Table of Contents
ABOUT RGNUL STUDENT RESEARCH REVIEW
The RGNUL Student Research Review (RSRR) Journal (formerly RGNUL Student Law Review) is a biannual, student run, blind peer reviewed journal based at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab. It is a flagship law journal of RGNUL managed by the students of the University. It was founded with the objective of facilitating novel ideas and a research conducive environment. RSRR consistently publishes dedicated Blog Series on niche and contemporary legal issues. RSRR regularly engages the student community, as well as legal practitioners, to contribute to the legal discourse on various topics. The RSRR Blog Series was also named one of the top 25 Constitutional Law Blogs by Feedspot for the last three years.
ABOUT IKIGAI LAW
Ikigai Law is an award-winning law firm with a market-dominating stance in providing legal assistance in arenas falling under Technology & Innovation and Corporate & Commercial laws. The firm extends its expertise in the fields of market leading regulatory, policy and commercial-law practice to technology and innovation led businesses. The firm provides legal and strategic expertise to a variety of clients from high impact start-ups to market-leading companies and it is often at the forefront of policy and regulatory debates for emerging business models. From being a part of innovative, evolving ventures involving satellite manufacturers, virtual reality hardware and content developers to ventures with e-commerce companies, social media platforms, cloud service providers, blockchain and others, the firm has made profound contributions to the development of niche arenas of law.
CALL FOR BLOGS
The Indian Government may soon remodel the Information Technology Act (IT Act) of 2000 in order to keep pace with the significant developments that have taken place in the technology sector. The challenges posed by the new technologies must be tackled with a robust framework given the upsurge in the number of issues plaguing this sector and the increase in the number of consumers in the digital sphere. In 2020, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad highlighted that the vastness of the platforms in terms of the number of consumers, the vastness of services, and digital payment mechanisms such as UPI could be addressed only with the introduction of a comprehensive legal framework. He further, hinted at the prospect of there being a separate chapter that addresses cyber crimes.
More cybercrimes had been reported in the first two months of 2022 in India than in the entire year of 2018, according to CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team). This upsurge in cybercrimes can be attributed to the prevalent grey areas in law and the lack of regulation of digital spaces which allow preparators to misuse technology. Recently, the Cyber Swachhta Mission was launched to address the need for regulation. There is an urgent need that the law takes strict cognizance of these issues of cyber crimes. The militarisation, or the weaponization of the web falls under the ambit of cybercrime.
Internationally, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War has uncovered how BigTech companies can be used by Governments at war to weaponise the internet against one another. The deployment of Whispergate, a destructive malware, in Ukrainian Government websites by Russia highlights the extreme vulnerability of the security of a state at hands of its enemies through the internet. Taking these events into account, the Minister for Electronics & Information has raised concerns against the weaponization of the internet and the need for the Indian Government to revisit the existing laws to de-risk the Indian internet by making it difficult for the BigTech companies to use the internet against India.
Parallel to the weaponisation of the internet and a drastic increase in the rate of cyber crimes, there are concerns regarding the Metaverse as a new epoch for humankind. In light of recent events such as the Hermes-MetaBirkin controversy, the rebranding of Facebook to Meta and the anticipated launch of Zuck Bucks, issues with respect to intellectual property rights, taxation, consent, arbitration, cyber-crimes, and legal personhood have started to surface. In absence of laws to govern the Metaverse these issues are likely to multiply.
The Fintech industry remains surrounded by unattended issues such as cyber security and data privacy. Concerned with the systemic risks emanating from the involvement of large technology companies in the financial sector, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to introduce a policy framework for BigTechs, digital banking, and FinTechs. As the world continues to experience digital transformation, one of the technologies driving the rapid evolution in the financial sector is Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AI is still in its infancy. Even so, the rapid advancements in the field of AI are already staggering. Academicians throughout the world have raised ethical, philosophical, and legal concerns in the context of these technological developments. More recently, AI has demonstrated its ability to replicate human learning and decision-making in the fields of law and medicine. This raises questions as to the legal personality of AI, and its possible rights and duties. Despite major advances in the fields of neuroscience and neurotechnology, some remain questionable. Elon Musk’s Neuralink, among other technologies, raises serious ethical and legal issues.
