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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

E-Notes

Class : BA LLB 7th SEMESTER

Paper Code : LLB 405

Subject : LAW & EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

Faculty Name :

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

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 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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

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

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 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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

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.

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 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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

 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

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 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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

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.

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 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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

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.

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 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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

 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.

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 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& Approved by Bar Council of India)

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

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 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 & Approved by Bar Council of India)

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.

 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

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 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 & Approved by Bar Council of India)

computers have helped shape society.

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