Blogs

‘Putting all Aadhaar data in one big box is ill advised’: Mishi Choudhary

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | November 9, 2016 Mishi Choudhary, in an interview with Business Standard, published on 3rd October, 2016 talks about the lack of privacy, data protection and the impediment it causes thereto in light of the government’s ambitious Digital India initiative, and the recent case in the D...
by sflc_admin | November 9, 2016 The UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye, is conducting a study on Freedom of Expression in Telecommunications and Internet Access as part of his multi-year study on freedom of expression ...

Response to Online Extremism: Beyond India

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
In our previous posts , we traced the Indian response to online extremism as well as the alternate regulatory methods adopted worldwide to counter extremist narratives spread via the internet. At the international level, the United Nations has emphasised upon the need to counter extremists who use t...
On 31 August 2016, the Competition Commission of India ( CCI ) dismissed an information under Section 26(2) filed against M/s ANI Technologies Private Limited ( Ola Cabs ) in the case of Mr. Vilakshan Kr. Yadav and Ors v. M/s ANI Technologies Private Limited [1] alleging abuse of dominance, in contr...

Reviewing Telangana’s Cybersecurity Framework: Part II of II

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
The Telangana IT industry has been facing hostilities recently, with news reports suggesting that over fifty technology companies have been faced with cyberattacks over the past month. This has been subsequent to the surgical strikes carried out near the Pakistan border by the Indian Army. The Socie...

Speaking Out Against Online Extremism: Counter-Speech and its Effectiveness

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Introduction This post is a part of a series on online extremism, where we discuss the regulatory and legal issues surrounding the growing problem. This current post focuses counter-speech, which is one of the regulatory techniques. What is Counter Speech ? Counter-speech or counter narratives in co...

Joint letter to MHRD regarding SWAYAM, India’s MOOC platform

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | November 2, 2016 In 2014, the Ministry of Human Rights Development (MHRD) announced the development of SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), a national MOOC platform. Taking after the globally acclaimed MOOCs platforms such as edX and Coursera that run on o...

The Hindutva Judgements and Electoral Malpractice: A Recap

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by Faiza Rahman Last week, a seven Judge bench of the Supreme Court commenced hearing the much-anticipated appeals to decide the scope of Sections 123 (3) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (“ RPA ”), arising out of the “ Hindutva cases” . However, on Tuesday, the Constitution bench caused a ...
Mr. Salman Khurshid, appearing on behalf of one of the Respondents in the first appeal commenced his arguments on the issue surrounding the interpretation of Sections 98 and 99 of the RPA. On the nature of the trial under Section 98, Mr. Khurshid submitted that it was a hybrid trial i.e. it had both...

Indian Response to Online Extremism

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
The United Nations General Assembly resolution adopted in July 2016 highlights the need to counter extremist narratives online. In the recent past, extremist content, usually content aiding terrorist activity has become a global concern. This post examines the methods adopted by state authorities an...
Mr. Desai resumed his arguments from the previous day on the interplay of Sections 98 and 99 of the RPA. His submission has been that proceedings under Sections 98 and 99 are two independent and separate proceedings. According to him, proceedings under Sections 98 and 99 are civil in nature and are ...
Through this short post, we seek to examine the current downtrend in oil prices, and what it means from an Indian context. As in any downtrend, the intent ought to be to maximise opportunities and isolate effects of any threats and the author accordingly seeks to analyse how these threats may be tur...
Day 4 began with the constitutional bench rejecting a plea filed by an activist Ms Teesta Setalvad who requested the Court to redefine the meaning of ‘Hindutva’ as interpreted in the 1996 Manohar Joshi judgment and also sought a ban on the use of this term by the candidates while contesting election...

Online Extremism and Hate Speech – A Review of Alternate Regulatory Methods

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Introduction Online extremism and hate speech on the internet are growing global concerns. In 2015, the EU signed a code of conduct with social media companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter to effectively regulate hate speech on the internet. The code, amongst other measures, discussed stri...

Dirty Picture Project: Parched

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
By Aditi Prakash & Sthavi Asthana Parched is a story of four women: Rani (Tannishtha Chatterjee) is a widow getting her 17 year old son, Gulab married to a young girl, Janaki (Leher Khan), who does not want to marry him. Lajjo (Radhika Apte) is a woman who is unable to conceive, and stuck in an...
In the previous post on this topic , we had given an introduction to Sasan Power Ltd. v. North American Coal Corporation India Private Limited , a recent ruling of the Supreme Court on an interesting issue. Readers not familiar with the facts are advised to have a look at the previous post. For thos...

