-First Post Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his address to the Annual Convention of Information Commissioners, in early October had  warned against the use of the Right to Information Act — one of the most popular people-oriented steps that the UPA has taken so far — to ridicule public officials and infringe on people’s privacy. The PM’s statement which expressed concern over frivolous and vexatious RTI applications, infringement of personal privacy and...

-The Indian Express Apex court is seized of the IT Act’s 66A, but tightening the law may not be sufficient to prevent its misuse Thanks to a PIL, the Supreme Court has come to grips with the controversial Article 66A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act of 2008, which has been misused to penalise political dissent. The three clauses of the section are designed to criminalise improper communications online, ranging from menacing...

-The Hindustan Times The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Union government, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi and Puducherry seeking an explanation over the recent arrests of social media users. This, after an aspiring Delhi Univeristy law student Shreya Singhal filed a PIL before SC stating that Section 66(A) of the IT Act be modified. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir issued the notice - also to  Maharashtra, West...

-The Telegraph Take a quiz. Here are the clues. The honeymoon has soured and the great hope sunk The government is under the shadow of kickbacks allegations The government decides to call criticism “grossly indecent”, “scurrilous” and “intended for blackmail” and crucify the critics The government wants to prescribe a minimum period of jail for the critics. Now the question: Name the year and the government. That was the summer of 1988. The Rajiv Gandhi government had run...

-The Times of India Your favourite restaurant may soon get legal protection for its centuries old recipe with the government starting discussion on possible norms for trade secrets. The latest intellectual property right (IPR), which draws upon an established practice in several countries, may actually cover everything from manufacturing processes to sales and distribution methods, ad strategies and client and vendor lists — a move that could provide comfort to companies...