Centre for Internet and Society

Expert Roundtable on Reconciling Policy Priorities of the Global North and South: Implications for Norms of Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace

praskrishna — 2015-05-01T16:35:50Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/expert-roundtable-on-reconciling-policy-priorities-of-global-north-and-south

April 2015 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2015-05-31T04:29:24Z

Newsletter for the month of April below.

We are happy to share with you the fourth issue of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) newsletter (April 2015). The past editions of the newsletter can be accessed at http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters.

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Highlights
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CIS received 35 engaging abstracts in response to the call for essays on 'Studying Internet in India'. The final essays will be published from June onwards. The ten selected abstracts can be read at http://cis-india.org/raw/studying-internet-in-india-selected-abstracts/ .

CIS submitted its comments to the National Informatics Centre on April 30, 2015 bringing to notice the negligible progress on the front for making Indian government websites conform to the notified standards, and gave recommendations to take the initiatives forward.
Nehaa Chaudhari has prepared a consolidated report that tracks the development of India's National IPR Policy and the requests by CIS to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under the RTI Act and responses elicited from the Department.

Institute of Odia Studies and Research organised 2nd National Language Conference beginning on March 30, 2015 and ending on April 2, 2015 at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar. This conference was organised in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Culture. Subhashish Panigrahi presented a paper in Odia language in this conference as part of a panel discussion related to Odia language computing.

Sunil Abraham's article titled "Shreya Singhal and 66A" was published in Economic and Political Weekly Vol-L No.15. Vidushi Marda helped in doing the research.

Sunil Abraham in an article in DNA titled " Multiple Aspects Need to be Addressed as the Clamour Grows for Network Neutrality " tells readers that there are four violations of Network Neutrality that are considered particularly egregious.

Jyoti Panday prepared an analysis of the Supreme Court judgement in Shreya Singhal and what it does for intermediary liability in India.
In February 2015, CIS had requested DeitY under RTI Act to provide information clarifying the procedures for blocking in India. The response elicited from DeitY has been published.

CIS sent a joint response to the TRAI Consultation Paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) services with scholars from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. The response was sent on March 27, 2015.

► Vacancies at CIS

CIS is seeking applications for:

Internship : CIS is providing opportunities for students enrolled in graduate programmes to undertake internship at its offices in Bangalore and Delhi. Eligible candidates are welcome to participate in our internship programme.

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Accessibility and Inclusion
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Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. CIS in partnership with CLPR (Centre for Law and Policy Research) compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). The publication has been finalised and is being printed. The draft chapters and the quarterly reports can be accessed on the project page. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed here.

►NVDA and eSpeak

# Monthly Updates

April 2015 Report (Suman Dogra; April 30, 2015).

# Language Testing Reports

Hindi Language (Nirmita Narasimhan; April 10, 2015).
Gujarati Language (Nirmita Narasimhan; April 16, 2015).
Oriya Language (Nirmita Narasimhan; April 30, 2015).

►Other

# Submission

Comments to the GIGW (Nirmita Narasimhan; April 30, 2015).

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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.

# Blog Entries

Methodology: Patent Landscaping in the Indian Mobile Device Market (Rohini Lakshané; November 10, 2014). The list of standards and specifications found in sub-USD-100 Internet-enabled mobile phones sold in India" (Annexure 2 in the post) has been updated .
Conference on Standards Settings Organizations (SSO) and FRAND, NLSIU (Rohini Lakshané; April 5, 2015).
National IPR Policy Series: RTI Requests by CIS to DIPP + DIPP Responses (Nehaa Chaudhari; April 15, 2015).
Pervasive Technologies Project Working Document Series: Literature Review on IPR in Mobile app development (Anubha Sinha; April 29, 2015).

Media Coverage

CIS gave inputs for the following:

One reason startups are moving out of India (Evelyn Fok and Varun Aggarwal; The Times of India; April 10, 2015). This was also mirrored in Economic Times .
Indian businesses crave IP certainty, but better patent values are tempting them overseas (IAM Magazine; April 28, 2015).

►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).

# Participation in Event

2nd National Language Conference, Bhubaneswar (Organized by Institute of Odia Studies and Research; Institute of Physics; Bhubaneswar; March 30 - April 2, 2015). This conference was organised in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Culture. Subhashish Panigrahi presented a paper in Odia language in this conference as part of a panel discussion related to Odia language computing.

# Blog Entries

Hindustani Language: We Are Wikipedia (Syed Muzamiluddin; April 10, 2015).
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଡିଜିଟାଲ ଅସୁବିଧା (Subhashish Panigrahi; April 15, 2015).
Wikipedia Campus at Oxford College (Subhashish Panigrahi; April 28, 2015).

# News and Media Coverage

CIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Odia waits for Google Translate debut - Nine Indian languages available (Anwesha Ambaly; Telegraph; April 6, 2015).
Now you can search Google in Kannada, in your handwriting (Apurva Venkat; Bangalore Mirror; April 18, 2015).

