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…
Digital India: the Draft Internet of Things Policy (and an aside on the NOFN)
(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/8RU8QS) In October this year, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) of the Ministry of Communications and IT quietly released a Draft Internet of Things (IoT) Policy, the feedback period for which closed on the 31st of October. The Policy is a part of the current government’s Digital India initiative, focusing…
Thoughts on 3D Printing: Possibilities and Regulations
(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/kvjYDJ) 3D Printing in India 3D printing in india was initially quite stagnant, but a sudden boom in 3D printing startups has created a whole culture of 3D printer industries. Most of the Indian startups aim to make a cost effective 3D printer. While they currently aim at industries, they will soon design products for regular people as they try…
Editors' Picks (30/11/2014)
1. Should digital monopolies be broken up?, The Economist. 2. The Snowden effect, quantified, Alex Wilhelm, TechCrunch. 3. Facebook can gain direct access to your mobile and take pictures or make videos at any time, MPs warn, Cristopher Hope, Telegraph. 4. Steve Jobs Lives on at the Patent Office, Antonia Regaldo, MIT Technology Review. 5. EU…
'Skirting' the Law, Part I
(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/6LUL9s) This is the first in a two-part series by Deepthi Bavirisetty on the law on upskirt photography in USA, Japan and India. Deepthi is a 4th Year Law student at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Calcutta. She is extremely interested in the intersection between gender and technology. She has previously…






