The Centre for Internet and Society
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Live [Closed]: TRAI Open House Discussion on OTT Regulation - Delhi
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/live-closed-trai-open-house-discussion-on-ott-regulation-delhi
<b>TRAI organized an open house discussion on “Regulatory Framework for OTT Services” in Delhi on May 20, 2019. Anubha Sinha attended the event.</b>
<p><span>The objective of </span><a href="https://main.trai.gov.in/consultation-paper-regulatory-framework-over-top-ott-communication-services">the consultation</a><span> was to look into services that they are considering as being possibly ‘similar’ to those provided by telecom service providers. </span><a href="https://main.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/CPOTT12112018_0.pdf">The consultation paper</a><span> sought to compare licensing norms and regulations applicable to TSPs and OTTs, on the grounds that the certain services provided by them are substitutable with one another. Our notes from the TRAI Open House in Bangalore on April 24th are </span><a href="https://www.medianama.com/2019/04/223-live-trai-open-house-discussion-on-ott-regulation/">here</a><span>.</span></p>
<p>For more see <a class="external-link" href="https://www.medianama.com/2019/05/223-live-trai-open-house-discussion-on-ott-regulation-delhi/">Medianama site</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/live-closed-trai-open-house-discussion-on-ott-regulation-delhi'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/live-closed-trai-open-house-discussion-on-ott-regulation-delhi</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminTelecomTRAI, OTT2019-05-28T02:04:17ZNews ItemDemocracy, Digital India and Networks
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-may-1-2019-shyam-ponappa-democracy-digital-india-and-networks
<b>Digitisation and democracy are ruled by the ineluctable dynamics of networks.
</b>
<p class="alternativeHeadline" style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in <a class="external-link" href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/democracy-digital-india-and-networks-119050101078_1.html">Business Standard</a> on May 1, 2019 and mirrored on <a class="external-link" href="http://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2019/05/">Organizing India Blogspot</a> on May 2, 2019.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p class="alternativeHeadline" style="text-align: justify; ">There’s no escaping the blessing or the curse of the Digital Age in India, any more than the benefits and challenges of democracy. The headlong rush into digitised networks provides incredible benefits of reach and efficiency in many different ways, at the individual and many collective levels — of family, friends, community, nation, polity, work, domain, and so on. It also lends itself to the dark side, plumbing the depths of social, religious, or political factions and tribalism, bigotry, autocracy and fascism, anarchy, social dysfunction, and the rest. Yet, there’s no denying that for India, with all its needs, talents, foibles, and contradictions, digitisation<a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/digitisation" target="_blank"> </a>is a great enabler.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Likewise democracy. Romanticised notions of it are pure fluff, epitomised by selfies at the Parthenon, conjectures about Vaishali, or the spectacle and pageantry of electioneering. The reality was, and is, much harsher, whether then or now. Then, it was the practice of a privileged elite. Now, the reality of democracy in India with universal franchise and an insufficiently prepared polity is a space captured by politicians, many of them fractious opportunists, not really prepared or equipped for the complex analysis and decision-making that governance requires. Most citizens, however, have an illusory freedom of choice, despite the choice being restricted to accepting or rejecting incumbents, or choosing replacements from among these very politicians. This is where digitisation<a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/digitisation" target="_blank"> </a>has a direct role and enormous impact through media in all its forms, including the nexus between money and politics as in the Cambridge Analytica episode.<br /><br />According to McKinsey’s ‘Digital India’ report of 2019, the benefits of digitising India are impressive, although only 40 per cent of the population has internet access, and there is uneven adoption in businesses, leaving considerable room for improvement. Yet, newly digitising sectors have experienced tremendous gains. For example, in logistics, fleet turnaround time has been reduced by 50 to 70 per cent, and digitised supply chains helped companies reduce inventory by 20 per cent. The question is whether and how this can be managed to yield more benefits than detriments, while preserving privacy, social convergence, and harmony, while avoiding divergence, repression, and instability through disharmony.<br /><br /><strong>The Imperative for Conscious Regulation</strong><br />Network science tells us that real-world networks share two characteristics. The first is growth with time, and the second is that new nodes link more often to more connected nodes, or hubs. Growth and preferential attachment result in the emergence of a few, highly connected, dominant hubs in all networks, whether the networks are of the cells in our bodies, computer chips, transport networks for airlines, social networks connecting people, or the World Wide Web. These characteristics are common across networks of any size and are scale-free.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The dominance manifested by companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google, combined with the attenuated influence of less connected nodes highlights the role of regulation and structure for equitable development and outcomes in networks. The same issues of dominance and the need for regulation arise in democracy. In India, outrageous changes introduced recently with regard to election funding have increased opacity and the potential for abuse at the heart of democratic processes. Political parties can now receive foreign or domestic funding from any source without constraint, and funds can be anonymous through electoral bonds. Introduced with retrospective effect, both the National Democratic Alliance and the Congress benefitted, as previous adverse judgments were nullified. Therefore, one pointer is the need for regulation and appropriate controls applied in a host of areas including news and social media.<strong>Evidence-Based Policies</strong><br />An entirely constructive aspect of digitisation relates to the application of network science to issues by mapping the links between factors and actionable policies. Examples are the connection between genes and diseases for effective treatment,1 or the feasibility of upgrading products and exports for countries. An example of how proximate products and exports developed over 20 years is visualised in Chart 1, showing the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) of Colombia (COL) and Malaysia (MYS) in production and exports from 1980 to 2000.<br /><br />Chart 1: Revealed Comparative Advantage – Colombia and Malaysia<br /><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zc1YZsqQtu4/XMrBqKY3PhI/AAAAAAAAGQY/ocnCk3KmFmwZsCfRAt3Bx7UH7lz_4YRNwCLcBGAs/s1600/Revealed%2BComparative%2BAdvantage-Colombia%2B%2526%2BMalaysia-Hidalgo%2Bet%2Bal.jpg"></a><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zc1YZsqQtu4/XMrBqKY3PhI/AAAAAAAAGQY/ocnCk3KmFmwZsCfRAt3Bx7UH7lz_4YRNwCLcBGAs/s320/Revealed%2BComparative%2BAdvantage-Colombia%2B%2526%2BMalaysia-Hidalgo%2Bet%2Bal.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9kSOgqDOPio/XMrByjUrczI/AAAAAAAAGQc/kywVDitYiyog05s73VDs-XYRspU46DKkQCLcBGAs/s320/MYS%2Benlarged.jpg" /><br /><br />Source: Hidalgo et al: ‘The Product Space Conditions the Development of Nations – Science, 27 Jul 2007). <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/317/5837/482">https://science.sciencemag.org/content/317/5837/482</a><br /><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6181618_The_Product_Space_Conditions_the_Development_of_Nations">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6181618_The_Product_Space_Conditions_the_Development_of_Nations</a><br />The premise is that most upscale products are from a densely connected core, while lower order products are in a less connected periphery. Countries tend to move to products close to those for which they have specialised skills.The lower chart is for Malaysia alone (it helps to view enlarged images in colour on a screen to trace the progression).<br />India’s manufacturing and export opportunities in its product space in 2017 are in Chart 2.<br /><br />Chart 2: India - Export Opportunities Product Space - 2017 $292 billion<br /><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-frcstn7TtVM/XMrAuWRsZhI/AAAAAAAAGQQ/a6v09fGLC9chxpedsopZduJIrqiRDm4AACLcBGAs/s1600/India-Export%2BOpportunities%2BProduct%2BSpace-2017.jpg"></a><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-frcstn7TtVM/XMrAuWRsZhI/AAAAAAAAGQQ/a6v09fGLC9chxpedsopZduJIrqiRDm4AACLcBGAs/s320/India-Export%2BOpportunities%2BProduct%2BSpace-2017.jpg" /><br />Hidalgo: <a href="https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/network/hs92/export/ind/all/show/2017/">https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/network/hs92/export/ind/all/show/2017/</a><br />Such interactive charts are available and can help in planning for product areas such as automobile parts, chemicals, or electric motors.2<br /><br />A great deal of appropriate regulation followed by planning and execution is needed, incorporating insights such as these in areas like governance, healthcare and industrial policy. Realpolitik and preoccupation with obscurantism, religiosity, and caste/tribe, require that changes be driven by unraveling the nexus between politics and funding, evolving a transparent, state-funded system. Is such a transformation possible? Recent developments that have overtaken earlier attempts at electoral reform such as the Goswami Committee (1990) and the Vohra Committee (1993) emphasise an urgent need. But can public opinion and opportunistic opposition interests converge to effect appropriate changes in political funding? And elicit enlightened government action in public interest projects for health, manufacturing and export policies, agriculture, finance, construction, and so on? A tall order. Perhaps the best hope is that reactions to phenomena such as Brexit help create more equitable practices.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>1. For connections between diseases and genes, see Alex J. Cornish et al: https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13073-015-0212-9 </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span> 2. https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/ AJG Simoes, CA Hidalgo. The Economic Complexity Observatory 'An Analytical Tool for Understanding the Dynamics of Economic Development.' Workshops at the Twenty-Fifth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. (2011)</span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-may-1-2019-shyam-ponappa-democracy-digital-india-and-networks'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-may-1-2019-shyam-ponappa-democracy-digital-india-and-networks</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecom2019-06-09T06:01:53ZBlog EntryApril 2019 Newsletter
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2019-newsletter
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) newsletter for April 2019.</b>
<h3><span>Highlights for March 2019</span></h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The unprecedented growth of the fintech space in India has concomitantly come with regulatory challenges around inter alia privacy and security concerns. Aayush Rathi and Shweta Mohandas <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aayush-rathi-and-shweta-mohandas-april-30-2019-fintech-in-india-a-study-of-privacy-and-security-commitments">have co-authored a report</a> which has analysed the privacy policies of 48 fintech companies operating in India to better understand some of these concerns.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In today’s increasingly digitized world where an increasing volume of information is being stored in the digital format, access to data generated by digital technologies and on digital platforms is important in solving crimes online and offline. One such mechanism for international cooperation is the Convention on Cybercrime adopted in Budapest (“Budapest Convention”). Vipul Kharbanda <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/vipul-kharbanda-april-29-2019-international-cooperation-in-cybercrime-the-budapest-convention">has provided a deeper analysis</a> on this in his research paper.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS has responded to ICANN's proposed renewal of .org Registry. CIS has found severe issues with the proposed agreement. These centre around the removal of price caps and imposing obligations being currently deliberated in an ongoing Policy Development Process. Akriti Bopanna <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/akriti-bopanna-april-28-2019-cis-response-to-icanns-proposed-renewal-of-org-registry">drafted the response</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion released a draft e-commerce policy in February for which stakeholder comments were sought. CIS <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-response-to-call-for-stakeholder-comments-draft-e-commerce-policy">responded to the request for comments</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/ananth-subray-april-15-2019-cis-a2k-proposal-to-wikimedia-foundation-for-2019-2020">has submitted its proposal form for the year 2019 - 2020</a> to the Wikimedia Foundation. CIS thanks all community members who gave valuable suggestions and inputs for drafting this proposal.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; ">In 2017–2018, the </span><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation" style="text-align: justify; " title="Wikimedia Foundation">Wikimedia Foundation</a><span style="text-align: justify; "> (WMF) and Google collaborated to start a pilot project in India, working closely with the </span><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K" style="text-align: justify; " title="CIS-A2K">Centre for Internet and Society</a><span style="text-align: justify; "> (CIS) and the </span><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India" style="text-align: justify; " title="Wikimedia India">Wikimedia India</a><span style="text-align: justify; ">chapter (WMIN). <span style="text-align: justify; ">This project, titled Project Tiger was aimed at encouraging Wikipedia communities to create locally relevant and high-quality content in Indian languages. </span>CIS-A2K team submitted Project Tiger final report.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; ">The <a href="https://medium.com/rawblog">r@w blog </a>features works by researchers and practitioners working in India and elsewhere at the intersections of internet, digital media and society, and highlights and materials from ongoing research and events at the researchers@work programme at CIS. On the r@w blog we featured an essay titled <a href="https://medium.com/rawblog/the-internet-in-the-indian-judicial-imagination-4b7434bd2353">'The Internet in the Indian Judicial Imagination'</a> by Divij Joshi, as part of a series on <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/call-for-essays-studying-internet-in-india">Studying Internet in India (2015)</a>; and audio recording of a session titled <a href="https://medium.com/rawblog/objectsofdigitalgovernance-ec4194a24bb">#ObjectsofDigitalGovernance </a>by Khetrimayum Monish Singh, Rajiv K. Mishra, and Vidya Subramanian which was part of the <a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc17">Internet Researchers Conference, 2017.</a><br /></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>Jobs</h3>
<p>CIS is hiring:</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-a2k-finance-officer-call-for-application">CIS-A2K Finance Officer: Call for application</a> (Only women candidates).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/jobs/internship">Internship</a><span> - applications accepted throughout the year.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3></h3>
<h3><br />CIS and the News</h3>
<p>The following news pieces were authored by CIS and published on its website in January:</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-april-3-2019-shyam-ponappa-delayed-cash-flows-and-npas">Delayed Cash Flows and NPAs</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; April 3, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/hindustan-times-april-16-2019-gurshabad-grover-to-preserve-freedoms-online-amend-it-act">To preserve freedoms online, amend the IT Act</a> (Gurshabad Grover; April 16, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-april-21-2019-nishant-shah-getting-through-an-election-made-for-social-media-gaze">Digital Native: Getting through an election made for the social media gaze</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; April 21, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<div></div>
<ul>
</ul>
<h3><br />CIS in the News</h3>
<p>CIS was quoted in these news articles published elsewhere:</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-sai-sachin-ravikumar-april-3-2019-reddit-telegram-among-websites-blocked-in-india">Reddit, Telegram among websites blocked in India, say internet groups</a> (Sai Sachin Ravikumar; Business Standard; April 3, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/quartz-india-aria-thaker-april-4-2019-data-leaks-and-cybersecurity-should-be-an-election-issue-in-india">Data leaks could wreak havoc in India, so why aren’t they an issue this election?</a> (Aria Thaker; Quartz India; April 4, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-sweta-akundi-april-8-2019-microchips-cookies-and-the-internet-privacy-authentication">Cookies, not the monster you may think</a> (Sweta Akundi; Hindu; April 8, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-today-april-17-2019-gulam-jeelani-tik-tok-craze-a-ticking-time-bomb-for-city">TikTok craze a ticking time bomb for city</a> (Gulam Jeelani with inputs from Priyanka Sharma and Ajay Kumar; India Today; April 17, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ananya-bhattacharya-quartz-india-april-19-2019-india-bans-tiktok-over-porn-but-not-facebook-twitter-instagram">Almost every social network has a porn problem—so why is India banning only TikTok?</a> (Ananya Bhattacharya; Quartz India; April 19, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/leon-kaiser-netzpolitik-april-24-2019-jugendschutz-und-cyber-grooming-indisches-gericht-hebt-eigenen-tiktok-bann-wieder-auf">Child protection and cyber-grooming: Indian court rescinds its own Tiktok ban</a> (Leon Kaiser; Netzpolitik.org; April 24, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<div></div>
<ul>
</ul>
<div></div>
<h2><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipdedia</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p><strong>Project Proposal / Reports</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/supporting-indian-language-wikipedias-program-report">Supporting Indian Language Wikipedias Program/Report </a><span>(Gopala Krishna A; April 5, 2019).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/ananth-subray-april-15-2019-cis-a2k-proposal-to-wikimedia-foundation-for-2019-2020">CIS-A2K proposal to Wikimedia Foundation for 2019-2020</a> (Ananth Subray; April 15, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<p><span><br /><strong>Blog Entries</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/subodh-kulkarni-april-9-2019-wikimedia-projects-session-at-tata-trust-vikas-anvesh-foundation">Wikimedia projects orientation session at Tata Trust's Vikas Anvesh Foundation</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 9, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/indic-wikisource-speak-sushant-savla">Indic Wikisource Speak: Sushant Savla</a> (Jayanta Nath; April 10, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/subodh-kulkarni-april-10-2019-svg-translation-workshop-at-kbc-north-maharashtra-university">SVG Translation Workshop at KBC North Maharashtra University </a>(Subodh Kulkarni; April 10, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/content-donation-sessions-with-authors">Content Donation Sessions with Authors</a> (Subodh Kulkarni; April 10, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/indic-wikisource-speak-ajit-kumar-tiwari">Indic Wikisource speak : Ajit Kumar Tiwari</a> (Jayanta Nath; April 11, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<h3><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance"><br />Internet Governance</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Cyber Security</h3>