►Openness

# Event Co-organized

NASA International Open Data Challenge 2015 (Co-organized by CIS and Team Indus; Bangalore; April 11-12, 2015).

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Internet Governance
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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.

►Freedom of Expression

India's Apex Court in a landmark decision struck down section 66A of the IT Act. The judgment provided great relief for advocates of freedom of speech on the Internet. The development attracted lots of media coverage to which CIS gave its inputs:

# Articles

Shreya Singhal and 66A (Sunil Abraham; Economic and Political Weekly Vol-L No.15; April 11, 2015). Vidushi Marda helped in doing the research.
Don't Do Nothing. Take a Stand on Net Neutrality. (T. Vishnu Vardhan; NDTV; April 13, 2015).
Multiple Aspects Need to be Addressed as the Clamour Grows for Network Neutrality (Sunil Abraham; DNA; April 16, 2015).
The Hazards of a Non-neutral Internet (Geetha Hariharan; April 18, 2015). A modified version of the blog entry was published as an article titled " A must for free speech " in the Week.

# Blog Entries

The Supreme Court Judgment in Shreya Singhal and What It Does for Intermediary Liability in India? (Jyoti Panday; April 11, 2015).
DeitY says 143 URLs have been Blocked in 2015; Procedure for Blocking Content Remains Opaque and in Urgent Need of Transparency Measures (Jyoti Panday; April 29, 2015).

# Event

Freedom of Expression in a Digital Age: Effective Research, Policy Formation & the Development of Regulatory Frameworks in South Asia (Organized by Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, Observer Research Foundation and CIS; Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi; April 21, 2015).

# Participation in Event

Financial Express hosts #NetNeutralityDebate: 'Price discrimination can be allowed, but not for the same packet of data' (New Delhi; April 24, 2015). Pranesh Prakash participated in the discussion.

►Privacy

# Participation in Event

Privacy International Network Meeting (Organized by Privacy International, UK; April 22 - 23, 2015). Sunil Abraham attended the meeting.

►Miscellaneous

# Announcement

IIGF Recruitment : The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) conducted walk-in interviews on May 16, 2015 at NIXI Jasola office, Flat No. 6B, 6th Floor, Uppals M6 Plaza, New Delhi. NIXI sought candidates to fill the posts of Technology Analyst, Policy Analyst, Research Associate and Executive Assistants.

# Participation in Events

Global Conference on Cyberspace 2015 (Co-organized by Dutch Government, City of the Hague and One Conference; The Hague, Netherlands; April 16 - 17, 2015). Sunil Abraham was a panelist. He also participated in an expert roundtable conference .
CII Digital India Summit (Organized by Confederation of Indian Industries; Taj Mahal Hotel and Pragati Maidan, New Delhi; April 21 and 24, 2015). Pranesh Prakash attended the summit.

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News & Media Coverage
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CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

'Smack' the Trolls! (Marianne De Nazareth; The Citizen; March 31, 2015).
The block heads (Sibi Arasu; Hindu Businessline; April 3, 2015).
Smriti Irani brings back focus on voyeurism prevailing in our country (Amrita Madhukalya; DNA; April 6, 2015).
Surveillance rises, privacy retreats (Namrata Acharya; Business Standard; April 12, 2015).
People voice their support for net neutrality, say Internet a utility not a luxury (IBN Live; April 13, 2015).
Net neutrality: Trai receives over 2 lakh mails (Sandhya Soman and Jayanta Deka; April 14, 2015).
Net neutrality: Debate rages on (Surabhi Aggarwal; Business Standard; April 11, 2015)
Net neutrality debate rages (Lalatendu Mishra and Pradeesh Chandran; The Hindu; April 15, 2015).
Net neutrality: Net activism packs a punch (Sandhya Soman; The Times of India; April 19, 2015).
Net Neutrality debate in India: Here are all the arguments you need to know (Indian Express; April 23, 2015).
Freedom struggle 2.0 (Zara Khan; Hindu; April 25, 2015).
Cry, you nasty trolls (Prasun Chaudhari; The Telegraph; April 26, 2015). Net Neutrality: The argument continues (Deepak Ajwani and Debojyoti Ghosh; Forbes India Magazine; April 29, 2015).

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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:

# Blog Entries

Studying Internet in India: Selected Abstracts - CIS received thirty five engaging abstracts in response to the call for essays on 'Studying Internet in India.' The final essays will be published from June onwards. These are the ten selected abstracts: Studying the Internet Discourse in India through the Prism of Human Rights (by Deva Prasad); Indic Scripts and the Internet (by Dibyajyoti Ghosh); The Internet in the Indian Judicial Imagination (by Divij Joshi); Dharmasala Networked (by Laird Brown); WhatsApp Economy (by Maitrayee Deka); Citizens and their Internet (by Purbasha Auddy); The Many Lives and Sites of Internet in Bhubaneswar (by Sailen Routray); Quantity over Quality: Social Media and the New Class System in India (by Sarah McKeever); Governing Speech on the Internet: Transforming the Public Sphere through Policymaking (by Smarika Kumar).

