Centre for Internet and Society

Roundtable on ICANN Accountability

praskrishna — 2015-04-03T16:54:41Z

The roundtable was organised by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), National Internet Exchange of India and Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University, Delhi at the Indian International Centre, New Delhi on 13 March 2015. Geetha Hariharan participated in the roundtable.

Timings	Programme
10.00 10.30	Welcome Address by Chimayi Arun, Research Director, Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi
10.30 10.40	Introductory Remarks by Dr. Ajay Kumar (IAS) Joint Secretary, DeitY
10.45 11.15	Session I: NTIA IANA Functions' Stewardship Transition
13.15 14.30	Lunch
14.30 16.30	Session II: Accountability and Transparency at ICANN
16.30	Tea

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/roundtable-on-icann-accountability

GoI body National Mission for Manuscripts has digitised 3 million manuscripts

praskrishna — 2015-04-05T03:20:06Z

Twelve-year-old government body National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) has digitised over thirty lakh manuscripts and 185,88,390 pages in all as of 31 December 2014, Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation said in the Rajya Sabha this week. He added that the National Archives of India (NAI) is set to digitise another 1,100,000 historic records. The government has spent over Rs 25 lakhs on digitisation as of January 2015 as compared to ~ Rs 36 lakhs in 2012-13.

The blog post by Sneha Johari was published by Medianama on March 13, 2015.

The NAI has digitised 41 non-priced NAI publications and 484 manuscripts which consist of 106,974 pages, 42 newspapers and printed books (10,346 pages) and 187,878 documents made of 613,413 pages of NAI’s oriental and public records collection.

Digital conservation over micro-film

Sharma said that the government is looking at strengthening the Public Records Act. He added that digitisation would be the preferred form of conservation since it had many advantages over micro-film processing and would provide better access to archives electronically which could be used by scholars, historians and academicians.

The NAI operates two schemes for funding the preservation of documentary heritage. These schemes include funding for preservation and conservation of rare books, old and rare documents, government libraries and museums among others.

The NMM is an organisation under GOI’s Ministry of Culture set up to create a national manuscript resource to enhance access, awareness and use for educational use. It offers courses, workshops and fellowships on Manuscriptology and Palaeography. Sharma said that the Ministry had some proposals to collaborate with foreign countries for digitisation of Indian documents but had not taken those up due to issues of national importance. Some of NMM’s challenges arise from the scale of manuscripts found in India (claimed at ~5 million), languages which cannot be read, in a poor and neglected condition and the lack of scholars who can study these manuscripts.

The NMM has 31 Manuscript Conservation Centres (MCCs) across the country under the NMM. The MCCs include organisations like Manuscript Library, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), Pune, Karnataka State Archives, Bangalore and INTACH Orissa Art Conservation Centre, Bhubaneswar.

The New Indian Express featured a report where Jayadhir Tirumalrao, Professor at the Centre for Dalit and Adivasi Studies and Translation, Hyderabad was among others who developed a script for the tribal language Gondi. The report claims that Gondi language was the only tribal language in India to have its own literature.

Previous digitisation initiatives:

In November 2014, around 55 books written by the Indian author and activist Niranjana in Kannada would be digitized and made available on Kannada Wikisource, allowing Kannada speakers to access these books easily.
In October 2014, the Ministry of Culture launched a national portal for museums. Collections in all museums under its control and those under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be digitized and presented on this portal.

In July 2014, the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the Ministry of Science and Technology released the draft of Open Access Policy. The objective of this policy is to provide unrestricted access to research work funded by the departments. The draft states that since all funds disbursed by DBT and DST are public funds, it is important that the information and knowledge generated through the use of these funds are made publicly available as soon as possible.
In September 2013, Goa University entered into a 3 year MoU with the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) for building the Konkani Wikipedia.
In June 2013, Tata Communications Media Services planned to digitize documents of historical and cultural significance such as films and documentaries from the archives of Doordarshan and Films Division of India which go back to 1947 including speeches of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders.
In May 2013, Punjabi Sahitya Akademi Reference Lab scanned and saved around 1,000 manuscripts, stone-printed scripts, poetry books on computer hard discs, adding that the digitized editions will be available across the globe through the internet.

