This article is written by Yavanika Shah, Team LawSikho.

“Hi Emma, it’s the year 2020. Are you still enjoying your nap?” 

This was in 2003 that the 6 protagonists of the sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S were shooting a video for baby Emma’s birthday in 2020. 

None of us (including the actors themselves) could have perceived that 2020 would come so soon, did we?

For the longest time, since the turn of the century to the 2000s, 2020 has been romanticized as the year of the global turn. 

A revolution. A game-changer. Gen Z owning up the world while the Baby boomers go incognito.

2020 is going to be a big year! There’s the Mars 2020 rover mission, Dubai Expo 2020, and internet users crossing 5 billion. The globalization is reaching to an extent where the west and east are not only going to be connected by mere technological advancements but also a high-speed rail that promises to connect Beijing to London!

Technology has already transformed the world. Even today’s India looks nothing like what we could imagine in the 90s, all thanks to technology.

Everything from entertainment to politics, what we eat to how we sleep or find love, everything is now being fundamentally altered by technology. Of course, it would appear that what has already happened will be dwarfed by the changes that are about to come.

What are the technologies that will change the world in the decade to come?

Blockchain? Nanotechnology? AI and machine learning? Industrial robots? Military robots? 3D printing? Drones? It is definitely hard to predict exactly what will be the most impactful technology and how that would shape the world going forward. 

However, good news for lawyers is that we know for certain that how technology goes on to shape the world is almost certainly going to be influenced and impacted by technology law.

Even ten years back, technology law was a small niche, and no Indian law firm had independent technology teams. At best, technology was bundled with telecom and media to form a TMT team. Since the Information Technology Act was passed in 2000, it was hardly a niche that a lawyer could make a career in. 

Since then, work around technology has exploded over the years. Technology contract, fintech regulation, cyber offences, data privacy, IP issues related to the internet has emerged as the most important areas of work for technology lawyers. 

Other areas like platform governance, content regulation, technology policy and online reputation management have shown a great deal of promise but are still only upcoming fields at best. 

However, the sheer volume of technology law work, as it stands and what it is about to become, is awe inspiring and hold great promise for young lawyers and law firms. 

A number of major-major evolutions are lined up for this decade. What legal changes are they going to bring with them? What opportunities for lawyers will arise? Have you take out some time to think about what is in store for technology law, because I dare say it is likely to turn out to be the legal opportunity of the decade.

If the decade that just went by was marked by the opportunities that came with startups and venture capital investment, the next decade probably represents the opportunities that will come with the emergence of world changing technologies. 

You can expect that technology lawyers will be an envied species by the time we are done with this decade. 

But what do they do?

E-commerce, online aggregators, digital payments, data privacy, cross-border money transfer or trade, cryptocurrency, algorithmic trading, the export of tech services, regulation of blockchain, drone regulations, regulations of automated vehicles and other robots, cybersecurity and legal issues arising out of many such key technological developments.

And many things we find hard to imagine today.

Agro tech, space tech, nanotechnology, electric vehicles and batteries – they all bring massive governance challenges with them.

For instance, how long will the batteries of EVs last? How will these extremely toxic batteries be disposed off? The batteries in use today alone can cause a global catastrophe, how much risk will be created when the entire world begins to use EVs instead of fossil fuel?

Who would write the rules, help clients to implement them and then help the government to enforce them? Technology lawyers? You bet. 

Tech law is not only very interesting, but it is also constantly evolving, keeping lawyers and businessmen on their toes. It is a very intellectually satisfying discipline to develop yourself in, and it frequently involves the amalgamation of other disciplines such as IP law, constitutional law, criminal law, securities law, and many other laws. 

As a technology lawyer, there are so many new avenues that will open up in these coming years. 

What could be new exciting areas of work that would keep technology lawyers busy? Do share your thoughts with us. But here are our best guesses:

#1 Laws to regulate weaponization of robots

Is the future really here? The most advanced robots are all made and deployed by defence forces! 

There is a huge market for military robots to cater to the growing military expenditure on UAVs and UGVs being implemented by defence forces of various countries. The market is anticipated at a growth of more than 20% between the period of 2018-2023.