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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:

# Submission

Response to TRAI Consultation Paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-Top (OTT) Services (Pranesh Prakash; March 27, 2015). The response was sent in March but mirrored on our website recently.

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About CIS
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The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

► Follow us elsewhere

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
Visit us at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge
E-mail: a2k@cis-india.org

► 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, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at vishnu@cis-india.org.

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.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2015-bulletin

IIGF Recruitment

praskrishna — 2015-04-29T16:14:46Z

The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is conducting walk-in interviews on May 16, 2015 at 10 a.m. at NIXI Jasola office, Flat No. 6B, 6th Floor, Uppals M6 Plaza, New Delhi. NIXI is seeking candidates to fill the posts of Technology Analyst, Policy Analyst, Research Associate and Executive Assistants.

IIGF Recruitment Guidelines

The India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) is the national forum constituted by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Government of India for multi-stakeholder dialogue between the government, private sector, technical community, academia and civil society organizations on public-policy issues related to Internet Governance. IIGF would be reviewing the global Internet policy landscape and provide guidelines for matters related to Internet Governance, taking into account the technical development and the dynamically changing societal needs in the country.

Instrumental to furthering the aims of IIGF, NIXI would be providing the technical and administrative support, conducting research, training, and workshops and preparing white papers, technology reports etc. In particular, the following specific activities will be carried out:

Organisation of the annual IIGF event in a purposeful and inclusive manner.
Capacity building and awareness-raising on the public policy issues pertaining to Internet Governance.
Regular and sustained engagement with all stakeholders.
Making India a significant player in the global Internet Governance space.

In order to achieve the above goals, NIXI will provide the requisite support functions through specialised personnel, recruited for this task. Accordingly, a group of approximately 8-10 analysts/ associates and support staff would be recruited who will perform the following functions:

Develop an annual work plan of the IIGF activities
Provide technical, research and administrative support to the IIGF keeping in view the rapid global developments
Promote the IIGF activities of the members (sub-regional and national IGFs including other stakeholders);
Act as a knowledge management hub of the IIGF experiences, best practices, knowledge, expertise, needs and resources among sub-regional and national IGFs
Help convene India IGF meetings and
Develop and maintain active e-mail lists and website to provide updated India IGF related information to sub-regional and national IGFs including other international stakeholders.
Any other activity related to IG required from time to time would also be actively identified and pursued.

General expectations from recruited personnel: Positive attitude, excellent qualities to work in a team, perform as per the needs of the organization and ensuring healthy work culture. Prior experience and good track record will be added advantages.

Period of service: The selected candidates would initially be recruited for a contract period of 1 year which would be extended up to 3 years depending upon performance.

Technology Analyst – 2-3 nos. (Full-time/ part-time)
Qualifications: B.Tech/M.Tech Electronics & Communications/IT & Computer Science/MCA

Experience:Knowledge of Internet technologies – resources, telecommunication policies, procedures of inter-ministerial coordination, regulations and procedures.

Expectations: Ability to study, analyze and write national impact assessment reports taking into account global Internet Technology Standards and Processes from Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other standards bodies; to bring out Technology Roadmap recommendation documents on global Internet Governance and Technology related issues; monitor and participate in RFC process.

Remuneration: Rs.50,000 -75000 per month.

Policy Analyst – 2-3 nos. (Full-time/ part-time)

Qualifications: Law or public policy graduate. Cyber-law knowledge would be an added advantage.

Experience: Awareness and understanding of Public Policy issues pertaining to global Internet Governance, technology and governance related regulations, policies and procedures. Previous work-experience desirable.

Expectations: Ability to Study, analyze and write policy documents of global Internet Governance and Technology related issues, summarize and analyze them and convert it into usable knowledge, assist in all aspects of the planning/organization of IIGF events.

Remuneration: Rs.50,000 -75000 per month.

Research Associate – 2-3 nos. (Full-time/ part-time)

Qualifications: Graduates/Post Graduates Computing and information system/ Information Technology/Computer applications/B.Tech/M.Tech Electronics/Communication/IT, or other relevant disciplines, preferably with work experience.

Expectations: Aptitude to analyze problems and articulate solutions, undertake research on both policy and technical issues connected to IG, assist in all aspects of the planning/organization of the IIGF events.

Remuneration: Rs. 30,000 - 40000 per month.

Executive Assistants – 1 no.

Qualifications: Graduates in Computing and Information system, Information Technology, Computer Applications (MCA/BCA degree) preferably with 2 years work experience.

Experience: Excellent drafting skills, sound knowledge of English, commitment and maintaining confidentiality and secrecy are the important requirements. Those with experience in similar area of work in Govt./PSU /private sector will be preferred.

Expectations: Good communication skills, positive attitude, high commitment, maintaining confidentiality and secrecy, high commitments and spirit to excel at the main requirements. Prior working experience would be an added advantage.

