It is reported that a basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in Botswana's law and jurisprudence. Despite Part VIII of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act protects information service providers from any civil or criminal liability with respect to third-party material stored or transmitted on their platforms if they did not contribute to the material, according to Art. 39 of the Act, nothing in the Act shall affect any liability of the service provider under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act in respect of the infringement of copyright in any work or other subject matter in which copyright subsists.

Part VIII of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act protects information services providers from any civil or criminal liability with respect to third-party material stored or transmitted on their platforms if they did not contribute to the material. It is also expected that the information service providers should expeditiously remove or disable access to the infringing content upon receiving a take-down notice.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Botswana to deliver telecom services to end users. Moreover, passive infrastructure sharing is practised in the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

It is reported that Botswana imposes identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card, or a passport in case of foreigners, to activate a new prepaid SIM card. According to Art. 6 of the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority Act, the Board of the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating SIM card registration.

The Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) is a telecommunications company formerly a government parastatal. Clause 6.2 of the Constitution of the BTCL states that no shares shall be issued to foreigners. Therefore, foreigners cannot own shares in this telecommunications company, which is also Botswana's only listed telecommunications company.

State-owned enterprises operating in the telecommunications sector in Botswana are Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Ltd (BTCL), a provider of telecommunications and Internet services (ISP), and Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet), a wholesale provider of telecommunications infrastructure responsible for enhancing broadband penetration. The Government of Botswana reportedly owns 51% of the shares of BTCL and 100% of the shares of BoFiNet.

It is reported that Botswana does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there has been an obligation to separate the accounts since 2012.

Botswana has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Botswana Communication Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

The Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) is a telecom company and was formerly a government parastatal. According to Clause 6.2 of the Constitution of the BTCL, no shares shall be issued to foreigners. Therefore, foreigners cannot own shares in this telecommunications company, which is also the only listed telecommunications company in Botswana.

Art. 17 of the Trade Act grants the Minister the authority to designate specific trades or businesses as exclusively reserved for citizens of Botswana or companies wholly owned by Botswana citizens. In line with Section 24 of the Trade Regulations, the businesses reserved for locals include, among others, cell phone shops and internet cafés. However, joint ventures between citizens and non-citizens may be approved by the Minister responsible for medium and large enterprises.

Section 145 of the Companies Act provides that a public company shall have at least two directors, and a private company shall have at least one director who shall be ordinarily resident in Botswana.

The Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) was established by the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre Act. Part V of the Act sets the functions, powers and duties of the Centre, which screens all proposed investments to ensure that they fall within the set priority investment sectors. An investment application is likely to succeed if it demonstrates some of the following:
- Number and quality/level of employment created;
- Potential for skills and technology transfer;
- Potential for export and import substitution;
- Potential to create backward and forward linkages;
- Innovation and creativity;
- Priority sector under the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD).

Botswana is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Botswana has a copyright regime under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Section 12 lists the exceptions, which include private reproduction for personal purposes, reproduction for teaching, reprographic reproduction by libraries and archives, reproduction, broadcasting and other communications to the public for information purposes, importation for personal purposes and temporary reproduction, amongst other things. In addition, Section 3 of the Act lists the types of works that would be protected, including computer programs. Furthermore, Section 36 provides that the provisions of any international treaty with respect to copyright and related rights to which Botswana is a party shall apply. Botswana is a signatory to the TRIPS Agreement, which has incorporated the Berne Convention.