<p><strong>Research Paper</strong></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/vipul-kharbanda-april-29-2019-international-cooperation-in-cybercrime-the-budapest-convention">International Cooperation in Cybercrime: The Budapest Convention</a> (Vipul Kharbanda; April 29, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy</h3>
<p><strong>Research Paper</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aayush-rathi-and-shweta-mohandas-april-30-2019-fintech-in-india-a-study-of-privacy-and-security-commitments">FinTech in India: A Study of Privacy and Security Commitments</a> (Aayush Rathi and Shweta Mohandas; April 30, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Submission</strong></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-response-to-call-for-stakeholder-comments-draft-e-commerce-policy">CIS Response to Call for Stakeholder Comments: Draft E-Commerce Policy</a> (Arindrajit Basu, Vipul Kharbanda, Elonnai Hickok and Amber Sinha; April 10, 2019).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div></div>
<div><strong>Participation in Events</strong></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://http//cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ietf-104-prague">IETF 104 Prague</a> (Organized by IETF; Prague; March 23 - 29, 2019). Karan Saini and Gurshabad Grover participated in the event.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-phantom-public-the-role-of-social-media-in-democracy">The Phantom Public: The Role of Social Media in Democracy</a> (Organized by Ambedkar University; New Delhi; April 3, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/crea-reconference">(re) conference</a> (Organized by CREA; New Delhi; April 10 - 12, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/data-for-development-mapping-key-considerations-for-policy-and-practice-in-india">Data for Development: Mapping key considerations for policy and practice in India</a><span> (Organized by Azim Premchand University; April 24, 2019). Arindrajit Basu delivered a talk. </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Artificial Intelligence</h3>
<p>Participation in Event</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/news/policy-lab-on-artificial-intelligence-democracy">Policy Lab on Artificial Intelligence & Democracy</a> (Organized by Tandem Research, in partnership with Microsoft Research and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; Bangalore; April 2-3, 2019). Shweta Mohandas participated in the event. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Free Speech and Expression</h3>
<p><strong>Submission</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/akriti-bopanna-april-28-2019-cis-response-to-icanns-proposed-renewal-of-org-registry">CIS Response to ICANN's proposed renewal of .org Registry</a> (Akriti Bopanna; April 28, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<p><strong>Event Organized</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/internet-speech-perspectives-on-regulation-and-policy">Internet Speech: Perspectives on Regulation and Policy</a> ( Organized by CIS; India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; April 5, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Blog Entry</strong></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/akriti-bopanna-april-4-2019-didp-33-on-icann-s-2012-gtld-round-auction-fund">DIDP #33 On ICANN's 2012 gTLD round auction fund</a> (Akriti Bopanna; April 4, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<div></div>
<h2><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw">Researchers at Work (RAW)</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by an emerging need to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It aims to produce local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Announcement</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/call-for-essays-studying-internet-in-india">Call for Essays: Studying Internet in India</a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; April 6, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Blog Entries</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://medium.com/rawblog/the-internet-in-the-indian-judicial-imagination-4b7434bd2353">The Internet in the Indian Judicial Imagination</a> (Divij Joshi; April 21, 2019).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://medium.com/rawblog/objectsofdigitalgovernance-ec4194a24bb">#ObjectsOfDigitalGovernance</a> (Khetrimayum Monish Singh, Rajiv K. Mishra, and Vidya Subramanian; April 21, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<p><span>Telecom</span></p>
<p><strong>Article</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-april-3-2019-shyam-ponappa-delayed-cash-flows-and-npas">Delayed Cash Flows and NPAs </a>(Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; April 3, 2019 and Organizing India Blogspot; April 4, 2019).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Participation in Event</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/news/bif-conference-on-201csubstitutability-of-ott-services-with-telecom-services-regulation-of-ott-services">BIF conference on “Substitutability of OTT Services with Telecom Services & Regulation of OTT Services</a> (Organized by Broadband India Forum; Taj Mahal Hotel, Mansingh Road, New Delhi; April 5, 2019). Anubha Sinha was a panellist at a BIF conference on “Substitutability of OTT Services with Telecom Services & Regulation of OTT Services”.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
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<p>► Request for Collaboration</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><i>CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects</i>.</div>
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<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2019-newsletter'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2019-newsletter</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecomResearchers at WorkInternet GovernanceAccess to Knowledge2019-09-04T14:36:41ZPageDelayed Cash Flows and NPAs
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-april-3-2019-shyam-ponappa-delayed-cash-flows-and-npas
<b>We need to rid ourselves of a tolerance of delayed payments to avoid their consequences.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Shyam Ponappa was published in <a class="external-link" href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/delayed-cash-flows-and-npas-119040301417_1.html">Business Standard</a> on April 3, 2019 and in <a class="external-link" href="https://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2019/04/delayed-cash-flows-and-npas.html">Organizing India Blogspot </a>on April 4, 2019.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Many of us in India become inured to a laxity in standards and to the implementation of laws. There may be good reasons for targeting one of these for a start, and that is delayed payments. These are broadly tolerated by citizens, farmers, corporates, small businesses, and government agencies. Perhaps this is because payment delays are merely one among several instances we encounter of mediocre standards, indifferent quality, or shoddy performance. Delayed payments are the inception of process flow problems that lead to non-performing assets (NPAs). Perhaps delays in cash flows are a fundamental flaw in our processes that we need to fix as a root cause that drives much else, to begin to address a gamut of inadequacies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To see why, consider delays in government payments. Central and state government payments are often delayed, apparently even more than in the private sector. Even government payments related to high priority IT systems, for instance, are notoriously delayed. Major IT companies complain of losing money on large projects for this reason. Nasscom estimated a couple of years ago that government dues to the IT industry could be more than Rs 5,000 crore.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some factors that render domestic projects attractive to the IT industry are the large domestic IT market, projects of significant size from state and central governments, and slowing exports over the last several years. The disincentives, however, are lower margins, long lead times for government contracts, payment delays, and a history of disputed payments and litigation. Also, IT majors complain that government processes often don’t accommodate changes in the terms of contracts when there are changes in the scope of projects. This is why IT companies are averse to domestic government projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Quite apart from these opportunity costs, delayed payments create serious cash flow problems for the economy, with outstandings running typically for many months, and sometimes for years. While the instances above are about the IT industry, there are similar problems in other sectors as well. In the construction industry, for example, estimates of private contractors’ dues held up by delays including disputes range from Rs 1 trillion to Rs 3 trillion.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While some bank NPAs undoubtedly result from fraud and malfeasance (which are outside the scope of this article), disruptions in cash flows in commercially sound projects can result in the creation of NPAs. This aspect has to be addressed as a precursor to stressed assets in resolving NPAs, as is evident in considering the problems of power generating companies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A Ministry of Power portal (http://www.praapti.in/) shows that overdue payments from electricity distributors to power generating companies at the end of January 2019 amounted to Rs 28,504 crore. Meanwhile, in the Supreme Court, 34 power generating companies with NPAs of Rs 1.4 trillion were battling an RI Circular of February 12, 2018, that consigned their entire investment of double the NPA amount (Rs 3 trillion) to bankruptcy proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The reason was that their dues had not been resolved within the RBI-mandated 180 days by August 2018. The RBI insisted on bankruptcy as a time-bound consequence, regardless of the cause of default. By contrast, the Ministry of Power and the supplicants objected to the RBI Circular, attributing loan stress in several cases to factors beyond the borrowers’ control. These factors included reasons such as payment delays by state distributors, problems in the supply of coal, or in some cases, because consortiums of lenders were close to restructuring loans, whereas declaring bankruptcy would not resolve the underlying causes. A number of bankers suggested that the 180-day rule for bankruptcy in the RBI Circular was impractical. Major banks consider restructuring as the appropriate solution when defaults are caused by factors outside the borrowers’ control, such as delayed payments from state electricity boards or by government agencies, state government overdues, or major adverse changes such as the unexpected imposition of duties by supplier countries on coal.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Supreme Court quashed the RBI Circular of February 2018 on April 2, 2019. This will likely pave the way for more constructive outcomes for many of these projects, provided the RBI and the banks follow through with feasible restructuring. The alternative of selling stalled projects that were unworkable because of reasons such as there being no fuel supply or power purchase agreement, or overdue payments by customers (state or central agencies) were outstanding, if indeed buyers could be found, would hardly solve these problems. The projects would remain stalled or unproductive until the underlying inadequacies were made good, whether by providing fuel, power purchase agreements, collecting overdue payments, or enabling realistic tariffs to yield viable margins. Until these deficiencies are made good, the problems will remain.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Popular opinion, however, seems to favour “selling off bankrupt projects” regardless of extenuating circumstances, even when owners have no control over them, although selling them will not rectify the conditions that created the default. This approach of attempting to sell off projects to get rid of problems without addressing the underlying issues for otherwise sound projects is best abandoned. To be flip, it’s like an “Off with his head!” approach.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">What's needed</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Standards for on-time payments are the real requirement, with penalties, e.g., double the SBI rate, enforced strictly for non-performance. Central and state governments need to take the lead on this as an essential aspect of governance. These difficult steps will be a real bear, but are necessary if we are to eliminate NPAs. Is this a realistic expectation? As realistic as it is to expect to eliminate the resulting NPAs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The RBI will need to provide regulatory oversight, instituting real-time monitoring and reporting systems, and taking prompt action as necessary. Properly designed and deployed, such systems would prevent one form of ever-greening of loans at inception. Separate systems for loan renewals could be designed and deployed to prevent other aspects of ever-greening. These coordinated steps could prevent good assets from turning into NPAs.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-april-3-2019-shyam-ponappa-delayed-cash-flows-and-npas'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-april-3-2019-shyam-ponappa-delayed-cash-flows-and-npas</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecom2019-04-28T04:36:39ZBlog EntryBIF conference on “Substitutability of OTT Services with Telecom Services & Regulation of OTT Services
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/bif-conference-on-201csubstitutability-of-ott-services-with-telecom-services-regulation-of-ott-services
<b>Anubha Sinha was a panellist at a BIF conference on “Substitutability of OTT Services with Telecom Services & Regulation of OTT Services” organized by Broadband India Forum on April 5, 2019 at Taj Mahal Hotel, Mansingh Road, New Delhi.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The event was supported by the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Govt. of India, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Govt. of India, NITI Aayog, and Department of Science and Technology. <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/files/ott-services">Click to view the agenda</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/bif-conference-on-201csubstitutability-of-ott-services-with-telecom-services-regulation-of-ott-services'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/bif-conference-on-201csubstitutability-of-ott-services-with-telecom-services-regulation-of-ott-services</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminBroadbandTelecom2019-04-12T00:52:07ZNews ItemRecapturing the Commons
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-shyam-ponappa-march-7-2019-recapturing-the-commons
<b>Regulations that facilitate infrastructure with appropriate public resource use will enhance productivity.</b>
<p>The article was published in <a class="external-link" href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/recapturing-the-commons-119030700042_1.html">Business Standard</a> on March 7, 2019 and in <a class="external-link" href="https://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2019/03/recapturing-commons.html">Organizing India Blogspot</a> on March 8, 2019.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Growth in the third quarter was disappointing, but there are signs of a cyclical recovery, with a Purchasing Managers Index for manufacturing at a 14-month high. For a significant upward shift of our growth curve, however, apart from lower interest rates, policy-makers have to be constructive. What might we wish for? Here are some suggestions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Accept the reality that investible funds in India are insufficient for our needs. These include our stock and net inflow of capital, and profits available for investment. We can try to increase our productive capacity or choose business-as-usual, thereby staying below our potential. Why? Because our activities aren’t profitable enough to induce and sustain investment. We need investment —in hard infrastructure, such as transportation and logistics, electricity, water and sewerage, and communications, and in second-order infrastructure, such as security and law and order, health care, education and training, banking, finance and insurance. There’s also the need for reorganisation of markets and practices, e.g., in agriculture, infrastructure, and government procurement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There’s little doubt that <a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/digital-connectivity" target="_blank">digital connectivity </a>is invaluable for all these. While the imperative is clear, the question is how to orchestrate achieving the desired results.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The telecom operators, alas, have low profitability, inadequate network coverage, and too much debt. Continuing as before means subpar access and productivity for all. We are all hamstrung, and even more so in rural areas. Because of the expanse an7d scattered users there, connectivity entails much higher costs with lower revenue potential.<br /><br /><strong>Self-Organising Infrastructure – A Conceptual Flaw Without Regulatory Support</strong><br />Meanwhile, there are conceptual flaws in our approach. The National Optical Fibre Network (Bharat Broadband Network Limited or BharatNet) was conceived as a countrywide fibre backbone. The plan was for optical fibre links to 250,000 gram panchayat villages covering India’s approximately 600,000 inhabited villages. A major assumption, however, was that private operators would build access networks to villages and to users. This was unrealistic for a number of reasons. First, there’s the cost of covering sparse users over large expanses with low revenue potential. Second, the supportive regulations for wireless technologies to build the access networks were/are not in place. For example, even for the established 5 GHz WiFi range used globally for WiFi hotspots, restrictive policies meant that 5 GHz equipment could not be used effectively in India in urban or rural installations. This changed with new regulations for 5 GHz, but only four months ago in October 2018 (for details see <a href="https://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-great-start-on-wi-fi-reforms.html" target="_blank"><em>https://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-great-start-on-wi-fi-reforms.html</em></a>).<br /><br />Other wireless technologies for intermediate- and last-mile links are still blocked, and need enabling regulations.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The 700 MHz band: No operators bid for this given its high price, although it is very useful for covering distances of 5-10 km, and can penetrate walls and foliage. This band together with the 500 and 600 MHz bands could be used to connect gram panchayats to nearby villages. A study of inter-site distances in 14 states shows that most villages would be covered with this range (see Chart below).<br />Study of Inter Site Distances - Gram Panchayats and Villages</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KlC7Dz6JJYs/XIKo143rHMI/AAAAAAAAGE4/lQvz3RYg5WAHdyw7FGtFq3bsZl9rM-0FQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Study%2Bof%2BInter%2BSite%2BDistances%2B%255BRev%2B2%255D-%2BGram%2BPanchayats%2Band%2BVillages.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center; "><a class="external-link" href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KlC7Dz6JJYs/XIKo143rHMI/AAAAAAAAGE4/lQvz3RYg5WAHdyw7FGtFq3bsZl9rM-0FQCEwYBhgL/s1600/Study%2Bof%2BInter%2BSite%2BDistances%2B%255BRev%2B2%255D-%2BGram%2BPanchayats%2Band%2BVillages.jpg"><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KlC7Dz6JJYs/XIKo143rHMI/AAAAAAAAGE4/lQvz3RYg5WAHdyw7FGtFq3bsZl9rM-0FQCEwYBhgL/s320/Study%2Bof%2BInter%2BSite%2BDistances%2B%255BRev%2B2%255D-%2BGram%2BPanchayats%2Band%2BVillages.jpg" /></a></p>
<ul>
