The Regulations of Online Streaming Services by The Government
- Aishwarya Singh
- July 14, 2020
Content :
During today’s period, the Internet is a major necessity of the individual. The Supreme Court has also declared that Right to Access Internet is under citizen’s fundamental right as freedom of speech and expression listed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Online Streaming is the most general work done for any online searches on media for streaming videos, audios on the Internet. Online Streaming can be made on any platform, include services as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, etc., includes live streaming on any news or government policies, etc. Curatinng Content is the process which is done by maximum user who all actively participate on online platform and social media. The curators are the one who provides with content to the viewers.
As with the any new technology or platform, there are bound to be legal concerns. It was always the intent that one piece of content is linked to another. The legal issue arises when, while curating the content, knowingly or unknowingly, the content gets copied or plagiarized, it may arise legal repercussions. The copyright, trademark and other Intellectual Property Rights are the one which arises. Along with this other privacy laws, publicity rights, loitering and other related issues must also be paid attention.
The Regulation on Online Streaming Services is concerned, there are codes for Self-Regulation of Online Current Content Providers has jointly developed by the companies who are carrying business in India. The Organizations who sign on this code, must conduct themselves in a responsible and transparent manner. They must commit their respective services on the content offered making reasonable efforts and acting in good faith. The Online Curated Content industry plays an important role in the Indian socioeconomic outlook. It serves and provide content online for the majority of population for now and coming years. The usage of the Internet and technology, they have transformed the way of content created and served in public. The advanced technology provides more flexibility to the viewers to view the content at any time, place and devices of their choices. There is also categorization of the prohibited content too, which prohibits the signatories to this code to act deliberately and maliciously. There is a complaint and redressal mechanism as well, which is under the provision of the court. The code empowers the consumer to make an informed choice of age-appropriate content.
The signatories to this code even invest extensively in regard of safety measures as content filtering and access control over the content. To empower the consumers to make informed viewing decisions.
The censorship and self regulation is another conflict between government and OTT apps. The cases filed regarding the obscenity and violation of religious sentiment of the people, triggered the concern regarding censorship. There is huge population, who want the original content to get watched, rather than censoring half of the content. They like and appreciate the hard work of the creator.
