Author: Kartik Chawla

Supreme Court on Non-Discrimination in Call Networks – An Argument for Indian Network Neutrality

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

(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.

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The Equations of Bots and the Law, Part I : Crimes and Torts

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

(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.

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[SpicyIP Cross-post] The Fault in our Intermediary Liability Laws

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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 the cause of actions was that infringement was ‘likely’ to occur. I’m going to be dealing with the last two of the issues in detail, while the first issue has already been dealt with by Prof. Shamnad Basheer here.

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[SpicyIP Cross-post] Online Piracy – The Way Forward?

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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 notable international examples of which are the DMCA, SOPA and PIPA, MPAA’s structured siege against Google, the essentially pointless litigation against Pirate Bay, and the story of Aaron Swartz. The Indian examples include litigation on Section 81 of the Information Technology Act, and thespate of troubling orders that have been passed in the last year alone.

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Net Neutrality Violations in India: On BluWiFi and OTT Services

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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 would seem that Airtel is not the only ISP that openly violates Net Neutrality in India. Interestingly, this Reddit thread brings to our attention the service terms of an Andhra Pradesh ISP BluWiFi’s Ultraband service. The relevant part here is their section on Peer-to-Peer connections, reproduced below:

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December, 2014: Fireworks and more!

Posted on by Kartik Chawla

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 to the first principle. This also inspired TRAI to work on a consultation on Net Neutrality. Soon after, we learnt that SoI had filed a case against Google for “displaying an incorrect map” of India. And just as the month was wrapping up, Airtel and Hathway accidentally blocked all of imgur rather than just a single image.

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