CCI okay acquistion of 6.63% equity of Valuedrive Technologies by Fidelity Funds (See 'Corp Brief') CCI allows Innomotics India to acquire low voltage motor business of Siemens (See 'Corp Brief') CCI approves combination involving Amundi Asset and ICG Plc (See 'Corp Brief') QA-industry conclave to discuss future of quality assurance in defence manufacturing (See 'Corp Brief') PDUNASS conducts Workshop on Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (See 'Corp Brief') SECL's DigiCOAL showcased at Central Vigilance Commission's National Workshop (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Presence of well-known House Mark serves as powerful distinguishing feature that negates any likelihood of confusion: HC (See 'Legal Desk') 2.14 lakh gram panchayats connected under BharatNet: Scindia (See 'Corp Brief') Union Education Minister launches Bodhan AI Centre of Excellence (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - As SEBI registered intermediary, Noticees are under statutory obligation to comply with applicable circulars, rules and regulations: SEBI (See 'Legal Desk') BSNL deploys One Lakh Indigenous 4G Sites; Network 5G-Ready: Scindia (See 'Corp Brief') ECI organises EVM/VVPAT Awareness Campaign in Poll-bound States (See 'Corp Brief') Trade Marks - non-use of a mark filed on proposed-to-be-used basis is irrelevant for assessing registrability of the mark: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Medicinal Plants sector to drive Viksit Bharat 2047: MoS (See 'Corp Brief') IBC/RTI - appellant cannot seek disclosure of internal notings & replies under RTI Act when same issue has already been disposed of earlier: IBBI (See 'Legal Desk') India designated Country of the Year at BIOFACH 2026, Germany (See 'Corp Brief') Delhi-NCR to be strengthened with expansion of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Applications for extending arbitral tribunal's mandate u/s 29A(4) must be filed exclusively before principal civil court of original jurisdiction: SC (See 'Legal Desk') RBI rolls out measures to strengthen Cooperative Banks' Financial Health (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Arbitral proceedings are set to commence on date of receipt of notice invoking arbitration clause: SC (See 'Legal Desk') IWAI facilitates ODC Movement via Inland Waterways to Boost Assam's Semiconductor Ecosystem (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Under pre-2015 amendment regime, once party consents to court order appointing arbitrator, they cannot subsequently challenge existence or validity of arbitration clause before arbitral tribunal: SC (See 'Legal Desk') Prasada inaugurates STQC Lab Automation Portal 'SATYA' (See 'Corp Brief') Indian Delegation visits Vietnam to Open New Opportunities in Silk, Sericulture & Handloom (See 'Corp Brief') Paswan releases Plastic Industry Status Report 2025 (See 'Corp Brief') Trade Mark - prior user rights override subsequent registration, particularly where adoption of deceptively similar subsequent trade mark, is not bona fide & is aimed at riding on existing goodwill of existing trade mark: HC (See 'Legal Desk') CCI registered 54 cases of anti-competitive practices in 2025 (See 'Corp Brief') National Institute of Ayurveda reaffirms role as global centre for education & patient care (See 'Corp Brief') Electronic Interlocking rolled out at 34 Railway Stations of N-E (See 'Corp Brief') PMLA - Objectives of enacting PMLA 2002, was attachment and confiscation of proceeds of crime which is quintessence so as to combat evil of money-laundering: SAFEMA (See 'Legal Desk') Khelo India Multipurpose Hall at SAI Sambhajinagar is addition to Olympic readiness: MoS (See 'Corp Brief') PM addresses community programme in Kuala Lumpur (See 'Corp Brief') A & C - mandate of arbitrators appointed unilaterally by one party, merits being terminated, where the other party explicitly refuses to waive applicability of Section 12(5) of the Act: HC (See 'Legal Desk') India-US Trade Agreement: Major boost for Textile Industry (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - In unavailability of adequate document/information and considering effect of limitation period, assigning of 'zero' value to trade receivables, without any due justification, is not appropriate: IBBI (See 'Legal Desk') India has signed MoUs with 23 countries for cooperation on Digital Public Infrastructure (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Once arbitral tribunal has adopted plausible & reasonable interpretation of facts and contractual terms, courts cannot re-appreciate evidence or sit in appeal over award: SC (See 'Legal Desk') Railways inspects All Bridges Twice a Year (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Permitting a civil suit to challenge an award confirmed by the Supreme Court would undermine the arbitral framework and public confidence in arbitration: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Over 1.25 lakh Livestock Farmers joined Virtual Awareness Program: MoS (See 'Corp Brief') A & C - Referral court not required to conduct detailed or contested inquiry & must limit itself to ascertaining whether underlying contract contains an arbitration clause covering disputes between the parties: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Pariksha Pe Charcha marks First-Ever multi-location nationwide engagement (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - If Noticee violated regulation 23(1) and 23(4) of LODR Regulations as alleged in SCN, Noticee is liable for payment of monetary penalty in terms of section 15HB of SEBI Act: SEBI (See 'Legal Desk') TRAI issues Telecommunication Services Interconnection Regulations, 2026 (See 'Corp Brief') Trade Marks - Procedural defects & inadvertent errors which are curable should not be permitted to defeat substantive rights, unless shown to be deliberate, mala fide, or prejudicial to opposite party: HC (See 'Legal Desk') The Securities Markets Code, 2025: Strengthened Enforcement, Weakened Accountability? 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Meet Metaverse

Published: Jan 30, 2023

By Shweta Jain

Introduction

PEOPLE always enjoybeing in their dream world of fiction or tend to dive into past experiences/thoughts. The past can't be changed and the future is always a dream, which may or may not turn out to be reality. Science has progressed tremendously and has developed a concept which is called Metaverse, which is science fiction. With Metaverse, a person can now experience or feel any fiction in a better way. Metaverse takes a person into the world of fiction.

