Internet Governance Blog
Does the Government want to enter our homes?
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:12 AMWhen rogue politicians and bureaucrats are granted unrestricted access to information then the very future of democracy and free media will be in jeopardy. In an article published in the Pune Mirror on 10 August, 2010, Sunil Abraham examines this in light of the BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry messenger service that the Government of India plans to block if its makers do not allow the monitoring of messages. He says that civil society should rather resist and insist on suitable checks and balances like governmental transparency and a fair judicial oversight instead of allowing the government to intrude into the privacy and civil liberties of its citizens.
UID Project in India - Some Possible Ramifications
— by Liliyan — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:13 AMHaving a standard for decentralized ID verification rather than a centralized database that would more often than not be misused by various authorities will solve ID problems, writes Liliyan in this blog entry. These blog posts to be published in a series will voice the expert opinions of researchers and critics on the UID project and present its unique shortcomings to the reader.
Civil Liberties and the amended Information Technology Act, 2000
— by Malavika Jayaram — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:13 AMThis post examines certain limitations of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (as amended in 2008). Malavika Jayaram points out the fact that when most countries of the world are adopting plain English instead of the conventional legal terminology for better understanding, India seems to be stuck in the old-fashioned method thereby, struggling to maintain a balance between clarity and flexibility in drafting its laws. The present Act, she says, is although an improvement over the old Act and seeks to address and improve on certain areas in the right direction but still comes up short in making necessary changes when it comes to fundamental rights and personal liberties. The new Act retains elements from the previous one making it an abnormal document and this could have been averted if there had been some attention to detail.
Feedback to the NIA Bill
— by Elonnai Hickok — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:14 AMMalavika Jayaram and Elonnai Hickok introduce the formal submission of CIS to the proposed National Identification Authority of India (NIA) Bill, 2010, which would give every resident a unique identity. The submissions contain the detailed comments on the draft bill and the high level summary of concerns with the NIA Bill submitted to the UIDAI on 13 July, 2010.
Does the Safe-Harbor Program Adequately Address Third Parties Online?
— by Rebecca Schild — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:19 AMWhile many citizens outside of the US and EU benefit from the data privacy provisions the Safe Harbor Program, it remains unclear how successfully the program can govern privacy practices when third-parties continue to gain more rights over personal data. Using Facebook as a site of analysis, I will attempt to shed light on the deficiencies of the framework for addressing the complexity of data flows in the online ecosystem.
Sense and censorship
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:15 AMSunil Abraham examines Google's crusade against censorship in China in wake of the attacks on its servers in this article published in the Indian Express.
Report on the Fourth Internet Governance Forum for Commonwealth IGF
— by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Feb 29, 2012 05:42 AMThis report by Pranesh Prakash reflects on the question of how useful the IGF is in the light of meetings on the themes of intellectual property, freedom of speech and privacy.
When Whistle Blowers Unite
— by Sunil Abraham — last modified Mar 21, 2012 10:17 AMLeaking corporate or government information in public interest through popular Web service providers is risky but Wikileaks.org is one option that you could try out.
A provisional definition for the Cultural Last Mile
— by Nishant Shah — last modified Aug 02, 2011 08:57 AMIn the first of his entries, Ashish Rajadhyaksha gives his own spin on the 'Last Mile' problem that has been at the crux of all public technologies. Shifting the terms of debate away from broadcast problems of distance and access, he re-purposes the 'last mile' which is a communications problem, to make a cultural argument about the role and imagination of technology in India, and the specific ways in which this problem features in talking about Internet Technologies in contemporary India.
Address delivered during the IGF Closing Ceremony
— by Radha Rao — last modified Aug 02, 2011 07:18 AMThis address was delivered by Dr. Anja Kovacs, as a representative of civil society, to the IGF during its closing ceremony.
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