Remuneration: Rs. 20,000 - 30000 per month.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/iigf-recruitment

Net Neutrality: The argument continues

praskrishna — 2015-05-09T11:35:23Z

Opposing camps pitch their views on what zero rating and differential access to the internet would mean in India.

The interview was published by Forbes India magazine on April 29, 2015. Pranesh Prakash gave his inputs.

The debate on net neutrality in India is playing out on the internet, social media, television and newspapers. On one side, there are telecom service providers who believe in services such as zero rating and sponsor-enabled free access to the internet for consumers; on the other, there are proponents of free and fair access to the internet who consider variable access as a violation of the principles of net neutrality.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has launched a consultation paper, inviting views from the public to analyse the implications of the growth of internet services, apps, over-the-top services (OTTs) and consider changes required in the current regulatory framework.

To get both sides of the argument, Forbes India spoke to Rajan Mathews, director general at the Cellular Operators Association of India, and Pranesh Prakash, policy director at The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS), a Bangalore-based, non-profit, research and policy advocacy.

Q. How are zero rating and net neutrality linked? And if they are separate issues, what differentiates them?
Rajan Mathews: Zero rating and net neutrality are two separate issues. Net neutrality is about not denying access, and about the absence of unreasonable differentiation on the part of network operators in transmitting internet traffic. Zero rating is when operators subsidise tariffs as a result of commercial arrangements with application providers who do not discriminate against the customer, but provide a benefit. Zero rating is not a net neutrality issue since access to all content and applications remains open. Such arrangements increase social welfare by transferring the cost of internet access from consumers to content providers. If a content provider deems its revenues to be substantial and wishes to engage in distribution arrangements with last-mile access providers to subsidise access to its services, it should be allowed to do so. Zero rating should be the customer’s choice.

Pranesh Prakash: The issues of net neutrality and zero rating are intrinsically linked. Zero rating is the practice of not counting certain traffic towards a subscriber’s regular internet usage. The motivations for zero rating are many. Unbundling is one. For example, a consumer wishes to use a WhatsApp pack as opposed to accessing WhatsApp through the regular internet pack. Self-interest is another: Showcase the internet’s value through cheap or free packs of certain internet services so that customers graduate to higher data packages.

All forms of zero rating—zero-priced, fixed-priced, subscriber-paid or internet service provider (ISP)-paid, content-based or content provider-based—have one thing in common: They are instances of discrimination on the network. This links it to net neutrality, which, at its core, is a question about discrimination by ISPs.

We shouldn’t only be focussed on the existing models of zero rating while regulating it, but also on the models that may emerge in the future.

Q. Zero rating is seen as an attempt to give internet access to millions of Indians who can’t afford an internet connection. Is there a different, but net-neutral, way to do this?
Mathews: Zero rating is [offered] in the nature of a subsidy, which is prevalent and practiced in all forms of businesses. For example, MS Office is available at different rates to different consumers such as homes and businesses, students and enterprises. It is for the consumer to choose which version to buy. The same should be applicable to telecom services as well.

Prakash: Just because something provides access to the bottom of the pyramid doesn’t make it something we should have. For example, predatory pricing is something that might benefit all subscribers in the short term but, over time, it harms the market, competition and consumers. Suppose all ISPs are mandated to provide internet for free to everyone; in the short run, everyone will get free internet but it’s not a sustainable business practice for ISPs. If free internet can be sustainably provided, that’s not harmful. The current debate is to evaluate if we can ensure a method where we can have competition while providing access to the bottom of the pyramid.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/forbes-india-april-29-2015-deepak-ajwani-debojyoti-ghosh-net-neutrality-the-argument-continues

Response from DeitY Clarifying Procedures for Blocking

praskrishna — 2015-04-29T14:36:44Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/response-deity.clarifying-procedures-for-blocking.pdf

Indian businesses crave IP certainty, but better patent values are tempting them overseas

praskrishna — 2015-05-05T02:27:57Z

Indian corporate leaders view a strong and sustainable IP system as key to furthering their country’s economic development and attracting continued foreign investment, a recent study suggests. A lack of confidence that this is currently the case – and the perceived higher value attached to IP assets in other markets – is driving some of the brightest high tech prospects to build their businesses abroad rather than at home.

This was published in iam magazine. Sunil Abraham gave his inputs.

Research and advocacy firm Strategic Partners Group (SPAG) surveyed executives in a number of major Indian and multinational companies across six broadly defined sectors: healthcare, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics (life sciences); information technology, fast-moving consumer goods and telecommunications (IT/telecoms); legal services; music and entertainment; academic/research institutions; and industry associations. Ninety-nine percent of respondents to the survey agreed that intellectual property plays an important role in their industry. When asked if they believed India has a ‘sound IP policy’, 70% of life sciences, 79% of IT/telecoms and 80% of industry association respondents gave a negative answer. The group that most frequently answered in the affirmative was legal services providers, who were split 50/50 between those content with India’s current IP policy and those wanting to see improvements. While 29% of survey respondents felt that India’s policy makers are doing enough to establish a strong IP rights regime in the country, 65% thought otherwise.

