Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
E-Notes
Class : BA LLB/ BBA LLB (7th SEMESTER)
Paper Code : LLB 405
Subject : LAW & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
Faculty Name : Ms. KIFFI AGGAARWAL
UNIT-1
INTRODUCTION: NOTION OF TECHNOLOGY
A. EMERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The term “industrial revolution” is a succinct catchphrase to describe a historical period,
starting in 18th-century Great Britain, where the pace of change appeared to speed up. This
acceleration in the processes of technical innovation brought about an array of new tools and
machines. It also involved subtler practical improvements in various fields affecting labor,
production, and resource use. The word “technology” (which derives from the Greek word
techne, meaning art or craft) encompasses both of these dimensions of innovation.
The Evolution of the Industrial Revolution
Fueled by the game-changing use of steam power, the Industrial Revolution began in Britain
and spread to the rest of the world, including the United States, by the 1830s and ‘40s.
Modern historians often refer to this period as the First Industrial Revolution, to set it apart
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
from a second period of industrialization that took place from the late 19th to early 20th
centuries and saw rapid advances in the steel, electric and automobile industries.
The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. It was
the first instance where production shifted from cottage industry to large production houses
or factories.
The Second industrial revolution used electric power for mass production. That is, large scale
machines were brought into the picture. Huge conveyor belts rolling products one after the
other, automobiles and production of electricity, defined this phase.
The discovery of computers laid the path for the third revolution.
The third phase was the most important as the machines which previously were electrically
driven became electronically driven, that is, it used electronics and information technology to
automate production. This came around in the middle of the 20th century.
It is seen that each revolution took about a hundred years to establish and then give way to
the next revolution.
Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the third revolution, that is, the digital
revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a
fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological
spheres.
India and Industrial Revolution
India was famous for her handicrafts from the pre-British times. In Mughal periods such as
the variety of handicrafts that it became famous in the global market. However, the Industrial
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
Revolution came late to India. This was mainly because of India’s complicated political and
economic relations with Britain.
Impact of the revolution: -
• India dominated the cotton textile market in the 18th century. It took a severe hit
when the Industrial Revolution began in England around 1760s.
• The use of steam power in British mills reduced the cost of cotton by 85 %.
• In order to protect its domestic industry, it began to restrict textile imports from
India. On the other hand, it started to import textiles to India.
• British protectionist laws led to deindustrialization in India.
• The new colonial law forced the farmers to grow cash crops like cotton instead of
food crops, leading to famine and poverty.
• The third Industrial Revolution started in India in 1980s. Advancement in this
phase encompasses the spread of personal computers, internet, and ICT.
• In India, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 is mainly based on Big Data and Artificial
Intelligence.
Emergence of technology in India
Science, technology and innovation have had a great impact on economic growth and social
development in India. The Government moved from scientific policy resolution (1958) to the
technology policy statement (1983) to the science and technology policy (2003) and finally
to science, technology and innovation policy (2013). We can look at our 40-year journey, the
pre-liberalized as well as the post-liberalized India.
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
• First, India experimented with socialism for more than four decades, which kept
out foreign capital and technologies, but spurred local innovation based on
indigenous technology.
• Second, the Indian economy didn’t start growing until the 1990s, so local
companies were small. Indian entrepreneurs, therefore, developed a penchant for
undertaking small projects with indigenous (import substituted) technologies but with
huge capital efficiency.
• Third, local companies knew that while India has both rich and poor people,
catering only to the rich limited their market. They were forced to create products that
straddled the whole economic pyramid, from top to bottom. Thus affordable inclusive
innovation was firmly integrated in to the strategy.
• Fourth, the most important driver happened to be India’s innovation mind-set.
Some Indian leaders had the audacity to question the conventional wisdom. The mix
of miniscule research budgets, small size, low prices, but big ambitions translated into
an explosive combination of extreme scarcity and great aspiration, which ignited the
Indian innovation.
Defence: India developed diverse missiles and rocket systems, remotely piloted vehicles,
light combat aircraft, etc. BraHmos Missiles is a great example of Indian prowess in a
strategic technology. None of these technologies were available to India.
Nuclear energy: The entire range of technologies, from the prospecting of raw materials to
the design and construction of large nuclear reactors was developed on a self-reliant basis.
India’s nuclear fast-breeder reactors emerged from its thrust towards techno-nationalism.
Space technology from indigenous development to satellites to launch vehicles, from SLV to
ASLV to PSLV to GSLV. India’s first moon orbiter project Chandrayan-1, Mars Orbiter
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
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University, Delhi)
Mission or even the recent simultaneous launch of 20 satellites are brilliant examples. No
wonder, India is now ranked amongst handful of nations of the world that have a credible
capability in space technology.
Strength respects strength. It is the growing technological strength of a nation that increases
its access to technology that has been denied to it. The technology denial regime itself
underwent a change in India. It gave India a strong technological foundation.
For instance, India’s supercomputer journey began, when access to CRAY super computer
was denied to India in mid-eighties. In 1998, C-DAC launched PARAM 10,000, which
demonstrated India’s capacity to build 100-gigaflop machines. In response, the US relaxed its
export controls. During the same year, CRAY, which had denied the licensing of technology,
itself established a subsidiary in India.
In 2008, India signed a key civil nuclear deal with the US, which gave it access to some
nuclear materials and technology. Recently, India become a member of Missile Technology
Control Regime (MTCR), getting access to crucial missile technologies.
A. IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY
Society has always been impacted by technology. Each invention has affected how people
relate to one another and how cultures have expanded or ended.
