Trai seeks views on regulatory framework for ‘responsible development’ of metaverse, ET Telecom

Mumbai: The telecom regulator has asked for industry inputs on the need to develop a regulatory framework for the responsible development of the Metaverse, policy measures that can be taken to create awareness and promote the use of the new-age technology across the country.

The subject of the Metaverse has been raised in a consultation paper titled “Digital Transformation through 5G Ecosystem” wherein the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has also sought stakeholder views on ways to increase cross-sector collaboration for development and adoption of 5G use cases.

“Some estimates suggest that the metaverse market could be worth up to US$13 trillion by 2030. The size of the metaverse will make it hard to ignore and denotes its influence over the way people will live, work and play,” Trai said in the paper.

When any market receives investment in millions of dollars of hard-earned money, legal and regulatory frameworks become a necessity to ensure a degree of ethics, trust, and diligence, it added.

“What should be the appropriate governance mechanism for the metaverse for balancing innovation, competition, diversity, and public interest?” Trai asked, adding if there is a need for a national level mechanism to coordinate development of Metaverse standards and guidelines.

The regulator has thus asked for industry views on how a regulatory framework for the responsible development of the Metaverse can deal with issues like enabling users to control their personal information and identity, protection from cyberattacks, harassment and manipulation, and data privacy and security while using the new-age technology.

Written comments to the discussion paper are to be submitted by October 30, and counter comments by November 13.

“What are the policy measures required to create awareness and promote use of Metaverse, so that the citizens including those residing in rural and remote areas may benefit from the Metaverse use cases and services to create new economic activities and increase employment opportunities and thereby promote economic growth of the country?” Trai also asked in relation to the Metaverse.

Stakeholders have been asked to give their views on whether there is a need to establish experimental campuses to develop or demonstrate innovative use cases, and operational models for Metaverse.

The sector regulator also touched upon the need for regulatory framework related to content moderation in the metaverse, given the diversity of cultural norms and values, as well as the potential for harmful or illegal content such as hate speech, misinformation, cyberbullying, and child exploitation.

The respondents have been asked to elaborate on te current policies and practices for content moderation on Metaverse platforms, and the main challenges and gaps in content moderation.

Trai has also asked for suggestions on the modifications required in the existing legal framework regarding mechanisms for identifying and registering IPRs in the metaverse, protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the metaverse, and interoperability and compatibility of IPRs across different virtual environments.

Globally, countries like the US, Japan, China, and South Korea have taken steps towards regulating and promoting the use of Metaverse. In September 2022, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced that it would develop new Metaverse regulations, and recently announced a $200 million investment to establish a national Metaverse.

Earlier this year, the European Commission launched a public consultation to develop emerging virtual worlds based on respect for digital rights and EU laws and values with the objective to ensure that open, interoperable, and innovative virtual worlds can be used safely by individuals and businesses. The European Parliament is also working on a report on opportunities, risk and policy implications for the metaverse.

The US has taken a wait and watch approach to regulating and is currently focused on ensuring US companies’ competitiveness in the field and exploring the enabling technologies of the metaverse, such as blockchain, VR and AR.

China on the other hand formed a metaverse industry group, the Metaverse Industry Committee, under the state-supervised China Mobile Communications Association as far back as December 2021. The committee has the stated objectives of strengthening innovation and integration among metaverse builders, organizing the training of professionals, and promoting new thinking.

In May 2022, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched an initiative called ‘Defining and Building the Metaverse’ with the goal to build consensus among major metaverse stakeholders to crease metaverse that is economically viable, interoperable, safe, equitable and inclusive.

Apart from the questions around the regulatory framework for Metaverse platforms, the new discussion paper by Trai also deals with ways to promote collaboration across sectors to develop and demonstrate new use cases for 5G.

This includes policy measures to promote the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology and developing its infrastructure, including aspects like security testing and certification.

On Industry 4.0 the regulator has asked for ways to facilitate upskilling of workers and management of related industries and the kinds of public private partnership models can be adopted for this upskilling task.