India is all too often thought of by foreign companies as being a highly problematic place in which to own, manage and enforce intellectual property, due to what they see as inefficient infrastructure and misguided policy. The country’s treatment of pharmaceutical patents has been of particular concern to outsiders in recent years. As such, the resulting environment is seen to be somewhat biased in favour of alleged infringers. As a result, foreign rights holders and governments (the United States, in particular) have called on the country’s authorities to review its laws and regulations to bring them into line with what they would argue are international norms.

But the findings of the SPAG survey highlight that it is not just IP owners from overseas who feel they are missing out because of the country’s challenging IP regime. India has one of the most pronounced brain-drains of any country in terms of inventor emigration. And worryingly for the government, several high-profile start-ups have decided to move out of India in recent times in order to take advantage of better appreciation of the value of their intellectual property in other jurisdictions.

Sriram Kanuni, founder of IT consultancy Arteria Technologies, told the Economic Times recently that he had relocated much of his company’s IP holdings to the United States in an effort to get a better valuation for its next round of funding. “Global investors seem to value companies with patents in the United States much higher,” he said. “Therefore, it makes more sense to shift patents out of India, in case you're looking to raise money or exit.”

According to the Times, e-commerce company Flipkart, mobile advertising firm InMobi and customer engagement solutions provider Capillary Technologies all decided to incorporate in Singapore rather than their native India; while data protection start-up Druva opted to make California its new home. Mobile marketing and analytics firm ZipDial also incorporated in the city state; if it had remained in India, its chances of being acquired by Twitter for a reported sum of between $30 million and $40 million back in January may have been significantly lower.

At least part of the issue lies in a lack of certainty surrounding the Indian court system’s treatment of IP rights. “Indian courts aren't uniform when it comes to developing jurisprudence around copyright and patent infringement,” Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society, told theTimes. He opined that judges lacking in IP-related experience may sometimes grant injunctions too readily. “Then the loss of six months… can be quite expensive, because in six months' time your competitor might eat into all of your market.”

According to the SPAG report, Indian courts are yet to award damages in a patent case. They have allocated damages in 72% of trademark cases, 27% of copyright cases and 1% of publicity rights cases, though the approximate average amount awarded is a rather paltry-sounding $1,000.

It sounds like IP policy-shapers in India – whether in government, the judiciary or business – have plenty of work on their hands in order to keep its brightest innovation prospects in the country. India has a lot to offer which may make it more attractive to many foreign rights holders than other developing IP markets. But without an IP system that effectively addresses the value of IP assets, multinationals will continue to be apprehensive to increase their investments in the country – and emerging domestic players may feel they have little choice but to make their IP-related investments elsewhere.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/iam-media-jack-ellis-april-28-2015-indian-businesses-crave-ip-certainty-but-better-patent-values-are-tempting-them-overseas

Cry, you nasty trolls

praskrishna — 2015-05-09T15:05:23Z

Micro-blogging site Twitter has introduced a tool that identifies abusive tweets and hides them from their targets. Will it stem the tide of viciousness online, asks Prasun Chaudhuri.

The article by Prasun Chaudhuri was published in the Telegraph on April 26, 2015. Rohini was quoted.

When India's star batsman Virat Kohli failed to perform at the India vs Australia semi-final match at the World Cup, a section of Indian fans started venting their fury on his girlfriend Anushka Sharma on Twitter. The actress, who had flown to Sydney to watch the match, was blamed for India's loss and her Twitter account was flooded with abusive posts. One Atul Khatri tweeted: Hey Anushka, can you please distract the Aussie fielders on the boundary by showing them your lip job? Plleeeaasee. One anonymous tweet requested the "public to boycott Anushka Sharma's films (sic)" while another by Bollywood producer Kamal R. Khan incited his followers to "stone Anushka's house".

The star couple are not alone. Media persons, scholars and celebrities - especially if they are women - often face such vicious attacks on Twitter. Ask Chinmayi Sripada, the Chennai-based singer, or Sagarika Ghose, a prime time TV anchor, or scholar and columnist Ramachandra Guha who have endured worse forms of assaults - ranging from threats of gang rape, torture and murder. Many Twitter users across the world have gone silent and even deactivated their Twitter accounts after being harassed on the platform.

With more and more people around the world facing such vitriolic attacks, Twitter - the San Francisco-based online social networking service - recently decided to protect its users from abusive tweets. It switched on an anti-abuse tool that automatically identifies abusive tweets and hides them from their intended target. According to Twitter, the tool will search for patterns of misuse and identify repeat offenders so as to enable the social media platform to impose account suspension on them. "Users must feel safe on Twitter in order to fully express themselves and we need to ensure that voices are not silenced because people are afraid to speak up," wrote Shreyas Doshi, director of product management at Twitter, in a blog post.

Dick Costolo, Twitter's CEO, admitted two months ago at an internal forum that his company "sucked" at dealing with bullies and abusers. He said he would "start kicking these [abusive] people off... and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks, nobody hears them."