<li>Source: <a href="https://tsdsi.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Krishna-Ganti-Day-1-5th-Session-1.pdf" target="_blank"><em>https://tsdsi.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Krishna-Ganti-Day-1-5th-Session-1.pdf</em></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The 500 and 600 MHz bands are allocated for TV, and therefore are part of the “tragedy of the unused commons”. Only a small fraction is used for broadcasting in India because of limited free-to-air TV and better alternatives. As they are earmarked for broadcasting, they are not used for telephony either.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The 70-80 GHz band (E-band) is effective for short-range links covering more users at 3-4 km, but not permitted in India, although it is light-licensed in many countries with nominal fees, e.g., the USA, UK, Russia, and Australia. While ideally our regulations should align with global norms, there are exorbitant charges on operators (reportedly 37 per cent, plus corporate taxes), a debt overhang from spectrum auctions, huge investment needs, and relatively low revenue potential. Compelling arguments to let operators use the E-band with unlicensed access, with registry on a geo-location database to manage interference, to be reviewed after some years. The additional traffic will generate revenues from which government collections will increase.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The 60 GHz (V-band for distances up to 1.6 km): the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) opposes making it licence-free as in most countries, and wants it assigned to operators for access and backhaul. For the same reasons as for E-band, operators could be allowed unlicensed access, with a review after some years.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><br /><strong>Market Structure and Organisation</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> </strong>A larger problem is that legacy structural and organisational issues need concerted efforts to take requisite policy initiatives. This is perhaps a greater, more urgent need for ubiquitous connectivity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Successive governments have struggled with revival plans for BSNL and MTNL, somewhat analogous to Air India and Indian Airlines in aviation. Governments have not provided sustained support for ambitious connectivity objectives. There is sometimes inadequate understanding of fast-changing, technically complex enterprises, and episodic attention is given to large enterprises that need timely capital- and skill-intensive decisions (and decision-makers in place), and the upgrading of skills and operating practices. BSNL and MTNL are declining, with bailouts, market disruption through price-cutting, and inability to deliver profits. This is a huge opportunity cost on citizens. However, it is conceivable that with appropriate leadership, and organisational and capital backing, these enterprises could contribute effectively to ubiquitous connectivity, rather than being a drag and/or a disruptive factor. This could happen, for instance, if an alliance were possible with private sector operators providing leadership, organisation and capital, while state ownership concentrates on safeguarding the public interest.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Bharti Enterprises’ Chairman Sunil Mittal has suggested an alliance with Vodafone for an optical fibre network. Bharti and Vodafone already have a joint venture, Indus Towers, providing passive infrastructure services to operators. If regulations enabled active infrastructure from a consortium including BSNL and MTNL, it would leverage the infrastructure while reducing the capital requirements, and increase delivery capability. The entire thrust of regulations could be oriented to facilitating service delivery, leveraging capital, equipment and human resources.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The regulatory approach should aim to facilitate access equitably to public resources that belong to citizens, and not to create obstacles.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-shyam-ponappa-march-7-2019-recapturing-the-commons'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-shyam-ponappa-march-7-2019-recapturing-the-commons</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecom2019-04-03T01:44:54ZBlog EntryProject Loon
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/mit-technology-review-february-18-2015-project-loon
<b>Billions of people could get online for the first time thanks to helium balloons that Google will soon send over many places cell towers don’t reach. </b>
<p>The article <a class="external-link" href="http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/534986/project-loon/">published in MIT Technology Review</a> quotes Sunil Abraham.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">You climb 170 steps up a series of dusty wooden ladders to reach the top of Hangar Two at Moffett Federal Airfield near Mountain View, California. The vast, dimly lit shed was built in 1942 to house airships during a war that saw the U.S. grow into a technological superpower. A perch high in the rafters is the best way to appreciate the strangeness of something in the works at Google—a part of the latest incarnation of American technical dominance.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On the floor far below are Google employees who look tiny as they tend to a pair of balloons, 15 meters across, that resemble giant white pumpkins. Google has launched hundreds of these balloons into the sky, lofted by helium. At this moment, a couple of dozen float over the Southern Hemisphere at an altitude of around 20 kilometers, in the rarely visited stratosphere—nearly twice the height of commercial airplanes. Each balloon supports a boxy gondola stuffed with solar-powered electronics. They make a radio link to a telecommunications network on the ground and beam down high-speed cellular Internet coverage to smartphones and other devices. It’s known as Project Loon, a name chosen for its association with both flight and insanity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Google says these balloons can deliver widespread economic and social benefits by bringing Internet access to the 60 percent of the world’s people who don’t have it. Many of those 4.3 billion people live in rural places where telecommunications companies haven’t found it worthwhile to build cell towers or other infrastructure. After working for three years and flying balloons for more than three million kilometers, Google says Loon balloons are almost ready to step in.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is odd for a large public company to build out infrastructure aimed at helping the world’s poorest people. But in addition to Google’s professed desires to help the world, the economics of ad-supported Web businesses give the company other reasons to think big. It’s hard to find new customers in Internet markets such as the United States. Getting billions more people online would provide a valuable new supply of eyeballs and personal data for ad targeting. That’s one reason Project Loon will have competition: in 2014 Facebook bought a company that makes solar-powered drones so it can start its own airborne Internet project.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Google’s planet-scale social-engineering project is much further along. In tests with major cellular carriers, the balloons have provided high-speed connections to people in isolated parts of Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. Mike Cassidy, Project Loon’s leader, says the technology is now sufficiently cheap and reliable for Google to start planning how to roll it out. By the end of 2015, he wants to have enough balloons in the air to test nearly continuous service in several parts of the Southern Hemisphere. Commercial deployment would follow: Google expects cellular providers to rent access to the balloons to expand their networks. Then the number of people in the world who still lack Internet access should start to shrink, fast.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Balloon revolution</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“HARMLESS SCIENCE EXPERIMENT.” That’s what was written on the boxes carried by the balloons that the secretive Google X lab began to launch over California’s Central Valley in 2012, along with a phone number and the promise of a reward for safe return. Inside the boxes was a modified office Wi-Fi router. The balloons were made by two seamsters hired from the fashion industry, from supplies bought at hardware stores.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Project Loon is now much less like a science project. In 2013, Google began working with a balloon manufacturer, <a href="http://ravenaerostar.com/" target="_blank">Raven Aerostar</a>, which expanded a factory and opened another to make the inflatable “envelope” for the balloons. That June, Google revealed the existence of the project and described its first small-scale field trials, in which Loon balloons provided Internet service to people in a rural area of New Zealand. In 2014, Project Loon focused on turning a functional but unwieldy prototype into technology that’s ready to expand the world’s communication networks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Loon’s leaders planned to buy their own space on the radio spectrum so their balloons could operate independently of existing wireless networks. But Google CEO Larry Page nixed that idea and said the balloons should instead be leased to wireless carriers, who could use the chunks of the airwaves they already own and put up ground antennas to link the balloons into their networks. That saved Google from spending billions on spectrum licenses and turned potential competitors into allies. “Nearly every telco we talk to wants to do it,” says Cassidy.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Project Loon aims to change the economics of Internet access</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Google has also made major improvements to its stratospheric craft. One of the most significant was developing a way to accurately pilot balloons across thousands of miles without any form of propulsion. The stratosphere, which typically is used only by weather balloons and spy planes, is safely above clouds, storms, and commercial flights. But it has strong winds, sometimes exceeding 300 kilometers per hour. Providing reliable wireless service means being able to guarantee that there will always be a balloon within 40 kilometers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Google solved that aviation problem by turning it into a computer problem. Winds blow in different directions and at different speeds in different layers of the stratosphere. Loon balloons exploit that by changing altitude. As a smaller balloon inside the main one inflates or deflates, they can rise or fall to seek out the winds that will send them where Google wants them to go. It’s all directed by software in a Google data center that incorporates wind forecasts from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration into a simulation of stratospheric airflow. “The idea is to find a way through the maze of the winds,” says Johan Mathe, a software engineer working on Loon’s navigation system. A fleet of balloons can be coördinated that way to ensure there is always one over any particular area.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The first version of this system sent new commands to Loon balloons once a day. It could find a way for a balloon launched over New Zealand, for example, to dawdle over land until prevailing winds pushed it east and over the Pacific Ocean. Then it would have the balloon ride the fastest winds possible for the 9,000-kilometer trip east to Chile. But that system could only get balloons within hundreds of kilometers of their intended target. For tests of Internet service in New Zealand and elsewhere, the company had to cheat, launching Loon balloons nearby to make sure they would be overhead. In late 2014, Google upgraded its balloon navigation system to give balloons fresh orders as frequently as every 15 minutes. They can now be steered with impressive accuracy over intercontinental distances. In early 2015, a balloon traveled 10,000 kilometers and got within 500 meters of its desired cell tower.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Google has also had to figure out how to make the balloons sturdier, so they can spend more time in the stratosphere. The longer they stay up, the lower the cost of operating the network. However, weight considerations mean a balloon’s envelope must be delicate. Made from polyethylene plastic with the feel of a heavy-weight trash bag, the material is easily pierced with a fingertip, and a stray grain of grit in the factory can make a pinprick-size hole that will bring a balloon back to earth after less than two weeks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Preventing those leaks is the work of a squad inside Project Loon that has doggedly chased down every possible cause and come up with preventive measures. These researchers have studied balloons retrieved from the stratosphere, pored over video footage of others inflated to bursting on the ground, and developed a “leak sniffer” to find tiny holes by detecting helium. The leak squad’s findings have led to changes in the design of the balloon envelope, fluffier socks for factory workers who must step on the envelopes during production, and new machines to automate some manufacturing steps. Altogether, Google has introduced the first major changes the balloon industry has seen in decades, says Mahesh Krishnaswamy, who oversees manufacturing for Project Loon and previously worked on Apple’s manufacturing operations. Those changes have paid off. In the summer of 2013, Loon balloons lasted only eight days before having to be brought down, says Krishnaswamy. Today balloons last on average over 100 days, with most exceeding that time in flight; a handful last as long as 130 days.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Google has also made many improvements to the design of the Loon balloons’ payloads and electronics. But it still has problems left to solve. For example, Google needs to perfect a way of making radio or laser connections between balloons, so that they can pass data along in an aerial chain to connect areas far from any ground station.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">But Cassidy says Project Loon’s technology is already at a point where stratospheric Internet service can be tested at a global scale. In 2015 he aims to evaluate “quasi-continuous” service along a thin ribbon around the Southern Hemisphere. That ribbon is mostly ocean, but it will require a fleet of more than 100 Loon balloons circling the globe, says Cassidy. “Maybe 90 percent of the time,” he says, “people in that ring will have at least one balloon overhead and be able to use it.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Good signals</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“It was just for some minutes, but it was wonderful,” says Silvana Pereira, a school principal in a rural area of northeastern Brazil. She’s thinking back to an unusual geography class last summer in which pupils at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/E.+M.+Linoca+Gayoso+Castelo+Branco/@-4.7130297,-41.980777,13z/data=%214m2%213m1%211s0x7922eceffe672e1:0x2ddb12c3900b6966" target="_blank">Linoca Gayoso Castelo Branco School</a> could use the Internet thanks to a Loon balloon drifting, invisibly, high overhead. Internet service is nonexistent in the area, but that day’s lesson on Portugal was enhanced by Wikipedia and online maps. “They were so involved that the 45 minutes of a regular class wouldn’t be enough to satisfy their demand for knowledge,” says Pereira.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Her school is only around 100 kilometers from a metro area of more than one million people, but its location is too poor and sparsely populated for Brazil’s wireless carriers to invest in Internet infrastructure. Google’s goal is for Project Loon to change those economics. It should be possible to operate one Loon balloon for just hundreds of dollars per day, Cassidy says, and each one should be able to serve a few thousand connections at any time. The company won’t reveal how much it is spending to set all this up, or even how many people work on the project.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Cassidy is also confident that his balloons will be able to hold their own against Internet delivered by drones (both Google and Facebook are working on that) or satellites (an idea being pursued by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk). Those projects are less far along than Loon, and it’s expensive to build and power drones or launch satellites. “For quite some time, balloons will have a big cost advantage,” Cassidy says. Nevertheless, Google might be hedging its bets with more than just drones: in January it invested $900 million in SpaceX.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Technology is not the only thing keeping 4.3 billion people offline, though. For example, policies in India mandate that telecom companies provide coverage to poor as well as rich areas, but the government hasn’t enforced the rules, says Sunil Abraham, executive director of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/" target="_blank">Centre for Internet and Society</a>, a think tank in Bangalore. He is also wary of Project Loon because of the way Google and other Western Internet companies have operated in developing countries in recent years. They have cut deals with telecoms in India and other countries to make it free to access their websites, disadvantaging local competitors. “Anyone coming with deep pockets and new technology I would welcome,” he says, but he adds that governments should fix up their patchy regulatory regimes first to ensure that everyone—not just Google and its partners—really does benefit.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Those working on Project Loon are confident the public good will be served. They seem as motivated by a desire to make people’s lives better as by Loon’s outlandish technology. Cassidy’s voice wavers with emotion when he thinks back to seeing the delight of Pereira’s pupils during their Internet-enabled geography lesson. “This is a way of changing the world,” he says.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/mit-technology-review-february-18-2015-project-loon'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/mit-technology-review-february-18-2015-project-loon</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2015-03-09T16:17:41ZNews ItemNovember 2018 Newsletter
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/november-2018-newsletter
<b>Our newsletter for the month of November.</b>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Highlights</h2>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>CIS has <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/about/statement-on-serious-allegations-on-social-media-24112018">published a statement</a> on its website in response to the serious allegations against CIS members and the CIS workplace on social media. CIS has taken note of the concern raised on a social platform, and its Internal Committee (IC), constituted as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, has taken some critical steps. CIS has engaged <a class="external-link" href="https://www.poshatwork.com/">POSH at Work</a> to review the case and make recommendations to the Executive Director of CIS.</li>
<li>Anubha Sinha attended the 37th meeting of WIPO SCCR held in Geneva in the month of November 2018. During the week she made two statements on behalf of CIS and participated in a panel discussion and a closed door meeting to brief government delegates from the Asia pacific region on the WIPO limitations and exceptions agenda. CIS made statements on <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/37th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-agenda-on-limitations-and-exceptions">limitations and exceptions</a> and the <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-views-on-on-the-proposed-wipo-treaty-for-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations-at-side-event-organised-by-knowledge-ecology-international">proposed treaty for the protection of broadcasting organizations</a>. Transcript of her talk can be <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-views-on-on-the-proposed-wipo-treaty-for-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations-at-side-event-organised-by-knowledge-ecology-international">accessed here</a>.</li>
<li>A <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/arindrajit-basu-and-elonnai-hickok-november-30-2018-cyberspace-and-external-affairs">memorandum outlining India's strategy to global cyber norms formulation processes</a> authored by Elonnai Hickok and Arindrajit Basu and edited by Aayush Rathi and Shruti Trikanad. The memorandum seeks to summarise the state of the global debate in cyberspace; outline how India can craft it’s global strategic vision and finally, provides a set of recommendations for the Ministry of External Affairs as they craft their cyber diplomacy strategy. </li>
