1. Dot wants to be the Wikipedia of location mapping, Napier Lopez, TheNextWeb.
2. Hardware Designs Should be Made Free: Here’s How to Do It, Richard Stallman, WIRED.
Editor's Picks (08/03/2015)
1) Anatomy of a Hack, Russell Brandom, The Verge.
2) Documentary on 2012 Delhi gang rape banned in India, Nikita Doval, Live Mint.
GCHQ Mass Surveillance in Violation of Human Rights
For the first time since the Investigatory Powers Tribunal’s (IPT) establishment in 2000, a complaint against a UK intelligence agency has been upheld. The IPT, which oversees Britain’s secret agencies, is one of its most secretive and deferential courts. In a judgment last week, the IPT announced that the intelligence-sharing rules between the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and its British equivalent Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) governing the exchange of information collected through ‘mass surveillance of internet communications’ were against UK human rights law.
The tribunal ruled that “the regime governing the soliciting, receiving, storing and transmitting by UK authorities of private communications of individuals located in the UK, which have been obtained by US authorities … contravened Articles 8 or 10 [of the European Convention of Human Rights]”. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) confers the right to respect for private and family life and Article 10 of the ECHR confers the right to freedom of expression.
Editors' Picks (02/03/15)
1) Defining Offensive: SC reserves verdict on pleas against 66A of IT Act, First Post.
2) Net Neutrality activists score landmark victory in fight to govern the Internet, Dominic Rushe, The Guardian.
Editors' Picks (17/02/15)
1) The great Internet swindle: ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? Jon Henley, The Guardian.
2) Google boss warns of ‘forgotten century’ with e-mails and photos at risk, Ian Sample, The Guardian.
Uber – Into the New Tomorrow
[Image Source: http://flic.kr/p/jyCqcH]
The rapid influx of technology has in recent times forced various firms to revamp their respective business models. The taxi industry is no exception. In this blog post, I will discuss the government’s ban on Uber cabs and the issue of its compliance with the IT Act, 2000 or the Radio Taxi Scheme, 2006. I will analyze the ban on the lines of the economic concept of ‘entry costs’. I will also deliberate on the need for leveling the play field between both, the radio cab operators and the importance for taxi ‘app’ companies to get a georgia tax id.
Editors' Picks (8/2/15)
1. We Can Now Build Autonomous Killing Machines. And That’s a Very, Very Bad Idea, Rober McMillan, WIRED.
2. Blocking online porn: who should make Constitutional decisions about freedom of speech?, Chinmayi Arun, Scroll.in.
Editors' Picks (01/02/15)
1. Securing a future for Digital India, Arun Mohan Sukumar, The Hindu.
2. SC orders Google, Yahoo! And Microsoft to stop advertisements relating to sex determination, Apoorva Mandhani, LiveLaw.
Supreme Court on Non-Discrimination in Call Networks – An Argument for Indian Network Neutrality
(Image Source: http://flipthemedia.com/2014/01/net-neutrality-rules-are-dead-for-now-why-should-students-care/)
In an incredibly interesting judgement, the Supreme Court has on 30th January, in the case of Cellular Operators Association Of India & Ors. v. Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India & Ors., stated that providing different rates for calls to private Telecom Service Providers in comparison to those for calls to BSNL/MTNL violated of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. What is curious here is the implication that this case might have for Network Neutrality. The following is my argument in the same vein.
The Equations of Bots and the Law, Part I : Crimes and Torts
(Image Source: http://sites.psu.edu/periodicpostulations/2012/09/12/little-lost-robot/)
One of the most interesting news items to come through the interwebs recently was the ‘seizure’ of a certain ‘art experiment’ in Switzerland. The bot, sadly unimaginatively named Random Darknet Shopper, lived up to its name by buying items randomly from Darknet marketplaces (with Bitcoins, interestingly) and shipping them to a gallery in Switzerland. The bot came under the scanner of the police after it bought some ecstacy pills and a counterfeit passport.