Indian judiciary continues its support to international arbitration

by Economic Laws Practice (ELP) on in Litigation, arbitration & dispute resolution
Dear Reader, The last couple of years have been a watershed in the Indian Arbitration scene. While the Courts across the country have done their bit to support arbitration as the preferred mode for dispute resolution within the country, the legislature gave us the most awaited change in law through ...
Day 3 began with Mr. Shyam Divan’s arguments. He continued from the previous day and recapped the structure and scheme of his arguments. He began with the subject of corrupt practice and attempted to show how it has been dealt with by the Legislature over years. He tried to trace the legislative his...
On August 11, 2016, the Government of India (GoI) introduced the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 ( Bill ) in the Parliament. The Bill was introduced to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 ( Act ) – the Act, as many may be aware, is the legislation to provide certain benefits to women in t...
In our country several social, political and economic problems persist, which have always been tremendously affecting the public. People are demanding a significant change from the leaders, to this current abominable situation. The one important medium through which this change can be made possible,...
The Bar Council of India (“ BCI ”), in a press release on Saturday, has said that it will file an application in the Supreme Court seeking modification of the order which allowed fresh law graduates to become judicial officers. It said that the BCI and the State Bar Councils are “strongly in favour”...
Thirty years ago, nobody could have accurately predicted the job market of today. The intervening technological progress must be blamed or credited for it. However, we seem to be able today to satisfactorily predict the job market we will have thirty years hence – plenty of machines and Artificial I...
Writing a great legal article is truly amazing. Not only it will be published in a good, well-known website or blog, thereby increasing your brand value and visibility, but also be read by many people who are in need of that information. It may help litigants, researchers, other lawyers or a reporte...

CLAT and the Law of Cognitive Inertia

by JayP on in Career in Law
The distinguished Prof. Shamnad Basheer recently launched an online petition in the form of a poem to make a fervent appeal to the invisible CLAT powers to make the critical shift to a permanent, centralized CLAT body that will conduct the CLAT examination every year. However, every effort till now ...
CLAT 2015 will go down in the history of national competitive exams in India as the most ludicrous and incompetent examination that openly insulted the intelligence of thousands of candidates and played with their careers with an unbelievably sick mentality. The entire CLAT 2015 affair reflected an ...

Connecting Legal field to the fourth estate.

by Nikhil Nair on in Career in Law
Law and journalism are two fields which demand up-to-date knowledge in this proliferating world. Neither of them is stagnant and obsolete. As a first year law student,I used to think that legal profession only meant to argue in courts. It was later that it dawned upon me that legal field has no peri...

Why this Ko-Law-very ??

by Nitin Gaurav Srivastava on in Career in Law
Why This Ko-Law-Very ?? The moment you enter an elite Law school campus,you will be tired of answering this question to everyone, from your Orientation day to Farewell.One simple question -“Why law?” Few oversmart kids would try to impress the first class by saying “Because I couldn’t make it to IIT...
Introduction Law has been the most variegated stream ever since it was incorporated in the human society. When one thinks of a vocation in law the first image that strike its mind is a dexterous person, dressed in black and white, going through some gigantic books, running in and out the court, figh...

Photo by Gulshan Sachdeva, via here.

At the outskirts of the Metropolitan court, life is not so fair and lovely

by amrut patil on in Advocates, the bar & litigation
LIFE IS NOT SO FAIR AND LOVELY At the outskirts of the Metropolitan court, I begin my day with the sight of all street smart lawyers who are out for today’s hunt. The hunters instinct is still seen in them when their roving eyes are targeting their next catch cum client. Sipping the cutting chai and...
What happens when you spend 5 years of your law school having the time of your life. Like literally, time-of-your-life!!! [Time of your life- excludes any such activity that requires paying attention in classes, taking internships seriously, taking moots seriously and/or taking anyone/anything serio...

Unlike Katju, I think “lady lawyers” must be banned from the courts

by Kian Ganz on in Advocates, the bar & litigation
A lady (not a lawyer) Retired Justice Markandey Katju published a blog post today entitled “Lady Lawyers” . In typical Katju blogging fashion (whenever not causing a media storm about judicial corruption), it’s a trip down memory lane starting with his time as a lawyer in 1970 Allahabad. Katju is tr...

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What you can repair is what you own

by Abhay on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Last year, European Union has ratified the ‘Right to Repair’ regulation. According to these regulations, the manufacturers of the household electronic appliances i.e. lighting, washing machines, dish washers, and refrigerators, will have to make it easier for the consumers to get them repaired. Thou...

[RTI] 23030 websites/URLs currently blocked in India

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | October 9, 2017 According to the Cyber Laws and E-Security Group under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Group (MeitY), as many as 23,030 websites /URLs are currently blocked in India. This information was received as a reply to a Right to Information application fil...

Digital Security Training in Kochi

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | October 4, 2017 We live in an era where human activity is producing unprecedented amounts of digital data. The popular saying these days is ‘data is the new oil’. The high value of this data along with the lack of awareness among people about rights has prompted corporations and gove...

