Article 13 of the EU Copyright Directive: A license to gag freedom of expression globally?

Posted on August 9, 2019August 4, 2019 by Tech Law Forum @ NALSAR

The following post has been authored by Bhavik Shukla, a fifth year student at National Law Institute University (NLIU) Bhopal. He is deeply interested in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) law and Technology law. In this post, he examines the potential chilling effect of the EU Copyright Directive.

Freedom of speech and expression is the bellwether of the European Union (“EU”) Member States; so much so that its censorship will be the death of the most coveted human right. Europe possesses the strongest and the most institutionally developed structure of freedom of expression through the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”). In 1976, the ECHR had observed in Handyside v. United Kingdom that a “democratic society” could not exist without pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness. However, the recently adopted EU Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market (“Copyright Directive”) seeks to alter this fundamental postulate of the European society by introducing Article 13 to the fore. Through this post, I intend to deal with the contentious aspect of Article 13 of the Copyright Directive, limited merely to its chilling impact on the freedom of expression. Subsequently, I shall elaborate on how the Copyright Directive possesses the ability to affect censorship globally.

‘Search Bias’ Under Indian Competition Law

Posted on August 6, 2019August 4, 2019 by Tech Law Forum @ NALSAR

The following post has been authored by Vishakha Singh Deshwal, an LLM candidate at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Studies (WBNUJS), Kolkata. Here she analyses an emerging issue at the intersection of technology and competition law.

Every enterprise wants its Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to appear among the top links on search engines because these links get the most clicks. Research reveals that the 10 highest-ranking generic search results on the first page together generally received approximately 95% of all clicks on generic search results.[1] While some enterprises pay huge advertisement costs to ensure that their links appear at the top (paid links), others resort to Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”) to acquire top spots among unpaid links. SEO may include regularly uploading quality content to the website, creating a user-friendly browsing experience, ensuring that the website is compatible with computers and hand-held devices, engaging in social media marketing, etc.

Automated Facial Recognition System and The Right To Privacy: A Potential Mismatch

Posted on August 3, 2019August 4, 2019 by Tech Law Forum @ NALSAR

This post has been authored by Ritwik Sharma, a graduate of Amity Law School, Delhi and a practicing Advocate. In a quick read, he brings out the threat to privacy posed by the proposed Automated Facial Recognition System.

On 28^th June 2019, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released a Request for Proposal for an Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) which is to be used by the police officers in detecting potential criminals and suspects across the country.

Metadata by TLF: Issue 2

Posted on July 30, 2019December 20, 2020 by Tech Law Forum @ NALSAR

Welcome to our fortnightly newsletter, where our editors put together handpicked stories from the world of tech law! You can find other issues here.

US Justice Department’s Big Tech Antitrust Scrutiny

The past month saw a slew of antitrust investigations being opened against big tech companies such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc. From the EU’s announcement of an investigation into Amazon’s use of third-party retailers’ data, to the CCI’s order against Google for abusing its dominance in the Android market—the wave against Big Tech’s threats to fair competition has spanned jurisdictions.

De-linking the Deep Links: An Insight Into the PVR-Justdial Controversy

Posted on July 27, 2019July 27, 2019 by Tech Law Forum NALSAR

This post by Archita Prawasi, currently in her 3rd year at NALSAR University of Law, was originally published here. In an explanatory piece, she brings forth the impact of technology on IPR.

A recent dispute between PVR and Justdial has highlighted the connection between various facets of networking and IP infringement that ensues through the use of regular networking tools like deep links, meta tags and frames. With the interim order by the Delhi High Court against Justdial, it seems that new age digital awareness is catching up with the old and still relevant IP laws in the country. Before discussing the facts of the dispute, it is relevant to discuss the implications of the networking tools forming the dispute.

Are Smart Contracts a Smart Option?

Posted on July 25, 2019July 26, 2019 by Tech Law Forum NALSAR

This post has been authored by Harshit Goyal, currently in his 3rd year at National Law School of India University, Bangalore. In a well-reasoned piece, the author presents a simplified analysis of the feasibility of smart contracts.

