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Comments on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations: Technical Background Paper Prepared by the WIPO Secretariat
Technical Background Paper prepared by the WIPO Secretariat in relation to the Broadcast Treaty (“Technical Background Paper) provides information on new and emerging technologies and on legal developments in the broadcasting sector. This Technical Background Paper will be discussed at the upcoming 30th session of the SCCR in Geneva on 29th June- 3rd July 2015. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India had called for comments on the same. This is a submission made by Nehaa Chaudhari and Amulya Purushothama on behalf of the Centre for Internet and Society in this regard.
Magic words in Wikipedia
The struggle of finding solutions for replacing and retrieving content /words/facts and figures, in this day and age of machines that seem to know everything should ideally be a non-issue. Yet, for many of us who write reports based on the data available at that moment, it is nothing less than a nightmare to come to know that there has been a significant change in the data with which our reports have been written.
National IPR Policy Series : Follow-up RTI to DIPP on the IPR Think Tank
This RTI was prepared by Varun Baliga and Nehaa Chaudhari as a follow-up, based on the responses of the DIPP to our earlier RTI requests (available at http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-rti-requests-by-cis-to-dipp-dipp-responses)
Report on eSpeak Marathi Training at MJ College, Jalgaon
The Centre for Internet & Society conducted a workshop for reading and writing using eSpeak with NVDA at Dreamy Eyes Resource Centre in Jalgaon on June 23 and 24, 2015.
Train the Trainer: Running effective outreach activities in India
It is heartening to report that many Wikimedia projects in Indian languages have sustained, and even experienced an upward trend in, editor engagement. However, in terms of content creation, the majority of these projects are still facing grave challenges that put their very existence at risk.
The US 301 Report – A Myopic View of IP Rights
Varun Baliga and Nehaa Chaudhari discuss the 2015 US 301 Report, focussing on its narrow and convenient understanding of IP rights. A farrago of contradictions, it supports a rightsholder-centric view but not when the right, Geographical Indicator, is not to their liking. Similarly, the emphasis on the rights themselves gives short shrift to critical exceptions and limitations that also enhance and incentivize innovation, the ostensible purpose of IP.
The generation of e-Emergency
The next generation of censorship technology is expected to be ‘real-time content manipulation’ through ISPs and Internet companies.
IANA Transition Stewardship & ICANN Accountability (II)
This paper is the second in a multi-part series, in which we provide an overview of submitted proposals and highlight areas of concern that will need attention moving forward. The series is a work in progress and will be updated as the processes move forward. It is up for public comments and we welcome your feedback.
National IPR Policy Series : India's National IPR Policy - What Would WIPO Think?
As part of the National IPR Policy Series, CIS is evaluating how India's National IPR Policy framework and process holds up to WIPO's suggestions. In this note, Varun Baliga and Nehaa Chaudhari examine in particular, the functioning of the IPR Think Tank and the first draft of the National Policy in light of the WIPO framework and the principles it encapsulates.
DesiSec: Cybersecurity and Civil Society in India
As part of its project on mapping cyber security actors in South Asia and South East Asia, the Centre for Internet & Society conducted a series of interviews with cyber security actors. The interviews were compiled and edited into one documentary. The film produced by Purba Sarkar, edited by Aaron Joseph, and directed by Oxblood Ruffin features Malavika Jayaram, Nitin Pai, Namita Malhotra, Saikat Datta, Nishant Shah, Lawrence Liang, Anja Kovacs, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and, Ravi Sharada Prasad.
IANA Transition Stewardship & ICANN Accountability (I)
This paper is the first in a multi-part series, in which we provide a background to the IANA transition and updates on the ensuing processes. An attempt to familiarise people with the issues at stake, this paper will be followed by a second piece that provides an overview of submitted proposals and areas of concern that will need attention moving forward. The series is a work in progress and will be updated as the processes move forward. It is up for public comments and we welcome your feedback.
Report on the Use of eSpeak in Urdu and Kashmiri
NVDA team conducted a training programme at Kashmir University from June 15 to 17, 2015. Forty-four delegates attended the training programme. Kaifee Asami was the trainer.
Open Data Intermediaries in Developing Countries - A Synthesis Report
The roles of intermediaries in open data is insufficiently explored; open data intermediaries are often presented as single and simple linkages between open data supply and use. This synthesis research paper offers a more socially nuanced approach to open data intermediaries using the theoretical framework of Bourdieu’s social model, in particular, his concept of species of capital as informing social interaction... Because no single intermediary necessarily has all the capital available to link effectively to all sources of power in a field, multiple intermediaries with complementary configurations of capital are more likely to connect between power nexuses. This study concludes that consideration needs to be given to the presence of multiple intermediaries in an open data ecosystem, each of whom may possess different forms of capital to enable the use and unlock the potential impact of open data.
Report on 15 days Training in Basic Computing at RNKS
The NVDA team organized a 15 days training in basic computing at Rajasthan Natrahin Kalyan Sansthan (RNKS) in Jaipur. The training programme held from June 1 - 15, 2015 was attended by 12 delegates. Mrityunjay Kumar was the trainer. The basic training for computers was targeted for school going children of RNKS.
How the Odia Wikimedia community is enriching Wikipedia with character encoding technology
Last year, I wrote about the development of Odia language character encoding converters that the Wikipedia community was working on. These converted text into Unicode, a universal encoding standard. These converters have now been made available for use, just in time for today’s thirteenth anniversary of the Odia Wikipedia.
The Newly Updated Indic Keyboard App Now Supports 22 Asian Languages
This blog post was written in my personal capacity.
Report on eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA Training Workshop
The NVDA team held a five days training (June 3 - 7, 2015) at Anne Jane Askwith Higher Secondary School for the Visually Impaired, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli.
Report on Kannada eSpeak Training with NVDA
NVDA team conducted a two day training programme at Mitra Jyothi in Bangalore (June 8 and 9, 2015). Forty-three delegates attended the training programme.
Indian government includes open source in RFPs
The Government of India has implemented a remarkable new policy-level change for open source software (OSS) deployment.
Unfettering Stranded Capacity
Government can't control market forces, but can and must fix regulatory issues. First, the good news: the government does appear to be making serious efforts to tackle stranded capacity and stalled projects, as in the instances below. Such issues need to be resolved because of their effect on future investment and employment. Now, the bad news: one part is that some problems need solutions which are fraught with political risk.
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