Summary Report: Digital Citizen Summit, 2017 (September 21-22, 2017; New Delhi)

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | September 27, 2017 The second Digital Citizen Summit was organised on September 21-22, 2017 by Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. SFLC.in was an associate partner of the summit. The summit aimed at fin...

Notable technology and rights related litigations

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications

Notable technology and rights related litigations

SFLC
SFLC
Software Freedom Law Centre

Defender of your digital Freedom
Defender of your digital Freedom

You have the freedom to choose your color. Pick one:

First published here.

Author: sflc_admin

Workshop on Secure Communication

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | September 22, 2017 SFLC.in is organising a workshop on “Secure Communication ” in association with Sukhbir Singh, TOR Developer, on Saturday, September 23, 2017, from 11:00AM-:1:30 PM at the SFLC.in premises at K-9, Second Floor, Birbal Road, Jangpura Extension, New Delhi -110014 nea...

[RTI] Darjeeling Internet Ban: 3 months and counting

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | September 18, 2017 The ongoing Internet shutdown in Darjeeling, West Bengal completes 3 months today. This day, three months earlier, mobile Internet was shutdown in the city due to the ongoing agitation for a separate Gorkhaland. Two days later, on 20th June, the orders were extende...

CCG on the Privacy Judgment

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Written by the Civil Liberties team at CCG A 9 judge bench of the Supreme Court of India passed a landmark judgment last week, which unanimously recognized the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution of India. The Court found the right to privacy to be a part of the freedoms g...

An update on Sabu Mathew George vs. Union of India

by CCG NLU Delhi on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Today, the Supreme Court heard the ongoing matter of Sabu Mathew George vs. Union of India . In 2008, a petition was filed to ban advertisements endorsing sex-selective abortions from search engine results. Advertisements endorsing sex selective abortions are illegal under Section 22 of the PNDT Act...

Summary Report: Celebrating the Right to be Let Alone [Sep 02, 2017; New Delhi]

by SFLC India on in Technology, Media & Telecommunications
by sflc_admin | September 4, 2017 On Sep 2, 2017, SFLC.in organized a discussion titled “Celebrating the Right To Be Let Alone” to commemorate the recent recognition of right to privacy as a fundamental right, discuss the privacy judgment, its key takeaways, the impact it will have on pending Aadhaa...
The sub-committee of Insolvency Law Committee (ILC) of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India (MCA) in its report dated October 31, 2020 has proposed the framework for the pre-pack and prearranged insolvency resolution process which the Government may adopt with / without modificatio...
Analysis of the Condonation of Delay Scheme, 2018 of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs The Scheme is by way of a General Circular No.16/2017 dated 29 December 2017. It is in exercises of powers u/Ss. 403, 459 and 460 of the Companies Act, 2013. Who can avail the scheme? A company registered under th...
Diwali is one of the most anticipated and celebrated festivals in India. It is also a festival of giving gifts, which is often a challenge for compliance professionals who struggle with policies and nuances of law around this time, on giving gifts that might seem like bribes. Under the Prevention of...

It’s a Yes – for Banks!

by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas on in Corporate law
The RBI has amended the Master Directions on Financial Services provided by Banks. This is a significant move permitting Banks to invest in Category II Alternative Investment Funds. As of June 30, 2017, Alternative Investment Funds ( AIFs ) had raised the cumulative figure of Rs. 48, 129 crores, aga...
Image credit: Scroll.in, September 26, 2017 Sociologists know that the formation and survival of civilization is conditional upon the universal adherence to a framework of acceptable norms and guidelines of human conduct and interaction. Moses therefore set out as God’s message, the directive to lov...
Financial investors in India are scared of regulatory uncertainties. Not that uncertainties are exclusive to our country but it’s a critical risk factor that is assessed by those making substantial investments. Historically, one of the most important regulatory concerns for such investors is related...
India has long recognised the right of foreign creditors to participate in the winding up of Indian companies. As early as 1961, the Supreme Court of India, in Rajah of Vizianagaram (AIR 1962 SC 500) , clarified that foreign creditors have the same right as Indian creditors in winding up proceedings...
Photo credit: Indian Express, August 23, 2017 Through its historic ruling delivered by a five-judge bench in the case of Shayara Bano and Ors v. Union of India on August 22nd 2017, the Supreme Court of India ( SC ) liberated Muslim women from the perpetual fear of arbitrary and whimsical divorce. Th...
The ability to attract large scale Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI ) into India has been a key driver for policy making by the Government. Prime Minister Modi seems to be going along the right track, with India receiving FDI inflows worth USD 60.1 billion in 2016-17, which was an all-time high. Henc...
On August 31st 2017, the Supreme Court of India in the case of Innoventive Industries Limited v. ICICI Bank Limited* delivered its first extensive ruling on the operation and functioning of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ( Insolvency Code ). The Court said that it is pronouncing its detail...