Hemanshu Nigam, former chief security officer of social media platform MySpace and software giant Microsoft in the US, hails Twitter's new move. "The new tools are meant to honour human dignity and safety. Now that online and offline persona of many social media users have converged, it's become essential for tech companies to take steps to protect people from assaults in the cyber world." Nigam, a founder of SSP Blue, a leading online security firm, had sifted through thousands of offensive comments and abusive images during his earlier avatar in social media companies. "People with such evil intentions are minuscule but their twisted expressions can have a profound impact not only on the victims but thousands of impressionable minds of young users," he says.

Abuse on social media platforms can be extremely brutal and traumatising. According to Debarati Halder, a lawyer and cyber victim counsellor based in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, a large proportion of these attacks - especially those where explicit pictures and videos of sexual acts are sent - are perpetrated on women by their former boyfriends or husbands to seek revenge on their ex-partners.

She feels that social media giants have failed to protect their users and that these so-called "new tools" and automated systems fail to screen most cases of abuse. "They (social media platforms) also don't react to reports of abusive behaviour unless they are lodged by celebrities or other influential people," she adds.

While announcing the new policy, Twitter's general counsel Vijaya Gadde wrote in The Washington Post, "At times, this (tweet) takes the form of hateful speech directed at women or minority groups; at others, it takes the form of threats aimed to intimidate those who take a stand on issues. These users often hide behind the veil of anonymity on Twitter and create multiple accounts expressly for the purpose of intimidating and silencing people." She also wrote how technicians at Twitter are going to erect a "better framework to protect vulnerable users, such as banning the posting of non-consensual intimate images."

Rohini Lakshane, programme officer at the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, says that Twitter had simplified and enhanced its system of reporting abuse in December last year. "Measures such as muting and blocking users and manual review of reports were already in place. The changes included mechanisms for Twitter's review teams to expedite responses from dire forms of abuse," she says.

Evidently, these measures have not been too effective. Says Lakshane, "Women are still disproportionately targeted on Twitter and several users simply choose to leave rather than face the strain of dealing with abuse, rape and death threats, and insults."

Singer Sripada, however, is one of those few Twitter users who stood up against her abusers. When she tweeted in support of Tamil fishermen who were attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy, she was flooded with abusive tweets that were tantamount to sexual harassment. She says, "I took on the abusers - one of them a professor at a top fashion institute. I filed a case under Section 66A of the IT Act (which is now defunct) and they were jailed for two weeks. That was when I saw the worst face of online abuse."

Advocate Halder rues the recent scrapping of Section 66A of the IT Act to protect freedom of speech. "The act could have have been modified to protect victims of abuse." She believes the new Twitter policy to check abuse may not be able to check the spread of the meta data of a post as it is replicated across thousands of sites.

"If the visuals or texts depict explicit sex, these spread like wildfire in voyeuristic websites, mirror sites and caches before any law enforcer anywhere in the world can react," says Siddhartha Chakraborty, a cyber expert based in Calcutta. A single tweet, a Facebook comment or a YouTube video "gone viral" often causes significant damage to an individual or a company before they can even report the abuse, says Rajiv Pratap, a data analyst based in Calcutta and California.

The problem also lies with over 20 million robot users - or automated accounts, not actively operated by humans but remotely controlled by groups of anonymous people - who are difficult to track. "These bots generate a lot of spam and even abusive comments," says Harsh Ajmera, a social media expert based in New Delhi. "Twitter is not striking at all the nasty content, but putting various checks like limiting the reach, asking you to get rid of those tweets which can protect genuine users."

On the other hand, stresses Lakshane, using parameters such as the number of flags (reports of abuse) a tweet receives can have implications for free speech - an unpopular but non-abusive view could also be targeted. Moreover, it's essential for reviewers to understand cultural and linguistic connotations to be able to effectively address abuse.

Still, Nigam is hopeful. He says, "Social media companies are going through a learning curve. As they evolve they will learn how to rein in abusers."

Twitter's 288 million users worldwide are waiting for that to happen.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-telegraph-april-26-2015-prasun-chaudhuri-cry-you-nasty-trolls

National IPR Policy Series: DIPP Response

praskrishna — 2015-04-26T08:45:55Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/national-ipr-policy-series-dipp-response.pdf

There's a Spy Behind Your Gadget Screen Tracking Data

praskrishna — 2015-05-31T15:50:13Z

More people are becoming aware of the risks that come with online habits.

The article by Evelyn Fok & Krithika Krishnamurthy published in the Times of India on April 25, 2015 quotes CIS research on Privacy.

Thejesh GN, a Bangalore-based technologist, does not have a Facebook app on his phone, often browses on incognito mode and has installed a tool that detects and blocks spy ads and trackers. All this is to escape from the pervasive ads that have now begun to invade his online presence.

But Thejesh knows it's of little use. Given the proliferation of ecommerce companies in India, the barrage of ads are unlikely to stop.

“It's an everyday fight.There is no way to get rid of all these ads,“ said Thejesh, cofounder of data science community Datameet.