Smart contracts are a set of self-propelled contracts which use blockchain as a platform to complete the transactions. This concept was introduced by Nick Szabo back in 1996. Since then, a lot of nations have endorsed this concept for being a technological revolution. In this post, I will endeavour to show that smart contracts are not really a smart option as they are riddled with several unsolvable legal issues. The analysis is primarily focussed on the smart contracts made on ethereum blockchain.

Does Web Crawling Contravene the Indian Copyright Act, 1957?

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by Tech Law Forum NALSAR

[Ed Note: The following post has been authored by Shivang Agarwal, currently in his final year at NALSAR University of Law. In an interesting read, he analyzes the nature of web crawling actions and the kind of information collected to assess whether claims of copyright infringement may be brought against entities running such search engines.]

Web crawling is a process by which programs, which are colloquially known as ‘web spiders’ or ‘web robots’, browse the World Wide Web in a methodical and automated manner in order to index information found on every web page they come across. Many legitimate service providers, including search engines, employ web spiders to provide up-to-date information and data to their users.

Data Protection: Consumer Perspectives at Facebook Design Jam

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by Tech Law Forum NALSAR

[Ed Note: This post is the first in a series of posts by members of TLF who attended the Facebook Design Jam in Hyderabad on 10 July 2019. It has been authored by Namratha Murugeshan, a final year student at NALSAR University of Law and member of TLF.]

Members of TLF’s Organizing Committee were invited to attend Facebook’s Data Awareness Design Jam on the 10^th of July 2019. A Design Jam is an event that provides a platform for start-ups and designers to pitch and improve their products. They are typically very interactive and informative sessions that help the participants gain new perspectives about their products and learn more about compliance with law and policy. Likewise, Facebook’s event too was an excellent opportunity for us to interact with start-ups, professionals, policymakers, designers and surprisingly, quite a few lawyers too. A key takeaway for the TLF members present at the event was gaining knowledge about the consumer perspectives surrounding data protection in India. A panel discussion on the same topic was organized at the Jam. The speakers included Smriti Parsheera from NIPFP (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy), Shagufta Gupta from CUTS (Consumer Unity & Trust Society) and Prerak Mehta from Dalberg Global Development Advisors. This post is a brief on the panel discussion.

Metadata by TLF: Issue 1

Posted on July 15, 2019December 20, 2020 by Tech Law Forum NALSAR

Welcome to our fortnightly newsletter, where our editors put together handpicked stories from the world of tech law! You can find other issues here.

SC Decides Not to Intervene in Delhi Govt.’s School CCTV Plan

On 6 July 2019, Delhi CM launched a mission to install CCTV cameras in all government schools in Delhi by November. The decision was challenged through a petition filed by an NLU student before the Supreme Court. In the latest development, the Supreme Court has refused to stay the Delhi govt’s plan to install CCTV cameras in school classrooms, which includes a plan to live stream the feed to parents of students. A Bench headed by Ranjan Gogoi did not entertain the plea that this move violated the right to privacy, despite the government making no moves to gain the approval of either the students or parents for the same. This decision is surprising given the recognition of the right to privacy as a fundamental right by a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Justice KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India.

Identity Theft on Social Media

Posted on July 9, 2019July 15, 2019 by Tech Law Forum @ NALSAR

[Ed Note: The following post is part of the TLF Editorial Board Test 2019-20. It has been authored by Harshwardhan Singh, a third year student of NALSAR University of Law.]

Social media helps us as a platform in establishing connections with family and friends but oversharing on this platform can come back to haunt you at times. It helps us in connecting with the world but if we are not judicious in what we are putting out online, it puts us at a risk. The acts of harm committed online are fairly common these days which can range from Harassment, and defamation to even fraud in some cases. This makes the issue and the topic for this blog post, ‘Identity theft’ fairly important to our understanding.