Technology, Media and Telecom

Online fantasy sports gaming is booming in India and has in a short span become a prominent form of online gaming in the country, despite legal and regulatory challenges. Fantasy sports is predominantly a prediction game where players assemble a dream team of real sportspersons active in a variety of sports such as football, cricket, basketball, kabaddi etc. and thereafter participate in contests, competitions that mimic and convert the performance of the sportsman in real life into fantasy points. ......

The Union Cabinet on September 15, 2021, approved major structural as well as procedural reforms in the telecom sector with the aim to protect and generate employment opportunities, promote healthy competition, protect interests of the consumers, infuse liquidity, encourage investment and reduce the regulatory burden on Telecom Service Providers ("TSPs"). ......

Prepaid Payment Instruments or simply, PPIs, may sound like a mouthful, but they have become interspersed with our daily life, and indeed transformed the way we undertake everyday transactions. Without realising it, we rely on some form of PPI for paying even at the nearest kirana shop. The usage of such PPIs has been further enhanced during the pandemic as safety and the principle of least-contact became norms to live by. ......

If paparazzi armed with telephoto lenses have long been the scourge of the rich and famous; civilian drones are fast becoming the new menace to the ordinary man on the street. As with all new inventions, there are upsides and downsides. The commercial drone is no exception. ......

The Government of India, in February 2021, introduced the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“Rules”) under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”), to regulate intermediaries, publishers and individual creators of news and current affairs content and online curated content. ......

The Government of India, in supersession of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011, notified the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules”) under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”) on February 25, 2021. ......

The law should not be used in a manner that has chilling effects on the ‘freedom of speech and expression’, observed the Supreme Court of India in S. Khushboo v. Kanniammal . Based on the same rationale, a petition has been filed by journalists Kishorechandra Wangkemcha and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla (“Petitioners”), for challenging Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC”) which penalises the crime of ‘sedition’ (“Petition”). ......

The past few years have seen some breath-taking innovation take place across sectors and industries, which have revolutionised the traditional lens with which these industries were once perceived. For instance, in a demonstration of sheer democratisation, the prominent stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, once thought to be solely the bastion of the intimidating Wall Street steadies, was taken over by regular individuals belonging to the website Reddit. ......

The Government of India, in supersession of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011, has notified the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the "Rules") under the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") on February 25, 2021. ......