February 2016 Bulletin
by
Prasad Krishna
—
last modified
Mar 20, 2016 05:13 AM
The Centre for Internet & Society is happy to share its February 2016 newsletter. Previous issues of the newsletters can be accessed at http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters.
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Accessibility & Inclusion
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India has an estimated 70 million persons with disabilities who don't have access to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. As part of our endeavour to make available accessible content for persons with disabilities we are developing a text-to-speech software in 15 languages with support from the Hans Foundation. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed here.
►NVDA and eSpeak
Report
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February 2016 (Suman Dogra; February 28, 2016).
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Access to Knowledge
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As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) 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.
►Pervasive Technologies
Article
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Standard Essential Patents on Low-Cost Mobile Phones in India: A Case to Strengthen Competition Regulation? (Nehaa Chaudhari; Socio Legal Review, National Law School of India University; February 25, 2016).
Participation in Event
- 2016 Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property ("WIPIP") Colloquium (Organized by School of Law, University of Washington; Washington D.C.; February 19 - 20, 2016). Prof. Jorge Contreras presented a paper co-authored by Rohini Lakshané on the patent landscape conducted for the Pervasive Technologies project.
► Copyright and Patent
- MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from University of Madras (Karan Tripathi; February 19, 2016).
- MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from Cochin University of Science and Technology (Karan Tripathi; February 21, 2016).
- MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from IIT, Bombay (Karan Tripathi; February 22, 2016).
- MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from IIT, Delhi (Karan Tripathi; February 22, 2016).
- The new Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions are a big win for FOSS in India! (Anubha Sinha; February 23, 2016).
Event Organized
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IP Meetup #01: Prof. Biswajit Dhar on 'Intellectual Property issues: The Way Forward post Nairobi WTO Ministerial' (CIS, New Delhi; February 7, 2016). Prof. Dhar gave a talk.
►Wikipedia
As part of the project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation 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).
Articles
- Can Wikipedia revive dying Indian languages? (Subhashish Panigrahi; The Hoot; February 19, 2016 and mirrored by Pratham Books; February 22, 2016).
- Community Digest—Estonians working on a new feedback system for Wikipedia articles (Subhashish Panigrahi; Wikimedia Blog; February 27, 2016).
- Looking ahead to the future of the Kannada Wikipedia: Vasanth S.N. (Subhashish Panigrahi; Wikimedia Blog; February 29, 2016).
- ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ଅନୁଶୀଳନ (Subhashish Panigrahi; Suryaprava; February 22, 2016).
- ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ଅନୁଶୀଳନ (Subhashish Panigrahi; Samaja; February 21, 2016).
- ମାତୃଭାଷା ଦିବସ: ଆଜିର ସମସ୍ୟା ଓ ଆହ୍ୱାନ (Subhashish Panigrahi; Sambad; February 21, 2016).
Submission
- Cultural institution AKA GLAM for more OER (Subhashish Panigrahi; February 27, 2016). Subhashish's submission under the theme of "Innovative approaches to opening up cultural heritage collections for education" has been selected for the OER16 conference to be held in Edinburg, Scotland from 19 to 20 April 2016.
Media Coverage
- Youth is responsible for protecting Telugu (Eenadu; January 14, 2016).
- Why aren’t Indians using Wikipedia to hold the government to account? (Madhav Gadgil; Scroll.in; February 6, 2016).
- Now trending: Regional Indian language social media networks (Kanika Sharma; Hindustan Times; February 14, 2016).
- International Mother Language Day (Eenadu; February 21, 2016).
- ಪ್ರಶಾಂತವನ (Prashasti Prashantavanam; February 21, 2016).
Award
- The Intellects, a Delhi-based progressive forum of intellectuals, held the 2nd International Conclave of Odia Language at the India International Centre in New Delhi on February 20, 2016. Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event and won the Yuva Prerana Samman award. Odisha News covered the event.
Event Organized
- Digitisation sprint at Andhra Loyola College Vijayawada to bring more books on Telugu Wikisource (Andhra Loyola College, Off Eluru Road, Behind Vinayak Theater, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh; February 12 to 14, 2016).
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.
Articles
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Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals in India: Availability and Openness of Data (Part I) (Kiran AB, Openness Blog, February 22, 2016)
Submission
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Open Data Hackathons are Great, but Address Privacy and License Concerns (Nisha Thompson, Cross-posted from DataMeet, February 05, 2016)
Participation in Event
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National Koha Conclave (Organized by Informatics Publishing; Fortune Park JP Celestial; Bangalore; February 17, 2016). Sunil Abraham delivered the inaugural address on the occasion.
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 International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on studying the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government.
