Public.Resource.Org and others petition Bureau of Indian Standards for Open Access

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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Public.Resource.Org along with other civil liberties advocates in India and Abroad has filed a petition with the Bureau of Indian Standards asking it to make its standards publicly available for free online. The petition is an commendable and crucial step forward for the right to information. The supporters of the petition include Carl Malamud, the founder of Public.Resources.Org, the petitioning organisation, Dr. Vinton G. Cerf, the Father of the Internet, Sri Sam Pitroda, one of the pioneers of communications innovation in India, Swaraj Paul Barooah (KnowGAP, SpicyIP), Dr. Sushant Sinha (IndianKanoon), Dr. Dhrubayyoti Sen (IIT-Kharagpur), Dr. T.I. Eldho, IIT-Bombay, and Mr. Srinivas Kodali, Centre for Excellence in Urban Transport, IIT-Madras.

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DHC on Jurisdiction in E-Commerce: WWE v. M/S. Reshma Collection

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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In a judgement dated 15th October 2014, the Delhi High Court has decreed, in the case of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. v. M/S Reshma Collection, that if you buy an item in Delhi through online retail, Delhi courts have the jurisdiction to hear disputes in relation to your shopping. This post analyses the reasoning employed in the judgment, and concludes by discussing certain issues brought to the fore by the case, including Forum Shopping, Email contracts, and Online Dispute Resolution.

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

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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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.

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The Internet Finds Itself in a Web – What the U.S Withdrawal from ICANN and its Transition Signify

Posted on by Tech Law Forum @ NALSAR
The following post is by Madhulika Srikumar, a fourth year student at GNLU, Gandhinagar. She has an avid interest in the debate on ownership of Internet, Internet security and freedoms, and has worked earlier on issues relating to ICANN and Internet Jurisdiction. She brings us an interesting commentary on the US withdrawl from ICANN, and how it  may affect Internet Governance as it currently exists.

The Internet finds itself in a “web” these days, a web of polarizing powers and conflicting interests; a web that could possibly result in changing the Internet as we know it. Attempting to untangle this web is no mean feat.

The Internet is best defined by the values that formed it. These values are of “open” code or software that govern the Internet, whose source is available to all and can be taken, modified and improved. It is these ideals that many still hope to preserve in today’s Internet governance.

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Facebook, 'Internet.org' and the Ignored Questions of Civil Liberties

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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 Earlier yesterday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg met with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad (who curiously also holds the Ministry of Law and Justice portfolio). The Facebook CEO was in New Delhi on the 9th and 10th of October for the Internet.org summit.

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