The Indian Government spent Rs 4.5 crores in 2010-11 for digitization and modernization of public libraries.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/medianama-march-13-2015-sneha-johari-goi-body-national-mission-for-manuscripts-has-digitised-3-million-manuscripts

Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things

praskrishna — 2015-03-13T02:14:59Z

US Consulate Chennai formally Invite you for a talk by David F.Heyman on March 19, 2015 in Hotel Atria, Palace Road, Bangalore. The event is being organized by the US Consulate, Chennai, Cyber Security & Privacy Foundation (CSPF) and the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS).

Note: Please register to come to the event, if you are not attending please inform us.

David Heyman, former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and retired Software Engineer Reimagining and Transforming Cities, Governments, and Lives with the Internet of Things For the first time in human history more people live in cities than anywhere else.

By 2050 three-fourths of the world’s population will live in cities. As more and more people move to cities, more of the world’s challenges, from emerging infectious diseases, crime, economic growth, and environmental degradation, will be concentrated in cities. Citizens will expect and demand more from their leaders; and governments will face greater pressure to provide services better, faster, cheaper to more and more, potentially with less and less resources.

More than any other force driving change over the horizon, the Internet of Things (IoT) holds the potential to connect and infuse devices, business assets, infrastructures, and other elements of a city with greater intelligence and efficiencies to drive a new era of innovation and performance. And yet, this potential is juxtaposed against a backdrop of an explosion in cybercrimes and threats facilitated by the increased linkages between the physical and cyber world that is at the heart of IoT, and which affords malicious actors anywhere in the world the potential to disrupt services and lives on a far more consequential level than ever before.

In his remarks, David Heyman, former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and retired software engineer, will discuss the extraordinary potential of the IoT, the barriers to adoption, and how governments and businesses can navigate this new frontier, work together, and re-imagine and transform cities—and nations—for tomorrow.

David F. Heyman

David F. Heyman has over two decades of experience as a leader in spurring innovation, risk management, and strategy development in the public and private sector. He is a leading expert in national security and international affairs, counterterrorism, cybersecurity, building resilience, and critical infrastructure protection, with broad experience in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and Asia. Heyman’s career includes service at the highest levels of the U.S. government, working in senior positions at the White House, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as well as in the private sector.

Most recently, Heyman concluded five years of service as Assistant Secretary of Policy (operating as an Under Secretary equivalent) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As a member of the senior management team at DHS, Heyman was responsible for the Department’s strategic planning, risk and decision analysis, policy development, and thought leadership across all five departmental mission areas: counterterrorism, border security, immigration,
cybersecurity, and building resilience to disasters. During his tenure, Heyman helped transform the Department from a budget-driven to a strategydriven organization, and instituted an enterprise risk-management architecture for managing the Department’s $60 billion budget. He oversaw and initiated the Department’s largest expansion in global engagement, and in this role, led efforts to build new strategic partnerships with the World Customs Organization, the World Economic Forum, and some of the most consequential and complicated geopolitical relationships facing the United Stated today, including China, India, the European Union, and others. Heyman designed and launched multiple domestic, bilateral, and global initiatives to bolster U.S. security and prosperity. He was the chief architect of the nation’s first National Strategy for Homeland Security—the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review—which elevated and established cyber security and building national resilience as core homeland security missions. He led efforts around five Presidential Initiatives
to: empower communities to counter violent extremism; strengthen global supply chain security; expand travel and tourism to the United States; streamline and modernize the U.S. import and export system; and develop and implement a new perimeter approach to North American Security which resulted in the Beyond the Border Initiative signed by President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Carper.

