Call for Blogs: RGNUL Student Research Review (Submit by 30 Jul)

The RGNUL Student Research Review (RSRR) is a bi-annual, student-run, blind peer-reviewed legal journal based at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab. The Editorial Board in association with Ikigai Law is now inviting submissions for Blog Series on "Emerging Technologies: Addressing Issues of Law and Policy" from law students, academicians, and professionals.

The RGNUL Student Research Review (RSRR) Journal (formerly RGNUL Student Law Review) is a bi-annual, 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

1. Government to Revamp the IT Act - De-risking the Internet and India's Atmanirbhar Internet

2. Cyber Warfare & Cyber Terrorism

3. Transition to Green Economies: Legal Initiatives and Challenges

4. Legal Personhood to AI in the 21st Century: A Legitimate Demand?

5. Humans and Technological Implants: Analysing the Sufficiency of the Existing Legal Framework

6. Advancements in Biotechnology: Legal Issues & The Need for Solutions

7. Metaverse: Manifold Concerns & Dearth of Laws

8. Upsurge in Cyber Crimes: Grey Areas in Law and the Need for Regulations

9. The Ever-transposing Contours of Fintech: Regulation & Compliance

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. All submissions must be in Garamond, font size 12, spacing 1.5.

2. Referencing:

• Manuscripts must include hyperlinks for relevant legal sources and other information, including any laws, treaties or other legal texts which are mentioned.

• 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.

• 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.

3. Margins: Left 1 Inch, Right 1 Inch, Top 1 Inch, and Bottom 1 Inch.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. The entries should be submitted only in .doc/.docx format.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Co-authorship up to a maximum of two persons is permitted.

10. The author(s) bear sole responsibility for the accuracy of facts, opinions or views stated in the submitted Manuscript.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. All moral rights shall vest with the author(s).

14. 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 ₹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 30 July, 2022.

CONTACT

For any queries, mail us at submissionsrslr@rgnul.ac.in.

The RSRR website can be accessed here.

Previous Blog Series can be accessed here.

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