<li>The institution of open standards is as a formidable regulatory regime governing the Internet while facilitating its growth as a network of networks. As a nation digitising rapidly and facing concerns in cybersecurity and Internet governance, there is a need for the Government of India to meaningfully participate at standards development organisations to represent the interests of the Indian populace and become a voice for the global South. Authors Aayush Rathi, Gurshabad Grover and Sunil Abraham <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/regulating-the-internet-the-government-of-india-standards-development-at-the-ietf">examine this in a policy brief</a>.</li>
<li>The Convention on Cybercrime adopted in Budapest (“Convention”) is the first and one of the most important multilateral treaties addressing the issue of internet and computer crimes. Vipul Kharbanda has analyzed this in his research paper titled <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/budapest-convention-and-the-information-technology-act">Budapest Convention and the Information Technology Act</a>.</li>
<li>Amber Sinha was one of the stakeholders who provided inputs to the Danish Expert Group on Data Ethics in June 2018 during their visit to New Delhi. The Expert Group has prepared and <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/danish-expert-group-on-data-ethics">submitted its final report</a>. </li>
<li>For the fourth edition of the Internet Researchers’ Conference (IRC19), CIS invited sessions that engage critically with the form, imagination, and politics of the *list*. The list of proposed sessions are finalized and <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-sessions">posted on this page</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Articles</h2>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/hindu-businessline-arindrajit-basu-october-30-2018-lessons-from-us-response-to-cyber-attacks">Lessons from US response to cyber attacks</a> (Arindrajit Basu; edited by Elonnai Hickok; Hindu Businessline; October 30, 2018). <i>Mirrored on CIS website on November 1</i>.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/nishant-shah-indian-express-november-11-2018-digital-native-one-selfie-does-a-tragedy-make">Digital Native: One Selfie Does a Tragedy Make</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; November 11, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">CIS in the Media</h2>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/deccan-chronicle-november-21-2018-open-street-maps-help-tackle-disaster-experts">Open Street Maps help tackle disasters: Experts</a> (Deccan Chronicle; November 21, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-november-22-2018-abhijit-ahaskar-are-connected-tech-toys-too-smart-for-their-own-good">Are connected tech toys too smart for their own good?</a> (Abhijit Ahaskar; Livemint; November 22, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/girls-schools-womens-pgs-the-shocking-results-when-you-google-bitches-near-me">Girls' schools, women's PGs: The shocking results when you Google 'bitches near me'</a> (News Minute; November 26, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-november-28-2018-kul-bhushan-amazon-launches-machine-learning-based-platform-for-healthcare-space">Amazon launches Machine Learning-based platform for healthcare space</a> (Kul Bhushan; Hindustan Times; November 28, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/report-from-oppression-to-liberation-reclaiming-the-right-to-privacy">Report: From Oppression to Liberation: Reclaiming the Right to Privacy</a> (Privacy International; November 28, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-nilesh-christopher-november-30-2018-are-chinese-video-apps-violating-the-indian-law">Are Chinese video apps violating the Indian law?</a> (Nilesh Christopher; Economic Times; November 30, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- </b><br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /> <b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Copyright and Patent</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/37th-sccr-cis-statement-on-cis-statement-on-the-proposed-treaty-for-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations">37th SCCR: CIS Statement on the Proposed Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations</a> (Anubha Sinha; November 29, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/37th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-agenda-on-limitations-and-exceptions">37th SCCR: CIS Statement on the Agenda on Limitations and Exceptions</a> (Anubha Sinha; November 29, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-views-on-on-the-proposed-wipo-treaty-for-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations-at-side-event-organised-by-knowledge-ecology-international">Views on on the proposed WIPO Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations at side-event organised by Knowledge Ecology International</a> (Anubha Sinha; November 29, 2018).<br /> <br /> </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Wikipedia</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/aditya-365">Aditya 365</a> (Pavan Santhosh; November 7, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Openness</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Our work in the Openness programme focuses on open data, especially open government data, open access, open education resources, open knowledge in Indic languages, open media, and open technologies and standards - hardware and software. We approach openness as a cross-cutting principle for knowledge production and distribution, and not as a thing-in-itself. <b><br /> Teaching</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/openness/news/lecture-on-open-access-and-open-content-licensing-at-icar-short-course">Lecture on Open Access and Open Content Licensing at ICAR</a> (short course) (ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research; Bangalore; November 13 - 22, 2018). Anubha Sinha delivered a lecture.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- </b><br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /> <b> -----------------------------------</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Cyber Security</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Research Papers<br /> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/budapest-convention-and-the-information-technology-act">Budapest Convention and the Information Technology Act</a> (Vipul Kharbanda; November 20, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/arindrajit-basu-and-elonnai-hickok-november-30-2018-cyberspace-and-external-affairs">Cyberspace and External Affairs:A Memorandum for India Summary </a>(Arindrajit Basu and Elonnai Hickok; edited by Aayush Rathi and Shruti Trikanad; November 30, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/regulating-the-internet-the-government-of-india-standards-development-at-the-ietf">Regulating the Internet: The Government of India & Standards Development at the IETF</a> (Aayush Rathi, Gurshabad Grover and Sunil Abraham; November 30, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Co-organized</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/workshop-on-cybersecurity-illustrations">Workshop on Cybersecurity Illustrations</a> (CIS, Bangalore; November 15, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<br />
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/connections-2018">Connections 2018</a> (Organized by Internet Engineering Task Force; Bangalore; October 31 - November 1, 2018). Gurshabad Grover attended the event.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ietf-103">IETF103</a> (Organized by Internet Engineering Task Force; Bangkok; November 3 - 9, 2018). Gurshabad Grover attended the event.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><br />►Free Speech and Expression</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Research Paper<br /> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/icann-work-stream-2-recommendations-on-accountability">ICANN Workstream 2 Recommendations on Accountability</a> (Akriti Bopanna; November 23, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/didp-31-on-icanns-fellowship-program">DIDP #32 On ICANN's Fellowship Program</a> (Akriti Bopanna; November 12, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/internet-freedom-at-crossroads-common-paths-towards-strengthening-human-rights-online">Internet Freedom at Crossroads - Common Paths towards Strengthening Human Rights Online</a> (Organized by Freedom Online; Berlin; November 28 - 30, 2018). Elonnai Hickok was a speaker.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Privacy</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry<br /> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/clarification-on-the-information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-report">Clarification on the Information Security Practices of Aadhaar Report</a> (Amber Sinha and Srinivas Kodali; November 5, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/building-a-community-of-practice-reflections-from-2nd-all-partners">Building a Community of Practice: Reflections from 2nd All Partners</a> (Organized by Partnership on AI; San Francisco, California; November 14 - 15, 2018). Elonnai Hickok spoke on the panel on the PAI working groups and co-lead the AI Labor and Economy working group meeting as co-chair of the group.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/briefing-on-bbc-news-pan-india-research-on-how-fake-news-digital-misinformation-spreads">Briefing on BBC News pan-India research on how 'fake news' / digital misinformation spreads</a> (Organized by BBC; New Delhi; November 16, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/dsci-bangalore-chapter-meet">DSCI Bangalore Chapter meet</a> (Organized by Data Security Council of India; 10K NASSCOM Startup Warehouse; Bangalore; November 22, 2018). Gurshabad Grover and Karan Saini attended the DSCI Bangalore Chapter meet.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/informational-privacy-in-india-an-emerging-discourse">Informational Privacy in India: An Emerging Discourse</a> (Organized by Centre for Policy Research and supported by Omidyar Network; New Delhi; November 29, 2018). Amber Sinha was a speaker on the first panel on privacy and its tradeoffs.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/facebook-privacy-design-sprint">Facebook Privacy Design Sprint</a> (Organized by Facebook and Quicksand; WeWork, Bangalore; November 30, 2018). Pranav Bidare and Saumyaa Naidu participated in the event.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Miscellaneous <b></b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Co-organized</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/sotm-asia-2018"><span class="external-link">SOTM Asia 2018</span></a> (Co-organized by CIS and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; November 17-18, 2018). Saumyaa Naidu, Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon participated in the event.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/speculative-futures-lab-on-artificial-intelligence-in-media-entertainment-and-gaming">Speculative Futures Lab on Artificial Intelligence in Media, Entertainment, and Gaming</a> (Organized by Quicksand; Bangalore; November 16 - 18, 2018). Pranav Bidare was a panelist.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/future-tech-and-future-law">Future Tech and Future Law</a> (Organized by Dept. of IT & BT, Government of Karnataka as part of Bengaluru Tech Summit; November 29 - December 1, 2018). Aayush Rathi was a speaker.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Gender <b></b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Statement</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/about/statement-on-serious-allegations-on-social-media-24112018">Statement on Serious Allegations against CIS Members and the CIS Workplace on Social Media</a> (Sunil Abraham; November 24, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/roundtable-on-intermediary-liability-and-gender-based-violence-at-the-digital-citizen-summit-2018">Roundtable on Intermediary Liability and Gender Based Violence at the Digital Citizen Summit, 2018</a> (Organized by Digital Empowerment Foundation; India International Centre, New Delhi; November 1, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/international-network-on-feminist-approaches-to-bioethics-2018">International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 2018</a> (Co-organized by Feminist Approaches to Bioethics and Sama - A Resource Centre for Women and Health; St. John's Medical College; Bangalore; December 3 - 5, 2018). Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon participated in the event as speakers. Aayush presented a paper 'Sexual Surveillance and Data Regimes: Development in the Data Economy' co-authored by himself and Ambika.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">----------------------------------- <br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- <b><b><br /> </b></b>CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources, and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Article</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-november-1-2018-shyam-ponappa-a-great-start-on-wifi-reforms">A great start on Wi-Fi reform</a>s (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; November 1, 2018 and Organizing India Blogspot; November 1, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>-----------------------------------</b><br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw">Researchers at Work</a> <br /> <b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by an emerging need to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It aims to produce local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>IRC19</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">List of proposed sessions:<br /> <b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-ayushmanbhavah" target="_blank">#AyushmanBhavah</a> - Arya Lakshmi and Adrij Chakraborty</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-butitisnotfunny" target="_blank">#ButItIsNotFunny</a> - Madhavi Shivaprasad and Sonali Sahoo</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-callingoutandin" target="_blank">#CallingOutAndIn</a> - Usha Raman, Radhika Gajjala, Riddhima Sharma, Tarishi Varma, Pallavi Guha, Sai Amulya Komarraju, and Sugandha Sehgal</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-digitalplatformattributes" target="_blank">#DigitalPlatformAttributes</a> - Nandakishore K N and Dr. V. Sridhar</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-enlistingprivacy" target="_blank">#EnlistingPrivacy</a> - Pawan Singh and Pranjal Jain</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-fomo" target="_blank">#FOMO</a> - Pritha Chakrabarti and Dr. Baidurya Chakrabarti</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-legitlists" target="_blank">#LegitLists - Form follows function: List by design</a> - Akriti Rastogi, Ishani Dey, and Sagorika Singha</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-listinterface" target="_blank">#ListInterface</a> - Bharath Sivakumar, Rakshita Siva, and Deepak Prince</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-listsasdatabase" target="_blank">#ListsAsDatabase</a> - Ria De and Samata Biswas</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-loshaandwhatfollowed" target="_blank">#LoSHAandWhatFollowed</a> - Anannya Chatterjee, Arunima Singh, Bhanu Priya Gupta, Renu Singh, and Rhea Bose</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-powerlisting" target="_blank">#PowerListing</a> - Dr. Shubhda Arora, Dr. Smitana Saikia, Prof. Nidhi Kalra, and Prof. Ravikant Kisana</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-socialmediationasgenderedjustice" target="_blank">#SocialMediationAsGenderedJustice</a> - Esther Anne Victoria Moraes and Manasa Priya Vasudevan</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-proposed-session-storiesrecordslegendsrituals" target="_blank">#StoriesRecordsLegendsRituals</a> - Priyanka, Aditya, Bhanu Prakash GS, Aishwarya, and Dinesh</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- </b><br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /> <b> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:sunil@cis-india.org">sunil@cis-india.org</a> (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:sumandro@cis-india.org">sumandro@cis-india.org</a> (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at tanveer@cis-india.org.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects</i>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/november-2018-newsletter'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/november-2018-newsletter</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecomResearchers at WorkInternet GovernanceAccess to Knowledge2018-12-19T02:41:01ZPageA great start on Wi-Fi reforms
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-november-1-2018-shyam-ponappa-a-great-start-on-wifi-reforms
<b>The 5 GHz regulations are exactly what we needed for a start. But we need a lot more, and not only from the DoT.</b>
<p>The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/a-great-start-on-wi-fi-reforms-118103101734_1.html">Business Standard</a> on November 1, 2018 and mirrored in <a class="external-link" href="https://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-great-start-on-wi-fi-reforms.html">Organizing India Blogspot</a> on the same day.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This item of detail is almost like magic. The MoC has done something splendid regarding Wi-Fi. Its 5 GHz spectrum regulations have everything we could wish for. But it’s a first step — only the first. Much more is needed to reap the benefits.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To put it in context, we now have a policy that enables effective broadband Wi-Fi hotspots, and profound changes in connectivity are feasible for the last mile in India, as in other countries. A high proportion of smartphone traffic abroad is over Wi-Fi. In the recent past, in the US it was around 70-75 per cent, while Japan was around 83 per cent, and Germany about 87 per cent.<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1] </a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Traffic is offloaded from licensed spectrum, freeing it up for re-use. We have 605 MHz added in the 5 GHz band to the existing 380 MHz for Wi-Fi, and a removal of restrictions on external usage as in the US, so Wi-Fi will have much greater capacity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The ramifications, however, are ironic. These regulations could lead to a surge in economic activity, and consequent benefits from connectivity. But this will increase imports, which are already overboard on account of oil prices and technology imports, an aspect discussed later in this article.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The increased activities in network installation and ensuing benefits will vary depending on supporting ecosystems of policies and practices. This applies within the communications sector as also at points of interface with other sectors, such as electricity and finance. To illustrate, in communications, consider an unlicensed band in most markets including the US, the UK, and Europe, namely the 60 GHz V-band. Whereas the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US delicensed 14 GHz in this band for “wireless fibre” called WiGig, India hasn’t done so. Instead, another WPC<a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2]</a> notification in October delicensed only 500 MHz (61-61.5 GHz) at very low power. Devices abroad that use this band for 400-metre and 700-metre connections have channels of 2,000-2,500 MHz acting as wireless fibre links over short distances. These can’t be used here. Short-distance connections to Wi-Fi and wired networks in offices and residential, commercial and industrial complexes will need fibre or cable.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This policy link is missing, perhaps because operators oppose it. The user network traffic bypasses operators to the extent that Wireless Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other entrepreneurs set them up and collect charges, whereas operators have paid huge premiums for the spectrum required earlier. A solution that enables commercial deployment by licensed operators would solve this problem, although ISPs would have to go through operators as before. Another alternative could be to have unlicensed access to public wireless networks owned and operated by BSNL/BharatNet/CSC, or by operator consortiums, on payment of service charges by operators and users.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Equally essential are aspects of ecosystems that are adjuncts from sectors such as power supplies, finances, and local manufacturing, for substantial and stable growth. So for convergence resulting in significant benefits, these are the kinds of problems that will have to be resolved:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The power situation, with a conscious shift towards more distributed, renewable (solar and, in some areas, wind) energy, with changes comparable to Wi-Fi/5 GHz in policies and practices. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The financial system and non-performing assets (NPAs), including the steady revival of infrastructure projects. While dealing resolutely with malfeasance and fraud, nursing and reviving good infrastructure underlying the NPAs is crucial. A sorry plight, but if revivable infrastructure projects are allowed to fail, they end up as unproductive, wasted assets (a repeat of Dabhol), with negative multiplier effects. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The imperative for the domestic manufacture of equipment to reduce imports. This is going to be an escalating compulsion because of our market size, unless we develop solutions that help balance imports, such as a compelling tourism strategy (but just think of the complexity of the ecosystem elements that need improvement) or communications equipment exports (equally complex).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Meanwhile, we are on a path committed to curbing demand to contain the deficit: Battening the hatches, tightening belts, and waiting for oil prices to fall /exports to rise, keeping a wary eye on the current account deficit (CAD) because of imports, and inflation. This pressure may persist for months, possibly even years, restricting growth. Aren’t there feasible, growth-oriented initiatives, tempered by not exceeding reasonable bounds, including the CAD?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The data on the CAD, capital formation, FPI inflows, and FDI are in the chart below.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Data1.png" alt="Data 1" class="image-inline" title="Data 1" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CA: <a href="https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=18603">https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=18603</a> GFCF: <a href="https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/datafile/Table3.10.xls">https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/datafile/Table3.10.xls</a><br />FPI Inflows: <a href="https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=13729">https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=13729</a> <a href="https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=18599">https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=18599</a> <br /> FDI Equity Inflows: <a href="http://dipp.nic.in/sites/default/files/FDI_FactSheet_29June2018.pdf">http://dipp.nic.in/sites/default/files/FDI_FactSheet_29June2018.pdf</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A study of data from 2001 to 2016 of how the capital account and its components, the current account, and gross fixed capital formation affect each other concluded that sustained capital formation requires more foreign direct investment (FDI) relative to other flows.<a href="#fn3" name="fr3">[3]</a> FDI was found to have an indirect effect on capital formation, which was found to affect the current account. Debt portfolio flows and nonresident deposits financed the current account, but did not contribute directly to capital formation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In Indonesia, a study of how the CAD affects exchange rates found that when it exceeds about 2 per cent of the GDP, the exchange rate depreciates over 12 per cent after a four-month lag.<a href="#fn4" name="fr4">[4] </a>Tracking such relationships in India would be useful for policy making.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Meanwhile, India’s large growth sectors are plagued by unsustainable economics. For sustained growth, they have to be organised more rationally, to generate profits for productive enterprises. Promising domestic sectors include electricity, communications, and aviation. Bypass strategies as in software and IT-enabled services won’t work, because these services are for domestic markets. They must generate profits without labour arbitrage, while balancing imports and exports, unless growth continues to attract foreign capital. Genuine reform as for Wi-Fi and 5 GHz spectrum with collaboration involving the private sector and governments modelled on the automotive sector are a possible way forward.</p>
<hr />
<p>[<a href="#fr1" name="fn1">1</a>]. Claus Hetting, October 2018: https://wifinowevents.com/news-and-blog/japan-83-of-smartphone-traffic-runs-on-wi-fi/; https://wifinowevents.com/news-and-blog/germany-wi-fi-carries-87-of-smartphone-traffic/</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr2" name="fn2">2</a>]. WPC: Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing, Department of Telecommunications</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr3" name="fn3">3</a>]. Ashima Goyal & Vaishnavi Sharma, September 2017: http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2017-016.pdf</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr4" name="fn4">4</a>]. Nugroho et al, January 2014: http://bmeb-bi.org/index.php/BEMP/article/download/445/420/</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-november-1-2018-shyam-ponappa-a-great-start-on-wifi-reforms'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-november-1-2018-shyam-ponappa-a-great-start-on-wifi-reforms</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecom2018-11-30T16:43:14ZBlog EntryPolicies & the Public Interest
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-october-4-2018-shyam-ponappa-policies-and-the-public-interest
<b>The public interest calls for real reforms for equitable growth.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in <a class="external-link" href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/policies-the-public-interest-118100301336_1.html">Business Standard</a> on October 4, 2018 and in <a class="external-link" href="http://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2018/10/policies-public-interest.html">Organizing India Blogspot</a> the same day.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Everyone understands that users need high-speed broadband links for a countrywide transformation, through access to education, healthcare, and much else including opportunity. The lofty aspirations of the New Digital Communications Policy 2018 (NDCP) are 50 Mbps “to every citizen”, 5G, and so on, whereas the reality is a plan for two Wi-Fi hotspots per village. Surely, mere aspirational statements after inordinate delays cannot help attain high-speed “broadband for all”. Nor can a gutted market<a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/market" target="_blank"> </a>bereft of policies to induce the required capital for connectivity and network efficiencies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The NDCP epitomises overstatement juxtaposed with the realities of poor services. Key reforms<a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/reforms" target="_blank"> </a>have been consigned to a future imperfect limbo: reducing additional taxes (from an exorbitant 32 per cent), achieving more efficient spectrum use, and the like. Our needs are staggering, but what we have so far are statements of intent without real policy changes in the public interest. A similar approach has played out in the manufacture of electronics and solar power. India’s mobile revolution depended entirely on imports of network equipment, software, and handsets.1 Likewise for solar power, India has relied on imports. Recent efforts to elicit interest in manufacturing solar equipment locally received lacklustre response, because of perceived inadequacies in policies and incentives. The crux of the matter is how public interest, which many of our politicians, administrators and analysts claim as their motivation, is construed. An additional wrinkle is of being “pro-poor”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What does the “public interest” mean, and how does “pro-poor” fit in other than by perpetuating poverty? Some proponents regard the “<i>aam aadmi</i>” as being synonymous with the public interest, and others “the masses”, or “the poor”, or farmers. There is also segmentation by exclusion, such as “not those who own vehicles”. Exclusions also apply to manufacturing, such as cars or two-wheelers, because they add to pollution and congestion on roads. So also to air conditioners, refrigerators, and so on, perhaps from the confusion of conflating market principles with socialist ideas of “luxury goods” having a pejorative taint, whereas our need is for engines of growth, except in sin goods and services. In fact, the automotive sector provides a model for coordinated policies (except for fuel pricing)<b>.</b>2</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Our fuel pricing is puzzling, because while it affects the majority, it is treated as affecting only the affluent (many of whom are also likely to be very productive). Affluent consumers comprised around 27 per cent of India’s population in 2016, and may grow to 40 per cent by 2025.3<b> </b>Constraining productivity and output is surely not beneficial except in containing imports, especially when productivity is declining (see Chart). Yet, this is the effect of high taxes on inputs. This is why there’s a genuine need for the evaluation of alternatives to demand compression and high taxes.<br /> <br /> Labour Productivity in India - January 2010 to November 2017<br /> Source: <a href="https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/india/labour-productivity-growth">https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/india/labour-productivity-growth</a> What, indeed, is the definition of public interest? Here is a version: It is the welfare or well-being of the general public, by which the whole society has a stake that warrants recognition, promotion and protection of the government and its agencies. The overall public interest is about society as a whole, unalloyed by divisive or fractious special interests. It is not the welfare of any individual, group or company. In seeking to maximise overall welfare, however, there need to be trade-offs and selective regulations for justifiable subsets, such as the underprivileged, or in spatial planning for town and country, or sectoral regulations for energy, exports, or automotive products.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Yet, while the criterion should be public welfare, the arguments we encounter are mostly for special interest groups. Rarely is there a consideration for the welfare of society as a whole. How might a holistic approach to public interest alter the stance to policy making, administration, analysis and advocacy? Consider this example from Brazil after the global financial crisis of 2008. Brazil suffered decreasing exports, lower investment, and a credit crunch with deleveraging, resulting in lower incomes and tax collections, and higher unemployment. The government’s response in 2008-09 was a selective reduction in taxes, together with increased liquidity, and reduced interest rates to the most affected sectors.4 These policy changes reduced a tax component, initially in the automotive sector for a quarter, later continued for about a year. This was extended to consumer durables/electrical appliances, and to building materials, the latter for about 15 months. For some products such as stoves and small washing machines, this tax was reduced to zero. Meanwhile, taxes on cigarettes were increased. The result was an increase in tax revenues from higher production and consumption, after an initial fall in tax collections. Simulation is a useful way of evaluating alternative scenarios. Converted to cash flows, these inputs can be used to shape policies, because cash flows are an essential measure of reality.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A compelling reason for scenario planning is that coordinated policies could yield higher growth<a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/growth" target="_blank"> </a>than foreign borrowings without systematic policy support. A policy framework with lower interest rates and good infrastructure (energy, logistics and communications) could accelerate growth, thereby attracting capital despite current account imbalances. Such alternatives deserve to be evaluated against the approach of higher interest rates to attract, then struggle to retain foreign capital (when there is a flight to quality, raising interest rates in emerging markets is usually ineffective), with lower growth. Lower rates would also facilitate redeeming NPAs, as banks could profit from rising bond prices.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is in the public interest to analyse alternative approaches, including input costs and taxes. Areas such as the allocation and management of coal, automotive fuel pricing and automotive manufacturing, and spectrum allocation and management need such analyses. In finance, the alternatives are of inflation targeting, taxes to reduce the fiscal deficit, high interest rates to attract/retain foreign capital, and managing imports, against scenarios with lower taxes, interest rates, and coordinated policies as in the automotive sector for manufacturing and logistics in sectors such as electronics and solar power equipment.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><br /> <i>Shyam Ponappa at gmail dot com</i><br /> 1:<b> </b><a href="https://qrius.com/push-for-solar-energy-is-india-on-the-right-path/" target="_blank">Sanjib Purohit, NCAER, March 14, 2018</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">2: <a href="http://www.siamindia.com/uploads/filemanager/47AUTOMOTIVEMISSIONPLAN.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.siamindia.com/uploads/filemanager/47AUTOMOTIVEMISSIONPLAN.pdf</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">3: <a href="https://www.bcg.com/en-in/publications/2017/marketing-sales-globalization-new-indian-changing-consumer.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.bcg.com/en-in/publications/2017/marketing-sales-globalization-new-indian-changing-consumer.aspx</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">4: <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1517758014000058#fn0025" target="_blank">[Input-Output Matrix study of tax reductions-Brazil-2014]</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-october-4-2018-shyam-ponappa-policies-and-the-public-interest'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-october-4-2018-shyam-ponappa-policies-and-the-public-interest</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecom2018-11-01T08:11:15ZBlog EntryJuly 2018 Newsletter
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/july-2018-newsletter
<b>CIS July 2018 newsletter.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>Dear readers,</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Previous issues of the newsletters can be <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">accessed here</a>.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Highlights</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Paul Kurien and Akriti Bopanna carried out an <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/icann-diversity-analysis">analysis of the diversity of participation</a> at the ICANN processes by taking a close look at their mailing lists. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/2018#July">CIS-A2K organized 6 events</a>: partnership discussions with Misimi Telugu monthly magazine; partnership activity in Annamayya Library, Guntur, a workshop in Tumakur University; a workshop of river activists for building Jal Bodh; a workshop of publishers and writers on unicode, open source and wikimedia projects; and a Telugu literary conference.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS had worked with the Research and Advisory Group (RAG) of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC). The work looked at the negotiation processes and strategies that various players may adopt as they drive the cyber norms agenda. In continuation <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-potential-for-the-normative-regulation-of-cyberspace-implications-for-india">CIS has brought out a report</a> which focuses more extensively on the substantive law and principles at play and looks closely at what the global state of the debate means for India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The debate surrounding privacy has in recent times gained momentum due to the Aadhaar judgement and the growing concerns around the use of personal data by corporations and governments. In this light <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-centre-for-internet-and-society2019s-comments-and-recommendations-to-the-indian-privacy-code-2018">CIS has made comments and recommendations to the India Privacy Code, 2018</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-submitted-a-response-to-a-notice-of-enquiry-by-the-us-government-on-international-internet-policy-priorities">drafted a response</a> to a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) issued by the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on "International Internet Policy Priorities." CIS commented on the free flow of information and jurisdiction, mult-stakeholder approach to internet governance, privacy and security.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Elonnai Hickok, Shweta Mohandas and Swaraj Paul Barooah <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-ai-task-force-report-the-first-steps-towards-indias-ai-framework">compiled the AI Task Force Report</a>, India's first step towards an AI framework. The Task Force on Artificial Intelligence was established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to leverage AI for economic benefits, and provide policy recommendations on the deployment of AI for India. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Paul Kurian and Akriti Bopanna <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/icann-diversity-analysis">carried out an analysis</a> of the diversity of participation at the ICANN processes by taking a close look at their mailing lists. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Articles</h2>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-july-1-2018-nishant-shah-digital-native-bigger-picture">Digital Native: The bigger picture</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; July 1, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-july-6-2018-problems-that-should-occupy-our-electioneers">The Problems That Should Occupy Our Electioneers</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; July 6, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-july-15-2018-nishant-shah-digital-native-the-citys-watching">Digital Native: How smart cities can make criminals out of denizens</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; July 15, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/livemint-july-24-2018-swaraj-barooah-and-gurshabad-grover-anti-trafficking-bill-may-lead-to-censorship">Anti-trafficking Bill may lead to censorship</a> (Swaraj Barooah and Gurshabad Grover; Livemint; July 24, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-native-hashtag-along-with-me">Digital Native: Hashtag Along With Me</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; July 29, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/economic-times-july-30-2018-sunil-abraham-lining-up-data-on-srikrishna-privacy-draft-bill">Lining up the data on the Srikrishna Privacy Draft Bill</a> (Sunil Abraham; Economic Times; July 30, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/business-standard-july-31-2018-sunil-abraham-spreading-unhappiness-equally-around">Spreading unhappiness equally around</a> (Business Standard; July 31, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<h2>CIS in the News</h2>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-national-july-2-2018-samanth-subramanian-smartphone-rumours-spark-series-of-mob-killings-in-india">Smartphone rumours spark series of mob killings in India</a> (Samanth Subramanian; The National; July 2, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-july-5-2018-government-gives-nod-to-bill-for-building-dna-databases-in-india-for-criminal-investigation-and-justice-delivery">Government Gives Nod To Bill For Building DNA Databases In India, For 'Criminal Investigation And Justice Delivery'</a> (Huffington Post; July 5, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-july-6-2018-hope-for-such-swift-crackdowns-for-everyone">'Hope for such swift crackdowns for everyone</a>' (Times of India; July 6, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-july-9-2018-69-mob-attacks-on-child-lifting-rumours-since-jan-17-only-one-before-that">Child-lifting rumours caused 69 mob attacks, 33 deaths in last 18 months</a> (Business Standard; July 9, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/death-by-social-media">Death by Social Media</a> (Pretika Khanna, Abhiram Ghadyalpatil and Shaswati Das; Livemint; July 9, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-gopal-sathe-july-12-2018-indias-latest-data-leak-is-so-basic-that-peoples-aadhaar-number-bank-account-and-fathers-name-are-just-one-google-search-away">India's Latest Data Leak: People's Aadhaar Number And Bank Account Are Just One Google Search Away</a> (Gopal Sathe; Huffington Post; July 12, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bloomberg-quint-july-16-2018-people-should-have-right-to-their-data-not-companies-says-trai">People Should Have Right To Their Data, Not Companies, Says TRAI</a> (Bloomberg Quint; July 16, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-gopal-sathe-july-16-2018-after-securing-net-neutrality-in-india-trai-goes-to-bat-for-data-privacy">After Securing Net Neutrality In India, TRAI Goes To Bat For Data Privacy</a> (Gopal Sathe; Huffington Post; July 16, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-july-18-2018-surabhi-agarwal-and-gulveen-aulakh-trai-recommendations-on-data-privacy-raises-eyebrows">TRAI recommendations on data privacy raises eyebrows </a>(Surabhi Agarwal and Gulveen Aulakh; Economic Times; July 18, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-megha-mandavia-july-19-2018-srikrishna-panel-upset-at-timing-of-trai-suggestions">Srikrishna panel upset at timing of Trai suggestion</a>s (Megha Mandavia; Economic Times; July 19, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/deccan-herald-july-20-2018-rajitha-menon-firms-find-wealth-in-your-data">Firms find wealth in your data</a> (Rajitha Menon; Deccan Herald; July 20, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-venkat-ananth-july-24-2018-whatsapp-races-against-time-to-fix-fake-news-mess-ahead-of-2019-general-elections">WhatsApp races against time to fix fake news mess ahead of 2019 general elections</a> (Venkat Ananth; Economic Times; July 24, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/factor-daily-sunny-sen-and-jayadevan-pk-july-25-2018-the-crown-of-thorns-that-awaits-facebook-india-md-hire">The crown of thorns that awaits Facebook’s India MD hire</a> (Sunny Sen and Jayadevan PK; Factory Daily; July 25, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-july-26-2018-mihir-dalal-and-anirban-sen-byte-by-byte-protecting-her-privacy">Bit by byte protecting her privacy</a> (Mihir Dalal and Anirban Sen; Livemint; July 26, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-july-27-2018-komal-gupta-govt-asks-cbi-to-probe-cambridge-analytica-in-data-breach-case">Govt asks CBI to probe Cambridge Analytica in data breach case</a> (Komal Gupta; Livemint; July 27, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-july-28-2018-mugdha-variyar-and-pratik-bhakta-data-localisation-may-pinch-startups-payments-firms">Data localisation may pinch startups, payments firms</a> (Mugdha Variyar and Pratik Bhakta; Economic Times; July 28, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<h3>Wikipedia</h3>