Armies are building the entire robot and drone divisions. Focus of defence spending in the last decade shifted in advanced military powers from weapons of mass destruction to weaponised automated systems – ranging from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), submarine and ground based reconnaissance vehicles. Increasingly, many of these machineries are being developed with inbuilt AI capacity so they can survive or continue mission in environments where remote control fails. 

This has made it imperative to create international understanding and laws and regulations that would put reasonable restrictions on such robot armies, especially given all the sci-fi doomsday movies that predict the end of mankind in the hands of invincible AI driven robot armies. 

Further, as manufacturing of robots become commonplace, it would be necessary to impose restriction on software developers and manufacturers that prevent weaponization of robots, even by private players, just as there are regulations on dangerous explosives and weapon grade or narcotics potential chemicals. 

#2 Governance of decentralised automated organizations (DAO) and cryptocurrency

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), a decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC), or decentralized autonomous nonprofit organization (DANO) is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by shareholders and not influenced by a central government. A DAO’s financial transaction record and program rules are maintained on a blockchain. 

A DAO removes the need for human intermediaries and all the uncertainties that come with the same. It is entirely possible to run stock exchanges, investment funds, escrow arrangements, share depositories, digital wallets and many other traditional organizations using sophisticated DAOs. 

A well-known example, intended for venture capital funding, was The DAO, which launched with $150 million in crowdfunding in June 2016, and was immediately hacked and drained of US$50 million in cryptocurrency. This hack could be reversed in the following weeks, and the money restored, via a hard fork of the Ethereum blockchain. 

Given the massive potential of DAOs, it is certain that it will be widely adopted in the decade to come, and governance rules have to be created by governments and regulators all around the world. Corporate governance is likely to be massively impacted by emergence of DAOs. 

Since DAOs function on Blockchain, it is inevitable that there will be cryptocurrencies or digital tokens have to be legalised and regulated as well, since these are the units which enable transactions on blockchain.

#3 Regulations for 3D Printing

3D Printing will impact many different branches of law, from IP law to criminal law. 3D printing may be used to violate copyright or patents, but it can also be used to create dangerous weapons and contraband items.

The access to 3D printer to private individuals has raised concerns about the printing of those products which may be illegal to produce, and may lead to a massive influx of counterfeit goods. 

What if someone carries a 3D printer into an aircraft and print a gun or a knife or some other rudimentary weapon from basic ingredients that didn’t appear threatening to start with?

3D printing is all set to change life the way we know it and law has to deal with the same.

There has to be regulations related to 3D printing for this very critical technology that is all set to completely disrupt manufacturing sector.

#4 Regulation of fake news and social media influence on democratic processes

Fake news and technological interventions like Cambridge Analytica has massively spooked populations around major democracies around the world. Technological manipulation of elections and popular opinion has been increasing and laws relating to these things look imminent, although many free speech advocates are resisting them. Closer to home in India social media has been used to virally spread false news, fake videos, incite riots and coordinated attacks on vulnerable groups. 

The US Congress and senate held very lengthy hearings of social media company executives and demand for effective regulation of tools that can be used for mass manipulation has been increasing in pitch and volume. 

It can be expected that in the coming decade this will emerge as a major area of work for lawyers and policy experts. 

#5 Laws governing synthetic food and meat

Lab-made meat is already available in the market, and while wide-spread commercialization is likely to take a few more years, there is massive demand for the same given the push towards ethical treatment of animals as well as meat consumption related greenhouse effect. After all, a lot more greenhouse gas is produced by cattle compared to cars all over the world!

Synthetic food is another major area of technology that is likely to see a boom. However, with new technology comes new concerns. Governments will have to enact new laws to regulate these industries and especially in order to ensure food safety as older laws for regulation of food would become ineffective in light of the emergence of new kind of synthetic food.

#6 Laws regulating and promoting vertical farming

Vertical farming has to replace traditional farming techniques due to the various advantages it has over traditional farming methods and because it takes far less space. To avoid deforestation in order to meet human food requirements as well as for effective management of water and other resources, vertical farming will become the order of the day.