Thejesh represents a growing population of Internet users who are becoming aware of the risks that come with their online habits specifically, having each data point of their everyday lives collected by companies and tech startups. This includes an individual's IP address, browser type, pages viewed, and the date and time of use.On mobile, the data collected could be more elaborate and accurate including a user's location, device type and contact list.

Where does all this data go?
Some are sold to brands via ad networks, and others are used by companies to streamline the ads shown to specific users. In India there are no rules explicitly regulating online behavioural advertising, and thus it is not clear what practices different companies and internet service providers undertake. It is not clear what information is collected, how the information is used, how long the information is stored for, and what access law enforcement has to this information, the Center for Internet and Society said in a report titled `Consumer Privacy'.

Siddharth Shankar, a student of statistics from Patna University, who is also learning ethical hacking, is of the view that few people care about privacy in India. “Their simple reply: What will they do with our data?“ said Shankar, who takes steps similar to Thejesh to protect his privacy online.

More people seem to be waking up to the fact that privacy is important and that ads are intrusive. Of the 50 million users who block ads using AdBlock Plus, about 1.2 million are from India. AdBlock Plus, a mobile and browser tool, recently won a case against two publishers in Germany who wanted it to stop blocking ads on their websites. Most digital products, including apps and content, are free. To sustain themselves, the digital product makers sell the data they collect at the time of app installs or website visits to brands or ad networks.In other words, the end-users are not their customers advertisers are.

“It boils down to, `If you are not paying for the product, you are the product,'“ said Vinod Chandrashekhar, chapter leader of DataKind Bangalore, a movement to use big data for the benefit of public causes. “I won't be surprised in the future if a few firms might charge to erase your data.“

And that, he says, is one of the popular ways for restaurant and company review apps to make money: prompting owners to buy a premier account or be charged for ad vertising in order to delete unfavourable reviews.

Privacy breaches also give way to corporate espionage.

“The South Asian market is, in many ways, similar to what we're seeing in South America. They are looking for not only security for their businesses and for their own personal affairs, but they are also looking for something that is affordable,“ said Jon Callas, cofounder and chief technology officer at Silent Circle.

The Swiss-based firm provides an end-toend secure access channel from a smartphone to a telecommunication network allowing users to go about their daily lives without leaking their online footprint.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-evelyn-fok-krithika-krishnamurthy-there-is-a-spy-behind-your-gadget-screen-tracking-data

Conference on Standards Settings Organizations (SSO) and FRAND

praskrishna — 2015-04-25T16:15:06Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/conference-on-standards-setting-organizations-frand-schedule

Financial Express hosts #NetNeutralityDebate: ‘Price discrimination can be allowed, but not for the same packet of data’

praskrishna — 2015-05-09T10:05:10Z

Trying to cut through the noise on Net Neutrality in India, FICCI in partnership with Financial Express is hosting a panel discussion titled “Decoding Net Neutrality” in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The article was published in Financial Express on April 24, 2015. Pranesh Prakash participated in the discussion.

Trying to cut through the noise on Net Neutrality in India, FICCI in partnership with Financial Express is hosting a panel discussion titled ‘Decoding Net Neutrality’ in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Moderated by Sunil Jain, the guests on the Net Neutrality debate panel are Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Jay Panda along with ICRIER chief executive Dr Rajat Kathuria, IAMAI president Dr Subho Ray, Facebook’s head of public policy for South and Central Asia Ankhi Das, COAI director general Rajan S Mathew, Com First director Dr Mahesh Uppal and Policy Director of the Centre for Internet and Society Pranesh Prakash.

Highlights of the debate:

Starting off the discussion, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that this issue is all about market abuse and market power and not as utopian as it sounds. He said that this debate is nothing new as regulators identified the problem long ago. Chandarasekhar added, “TRAI had recognized in 2006 that there is an opportunity to abuse by access providers.”

Joining the conversation, COAI director general Rajan S Mathew said, “We have put the cart before the horse. What needs to be addressed first is online governance.”

Looking forward, ICRIER chief executive Rajat Kathuria said that we need to figure out the best way to use this privately funded public good. He added, “We still haven’t so far.”

Com First director Dr Mahesh Uppal tries to find a common ground and said, “Everyone is against ‘arbitrary commercial’ prioritisation or throttling.”

Subho Ray agreed and said, “There should be no blocking, throttling and preferential treatment.”

Facebook India’s Ankhi Das said that Internet.org is not for people who are already on the Internet. She explained, “Our objective is that it should be free and non-exclusive.”

Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director of the Centre for Internet and Society intervened to add, “An universally affordable model is important. We must ensure that the diversity that Internet provides is not lost.”

Taking the conversation further, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “I don’t believe data packets can be discriminated except in terms of speed and bandwidth.

Rajan Mathews interjected, “We do not discriminate, we differentiate. And all businesses differentiate.”

On this point, Rajat Kathuria said, “Price discrimination is something that should be allowed within boundaries of regulation.”