<p><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cb5cbfc95cbfcaaca1cbfcaf-ca4cb0cacca4cbf-ce8ce6ce7cee-cb0cbec82c9acbf-1">ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ತರಬೇತಿ ೨೦೧೮ @ ರಾಂಚಿ</a> (Vikas Hegde; July 4, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/how-to-write-differently-for-different-telugu-digital-platforms-awareness-session-to-indu-gnana-vedika">How to write differently for different Telugu digital platforms - awareness session to Indu Gnana Vedika</a> (Pavan Santosh; July 19, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/c35c3ec1fc4dc38c3ec2ac4d-c38c3ec39c3fc24c4dc2f-c35c47c26c3fc15-c28c41c02c1ac3f-c35c3fc15c40c38c4bc30c4dc38c41c15c41">వాట్సాప్ సాహిత్య వేదిక నుంచి వికీసోర్సుకు</a> (Pavan Santosh; July 31, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<div><b>Events Organized</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/partnership-activity-in-annamayya-library-guntur">Partnership activity in Annamayya Library</a> (Guntur; July 10, 2014).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/partnership-discussions-with-misimi-telugu-monthly-magazine">Partnership discussions with Misimi Telugu Monthly Magazine</a> (July 24, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/tumakur%20university-workshop">Tumakur University Workshop</a> (Tumkur; July 25, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/workshop-of-river-activists-for-building-jal-bodh-knowledge-resource-on-water">Workshop of River activists for building Jal Bodh - Knowledge resource on Water</a> (Pune; July 25, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/workshop-of-publishers-and-writers-on-unicode-open-source-and-wikimedia-projects">Workshop of Publishers and Writers on Unicode, Open Source and Wikimedia Projects</a> (Pune; July 25, 2018).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div></div>
<ul>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<h3>Privacy</h3>
<p><b>Submissions</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-submitted-a-response-to-a-notice-of-enquiry-by-the-us-government-on-international-internet-policy-priorities">Response to a Notice of Enquiry by the US Government on International Internet Policy Priorities</a> (Swagam Dasgupta; July 18, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-centre-for-internet-and-society2019s-comments-and-recommendations-to-the-indian-privacy-code-2018">The Centre for Internet and Society’s Comments and Recommendations to the: Indian Privacy Code, 2018</a> (Shweta Mohandas, Elonnai Hickok, Amber Sinha and Shruti Trikanand; July 20, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-ai-task-force-report-the-first-steps-towards-indias-ai-framework">The AI Task Force Report - The first steps towards India’s AI framework</a> (Elonnai Hickok, Shweta Mohandas and Swaraj Paul Barooah; June 27, 2018). The blog post was edited by Swagam Dasgupta.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<div><b>Participation in Events</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ietf-102-montreal">IETF 102 Montreal</a> (Organized by Internet Engineering Task Force; Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Montreal in Canada; July 14 - 20, 2018). Gurshabad Grover presented a review of the human rights considerations in the drafts of the Software Update for IoT Devices (SUIT) Working Group in the meeting of the HRPC research group. </li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ethical-data-design-practices-in-the-ai-artificial-intelligence-age">Ethical Data Design Practices in the AI (Artificial Intelligence) Age</a> (Organized by Startup Grind, Bangalore at NUMA Bangalore; July 28, 2018). Shweta Mohandas was a panelist.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div></div>
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>Cyberspace and Cyber Security</h3>
<p><b>Analysis</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-potential-for-the-normative-regulation-of-cyberspace-implications-for-india">The Potential for the Normative Regulation of Cyberspace: Implications for India</a> (Arindrajit Basu; July 30, 2018). The report was edited by Elonnai Hickok, Sunil Abraham and Udbhav Tiwari with research assistance from Tejas Bharadwaj.</li>
</ul>
<div><b>Blog Entry</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-contributes-to-the-research-and-advisory-group-of-the-global-commission-on-the-stability-of-cyberspace-gcsc">CIS contributes to the Research and Advisory Group of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace</a> (GCSC) (Arindrajit Basu; July 5, 2018). </li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ieee-sa-indita-conference-2018">IEEE-SA InDITA Conference 2018</a> (Organized by IEEE Standards Association; IIIT-Bangalore; July 10 - 11, 2018). Gurshabad Grover gave a brief presentation on how we could apply or reject 'Trust Through Technology' principles in the design of public biometric authentication. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Free Speech & Expression</h3>
<p><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/icann-diversity-analysis">ICANN Diversity Analysis</a> (Paul Kurian and Akriti Bopanna; July 16, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/didp-31-diversity-of-employees-at-icann">DIDP #31 Diversity of employees at ICANN</a> (Akash Sriram; July 19, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<div><b><br />Participation in Event</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/26th-amic-annual-conference-2013-india-2018">26th AMIC Annual Conference – India 2018</a> (Organized by Manipal Academy of Higher Education; Fortune Inn Valley View, Manipal, Karnataka; June 7 - 9, 2018). Swaraj Paul Barooah was a speaker. <span>An article announcing the event by Kevin Mendonsa was published in the </span><a class="external-link" href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/mahe-to-host-26th-annual-conference-of-amic/articleshow/64468351.cms">Times of India</a><span> on June 5, 2018.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div></div>
<ul>
</ul>
<h2><span style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a></span></h2>
<p><span style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources, and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</span></p>
<p><b><span style="text-align: justify; ">Newspaper Column</span></b></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-july-6-2018-problems-that-should-occupy-our-electioneers">The Problems That Should Occupy Our Electioneers</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; July 5, 2018 and Organizing India Blogspot; July 6, 2018).</span></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><span style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a></span></span></span></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
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<p>► Request for Collaboration</p>
<div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><i>CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects</i>.</div>
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For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/july-2018-newsletter'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/july-2018-newsletter</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecomResearchers at WorkInternet GovernanceAccess to Knowledge2018-08-11T02:50:52ZPageAfter Securing Net Neutrality In India, TRAI Goes To Bat For Data Privacy
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-gopal-sathe-july-16-2018-after-securing-net-neutrality-in-india-trai-goes-to-bat-for-data-privacy
<b>This will be a stop-gap measure before the creation of a privacy bill.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Gopal Sathe was published in <a class="external-link" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2018/07/16/after-securing-net-neutrality-in-india-trai-goes-to-bat-for-data-privacy_a_23483166/">Huffington Post</a> on July 16, 2018. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Last week, the Department of Telecom gave the nod to net neutrality regulations, ensuring that there would be no discrimination of data at a time when the US is moving in the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/11/17439456/net-neutrality-dead-ajit-pai-fcc-internet" target="_blank">opposite direction</a>. The net neutrality norms were based on the recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) - which the BBC in November described as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42162979" target="_blank">the world's strongest</a> - but the regulator isn't celebrating right now - it's moved on to another equally important topic - privacy and data protection.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On Monday, TRAI announced its <a href="https://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/RecommendationDataPrivacy16072018_0.pdf" target="_blank">recommendations</a> on privacy, security, and ownership of data in the telecom sector, and the 77 page document serves as the first major public guidelines on privacy and data protection in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">TRAI has outlined a consent based framework, where users have to clearly choose what data is being used, which bears some similarities to Europes GDPR. TRAI noted that while the right to privacy should not be treated solely as a property right, it must be noted that the controllers of personal data are mere custodians without any primary right over the same. In other words, your data should belong to you, and not to Google, or Facebook, or any other company which holds your data.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"The Right to Choice, Notice, Consent, Data Portability, and Right to be Forgotten should be conferred upon the telecommunication consumers," TRAI recommended</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In section 2.3, it also notes that meta-data is personal information and as such should be given the same protections. This is an important point given that even metadata can be used to track and identify people accurately. It also noted that there needs to be a right to be forgotten, and once you stop using a service it should not store your data beyond what's mandated by the law, according to section 2.46. Section 2.49 also allows users the right to withdraw consent, which means that even if people have given consent to gathering your data, users will be able to stop tracking on demand.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At the same time, TRAI also noted the stop-gap nature of its recommendations, and said, "till such time a general data protection law is notified by the government, the existing Rules/ License conditions applicable to the Telecom Service Providers for protection of users should be made applicable to all the entities in the digital eco-system."</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Good, with some caveats</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Early reactions to the recommendations are largely positive. On Twitter, lawyer Apar Gupta, who is one of the founding members of the Internet Freedom Foundation shared some <a href="https://twitter.com/apargupta84/status/1018856500775841793" target="_blank">quick thoughts</a> about the recommendations. Describing this as a substantive document he called it "partly positive since it calls for interim safeguards", but added that the "form of some seems problematic."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On the plus side, he noted that many of the protections in the recommendations "focus on a user rights model, which includes notice, choice, consent, portability, deletion and erasure." He also praised the recommendations for not taking a view on data localisation, and that the protections need to apply to private as well as state entities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, he criticized the fact that TRAI is planning to impose license conditions on all OTT providers - that is to say, all third party services. He also noted that the recommendations did not directly address state surveillance. He also pointed out that an Electronic Consent Framework as described in the recommendations may "centralise consent requests thereby may end up generating more personal data and unifying them into a single portal managed by the govt/regulators."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"We are happy with the TRAI's recommendations on Privacy, Security and Ownership of Data as the regulator is calling for all digital entities to be brought under data protection framework. This would include all devices, operating systems, browsers, and applications and would be welcome stop-gap measure till rules and regulations of the telecom services providers are applicable to them," said Rajan Matthews, DG Cellular Operators Association of India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"This will ensure, in prevailing circumstances, that the privacy of users is protected and maintained. National security and privacy issues are of paramount importance. Accordingly, the regulator by making this recommendation, is ensuring that no exception is made for any service provider, while subjecting them to the rules to meet the national security and privacy norms. However, this is our preliminary view and we will need to review the other recommendations to determine their implications."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Speaking in a <a href="https://twitter.com/ETNOWlive/status/1018849319300972544" target="_blank">television interview</a>, Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director at the Centre for Internet and Society, said he's still processing the document, but "on the face of it it seems good."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"There are still certain concerns I have which haven't been addressed. The telecom licenses themselves, which are issued by the Government of India, require a whole lot of data to be collected, metadata to be collected, by telecom companies. So I'm not sure how that requirement by the Government of India squares off with what is now being recommended by TRAI."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"Let me also point out that one of the things that TRAI says, and it might be exceeding its brief a little bit, is that it says this should not only cover telecom operators, but also device manufacturers, operating systems, application creators, and other kinds of software. What TRAI seems to want to do is actually quite a bit more than what I think the DoT has, or really ought to be doing. I really don't understand whether this will find any favour in the interim before the government decides to take up the Justice Srikrishna Committee report."</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Justice Srikrishna committee report still due</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Although TRAI's recommendations are an important document, and will serve as stopgap privacy rules, India is also on the verge of a data protection and privacy bill, which will be based on the recommendations of the Justice BN Srikrishna committee on the subject. The committee was formed in August and was expected to deliver its report in June, but sources say that disagreements over the Aadhaar have caused some delays.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The committee is expected to send its recommendations to the government soon, at which point things could change, but for now, TRAI's recommendations are an important development as India moves to secure the privacy of its people.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ahead of that though, you can read the full TRAI recommendations <a href="https://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/RecommendationDataPrivacy16072018_0.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-gopal-sathe-july-16-2018-after-securing-net-neutrality-in-india-trai-goes-to-bat-for-data-privacy'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-gopal-sathe-july-16-2018-after-securing-net-neutrality-in-india-trai-goes-to-bat-for-data-privacy</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminTelecomInternet Governance2018-07-29T05:28:20ZNews ItemThe Problems That Should Occupy Our Electioneers
http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-july-6-2018-problems-that-should-occupy-our-electioneers
<b>The prize in the elections next year could be a winner's curse.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published originally in <a class="external-link" href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/problems-that-should-occupy-our-electioneers-118070401342_1.html">Business Standard</a> on July 5, 2018 and mirrored in <a class="external-link" href="http://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-problems-that-should-occupy-our.html">Organizing India Blogspot</a> the following day.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The preoccupation with state and Parliamentary elections that is now manifest may take away attention from the economy. Despite some encouraging developments, major structural problems such as the non-performing assets (NPAs) in banks and stalled projects await resolution. They need urgent attention beyond the din of politics.</p>
