This post was first published on SpicyIP here. Over the course of 2014, we have seen a multitude of blocking orders pass through the hallowed walls of our courts. Some of the most curious things about these orders are that they were, mostly, ex-parte, John Doe orders, aimed at websites rather than specific content, and…
[SpicyIP Cross-post] Online Piracy – The Way Forward?
This post was first published on SpicyIP here. Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/BXwqH. One of the greatest issues that the Old Guard of the media production realm has had with the Internet is the copyright infringement that it facilitates. As such, there have been multiple attempts at restricting the internet to protect copyright in various ways, the most…
Editors' Picks (18/1/15)
1. Drug-buying robot arrested in Switzerland, Patrick Howell, DailyDot. 2. Flipkart content ‘objectionable’ for Telangana, Anandita Singh Mankotia, TheEconomicTimes. 3. EU response to Free Speech killings? More internet censorship, David Meyer, Gigaom. 4. The Less Annoying Future of Google Glass, Vauhini Vara, The New Yorker. 5. How Indian telecom operators defend their attack on net neutrality, Nikhil Pahwa, Medianama.
Editor's Picks (11/1/2015)
1. The Creepy ‘Black Mirror’ Universe Could Be Closer Than You Realize, Sara Bobitz. Huffington Post. 2. A Cyberattack Has Caused Confirmed Physical Damage for the Second Time Ever, Kim Zetter, Wired. 3. CES 2015: Toyota opens up hydrogen patents, BBC News. 4. Mumbai police block over 650 controversial Charlie Hebdo posts on social media, FP Staff, FirstPost India….
Net Neutrality Violations in India: On BluWiFi and OTT Services
I have written some posts about Net Neutrality before, here and here (the second is the 101). And recently, the now-aborted Airtel VoIP plans has kick-started serious discussions on the topic by TRAI, prompting the regulatory agency to issue a statement saying it will be releasing a consultation paper on the issue soon. But it…
Editors' Picks (04/01/15)
1. Net neutrality: Trai’s paper to give insight into what future holds for freedom of internet in India, Romit Guha, EconomicTimes. 2. A Robot Really Committed A Crime: Now What?, Ryan Calo, Forbes. 3. Government decides to unblock four websites out of 32, IANS, Business Standard. 4. How the internet’s engineers are fighting mass surveillance, David Meyer, Gigaom….
December, 2014: Fireworks and more!
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…
[SpicyIP Cross-Post] Innovation in the time of SEPs & FRAND licensing
This post first appeared on SpicyIP, here. (Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/hoAtp) In the last few years, smartphone manufacturers have seemingly been as popular for their patent-wars as they are for their phones. And these famed patent wars have recently come to India. Of specific note in this regard is the Xiaomi-Ericsson dispute. The main issues in this dispute, as…
Indian Convergence Law – Forever 'in the Pipelines'?
(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/pVxM7q) Back in the year 2001, when the same government was in power, it tried to pass a bill called the Communication Convergence Bill, 2001. The Bill failed, due to reasons mentioned later in the post, but apparently it isn’t quite ready to die yet. The Bill has now been revived as the Communication…
Editors' Picks (14/12/2014)
1. Cases that will define the contours of Free Speech over the Internet in India, CCG NLU-D, 2. Government admits that S. 66 A is prone to abuse, Supreme Court says the Section lacks guidelines, by Gaurav Pathak, LiveLaw. 3. India can do better than this luddite response to Uber, by Apar Gupta, Quartz India. 3. Surprise: Spanish Newspapers…