The 2021 Coinbase data breach brought renewed attention to the growing tension between technological innovation and consumer protection in the digital financial ecosystem. As one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally, Coinbase functions not merely as a technological intermediary but as a custodian of sensitive personal and financial data . When a data breach exposed thousands of users to identity theft and fraud, questions arose regarding the extent of responsibility that such digital platforms owe to their consumers. The legal dispute that followed was not confined to the mere fact of a cyber incident. Rather, it examined broader issues of corporate governance, internal accountability, contractual limitations of liability, and the applicability of consumer protection norms in the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency sector . This case analysis evaluates the legal reasoning adopted in the matter, critically assesses the court’s interpretation of duty and liability, and explores the wider implications for consumer governance in digital markets.

The increasing reliance on technological protection measures (TPMs) has transformed copyright enforcement from a rights-based adjudicatory system into a technologically embedded control architecture. In India, Section 65A of the Copyright Act, 1957, introduced through the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, criminalises circumvention of effective technological measures. While enacted to comply with obligations under the WIPO Copyright Treaty, the provision creates interpretive uncertainty regarding its interaction with statutory fair dealing exceptions under Section 52. This paper critically evaluates whether India’s anti-circumvention framework adequately preserves lawful consumer uses or risks allowing technological controls to override legislative limitations. Through doctrinal analysis, comparative evaluation of the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the European Union Information Society Directive, and constitutional examination under Article 19(1)(a), this study argues that although the “intent to infringe” requirement narrows liability, the absence of explicit harmonisation with fair dealing creates chilling effects. The paper concludes that targeted statutory reform grounded in proportionality and constitutional balance is necessary to ensure coherence in India’s digital copyright governance.