<p><b>First, the good news</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Gross fixed capital formation improved to an all-time high of Rs 111.85 billion in the last quarter of 2017-18 from Rs 102.40 billion in the previous quarter.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">There was some credit growth, with non-food credit increasing 11.1 per cent in May 2018, compared to 4.1 per cent a year ago. Credit to the services sector also increased by 21.9 per cent compared to 4.0 per cent in May 2017, and personal loans grew 18.6 per cent compared to 13.7 per cent in May 2017. However, areas such as infrastructure, basic metals and metal products, construction, gems and jewellery, and vehicles and transport actually declined.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The <a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/insolvency-and-bankruptcy-code" target="_blank">Insolvency and </a><a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/bankruptcy" target="_blank">Bankruptcy </a>Code (IBC) is apparently being implemented more effectively than it might appear. A Brookings Institution report of a conference of financial experts, including a former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in Mumbai in February states: “50 per cent of all NPAs are currently being resolved through the Code, another 25 per cent will soon be. The judiciary has been following the (very tight) timelines prescribed by the Code.”<sup>1</sup></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">This week, a public sector bankers’ committee recommended potential solutions for NPAs to the finance ministry. These include an asset management company for stressed assets run by the banks, an asset trading platform for loans, an inter-creditor agreement between banks with the lead bank authorised to implement time-bound resolution, and finally, the IBC and sell off. Sceptics may mistrust these as being too cosy. Realistically, however, we have to accept that functioning together for mutual benefit requires trust, built around good organisation with checks and balances, and validation (observed in the breach in the complicit NPAs). In Ronald Reagan’s phrase (actually a Russian proverb), “Trust, but verify”.</li>
</ul>
<p>So, is the glass half-full or half-empty? <b>The bad news</b> Here are just two examples of the looming problems.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Stalled projects: An <a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/rbi" target="_blank">RBI </a>circular of February 12, 2018, was like a guillotine on a number of private power projects with inadequate cash flows because of circumstances beyond their control. The circular directed banks to begin the resolution (sell off) process for all delayed projects, including those where debt restructuring was under way. There’s a school of thought embodied in this directive that uniform criteria must be applied to all defaulters. Another approach advocated by the power ministry is that there can be problems outside the developers’ control for which they are not responsible, such as a shortage of fuel, denial of access to captive mines, financial weakness of distribution companies, or delays in government or regulatory clearances. Developers cannot control these, and therefore such projects should be excluded from the purview of the <a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/rbi" target="_blank">RBI </a>Circular. A Parliamentary Committee also recommended this in March.<sup>2</sup> The Allahabad High Court, hearing a petition by the Independent Power Producers Association of India against insolvency proceedings, ordered that “no action be taken against the power sector under the revised framework, and directed the finance secretary to hold a meeting with his counterparts in the power and coal ministries, along with representatives of the <a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/rbi" target="_blank">RBI </a>and the Insolvency and <a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/topic/bankruptcy" target="_blank">Bankruptcy </a>Board of India in June to discuss ways to address the issues faced by stressed power plants.”<sup>3</sup></li>
</ul>
<p>While the RBI held firm at this meeting on June 21, 2018 (e.g., see: <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/why-ibc-must-be-sector-agnostic-118070100732_1.htm">https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/why-ibc-must-be-sector-agnostic-118070100732_1.htm</a>l), the finance secretary reportedly asked for written submissions by the stakeholders. A group of experts will review these to consider next steps. The Allahabad High Court may yet save us from the brink.</p>
<ul>
<li>Fettered policies: The Wi-Fi example</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We have an odd juxtaposition, with the government eager to auction 5G spectrum for revenues, while making it available to operators. The industry wants the spectrum but is overburdened with debt, which it already has difficulty servicing because of hyper-competitive price cutting. In addition, there’s a vast, underserved rural and semi-urban market, which requires even more capital investment. Finally, there are the stressed banks, which have thus far been the major source of funding. Meanwhile, our fettered approach to 5 GHz for Wi-Fi is an example of policies that need unleashing. India’s <a class="storyTags" href="https://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=national+frequency+allocation+plan" target="_blank">National Frequency Allocation Plan </a>(NFAP) has delicensed 380 MHz in the 5 GHz band. This is 200 MHz less than required by the standard, so users have less spectrum. Second, India permits only 50 MHz for outdoor use, and the remaining 330 MHz for indoor use. This severely constrains the use of this band and available devices in India, making it ineffectual for Wi-Fi hotspots in both urban and rural areas. We need an amendment in India's 5G policy to conform to international standards. There need be no indoor/outdoor restrictions and less restrictive power limitations, as in the USA. It could mean adopting policies in sync with global markets. For users, it means that any compatible device from any market can be used without customisation. This allows easier installation and maintenance because no customised set-up is required. For manufacturers, devices they make that conform to global or large-market standards can be used wherever these standards apply, which gives access to more markets. Both attributes facilitate higher volumes, which help result in lower prices, making devices more affordable. All users benefit from the full capacity of the device provided it is in a compatible system. Unfettering changes like this and for 60 GHz, as another example, will unleash Wi-Fi. This is the kind of policy change that is required to unfetter ourselves. What’s needed is an attitude of thinking constructively, instead of meanly or restrictively. Without such constructive changes, the way ahead will be hard regardless of who wins the next elections.</p>
<hr />
<p>Shyam dot Ponappa at gmail dot com</p>
<ol>
<li> https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/03/01/how-to-solve-issue-of-rising-non-performing-assets-in-indian-public-sector-banks/</li>
<li>164.100.47.193/lsscommittee/Energy/16_Energy_37.pdf</li>
<li>https://powerline.net.in/2018/06/30/seeking-a-reprieve/</li>
</ol>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-july-6-2018-problems-that-should-occupy-our-electioneers'>http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-july-6-2018-problems-that-should-occupy-our-electioneers</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecom2018-08-01T00:03:12ZBlog EntryJune 2018 Newsletter
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/june-2018-newsletter
<b>CIS newsletter for the month of June 2018.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>Dear readers,</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Previous issues of the newsletters can be <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">accessed here</a>.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Highlights</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Balbharati – the Maharashtra state bureau of textbook production and curriculum research – has issued a copyright policy that forces all publishers, digital educational-content creators, and coaching classes to obtain expensive licenses for developing material directly or indirectly relating to Balbharati’s content. This is an alarming development for Indian students reported Anubha Sinha <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/asia-times-june-20-anubha-sinha-maharastras-copyright-policy-makes-education-unaffordable">in an article in the Asian Times</a> on June 20, 2018.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K has <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Marathi_Publishers%27_orientation_session_on_FOSS,Open_knowledge_%26_Wikimedia_Projects">started dialogue with the publishers for the last 6 months regarding FOSS, Open knowledge and content donation to Wikimedia Projects</a>. As a result Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Prakashak Sangh, an apex body of publishers at all India level invited us for a orientation session at their annual gathering in Pune.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Submitted <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-draft-digital-communications-policy">comments on the Draft Digital Communications Policy</a> which was released to the public by the Department of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Communications on 1st May 2018 for comments and views. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Submitted <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-telecom-commercial-communications-customer-preference-regulations">comments on the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations</a> which was released to the public by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 29th May 2018 for comments and views. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Task Force on Artificial Intelligence was established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to leverage AI for economic benefits, and provide policy recommendations on the deployment of AI for India. Elonnai Hickok, Shweta Mohandas and Swaraj Paul Barooah <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-ai-task-force-report-the-first-steps-towards-indias-ai-framework">wrote a blog entry on the artificial intelligence task force</a>. The blog entry was edited by Swagam Dasgupta. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The world’s oldest networked infrastructure, money, is increasingly dematerialising and fusing with the world’s latest networked infrastructure, the Internet, wrote Sunil Abraham in an article published in the <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/economic-times-june-10-2018-sunil-abraham-why-npci-and-facebook-need-urgent-regulatory-attention">Economic Times</a> on June 10, 2018.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">An essay by P.P. Sneha <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/new-contexts-and-sites-of-humanities-practice-in-the-digital-paper">was published in Summer Hill, a journal published by Indian Institute of Advanced Study</a>. In the essay, edited by Dr. Bindu Menon, Sneha draws upon excerpts from a study on the field of digital humanities and related practices in India, to outline the diverse contexts of humanities practice with the advent of the digital and explore the developing discourse around digital humanities in the Indian context. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/dhai-inagural-conference-2018-puthiya-purayil-sneha-keynote">inaugural conference of the Digital Humanities Alliance of India </a>(DHAI) was held at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore on June 1-2, 2018. P.P. Sneha was a keynote speaker at the event. Her talk was titled ‘New Contexts and Sites of Humanities Practice in the Digital’.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Articles</h2>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/economic-times-june-10-2018-sunil-abraham-why-npci-and-facebook-need-urgent-regulatory-attention">Why NPCI and Facebook need urgent regulatory attention</a> (Sunil Abraham; Economic Times; June 10, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-june-17-2018-digital-native-cause-an-effect">Digital Native: Cause an Effect</a> (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; June 17, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/asia-times-june-20-anubha-sinha-maharastras-copyright-policy-makes-education-unaffordable">Maharashtra's Copyright Policy Makes Education Unaffordable</a> (Anubha Sinha; Asia Times; June 20, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<h2>CIS in the News</h2>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-june-1-2018-allow-admins-to-add-users-to-online-group-chats-only-after-permission-sflc-in">Allow admins to add users to online group chats only after permission: SFLC.in</a> (Times of India; June 1, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-june-6-2018-akshatha-m-ec-disables-easy-access-to-electoral-data-across-states">EC disables easy access to electoral data across states</a> (Akshatha M; Economic Times; June 5, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/hindustan-times-june-8-2018-vidhi-choudhary-draft-bill-proposes-rs-1-crore-fine-3-year-jail-for-data-privacy-violation">Draft bill proposes Rs 1 crore fine, 3 year jail for data privacy violation</a> (Vidhi Choudhury; Hindustan Times; June 8, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bloomberg-quint-june-9-2018-draft-bill-seeks-to-revolutionise-data-collection-storage-in-india">Citizens’ Draft Privacy Bill Seeks To Revolutionise Data Collection, Storage In India</a> (Arpan Chaturvedi; Bloomberg Quint; June 9, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-nilesh-christopher-and-naveen-menezes-june-14-2018-police-to-counter-fake-news-on-whatsapp">Police to counter fake news on WhatsApp</a> (Nilesh Christopher and Naveen Menezes; Times of India; June 14, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-june-18-2018-full-belief-in-fake-texts-shows-cops-not-trusted">'Full belief in fake texts shows cops not trusted'</a> (Times of India; June 18, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/deccan-herald-june-19-2018-anushka-finds-support-her-anti-litter-tirade">Anushka finds support for her anti-litter tirade</a> (Nina C. George; Deccan Herald; June 19, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-june-19-2018-jindal-varsitys-international-affairs-students-shine-in-job-market">Jindal varsity's international affairs students shine in job market</a> (Economic Times; June 19, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-legal-live-june-21-2018-data-privacy">Data Privacy: Footprints on the Web</a> (Sujit Bhar; IndiaLegal; June 21, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://https//cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/death-by-whatsapp">Death By WhatsApp</a> (News18.com, June 25, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/your-story-june-29-2018-tech-transformation-agriculture-redefined-digital-innovation-startups">Tech transformation: how agriculture is being redefined through digital innovation and startups</a> (Your Story; June 29, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Access to Knowledge (A2K) is a campaign to promote the fundamental principles of justice, freedom, and economic development. It deals with issues like copyrights, patents and trademarks, which are an important part of the digital landscape. Our A2K program comprises 2 projects: Pervasive Technologies done under a grant from International Development Research Centre examining interplay between cost-effective pervasive technologies and intellectual property and encouraging development of such technologies for social good, and Wikipedia under a grant from Wikimedia Foundation to enable the growth of Indic language communities and cultivate new editors in different Indian languages.</p>
<h3>Wikipedia</h3>
<p><b>Event Organized</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Marathi_Publishers%27_orientation_session_on_FOSS,Open_knowledge_%26_Wikimedia_Projects">Marathi Publishers' orientation session on FOSS,Open knowledge & Wikimedia Projects</a> (Co-organized by Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Prakashak Sangh and CIS-A2K; Maratha Chamber of Commerce, Tilak Road, Pune; June 17, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Tunis Agenda of the second World Summit on the Information Society has defined internet governance as the development and application by governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles of shared principles, norms, rules, decision making procedures and programs that shape the evolution and use of the internet. CIS is engaged in two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<h3>Privacy</h3>
<p><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/niti-aayog-discussion-paper-an-aspirational-step-towards-india2019s-ai-policy">NITI Aayog Discussion Paper: An aspirational step towards India’s AI policy</a> (Sunil Abraham, Elonnai Hickok, Amber Sinha, Swaraj Barooah, Shweta Mohandas, Pranav M Bidare, Swagam Dasgupta, Vishnu Ramachandran and Senthil Kumar; June 13, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/ai-task-force-report.pdf">The AI Task Force Report - The first steps towards India’s AI framework</a> (Authored by Elonnai Hickok, Shweta Mohandas and Swaraj Paul Barooah and Edited by Swagam Dasgupta; June 27, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Submissions</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-draft-national-policy-on-official-statistics">Comments on the Draft National Policy on Official Statistics</a> (Gurshabad Grover and Sandeep Kumar; June 7, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-draft-digital-communications-policy">Comments on the Draft Digital Communications Policy</a> (Anubha Sinha, Gurshabad Grover and Swaraj Barooah; June 14, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<div><b>Participation in Event</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/is-privacy-obsolete">Is Privacy Obsolete?</a> (Organized by TERI; Bangalore; June 22, 2018). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul>
</ul>
<h3>Free Speech & Expression</h3>
<p>Blog Entry</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/network-disruptions-report-by-global-network-initiative">Network Disruptions Report by Global Network Initiative</a> (Akriti Bopanna; June 12, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<h2><span style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a></span></h2>
<p><span style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources, and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</span></p>
<p><b><span style="text-align: justify; ">Submission</span></b></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-telecom-commercial-communications-customer-preference-regulations">Comments on the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations</a> (Sandeep Kumar, Torsha Sarkar, Swaraj Barooah, and Gurshabad Grover; June 22, 2018).<br /><br /></span></li>
</ul>
<h2><span style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw">Researchers at Work</a></span></span></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by an emerging need to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It aims to produce local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/dhai-inagural-conference-2018-puthiya-purayil-sneha-keynote">Digital Humanities Alliance of India - Inagural Conference 2018</a> (Co-organized by IIM and IIT, Indore with support from CIS; IIM, Indore; June 1 - 2, 2018). P.P. Sneha was a speaker and gave the keynote address.</li>
</ul>
<div></div>
<div><b>Essay</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/new-contexts-and-sites-of-humanities-practice-in-the-digital-paper">New Contexts and Sites of Humanities Practice in the Digital</a> (Paper) (P.P. Sneha; June 25, 2018).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div></div>
<hr />
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No publisherpraskrishnaTelecomResearchers at WorkInternet GovernanceAccess to Knowledge2018-08-11T02:52:10ZPageComments on the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-telecom-commercial-communications-customer-preference-regulations
