Technology, Media and Telecom

How many times have you resorted to tweeting or posting on Facebook, trying to grab the attention of a particular seller or brand for an online shopping transaction gone wrong? The newly notified Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 ("Rules") that were notified on July 23rd, 2020 may just be the answer to your troubles. These Rules, which have been issued pursuant to the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 ("Act"), lay down stricter, tougher requirements for e-commerce entities/ electronic retailers to follow. ......

Modern technology has revolutionized how we disseminate and record information and its no doubt that this has led to an increase in the commercial exploitation of the private lives of public personalities and celebrities often hurting the sentiments and reputation of such people. Several magazines and tabloids publish regular columns on celebrities. A blind item is a column wherein the name / identity of the celebrities being discussed is obscured. ...

As a general rule, it is frowned upon to bring disrepute to a person. That general principle is integral enough for the law to be concerned with it. The Indian Penal Code (“Code“) defines defamation as “making or publishing an imputation concerning any person, intending to harm, or knowing or having reason that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person....

On March 4, 2020, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India ("Supreme Court") set aside the Reserve Bank of India’s ("RBI") circular dated April 6, 2018 ("Circular"), which prohibited entities regulated by the RBI from dealing in virtual currencies or providing services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling virtual currencies. The Supreme Court set aside the Circular on the ground of proportionality....

The Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) has released a discussion paper on ‘Guidelines for Payment Gateways and Payment Aggregators’ for public comment (“Discussion Paper”). The Discussion Paper envisages payment gateways such as Paytm, Mobikwik, Bharat Bill Pay, PayUmoney etc. having to adhere to RBI guidelines. The Discussion Paper highlights the RBI’s concern for safeguarding the online experience of consumers while making payments and the role of intermediaries in conducting such transactions....

Observing that "the race between technology and the law could be termed as a hare and tortoise race - as technology gallops, the law tries to keep pace", the Delhi High Court on October 23, 2019 ruled that Indian courts can issue global takedown orders to platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter for illegal content uploaded by users. The Court also held that the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") had to be interpreted in a manner so as to ensure that judicial orders were effective and "not toothless"....

The scope of public internet that started back in the 1980s has grown over the decades. It allows a telecom subscriber to access almost all the services required for information, education and entertainment etc. It has altogether redefined the conventional marketplace. Even personalized services, such as a taxi ride can be accessed on a person’s fingertips. This growth has also brought about a fundamental shift in other spheres including telecom and TV. Earlier, networks used to be built around specific applications, say voice, internet or Pay TV. Voice, message and video content have now been reduced to mere bytes.There has been a rapid proliferation of voice, video and Over-the-top ("OTT") application services being delivered over networks....

Monday, July 29th, 2019, marked the earliest Earth Overshoot Day that mankind has seen. 209 days into the calendar year and we have used up all the resources the Earth could regenerate in 365 days. Earth Overshoot Day is the date when humanity's annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth's ecosystems can regenerate in that year. This date has crept up by two months over the last 20 years. At this rate, it would take 1.75 Earths to sustainably meet the current demands of humanity, according to the available data....

On July 03, 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs through a written statement informed the Rajya Sabha that the present Government has no plans on amending the laws on sedition in the country so as to ensure that the Government has effective means to combat anti-national, secessionist and terrorist elements. In an election, where national security was a huge factor for the political parties, a stance that was taken by certain political parties was that they would like to amend the present sedition laws in our country^[1], whereas, the ruling party’s stand was that they would like to toughen the existing sedition laws.^[2]...