Vertical farming is going to be a breakthrough in agriculture where vegetables, fruits and flowers can be grown in high rise towers that provide a temperature-controlled environment. In this mode of farming, particular floors can be used to grow a specific kind of vegetable or fruits, something which is not possible in traditional farming on a given land.

However, given that farmers are slow to adopt and this new food revolution may be led by agrotech companies, we can expect a whole new set of laws and rules have to be created for regulation of vertical farming as well as for incentivize its adoption just as clean energy had to be incentivized by governments.

Just in the way solar and wind electricity farms have increased work for projects, policy and tech lawyers, we can expect a lot of work from vertical farming in the not so distant future.

#7 Laws that promote technological preservation of water and natural resources

Preservation of water and other natural resources like soil, forests, wildlife and air are emerging as biggest concerns of humanity. Preservation is likely to become political as well as policy making priority in years to come. Already many countries are waking up to the reality given catastrophes like Cape Town running out of water and Australian bushfire that has engulfed the whole country forcing massive migration of human beings.

To avoid such catastrophes in the future, governments will be forced to create tough laws that mandate and incentive protection of natural resources, especially water.

For instance, leakage of water during distribution is a massive concern that can be solved using technology. Similarly, technology driven monitoring of air quality and wildlife protection is likely to see major investments by government as well as private parties. 

Regulations around these industries are imminent and could be very exciting and important areas to work in.

#8 Evolution of commercial drone regulations 

• Is there any kind of registration you need to acquire for flying drones?

• Which establishment do you seek approvals for flying drones?

• Do you need licenses to manufacture, import or export drones?

In the last few years, consumer and business interest has scaled with demand for aerial photography and a wide range of commercial applications in India’s B2B sector. 

Since 2018, the country’s first Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for drones has been in place by the standards set by the  Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Which means, there are laws relating to the application, eligibility & various requirements that need to be complied with if you want to fly your drone.

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Drone laws are, so to say, a niche field that not a lot of people even know exists! Which is all the reason for the existence of humongous opportunities and be an expert in it. A tech lawyer who knows the A-Zs of the drone laws and how to register these commercial drones can surely expect increasing volume of work in years to come.

However, commercial application of drones is at best at a nascent stage. There is likely to be massive implementation of drones in many sectors such as logistics, defence, oil & gas, and even transportation. Such wide application will require an entire new set of laws and regulations. And that is where much of the opportunity for tech lawyers will emerge from.

#9 Laws governing internet of things 

The Internet of Things is the concept of connecting a device to the Internet and to other connected devices. The IoT is a giant network of connected things and people – all of which collect and share data about the way they are used and about the environment around them.

Cisco predicts 50 billion devices to be wirelessly connected via a network of sensors to the internet by 2020.

Naturally, for interoperability and many legal issues that would arise from the same, a new set of regulations that do not exist today will have to be crafted.  

There are also concerns over how these large amounts of data can be used. Laws relating to the strengthening security of connected products, pre-testing of the security measures and data ownership laws, as well as laws related to new genre of crimes that would arise in light of IoT will have to be drafted. 

Massive interconnectivity also creates massive systemic risk, because a single act of sabotage could bring an entire smart city to its knees!

#10 Extensive laws regulating plastic and e-waste management

The e-waste volume in India has been growing astoundingly. 

Despite the E-waste Management Rules being in place since 2016 not much has been implemented in furtherance of these rules.

However, the concerns related to e-waste is becoming hard to ignore. Recycling has to be incentivized, but entire supply chains have to be put into place which is no easier than building a manufacturing supply chain which India has failed to build despite many decades of effort. 

An entire legal ecosystem is likely to come up in the years ahead, out of sheer necessity, to deal with e-waste and plastic waste. 

What are we missing out on?

What are some other unexplored fields in technology law that can be beneficial for lawyers with all these advancements coming up this decade?

Are you excited to study technology law and make a career in it? We could get you started.

Reply to this mail or call us for guidance by our career counselors.

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