He led the creation of the Resilient STARTM program and the Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience, and is wellknown for drafting the policy to eliminate the color-code Homeland Security Advisory System and replace it with a more disciplined National Terrorism Advisory System, now used by the U.S. government. Previously, Heyman founded and directed the Homeland Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), one of the nation’s leading and most influential think tanks in international security and taught security studies and science and technology policy as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Heyman also served as a senior advisor to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and oversaw development and implementation of a number of energy, infrastructure and technology initiatives, including leading and establishing a new portfolio approach to manage DOE’s $7 billion in research and development (R&D) investments.

Earlier in his career, Heyman was a senior policy advisor in national security and international affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and was responsible for providing science, technology, and foreign policy advice to the President’s Science Advisor and the Vice President’s National Security Advisor. Before entering government, Heyman worked for nearly a decade as a computer systems software engineer, and head of international operations for a firm developing and deploying industrial automation, robotics, and supply-chain management systems for Fortune 100 companies. Heyman holds a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Brandeis University and a Master’s in international relations and economics from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated with the highest level of distinction. He is currently a member of the Aspen Homeland Security Strategy Group, Aspen’s U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, and serves as co-chair of its Cyber Task Force.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/talk-on-cybersecurity-and-internet-of-things

Right to Education and the Future of Our Languages

praskrishna — 2015-05-27T14:00:44Z

The Department of Linguistics, University of Mumbai and Dr. Rakhmabai Educational Resource and Research Centre in association with ICSSR (WRC) organized a National Symposium on Right to Education and the Future of Our Languages at Pherozeshah Mehta Bhavan from March 9 to 11, 2015. Tanveer Hasan was a speaker.

Prof. Ganesh Devy gave the inaugural address and Prof. Anita Rampal gave the keynote address. Tanveer Hasan spoke about the importance of Free and Open Resources of Knowledge and how these resources could be harnessed in providing access to knowledge and subsequently claim the right to education. The event was organized as an effort to understand the effect of RTE act on the primary and high school education standards across India with special reference to Maharashtra. The workshop also provided an opportunity to meet several like minded institutions and individuals.

More information on the event here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/right-to-education-and-future-of-our-languages

Uploaded and blocked, a daylong battle rages on the web over BBC documentary

praskrishna — 2015-03-10T02:37:04Z

It was a daylong tussle between uploads and takedowns. Netizens kept uploading the controversial BBC documentary, 'India's Daughter', on video-sharing websites even as several of them were blocked within hours on Thursday. By 9pm, the hour-long film had been removed from at least four locations on YouTube. One of them had already gathered over 1.04 lakh views by then. The documentary which deals with the December 16 Nirbhaya rape case was still available on another video-sharing website, dailymotion.com, where two of three such uploads even had an advertisement preceding the video. It could also be seen on vimeo.com, another video-sharing service.

The article by Kim Arora was published in the Times of India on March 6, 2015. Rohini Lakshane is quoted.

Around 4.30pm, the video on the channel "Game Pundits" titled 'India's Daughter: Indian rapist BBC Documentary Delhi Nirbhaya Full HD' was removed by YouTube. It instead carried the message: "This content is not available on this country domain due to a court order." The video here had gathered over 3,500 views.

By late evening, the video uploaded from an account by the name of Robin Kankerwal was taken down, displaying the same message. On channels "7thave" and "Kate Bevan" the videos were taken down over a copyright violation claim by BBC itself.

A YouTube spokesperson told TOI over email: "While we believe that access to information is the foundation of a free society, and that services like YouTube help people express themselves and share different points of view, we continue to remove content that is illegal or violates our community guidelines, once notified."

With the rising crescendo of the debate around the documentary, experts point to what is known as the "Streisand effect" on the internet, which is, the attempt at censoring or hiding something leading to increased discussion and exposure of the subject. #IndiasDaughter was among the top trends on both Facebook and Twitter on Thursday.

"My research shows that such content is virulently shared online and offline—through peer-to-peer sharing networks, popular messaging services such as WhatApp, through DVDs, through video-sharing and file-sharing websites. Even when it is taken down from the place where it was first posted, it stays on in assorted web archives and caches. The usual methods of weeding out web search results and directing ISPs to block URLs are mostly ineffectual. There is an indelible digital footprint," says Rohini Lakshane, a researcher at Bangalore-based Center for Internet Society.