<b>This submission presents comments by the Centre for Internet & Society, India (“CIS”) on the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations which was released to the public by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 29th May 2018 for comments and views. </b>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Preliminary</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This submission presents comments by the Centre for Internet & Society (“CIS”), India on ‘The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018’ which were <a class="external-link" href="https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/DraftUCCRegulation29052018.pdf">released</a> on 29th May 2018 for comments and counter-comments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS appreciates the intent and efforts of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to curb the problem of Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC), or spam. Spam messages are constant irritants for telecom subscribers. Acknowledging the same, TRAI has <a class="external-link" href="https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/PRNo5829052018.pdf">proposed</a> regulations which aim to empower subscribers in effectively dealing with UCC. CIS is grateful for the opportunity to put forth its views and comments on the regulations. This submission was made on 18th June 2018. This text has been slightly edited for readability.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The first part of the submission highlights some general issues with the regulations. While TRAI has offered a technological solution to the menace of UCC, the policy documents have no accompanying technical details. TRAI has not made a compelling case for why Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) should be used for storing data instead of a distributed database. There is no clarity on the technical aspects of the proposed DLTs: the participating nodes in the network, how these nodes arrive at a consensus, whether they are independent of each other, are questions that remain unanswered. The draft regulations also mention curbing Robocalls, but technical challenges associated with the same have not been discussed. Spam which is non-commercial in nature remains out of the scope of the current regulations.</span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The second part of this submission puts forth specific comments related to various sections of the draft and suggests improvements therein. <span>While CIS appreciates the extension of the deadline from 11th June to 18th June, we would like to highlight that the Draft was released on 29th May, and despite the extension, the time to submit comments remains less than a month. Considering the fact that the draft regulations hold significance for the entire telecom industry and nearly 1.5 billion subscribers, TRAI should have granted at least a month’s time for the stakeholder’s sound scrutiny.</span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">General Comments</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The draft greatly emphasizes the fact that data regarding Consent, Complaints, Headers, Preferences, Content Template Register and Entities are stored on distributed ledgers. The intent is to keep data cryptographically secure with no centralized point of control. However, the regulations do not go into the technical details of the working of these distributed ledgers leading to several potential pitfalls.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As per the draft, every access provider has to establish distributed ledgers for Complaints, Consent, Content, Preference, Header, Entities and so on. There are specific entities mentioned which will act as nodes in the network, and these nodes are preselected.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Whenever a sender seeks to send commercial communications across a list of subscribers, the list is ‘scrubbed’ against the DL-Consent and DL-Preference, to check whether the subscriber has given consent and registered their preference. The sender can only send the commercial communication to the numbers which are present in the scrubbed list.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The objective of these regulations is to protect consumers’ rights but the consumer, i.e., the subscriber, is not a node in the distributed ledger. Since the primary benefits of decentralization are gained when the trust is devolved to the individual subscribers, and the individual users are not specified as participating nodes in the ledger, the justification behind a distributed ledger is unclear.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Additionally, the proposed regime requires the subscriber to place her trust in the access provider to register the complaint, thus offers no tangible benefit over the current regulation. While there are penalties for non-compliant Access Providers (APs), there are no business incentives for APs to expend the extra amount of resources required in for effective implementation of this technology, to act in the users’ interest. This builds a system where APs interests clash with subscribers, but they are nonetheless required to be the guardian of the subscribers’ concerns.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Further, the nodes are entities constituted by the access providers (APs), and there is no mechanism to ensure that they behave independently of each other. In such case, it is wholly possible that all nodes on a distributed ledger are run by the same entity, thus defeating the purpose of establishing consensus. The proposed regulations do not address this scenario.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One solution would be to add subscribers as nodes to the DLT network. But this would be impractical as the technical challenges associated therein, including generating public-private key pairs of each user, the computational complexity of the network, are immense. If this is indeed the intention of TRAI, this has not been spelled out clearly in the draft regulations. Additionally, in such a scenario, there would be no requirement for mandating every AP to maintain their own DLT for customer preference and consent artifacts.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Considering the points mentioned above, we request TRAI to publish the technical specifications of DLTs, which addresses the following issues:</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><ol>
<li>Who can participate in the network other than the entities mentioned in the regulations? Are these participating entities independent of each other? If not, then how will the conflict of interest be resolved?</li>
<li>What is the consensus algorithm used in the DLTs?</li>
<li>Will the code to implement DLTs be open-source?</li>
</ol></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Our recommendations are three-fold in this regard:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">If distributed ledger is used, then, mechanisms should be devised to ensure the integrity of the consensus. For this, participating nodes in the network must be independent of each other. Aforementioned points regarding consensus protocol should be taken into consideration as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In place of DLTs, we recommend the use of a distributed database with signature-based authentication and encryption of the data to be stored. The immutability and non-repudiation of data can be achieved in this way. Distributed ledgers such as DL-consent, DL-preference, DL-complaints are instances where authentication of data and subscriber can be done using simplers means such as OTP verification, etc. So, such ledgers need not necessarily utilize DLTs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The regulations should mandate the open-source publication of the implementation of the DLTs. This will enable interoperability, add transparency to the functioning of the regulations, and enable security audits to ensure accountability of the APs.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Broadening the scope of the Regulations to non-commercial communication</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The proposed regulations attempt to specifically curb unsolicited commercial communications as defined in Regulation 2(bt). But, there are other forms of communication which are unsolicited and non-commercial, including political messages and market surveys.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We recommend that the scope of the regulations should be broadened to include both commercial and non-commercial communications. And both of these should be grouped under the category of Institutional Communications. Wherever needed, changes should be made to the regulations dealing with UCC to suit the specific requirements of dealing with unsolicited non-commercial communications as well. At the same time, the regulations should ensure that individual communications are not brought within their ambit.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Technical challenges in combating Robocalls</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Robocalls are defined in Regulation 2(ba) and in Schedule IV, provision 3, it has been clubbed with other kinds of spam. However, there are some specific technical challenges in regulating robocalls. Right now, ‘block listing’ is a prevalent model where one can identify a number and then block it so that it cannot be used further. But with robocalls, spoofing of other numbers is easily achievable which makes the blocking of the real identity of caller difficult. The proposed regulations do not adequately address this challenge.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, with working groups of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), has been <a class="external-link" href="https://www.wired.com/story/robocall-getting-worse-but-help-is-here">working</a> on a different approach to solve this problem. They are working on standards for all mobile and VoIP calling services which would enable them to do cryptographic digital call signing, “so calls can be validated as originating from a legitimate source, and not a spoofed robocall system. The protocols, known as ‘STIR’ and ‘SHAKEN,’ are in industry testing right now through ATIS's Robocalling Testbed, which has been used by companies like Sprint, AT&T, Google, Comcast, and Verizon so far”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">TRAI should take into account these developments and propose a specific regime accordingly. One possible way forward, for now, could be the banning of robocalls unless there is explicit opt-in by subscribers.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Registration of content-template</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The draft envisages a distributed ledger system for registration of content template which would have both a fixed part and a variable part. The content template needs to be registered by the content template registrar, which would be an authorized entity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Problematically, the content template is defined to include the fixed part as well as the variable part. Further, Schedule I, provision 4(3)(e) mandates that content template registration functions should be utilized to extract fixed and the variable portion from actual messages offered for delivery or already delivered. The variable portion of the message contains information specific to a customer, as defined in regulation 2(q)(ii). In addition to privacy concerns with accessing the variable part, there is no functional reason for variable portions to be extracted from the actual message, as only the fixed portion needs to be verified.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The hash of the fixed portion of the message can be used to identify whether a user has received UCC or not. We, therefore, recommend that the variable portion of the message shall not be made accessible to entities because it is not required for the identification of a message as UCC.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">‘Safe and Secure Manner’</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Throughout the draft, reference is made to the data collected being stored and/or exchanged in a ‘safe and secure manner’, without any clarification as to what this term implies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We recommend that the term be defined as ‘measures in accordance with reasonable security practices and procedures’ as given in section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2008 read with section 8 of the Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules, 2011.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Bulk Registration</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<div>In the Consultation paper <a class="external-link" href="http://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/UCC_CP_14092017.pdf">published</a> by TRAI, bulk registration was envisaged as a way to curb UCC wherein one member of the family can register on behalf of the family. Australia has already <a class="external-link" href="https://www.donotcall.gov.au/consumers/bulk-applications-register-remove-check">implemented</a> this mechanism.</div>
<p>In India, evidence suggests that major victims of spam are the elderly and people with <a class="external-link" href="https://www.news18.com/news/tech/5-common-types-of-scam-calls-in-india-and-how-to-deal-them-1366587.html">limited</a> financial capacities. In such cases, consent and preference registration on behalf of these people by one person may help in the successful control of UCC.</p>
<p>Some telecom service providers <a class="external-link" href="http://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/Reliance_Jio_Infocomm_Ltd_14112017.pdf">argued</a> against this by emphasizing the individual choice of a subscriber. However, in cases where there is authorization given by the customer, the primary user can <a class="external-link" href="http://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/Bharti_Airtel_Ltd_10_11_2017.pdf">register</a> consent on his/her behalf. Similarly, since corporate connections are by definition owned and paid for by corporates, bulk registration in those situations can be also be done.</p>
<p>We recommend that given the situation in India, the provision for bulk registration be incorporated in the regulations for specific scenarios, as mentioned above. An authorization template giving the nominee power to register on behalf of a class can be incorporated to this effect. Also, an opt-out option must be incorporated in case an individual choice differs from the choice registered in the bulk-registration.</p>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Specific Comments</h2>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Inferred Consent [Regulation 2(k)(II)(A)]</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Comments<br /></strong>Regulation 2(k)(ii)(a) of the Draft defines consent as “voluntary permission given by the customer to the sender to receive commercial communication”. However, the draft also includes, “inferred consent”, which is defined as consent that can be “reasonably inferred from the customer’s conduct or the business and the relationship between the individual and the sender”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When consent is derived from the customer’s conduct, rather than being given explicitly, it defeats its ‘voluntary nature’. The provision of consent being ‘reasonably inferred’ from the customer’s conduct is also vague, and there is no indication given in the draft as to what kind of conduct would lead to a reasonable inference of implied consent. The definition can also be interpreted to mean that customer’s conduct will be subject to monitoring, which raises privacy concerns.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Recommendations <br /></strong>Consent shall not be derived from the customer’s conduct unless the person provides it explicitly. We recommend amendment to the definition of ‘inferred consent’ accordingly.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Three years history to be stored in DL-Complaints [Regulations 24(3) and 24(4)]</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Comments</strong></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Regulation 24(3) and (4) states that the DL-Ledger for Complaints (DL-Complaints) shall record ‘three years history’ of both the complainant and the sender, with details of complaints made, date, time and status of the resolution of the complaint. It is not clear from the regulation whether the mentioned set of data is exhaustive or not.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Recommendations <br /></strong>We recognize that the legislative intent behind drafting Regulation 24(3) and (4) was to curb frivolous or false complaints, which has already been a concern of TRAI. Storing both the complainant and the sender’s history, in such cases, may aid in resolving these.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">We recommend that the language of the regulations may be amended to “three years history which only includes details of all complaint(s) made by him, with date(s) and time(s) . . .”, thereby giving a limiting qualification to the broad scope of the term.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The responsibility of the APs to ensure that the devices support the requisite permissions [Regulation 34]</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Comments<br /></strong>Regulation 34 mandates that the APs are to ensure that the devices “registered in the network” shall support the requisite permissions of the Apps under this regulations.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In terms of jurisdiction, regulation of the functioning of electronic devices (which can be phones, tablets or smart watches) is outside the scope of the proposed regulations, and probably out of TRAI's regulatory competence.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Even if TRAI can impose the regulation on end devices, this regulation puts the burden on the APs to ensure that devices support the pertinent app permissions. Considering that TRAI itself has been weighing legal recourse against device manufacturers on similar grounds, it is unclear why TRAI assumes that APs have any legal or technical method to ensure control of a device which has neither been manufactured by them nor is it under their physical or remote control.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In modern smartphones, the end-user has full control over most app installations and permissions. This practice is consistent with a consumer's autonomy over the device and its functioning. Considering the fact that TRAI has not implemented basic security features in the 'Do Not Disturb' app, TRAI is putting at risk the privacy of millions of device owners by legally mandating permissions for an app with the second proviso. The proviso further gives TRAI the power to order APs to derecognize devices from their network. This regulation is draconic and inimical to the rights of consumers, who are at risk of losing network access and connectivity because of their device choice, which is a completely different business and market.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Recommendations <br /></strong>Reporting unsolicited messages or calls is a consumer right, and the regulations are in furtherance of the same goals. TRAI should enable consumer rights by giving subscribers the option to report spam and has no reason to force users to report spam possibly through legal overreach and privacy invasion. Accordingly, we recommend the removal of Regulation 34.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Additional Suggestions</h2>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Consumer and subscriber</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The usage of the terms ‘customer’ and ‘subscriber’ in Regulation 3(1) implies that the terms have two different meanings. This interpretation, however, clashes with the actual definition given in Regulation 2(u) and 2(bk), whereby a customer is a subscriber. This is an inconsistent interpretation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Either the definition of a ‘customer’ must be clarified or differentiated from that of a ‘subscriber’ in regulation 2, or regulation 3 must be amended to indicate what its actual object of regulation is - the customer or the subscriber.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Drafting misnumbering</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are a few instances of misnumbering of regulations and reference regulations which are non-existent.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Regulations 25(5)(b) and (c) make a reference to regulation 25(3)(a), which does not exist in the given draft. A bare reading of regulation 25, however, indicate that the intention was to refer to regulation 25(5)(a), and as such, this misnumbering should be rectified.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Regulation 34 makes a reference to regulation 7(2), which again, does not exist. In such case, either regulation 34 or regulation 7(2) must be amended to keep a consistent interpretation.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Ambiguous terms</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">‘Allocation and assignment principles and policies’ - Provision 4(1)(a) of Schedule I of the regulations indicate that header assignment should be done on the basis of ‘allocation and assignment principles and policies’, without any clarification to the meaning of this term. We recommend an amendment to this provision accordingly.</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-telecom-commercial-communications-customer-preference-regulations'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-telecom-commercial-communications-customer-preference-regulations</a>
</p>
No publisherSandeep Kumar, Torsha Sarkar, Swaraj Barooah, Gurshabad GroverTelecomInternet Governance2018-06-23T00:44:47ZBlog Entry