Regulation Archives - Tech Law Forum @ NALSAR

The Indo-Us Solar Panel Dispute and The Glaring Lack of a WTO Framework To Address Environmental Concerns

INTRODUCTION

In the 2016 Indo-US dispute pertaining to Indian schemes relating to solar cells and solar modules (WT/DS456/AB/R), the WTO Appellate Body ruled against India for favouring domestically sourced solar panels over international panels, despite India raising issues relating to energy security and the environment.

Rather than critique the Appellate Body’s reasoning, I have chosen to critique the broader WTO legal framework in so far as it fails to provide sufficient flexibility for member nations to further energy security and environmental objectives. I have chosen the 2016 Indo-US dispute for the purposes of illustration, as it helps in clear identification of the interests that lack sufficient protection in the present regime.

The Dark Web : To Regulate Or Not Regulate, That Is The Question.

[Ed Note : In an interesting read, Shweta Rao of NALSAR University of Law brings us upto speed on the debate regarding regulation of the mysterious “dark web” and provides us with a possible way to proceed as far as this hidden part of the web is concerned. ]

Human Traffickers, Whistleblowers, Pedophiles, Journalists and Lonely-Hearts Chat-room participants all find a home on the Dark Web, the underbelly of the World Wide Web that is inaccessible to the ordinary netizen. The Dark Web is a small fraction of the Deep Web, a term it is often confused with, but the distinction between the two is important.

Dr. Usha Ramanathan’s Talk on the UIDAI Litigation

[Ed Note : The following post is based on Dr. Ramanathan’s enlightening talk at the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. It has been authored by Karthik Subramaniam and Yashasvi Raj, first year students of the aforementioned university, who, in a slightly longer but informative read aptly put forth Dr. Ramanathan’s views on the Aadhar issue and its judicial journey.

Dr. Usha Ramanathan, an internationally recognized legal expert, is currently research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and professor at the Indian Law Institute. Since 2009, she has consistently brought forth the loopholes in the Aadhar project, exposing its shoddy functioning.]

Is Artificial Intelligence the Future of Art?

[Ed Note : In an interesting read, Arvind Pennathur talks about machines which can make artwork, paintings and the like! Is art becoming a science and science becoming an art? Is it possible? Read to find out more.]

Integration of advanced technology into society has become increasingly normal in the past five years as innovative minds constantly push the boundaries of what is achievable and what can be realistically implemented. A large part of this resurgence of complex applied sciences is due to the proliferation of artificial intelligence (abbreviated as AI), into various aspects of everyday life during the 21^st century. Ever since its introduction, it has became a staple of the modern world and is being used in a wide variety of ways, right from performing day to day human tasks to performing functions too precise or nuanced for humans, including more creative purposes such as self driving cars[1], news anchoring[2], writing movie scripts[3] and making music that is virtually indistinguishable from the music that is composed by a human[4]. In lieu of these advancements and the pace at which they have come, it is no exaggeration to say that AI is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Bare Text Comparison of the Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 with the General Data Protection Rules : Part II – Right to Confirmation and Access

INTRODUCTION TO SERIES

The Personal Data Protection Bill has garnered a fair degree of attention in the last few weeks. For the uninitiated, a brief description of the Bill and its significance can be found here.

The purpose of this series is to analyze the bare text of the Data Principal Rights espoused in the Bill (Chapter VI), namely the Right to Confirmation and Access, Right to Correction, Right to Data Portability and the Right to be Forgotten, in light of the text used in the European legislations to espouse the same values. Each post will deal with each of the above rights.