Centre for Internet and Society

Software Patents in India - The Indian Patent Act and the Draft Patent Manual

royson — 2008-10-21T06:32:48Z

Software patents in India-The Indian patent Act and the draft patent manual

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/projects/a-series-of-podcasts-on-sofware-patents/05.%20Prashant%20Iyengar.ogg

Software Patents in India - The Indian Patent Act and the Draft Patent Manual

royson — 2008-10-20T13:48:01Z

Software patents in India-The Indian patent Act and the draft patent Manual

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/projects/a-series-of-podcasts-on-sofware-patents/05.%20Prashant%20Iyengar.mp3

Sexual Practices

royson — 2008-09-21T14:57:53Z

Context

One of the biggest crises that the digital worlds introduced was in debates around body, gender, and sexuality. Apart from the often demonised world of pornography and fundamental responses to sexual freedom, there have been various philosophical and practical issues that emerge with the cyberspaces.

Different disciplines have embraced the digital spaces as spaces of reflection, research and political mobilisation around questions of gendered sexual practices. The digital interactions have also led to new forms of sexual interaction and practices which have found some academic attention. It is necessary to disassociate questions of sexuality and sexual practices from notions of obscenity or demonised public discourse.

Contemporary scholarly work from gender and sexuality theorists and practitioners engages with how the traditional notions of what it means to be human, to be gendered and to appropriate sexuality, have been challenged by the virtual worlds. As we move towards a post-human existence, the fixed structures that were used to definitively define the normal, the regulated, the contained and the chastised, get deconstructed. Within such a fluid world where relative norms and normative relativity are a way of being, it is imperative to focus on questions of gender and sexuality as they get mediated, constructed and inflected by new digital cyberspaces.

Research Agenda

How do different gendered and sexual minorities find their voice, agency and ability for political mobilisation through the cyberspaces?
What are the prejudices and discriminations that internet technologies inherit despite their avowed neutral nature and potential for larger inclusivity?
What are the challenges that the new digital technologies pose to our understanding of what it means to be human, to be gendered, and to be sexual?
As digital sexuality becomes a part of our larger techno-narratives, what are the spaces of liberation and celebration that it opens up for the individual?
How do we escape the populist media sensationalism around cyberspace and sexual practices to engage more fruitfully with the new paradigms and practices that emerge with digital interactions?
As we move from representation to simulation, how do varied sexual practices offer new pedagogic ways of understanding the body and its social dynamics?
What is being sought in the demonization and horror that gets constructed around cyberspaces and sexuality?
In the post-human world, how do we understand questions of sexual practices? How do we gender these new narratives and forms that emerge in digital spaces? What are the aesthetics and politics of online sexual practices and how do they help us re-think existing notions of human sexuality?
What are the political mobilisations that challenge the normative world of sexuality? How do processes of regulation, monitoring and governance get inflected by introducing questions of sexual practices online?

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/about/substantive-areas/digital-pluralism/sexual-practices

Presentation on Software Patents Applied for in India

royson — 2008-10-21T06:42:18Z

Presentation on software patents applied for in India

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/projects/a-series-of-podcasts-on-sofware-patents/07.%20Pranesh%20Prakash.mp3

Presentation on Software Patents Applied for in India

royson — 2008-10-21T06:09:08Z

Presentation on software patents applied for in India

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/projects/a-series-of-podcasts-on-sofware-patents/07.%20Pranesh%20Prakash.ogg

Presentation on Software Patents Applied for in India

royson — 2008-10-21T06:00:28Z

Presentation on software patents applied for in India

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/publications/software-patents/07.%20Pranesh%20Prakash.mp3

Piracy

royson — 2009-01-26T10:23:49Z

Context

Loss of civil liberties as a result of increased and indiscriminate enforcement activities by State and private bodies.
Conflation of piracy with concepts such as terrorism, child pornography and drug trafficking which prevents legitimate off-line and online sharing and growth of P2P technologies.
Long term social impact of sizable section of the citizenry that views themselves as operating outside the law.

Research Agenda

Analyse different acts that are considered piracy from legal, enforcement, corporate and general public perspectives. Document changes in the definition of piracy over time in different contexts. Interrogate the double standards employed by corporations, film industry using case-studies such as T-Series, YouTube/torrent leaks, etc.
Study the prevalence of piracy in different regions of the world, market segments, technologies and sections of society. Document the social, cultural, technological and economic repercussions of these increased levels of piracy. For example: a) understanding how piracy contribute to increased consumer choice; b) examining the correlation between P2P and piracy-based distribution and enhancement of reputation and growth in market share of individual artists, bands and small companies.
Document the contribution of pirates to the development of cutting edge technologies and pushing of the limits of end-user experience. Analysing different techniques for movie, book, television, software and music piracy employed by individuals and industries.
Identify and document various factors which contribute to high level of piracy in developing countries. Design and propose strategies and policy positions such as: parallel imports, compulsory licensing, media surcharge and open licenses to reduce levels of copyright infringement.
Document and analyze various methods and methodologies for studying and tracking piracy. For example aggregation and consolidation of P2P statistics by companies such as Big Champagne. Provide technical strategies for those engaged in legitimate sharing to protect their privacy and civil rights against surveillance technologies.
Studying national and regional laws that governs copyright infringement and propose changes that protect Access to Knowledge. Examining case law for trends, including analysis of the kinds of punishments which are prescribed for copyright infringement.
Documenting due procedure for enforcement against individuals and organizations? Analyzing the legal validity of evidence submitted by enforcement agencies for different forms of alleged off-line and online copyright infringement.
Document and analyse the attention paid by developing country policy makers to piracy in different markets and technologies. Identify and monitor state agencies engaged in tracking piracy and undertaking enforcement activities?
How do citizens justify acts of piracy? How do they view themselves and others as criminals?
Document the correlation between high speed Internet connections and peer-to-peer file sharing programmes and illegal and legal sharing of knowledge.