►Big Data
- Database on Big Data and Smart Cities International Standards (Vanya Rakesh; February 11, 2016).
- Sean McDonald - Ebola: A Big Data Disaster (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; February 29, 2016).
►Freedom of Expression
Articles
- ‘A Good Day for the Internet Everywhere': India Bans Differential Data Pricing (Subhashish Panigrahi; Global Voices; February 9, 2016).
- Net Neutrality Advocates Rejoice As TRAI Bans Differential Pricing (Subhashish Panigrahi; Odisha TV; February 9, 2016).
- Facebook's Fall from Grace: Arab Spring to Indian Winter (Sunil Abraham; First Post; February 11, 2016).
- Internet Freedom (Sunil Abraham and Vidushi Marda; Asian Age; February 14, 2016).
- There is No Such Thing as Free Basics (Subhashish Panigrahi; February 14, 2016).
- World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development (Pranesh Prakash; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation; February 17, 2016). Pranesh Prakash contributed to Independence: Introduction - Global Media Chapter.
Event Organized
- Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 1 (Co-organized by CIS, ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; CIS, Bangalore; February 1, 2016).
- Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 2 (Co-organized by CIS, ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; Pherozeshah Mehta Bhavan, Vidyanagari, Kalina, Mumbai; February 3, 2016).
- Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 3 (Co-organized by CIS, ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road near Air Force Bal Bharti School, New Delhi; February 5, 2016).
Participation in Event
- UNICEF & Nasscom Foundation Workshop on Child Online Protection (Organized by United Nations Children's International Education Fund; Hotel Claridges; New Delhi; February 8, 2016). Jyoti Panday attended the event.
►Privacy
Submission
- Comments by the Centre for Internet and Society on the Report of the Committee on Medium Term Path on Financial Inclusion (Vipul Kharbanda; February 27, 2016).
Blog Entry
- A Case for Greater Privacy Paternalism? (Amber Sinha; February 14, 2016).
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Telecom
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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:
Telecom
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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:
- Bottled-Up National Assets (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard and Organizing India BlogSpot; February 3, 2016).
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Researchers at Work
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The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by contemporary concerns to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It is interested in producing local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:
Researchers at Work
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The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by contemporary concerns to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It is interested in producing local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:
Article
- The Aakash Tablet and Technological Imaginaries of Mass Education in Contemporary India (Jahnavi Phalkey and Sumandro Chattapadhyay; February 14, 2016).
Video
- RAW Lectures #02: Anil Menon on 'Speculative Fiction and Freedom' - Video (CIS, Bangalore; January 13, 2016). The video was uploaded on February 9, 2016.
Events Organized
- Internet Researchers' Conference 2016 (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi; February 26 - 28, 2016).
CIS gave inputs to the following media coverage:
- India bans Facebook’s ‘free’ Internet for the poor (Annie Gowen; Washington Post; February 8, 2016).
- Zuckerberg's Plan Spurned as India Backs Full Net Neutrality (Adi Narayan and Bhuma Srivastava; Bloomberg; February 8, 2016).
- A Megacorp’s Basic Instinct (Arindam Mukherjee; Outlook; February 8, 2016).
- Facebook’s Free Basics hits snag in India (James Crabtree with additional reporting by Tim Bradshaw; Financial Times; February 8, 2016).
- Trai upholds Net Neutrality in setback to Facebook’s Free Basics (Moulishree Srivastava and Shauvik Ghosh; Livemint; February 9, 2016).
- India Sets Strict New Net Neutrality Rules (Anjana Pasricha; Voice of America; February 9, 2016).
- Net neutrality advocates hail Trai verdict (Alnoor Peermohamed; Business Standard; February 9, 2016).
- Netizen Report: The EU Wrestles With Facebook Over Privacy (Global Voices; February 11, 2016).
- Linking Facebook use to free top-up data (Deccan Chronicle; February 14, 2016).
- India's ‘Facebook ruling’ is another nail in the coffin of the MNO model (The Register; February 15, 2016).
- Violence call key to 'sedition' (The Telegraph; February 18, 2016).
- Why the Internet is Making India Furious (Sanjana Sathian; Ozy; February 19, 2016).
- Why India snubbed Facebook's free Internet offer (Daniel Van Boom; Cnet; February 26, 2016).
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About CIS
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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 diverse abilities, 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.
About CIS
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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 diverse abilities, 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.
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- Twitter - Information Policy: https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy
- Facebook - Access to Knowledge: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
- E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: [email protected]
- E-Mail - Researchers at Work: [email protected]
- List - Researchers at Work: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers
► Support Us
Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.
► Request for Collaboration
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 [email protected] (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at [email protected] (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 [email protected].
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.
