at all times) since he needs to be working (gaming) but you manage to give him your business card just as he is about to leave. You eat the rest of your meal contemplating your existence and subsequently ordering some Sake.

The next day, you get a call from none other than Bajnesh, who read a newspaper earlier in the day (the digital version of course, everything is better in 4k@240fps) that stated that Karnataka amended its ‘Police’ Act (whatever that is, you pretend to know about it anyway) to ‘ban’ gaming in the State. Before you ask him why Karnataka is relevant to either of you, he tells you that his largest audience resides in the now-slowly-becoming-important State and he doesn’t know how to proceed.

What should he do? He asks you to send him an email with instructions, if any.

May the best person win.