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December, 2014: Fireworks and more!

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Kartik Chawla

December, 2014, has been the month when the Indian community received a multitude of shocks, one after the other and each one more powerful, on the issue of internet-related legal problems.

First, we had the lamentable Uber issue, which was followed by Airtel announcing (and later withdrawing) its VoIP-data plan, which violated Net Neutrality down to the first principle. This also inspired TRAI to work on a consultation on Net Neutrality. Soon after, we learnt that SoI had filed a case against Google for “displaying an incorrect map” of India. And just as the month was wrapping up, Airtel and Hathway accidentally blocked all of imgur rather than just a single image.

Google’s Commercial Dominance – the Problem of a 'Free' Economy

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Kartik Chawla

(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/oHcd72)

Just yesterday, the internet became abuzz with the news that the European Parliament (‘EP’) is pressurising the European Union (‘EU’) to break Google Search away from the rest of its services (such as Android, et al). We’ve covered Google’s antitrust woes with the EU on the TLF earlier. According to this Techdirt article here, the EP hasn’t really given any reasons for breaking up Google other than the fact that ‘it’s very big and very European’. (Of course, its powers to even take such actions are themselves quite suspect.)

The Concept of a Software Patent in India

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Shantanu Mathur

Image Source (9 to 5 Mac, available at http://goo.gl/igU7Bd)

A new challenge to the legal profession, particularly in the domain of intellectual property rights, has been that of examining the idea of a software. New software, with varying levels of originality or innovation is created every day. If you made one unlike anybody else ever had before, would you patent it or copyright it? What would be the extent of protection granted by whichever one that you (or the law in your jurisdiction) choose? Should such a right even be given to the innovators? This piece will take a look at the Indian law, establish a position and also discuss changes that can be made to it.

Microsoft Toes The Line, Cuts Skype Local Landline/Mobile Calls within India

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Kartik Chawla

(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/cPfdNw)

Skype has recently taken the decision to end support for calls to local mobile and landline numbers from its VoIP service, effective from November 10 this year. The Skype support page notes that its decision only applies to calls made within India; users outside Indian borders can continue to call numbers in India, and similarly users in India can continue to call numbers abroad.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Trans-Pacific Partnership

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Jitesh Anand

[Image Source: http://flic.kr/p/osRzan]

After the scrapping of the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ (SOPA) and the ‘Protect IP Act’ (PIPA) in the U.S., one could have been under the impression that the Internet would be free from unadulterated interference by the government. SOPA and PIPA basically gave the government unprecedented powers to shut down any website/blog at will. Be that as it may, few know about the presence of an equally perilous agreement called the ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’. U.S. is a key member of this partnership bolstered by corporate lobbyists and this will ultimately be pushed down on all countries around the world by means of trade deals. WikiLeaks in recent times has released some draft chapters of the TPP. In this blog post, I will try to analyze some contentious provisions of the TPP from the viewpoint of an Indian internet user.

On Kill Switches, Media Silence, and Governmental Super-Powers – A Comment on Vadodara

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Kartik Chawla

(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/5V1h4R)

The following is a post on the recent disconnection of mobile internet, bulk SMS and bulk MMS services by the government in Vadodara in light of social unrest and riots. It’s a bit of a long post, and therefore has been divided into sections – the first part details the factual background of the issue, the second part contrasts it with Hong Kong, the third part considers the legal perspective, and the final two parts are my comments on it. My sincere thanks to Swaraj Paul Barooah for his helpful comments on the post.

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