There is an intersection of AI with biotechnology and related applications which are becoming increasingly intertwined with technology. In the context of the criminal justice system, biotechnology has become increasingly relevant through advancements in forensic science and legislations like the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022. Human DNA profiling not only provides guidance in criminal investigations and civil disputes, but also provides courts with accurate information about all relevant features of criminal identification. There is a need to incorporate modern technologies with existing forensic methods used in criminal investigations and to analyse the sufficiency of the existing legal framework for dealing with such emerging concerns.
Lastly, sustainable development is the international community’s highest priority, and legal action must be taken to contribute to it. India’s Union Budget for 2022 sets out a development path for the next 25 years known as the “Amrit Kaal”, which is an aim to re-establish India’s commitment to Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, primarily through technological advancements. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom has suggested the UK Government to incorporate changes in UK’s existing consumer and competition law to facilitate the country in achieving a “Net Zero” economy by 2050.
This blog series aims to foster a discussion over the issues plaguing the technology industry. The series is an attempt to critically analyse the legal vacuum with respect to significant developments in this sector, highlight the inadequacy of the existing laws and suggest viable solutions to bolster the intersection of law with technology. We welcome submissions from legal practitioners, academicians, students, and members of the legal fraternity.
SUGGESTED SUB-THEMES
These sub themes are merely illustrative. Submissions need not be restricted to this list, as long as they fall within the ambit of the main theme.
- Government to Revamp the IT Act – De-risking the Internet and India’s Atmanirbhar Internet
- Cyber Warfare & Cyber Terrorism
- Transition to Green Economies: Legal Initiatives and Challenges
- Legal Personhood to AI in the 21st Century: A Legitimate Demand?
- Humans and Technological Implants: Analysing the Sufficiency of the Existing Legal Framework
- Advancements in Biotechnology: Legal Issues & The Need for Solutions
- Metaverse: Manifold Concerns & Dearth of Laws
- Upsurge in Cyber Crimes: Grey Areas in Law and the Need for Regulations
- The Ever-transposing Contours of Fintech: Regulation & Compliance
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- All submissions must be in Garamond, font size 12, spacing 1.5.
- Referencing:
a. Manuscripts must include hyperlinks for relevant legal sources and other information, including any laws, treaties or other legal texts which are mentioned.
b. The hyperlinks must only link to legal or reliable/respected news sources. The sources shall only be linked to primary sources. Hyper-linking to secondary sources may lead to re-corrections required from the authors.
c. Only relevant legal sources that cannot be accessed online may be cited through endnotes.
The endnotes should be in Garamond, font size 10, single-spaced. The authors can use any uniform style of citation. In order to help with the review process please use endnotes only if absolutely unavoidable. - Margins: Left 1 Inch, Right 1 Inch, Top 1 Inch, and Bottom 1 Inch.
- The word limit for each post is 1500-1800 words (exclusive of endnotes). Articles exceeding the word limit shall be accepted subject to the discretion of the Board. If accepted, they shall be published in two parts.
- Authors are required to provide an abstract of 100-150 words along with keywords that represent the essence of the submission. The abstract is to be submitted along with the article itself in the same document as of the blog submission.
- The entries should be submitted only in .doc/.docx format.
- Entries selected, after the Peer Review process by Ikigai Law, shall be published on the RSRR website. The authors’ whose posts are selected for publication on the Ikigai Law website will also be provided an honorarium.
- The manuscripts which are selected by the Board shall be replied to within 21 days of the submission. In case no reply is received from the Board within 21 days, the article shall be deemed to be rejected.
- Co-authorship up to a maximum of two persons is permitted.
- The author(s) bear sole responsibility for the accuracy of facts, opinions or views stated in the submitted Manuscript.
- Plagiarism in any form is strictly prohibited. RSRR follows the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018.
- Copyright of all blog posts published on the RSRR website shall remain with RGNUL Student Research Review. Copyright of all blog posts published on the Ikigai website shall remain with RSRR and the author. The same shall be subject to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License.
- All moral rights shall vest with the author(s).
- The manuscripts not abiding to the above guidelines are subject to rejection.
Note: E-certificates from RSRR and Ikigai Law will be awarded to the authors of each published
blog. Ikigai Law will provide internship opportunities to two authors and an honorarium of
Rs. 10,000 to the best entry.
SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
All the submissions must be made through the Google Form. Any submission made via any other
mode than the one suggested or even via mail shall not be considered.
DEADLINE
The last date for submissions for this Series is 30th July, 2022
CONTACT
For any queries, email us at [email protected].
The RSRR website can be accessed here.
Previous Blog Series can be accessed here
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