Technology, Media and Telecom

The Government of India has liberalized the regulatory framework governing geospatial data, including maps in India through guidelines released by the Department of Science and Technology (“DST”) on February 15, 2021. ......

Lord Macaulay (British Member of Parliament) once called the media “the fourth pillar of democracy”. However, as evident by the Sushant Singh Rajput (“SSR”) media trial of 2020, television media seems to be the judge, jury and executioner of this democracy. ......

On November 09, 2020, the Central Government issued a notification bringing digital/online media platforms under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ("MIB"). While there exists a legal framework and judicial pronouncements in respect of electronic and print media, there was no equivalent in respect of digital media. ......

Criminal contempt has been recognized as the action of publishing any matter including by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or otherwise, or any other act which (i) scandalises or tends to or lowers or tends to, the authority of any court; (ii) prejudices or interferes with due course of judicial proceedings; or (iii) interferes or obstructs the administration of justice in any other manner1. Criminal contempt is considered to create distrust in the popular mind and impair the confidence of the people in the courts, hence, the law has been put in place to protect the legitimacy and authority of the court. ......

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....