Technology impacts how cities grow, where people live, and who owns what. Technologies
are the reason a few people are very rich, that people are more social, and that teaching and
learning is changing.
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
Technology has improved the general living standards of many people in the last few
decades. Without technology, people would still be living within their geographical confines
of their societies. Examples of technological advancements that have made life easier include
things like the Internet, phones, tablets, TV, PS and movie and video games. However, these
are just the positive attributes of technology; there are also a number of negative effects that it
has brought upon the society in general.
Advantages
• Education has progressed because of advances in computers. Students can learn
globally without having to leave classrooms. Online learning in the future may take
over the primacy completely.
• Medical discoveries occur much faster, thanks to the fact that machines and
computers can assist in the research process; can enable intensive educational
research on medical issues.
• Easy access to information
• Better communication
• Modern transportation technologies make it easy to travel long distances.
Transportation is an important element in the lives of people and the business world.
• Instant remote healthcare: An efficient healthcare alternative during pandemics
and other crises has been the rise of telehealth services by remote video interpreters
and other certified medical translators and interpreters.
• Disadvantages
• Social isolation: This is one of the primary problems. We see children playing in
the parks less and less, and spending more and more time on their computers.
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
• Addiction: As society progresses more in the technology field, people begin to
rely more on computers and other forms of technology for their daily existence.
• While technological advances in industry and at work, human workers have
less value. Machines automate processes and can handle ten people with one
computer; companies may not have to hire so many people to do the work.
• Decrease in creativity and change in reasoning: Increased dependence on
modern tools, such as calculators, has reduced creativity.
B. IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON POLITICS
• The combination of politics and technology covers concepts, mechanisms,
personalities, efforts, and social movements including but not necessarily limited to
the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs).
• A growing body of scholarship has begun to explore how internet technologies
are influencing political communication and participation, especially in terms of what
is known as the public sphere.
• An influential and transformational communication and information technology is
the mobile phone or smartphone, which can include: talk, text messaging,
Internet and Web access, electronic mail, faxing, pictures, video, and a wide variety
of apps.
• Mobile devices are proving to increase political participation and are now even
being portrayed as a voting gadget in even the least developed countries.
• Increased availability of the mobile phone and subsequent access to the public
sphere has enhanced the ability of individuals and groups to bring attention to and
organize around specialized issues.
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
• More recently, social media has emerged to become one of the main areas of
influence for politics, where millions of users are able to learn about politicians'
policies and statements, interact with political leaders, organize, and voice their own
opinions on political matters.
C. LAW, ETHICS & TECHNOLOGY
Every technological invention has got both positive and negative impacts on the society.
Einstein while giving the nuclear power theory as has never expected that his discovery shall
ever be used for such a devastating destruction at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it too was not
known during the 19ths that communication technology of late shall have so many alarming
directions associated with it. For example, technology provides easier and efficient means of
storage and retrieval of information but at the same time suffers from piracy of copyrighted
materials, software, data, music, video etc. at large scales.
Internet provides instant access to all sorts of useful information at fingertip but at the same
time suffers from plagiarism, illegal uploading, downloading, copying, stealing and misuse
of intellectual property. Technology has created high-end job opportunities for the techies in
one hand and on the other hand has created sever unemployment among non-tech groups.
Communication Technology has made trade, investment, business simpler and unruffled
through e-commerce and on-line transactions but suffers from cybercrimes, forgery,
sabotage, hacking and loss. Internet has made the whole world a small intellectual village but
at the same time is polluted with horrid contents like pornography, spam, worms and viruses.
Technology has enabled us to do things that we wouldn’t have dreamed of 30 years ago.
Whether it’s choosing your child’s genetic traits, modifying agricultural products to enhance
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
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University, Delhi)
insect resistance, or tracking a suspected criminal’s cell phone location for a criminal
investigation.
Digital technology is advancing every day. The vast computational power of the cloud and an
immense accumulation of data have come together. Artificial intelligence (AI) is growing all
around us and computers will behave more and more like humans. As computers start to act
more like humans, there will be societal challenges. We not only need a technology vision for
AI, we need an ethical vision for AI. Therefore, it is high time now for careful inspection of
the legal and ethical aspects of technology as there are not enough guidelines available in this
field as compared to those available in conventional branches of science and technology.
More importantly, now technology is not limited to the scientists and software engineers
alone rather it has become a widespread phenomenon, affecting people at various stages in
their role, as customers, service provider, participants, middlemen etc. With the elevating
identity theft rates in India, the IT Act of 2000 is being tightened. According to IT
amendment Bill 2006, identity theft is made an offence punishable with up to five years of
imprisonment and a fine.
Another most common type of cyber scam of today is phishing in which the crooks send
bogus emails tricking the user into giving up personal information at fake websites that
resemble those of legitimate financial institutions and other commercial outfits.
D. NOTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
• The expression does not refer to particular society but to the idea or notion of the
society.
• It refers to a technical phenomenon.
• It refers to the mental attitude of postmodern man that influences the life style of
the people at varying degree.
Chanderprabhu Jain College of Higher
Studies
&
School of Law
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Quality Institute
(Recognized by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Affiliated to GGS Indraprastha
University, Delhi)
• It refers to inter-dependency co-dependence, co-influence, and co-production of
technology and society upon one another (technology upon culture, and vice versa).
Evidence for this synergy has been found since humanity first started using simple
tools.
• The inter-relationship has continued as modern technologies such as the printing
press and computers have helped shape society.
