Policy News

The Union Cabinet approved on Wednesday several structural and process reforms in a relief package targeting the telecom sector to ensure its healthy growth in a digital era.

China announced new import cuts this week to boost the nation’s semiconductor industry. This follows after US sanctions on some Chinese companies including tech giant Huawei and chipmaker SMIC to ease the impact on the industry.

South Korea’s parliament has approved of a bill on Tuesday, the first of its kind in the world, requiring Google and Apple to allow users to pay for in-app purchases via alternative payment systems, as opposed to software developers using only their payment systems for in-app purchases.

Lawyers for Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou argued in a court to let her leave home without the security detail that was a condition of her bail since she was released after her December 2018 arrest.

In a bid to persuade a Canadian court from refusing the US government’s extradition request of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, defense lawyers have questioned the reliability of information provided by the United States.

Ericsson has filed a lawsuit against Samsung in the US, for their alleged violation of commitments related to royalty payments and patent licenses.

Netflix has been ordered by a Seoul court to pay network usage fees to mobile carriers. This decision was reached after Netflix brought SK Broadband, the internet protocol subsidiary of SK Telecom to court, following a complaint filed against Netflix with the Korea Communications Commission in November 2019. Netflix had asked the court to review if the US-based over-the-top (OTT) content provider is obligated to pay for SK Broadband’s network usage.

By Sean D. Yates

Introduction

Comparative lawyers have for over a century examined the ways different legal orders organize their laws. They have observed how law travels, how rather than reinvent the wheel, lawmakers will often copy or borrow legal ideas from another place (or time) and use it themselves. Law, however, doesn’t always fit. That is, it doesn’t always do what it is supposed to do. It may fail to achieve its intended purpose, may do better than expected, or may end up fulfilling an unintended purpose. Comparatists have also therefore highlighted the importance of the social context from which law is taken and into which it is placed, and how the transplanting exercise inevitably results in the law in question undergoing a transformation. It is no longer the same law because it operates differently in a different social context.

The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), an autonomous telecommunications regulatory body, together with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has approved international airlines to use Nepal’s Internet and telecom services for its passengers.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) issued the Final Awards to Singtel Mobile Singapore Pte Ltd (Singtel) and the Joint-Venture Consortium (JVCo1) formed by StarHub Mobile Pte Ltd (StarHub) and M1 Limited (M1), at the close of a rigorous and holistic 5G Call for Proposal (CFP) process. Singtel and JVCo were issued the Provisional Awards in April this year.