An (Unintentional) Safe Harbour For Online Counterfeiting?

The recent decision in Shreya Singhal v Union of India by the Indian Supreme Court striking down the much maligned Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) is undoubtedly a watershed judgment in Indian Constitutional jurisprudence.

The notorious Section 66A of the IT Act had criminalized the posting of any information which was inter alia 'grossly offensive' , 'menacing', 'causes annoyance', 'obstruction', 'insult', 'hatred'. While the true legislative intent underlying the enactment of this provision was to target the menace caused by spam and phishing activities on the internet, it drew the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The notoriety of Section 66A had made headlines due to the arrest of two young girls following the demise of Mr. Bal Thackeray, long-time leader of the Shiv Sena, a strong regional political party in Maharashtra. While one of the girls was imprisoned for having posted a comment on Facebook regarding the city wide lockdow