The online discussion around the film centered along three threads. There were those who wanted it made freely available and the rapists publicly shamed, those who wanted it to not be aired for fear of giving a rapist an international platform, and others who pointed to the complex legal problems associated with the convicted rapist's interview since his appeal is still pending before the SC.

The top rated comment on Bevan's YouTube video was by one Tushar Lall, who wrote: "I'm from India...They've banned this documentary. I'm sure this will get taken down really soon. I might not be able to watch it again. But thanks to you, [name withheld]'s story is out there." Dhirajj Kumar wrote: "I don't kno y dis documentary is ban on air. India hav right to know, wat rapist think abt girl. thanks bbc (sic)."

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-march-6-2015-uploaded-and-blocked-a-daylong-battle-rages-on-web-over-bbc-documentary

Vox Pol Workshop on the Role of Social Media and Internet Companies in Responding to Violent Online Extremism

praskrishna — 2015-04-03T15:51:08Z

On March 5-6, 2015, the VOX-Pol network convened a workshop at Central European University in Budapest on the role of social media and internet companies in responding to violent online political extremism and the impacts on freedom of expression.

Elonnai Hickok attended the workshop. More details can be accessed here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/vox-pol-workshop-on-the-role-of-social-media-and-internet-companies-in-responding-to-violent-online-extremism-5-6-march-budapest

G 20 Open Data Process

praskrishna — 2015-03-09T02:03:46Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/g-20-open-data-process.pptx

Peng Hwa's Trip Report

praskrishna — 2015-03-08T15:14:32Z

Peng Hwa had visited CIS and he has written a trip report.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/peng-hwa-trip-report.pdf

Women's History Month, India-2015

praskrishna — 2015-03-08T09:18:19Z

CIS-A2K is supporting the Indian Wikimedia volunteers organize Wikipedia Women's History Month, India- 2015.

See the event meta page here

8th March is International Women's Day and to celebrate, women in India are organizing edit-a-thons and meetups to create and expand articles of importance to women in Wikipedia in English and various Indian languages. The goal of the month-long event is to encourage more women and transwomen to contribute to Wikipedia and increase the quality of articles related to women in Wikipedia. The event aims at creating new articles, expanding the existing stubs and translating English articles to various Indic languages. Everyone is welcome to join the event as enthusiasts, editors, translators, bloggers or event managers. Anyone who identify themselves as women are particularly encouraged to participate.

Events: Click here to see the list of online and offline events.
Participants: Sign up as a participant!
List of articles : Click here to see the list of languages and articles.
Resources: Organize an event!

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/womens-history-month-india-2015

Concept Letter

praskrishna — 2015-03-08T05:04:45Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/concept-letter.pdf

Invitation Letter to Panigrahi

praskrishna — 2015-03-08T05:00:35Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/invitation-letter-panigrahi.pdf

CONNECTing the Dots: Options for Future Action

praskrishna — 2015-04-01T15:31:45Z

Conference on UNESCO’s Internet Study: access, free expression, privacy and ethics.

Elonnai Hickok participated in the conference organized by UNESCO on 3 and 4 March 2015 in Paris. The programme focused on topics like:

Freedom of Expression
Access and Ethics
Privacy and Ethics
Access and Freedom of Expression
Access and Privacy
The Internet Ecosystem and UNESCO's role - which options for future action?

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/connecting-the-dots-options-for-future-action

Train the Trainer — Report in Udayavani

praskrishna — 2015-04-04T16:20:49Z

As part of the Train The Trainer program, on Feb 28, all the participants (Wikipedians from all over India) were taken to Janapada Loka, near Ramanagara. There was a report in Udayavani, Ramanagara edition on March 2, 2015 about this event.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/train-the-trainer-event-report-march-2-2015-udayavani-report

Annual Report 2013-14

praskrishna — 2015-03-01T04:55:06Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/about/reports/annual-report-2013-14.pdf