As per the information available on Wikipedia, the "Metaverse" is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. In colloquial usage, a "Metaverse" is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. The Neal Stephenson's science fiction novel Snow Crash was released in 1992 wherein the term Metaverse was, for very first time, coined.

Increasing Space of Metaverse

Virtual world has expanded drastically while the real one has remained static. Metaverse technology has slowly started gaining popularity and acceptance in different fields and areas and online  video games are the best example for it. Meta Platforms Inc. makes money by selling ads on social media websites and mobile applications. It is believed that Metaverse technology can improve work productivity of e-commerce platforms, real estate and fashion industry. The Metaverse has ability to create better ways to communicate with someone who is far away. It could give users easier access to doctor visits, shopping, work, and styling

In India, among others, Infosys has launched its Metaverse Foundry and Virtual Reality Stores. Facebook Metaverse, is owned by the company founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Decentraland was created by Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordano for Metaverse Holdings Ltd, which along with other investors own the rights to the digital universe.

Metaverse offers plenty of usage opportunities for the Government.  Metaverse has an ability to make available services and applications to citizens through avatars that will be available 24x7 for all 365 days anywhere, and anytime.

The Metaverse can  help in learning in Schools/Collages and other fields and can take discovery to a new level. People will learn by doing and not just by absorbing information and can deepen their knowledge through 3D immersion.

There are many ways to invest in the Metaverse, primarily by

1. purchasing stocks of companies or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that invest in the Metaverse ;

2. buying properties in Metaverse. The majority of Metaverse real estate at present is owned by Decentraland, Sandbox, Somnium Space, and Cryptovoxels.

Metaverse Laws

- At present, there is no specific regulations or laws in India to deal with Metaverse. Users generate digital content such as avatars, virtual real estate, and artwork. The copyright law can be applied to protect the original work of creators. The Sandbox enables users to develop, construct and own 'LANDS' which are virtual regions. People spend money to acquire a piece of the Metaverse real estate.

- The Contract laws  can be applied to many activities like renting and selling virtual goods and services. The copyright law can apply to user-created content avatars and digital artwork.

- Under Section 10A of the Information Technology Act of 2000, a company can opt for multi-class trademark registration. This can be used for registering trademark products and services in Meta. Platform owners have right to ban users who harm others or violate their terms of service. In case of grave criminal offences, prosecutions back in the real world are also possible.

- It is obvious that sooner or later, technology companies will compete with each other to create more sophisticated AR and VR tools, which will open up a door for Intellectual Property Rights, device patents and software.

- As we all know that Tort Law governs civil wrongs, including both property and personal damages, so Tort Law can be applied to make an accused (who did any wrong act in the Metaverse digital world) to pay for the injuries, medical expenses, and other damages resulting from the act.

Challenges with Metaverse

The Metaverse is not gearing up in fast speed because of the following reasons:

1. Lack of infrastructure for both hardware and software

2. Monopolistic approach towards development of platform

3. Lack of governance standards and laws

Dark side of Metaverse

1. Metaverse has cyber security risks. Hackers can get access to personal messages, bank information, photos and other digital assets. Companies often collect user information and share data without user knowledge as common practice, so  privacy experts raise concerns that Metaverse experience opens bigger doors for privacy abuse and surveillance by companies.

2. There is a high risk of crimes as content in the Metaverse is similar to a copyrighted content in the physical world and unauthorised use of same is an infringement of the copyright.

3. It can be used as a tool to spread fake news.

Metaverse Vs.Games

In an article, McCollum suggested that Metalaw should emerge as the legal system that governs the Metaverse. As per data available on Wikipedia, Microsoft CEO  Satya Nadella had said that he does not distinguish Metaverse from a game. But in case of   Epic Games v. Apple, it was held that plaintiff's software is a Metaverse, as opposed to just a game. In a 2007 paper,  Privacy in the Metaverse, Leenes distinguished Metaverse from a game, arguing that Metaverse is a social microcosmos whereby ordinary people develop complex  social behaviors  and psychological effects unique to the Metaverse space.

Conclusion

There is a need for a lot of development, study and understanding of the Metaverse. There is also need to develop detailed Metaverse law and standardise the process and working of the Metaverse. Metaverse law can be called as a sub-discipline of cyberlaw. But some people think that Metaverse law is a new field of study that must be recognized as a legal field in entirety and reject the view that Metaverse law is a sub-discipline of an existing legal discipline. Metaverse demands an entirely new legal infrastructure, regulating government bodies and constitutions. For establishment of the Metaverse law as a legal field, it is important to study the intersection between existing legal theories and the Metaverse. The World Economic Forum  is working on collecting views and data from various private sector, civil society, academia and policy to define the parameters of viable, safe and inclusive Metaverse focusing on two areas: governance, and economic and social value creation. We hope that soon new laws and regulations come to shape the future of the Metaverse& laws around it.

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