FREE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BLOG FOR PROFESSIONALS

The Government of India has issued an order bringing all the digital media platforms and online curated content providers (OCCPs) such as online news portal and OTT platforms (like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Sony Liv), under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting . Up until now, the digital media platforms were monitored by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), but, the notification dated 9 November undersigned by the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind brings change to the Allocation or Business Rules, 1961  bringing in all the digital media platforms under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India . Netflix is looking to expand its Original Series Portfolio in India It is stated that “films and audio-visual programmes made available by online content providers” and “news and current affairs content on online platforms” would be brought under the heading “Ministry of Information and Broadcasting” in the Second Schedule of Governme...

Rumours have surfaced regarding the comeback of PUBG Mobile in the country just a week after PUBG terminated its service in the country following the ban imposed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) of India due to security concerns back in September. Well, it seems like PUBG is missing India a lot and is trying whatever it could to get back in the country. TechCrunch reports that the South Korean Developer is in talks with few cloud service providers in recent weeks to store data of Indian players locally within the country. This move is expected to put the Indian government’s security concerns to rest, which might allow PUBG to return to India. The report mentions that the firm revealed its roadmap to some of the high profile Indian steamers. According to an undisclosed source, PUBG corporation is planning to resume its service by the end of this year. While another source to TechCrunch claims that developers could announce their future plans as earl...

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics company which is serving users for decades now. The company has recently stated that it can upgrade 1 million radios immediately, 3.1 million by the end of the year, and a whopping amount of 5 million towers by 2021. Physical attempts to upgrade towers invite massive cost, permit limitation, life risks, and shortage of workers. According to the company, 5G deployments have been based on mmWave and cmWave TDD technology, but that refarming 4G FDD spectrum for 5G will be an important step. “Nokia estimates that this solution will save the telecommunications industry potentially tens of billions of euros in site engineering and re-visit costs as communication service providers are able to upgrade their networks to 5G/NR on FDD with software.” – The official statement read. Nowadays, the 4G network is easily available to a large portion of the population due to its easy av...

The tiff between India and China is growing day by day. The central government, earlier this week, through an interim order blocked 59 Chinese apps from India. The long list of apps included – Shein, TikTok, Helo, Weibo, CamScanner, etc. Now, one might think that accessing these apps with VPN would still be possible but to people’s surprise this is not just a ‘geo-block’ (blocking on the basis of location and IP address), it is an advanced ‘firewall’ that blocks access even while you use it via VPN. The order was enforced under section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Why were 59 Apps Banned Some of the deleted apps In an official statement, The Ministry Of Electronics and Information Technology said, “ Many complaints from various sources, including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside Ind...

Amid tension with China following the clashes at Ladakh, India’s digital strike is a “befitting response” to China as the centre has now reportedly blocked 59 apps with Chinese links. These 59 Chinese apps have been banned by the Government of India as they “are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order”.  Among these Chinese linked apps, TikTok is an extremely popular app that has also been banned along with WeChat and UC Browser. Sources from intelligence agencies have said that these apps have constantly violated the terms of usage and has also compromised with the safety and privacy of users of these apps. These apps have been reported to be used as spyware or malware. Currently, TikTok has been disabled. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said a day ago that India has given China a much needed “befitting response”. This unprecedented step by the Indian government has come after the Prime Minister called fo...

Let me quickly answer the question “Is Online Gambling in India Illegal,” and we will go into some of the more details about the India Gambling laws. The answer is it is a minimal at best low risk ‘grey area.’ Nothing you would see any casual bettor getting in trouble for unless fraud was being committed at any point in time. Despite various laws to try to prohibit it, online gambling is a statewide issue, and India, such as Sikkim, has the power and does allow internet gambling. As far back as historical accounts, gambling has existed in India. Whilst there is no way to pinpoint exact dates, the earliest forms of modern dice trace to India and discoveries of Europe’s early gaming devices have also shown that they included Indian symbols. It is discussed at a vary casually the Ramayana, sets up the great war in Mahabharata, and is also warned against the Rig Veda X-34-12. In Recent News There have been recently issued for a letter of Intent to issue an online gambling license to ent...

The online-based video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have seen an explosion in their popularity across the country. This achievement seems to have attracted the attention of the Government, as it considers potential censorship over such platforms. The current laws allow for the moderation of TV and Cinema; there is no provision per se for the restriction of content on the growing online platforms. The fear of censorship in India had forced the online platforms Netflix and Hotstar to sign self-regulatory codes in January, which would act as a guideline for the companies’ content. The exercise seems to have been futile as a recent flurry of court cases and police complaints have triggered this sudden interest of the government on this matter. Available to watch over several devices, online streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are an unorthodox alternative to the mainstream media content. The main point of contention for the Government offici...