The Indian Express New Media Editor Nandagopal Rajan said that, “#NetNeutralityDebate panel agrees that price discrimination can be allowed, but not for the same packet of data.”

Jay Panda, Lok Sabha MP now also joins the discussion and says, “I have come out in favour of net neutrality despite the fact that my family will be benefiting from the lack of it. Whether fragmentation is desirable on the Internet or not, it needs to be debated. I am not in favour of fragmented access to the Internet.”

Underlining his views, Jay Panda reiterated, “Spectrum may be limited but access won’t be in the future. I am against prioritizing packets over others.”

Pranesh Prakash gave an overarching view and said, “Everyone benefits from Internet. What we need to figure out is whether everyone is getting paid enough.”

Jay Panda said, “It is possible for access providers to make money.”

Rajan Mathews said, “I think it is not fair to say that telcos can influence the govt.”

On this Jay Panda quipped, “The govt has to chip in its share to make the Internet accessible to all.”

Jay Panda says govts have been behind the curve in #NetNeutralityDebate and telcos have benefitted from it.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/financial-express-may-9-2015-financial-express-hosts-net-neutrality-debate

Net Neutrality debate in India: Here are all the arguments you need to know

praskrishna — 2015-05-09T08:01:20Z

While online activists and even big Internet companies have come out to support Net Neutrality, the debate isn’t really as simple when it comes to India.

The article by Shruti Dhapola was published in the Indian Express on April 23, 2015. Pranesh Prakash gave his inputs.

If you are one of India’s active netizens, it is unlikely that the words Net Neutrality have escaped your daily dose of social media updates and news. The debate, which gained pace post AIB’s video on the topic and news of the Airtel Zero programme, has seen some of the biggest names in the Internet and media industries give their take on the issue. More importantly, last month India’s telecom regulator TRAI came out with a consultation paper on the growth of Over-the-top (OTT) players like WhatsApp or Skype and is looking at exploring a regulatory framework for these apps.

In essence, Net Neutrality implies that all Internet data pack should be treated equally, that there should be no fast or slow lanes for Internet, or that users should pay differently for accessing some websites. While online activists and even big Internet companies in India like ClearTrip, Flipkart, have come out to support Net Neutrality, the debate isn’t really as simple when it comes to India.

For starters, in a country like India, Net Neutrality has vast implications, especially for start-ups many of whom are dependent on the medium for the success of their business. A neutral Internet means a level playing field.

Rishabh Gupta, COO, Housing.com, says, “Net neutrality has played a significant role in keeping the internet a level-playing field, simplifying customer outreach for businesses across industries. Further, the platform has encouraged new age entrepreneurs to bring in innovative business models making technology as an integral part of business; be it banking, mobile payments, e-commerce, real estate, etc.”

Manav Sethi, Group CMO, Askme adds that “any violation of Internet Neutrality can have a serious bearing on effective and fair competition in the market place”.

“We feel it is the government’s responsibility to ensure a level playing field for home grown entrepreneurs and at the same time protect the interests of netizens,” says Sethi.

Where licensing is concerned, Internet activists have also pointed out that this just won’t work. Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director at Centre for Internet and Society in India, says that India just can’t go back to the licensing days.

“OTT players aren’t just your Facebook or Viber, it’s the entire Internet. For instance with WebRTC protocol coming in you can do peer-to-peer chat, video calls on Web browsers. How would TRAI propose to regulate this, there’s no central service. It might not be popular, but it is being used by some already.”

He says the telecos’ argument about loss revenue due to rise of OTT’s isn’t a legitimate one but adds that instead of going for more regulation TRAI can look to reduce some differential regulations for telecos to make things easier for them.

There’s also a growing belief that TRAI hasn’t acted fairly when it comes to its paper on OTTs. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has slammed TRAI saying OTTs are already regulated and governed by the IT Act.

A statement issued by IAMAI President Subho Ray said: “It looks like TRAI, in its consultation paper, has copy-pasted from submissions of telcos. India has a robust and at times, overbearing IT Act.” Expressing support for Net Neutrality, his statement said, “the paper makes an assumption that Internet doesn’t come under any regulations, which is incorrect. All Internet companies are regulated by IT Act”.

IAMAI includes firms like Google, Facebook, Snapdeal, Ola, MakeMyTrip and Saavn as its members.

But TRAI has also come out to defend its the whole debate. TRAI chief Rahul Khullar had earlier told Indian Express, “There are passionate voices on both sides of the debate. And if that was not enough, there’s a corporate war going on between a media house and a telecom operator which is confounding already difficult matters.”

While TRAI’s paper has received criticism, it should be noted that the paper does devote a significant proportion to discussing Net Neutrality and the negative impact it could have if India overlooks the principle.

The paper says, “A policy decision to outright depart from “NN” (Net Neutrality) raises various antitrust and public interest issues. There are concerns that TSPs will discriminate against certain types of content and political opinions. Such practices may hurt consumers and diminish innovation in complementary sectors such as computer applications and content dissemination. Discriminatory pricing proposals, if implemented, could raise a variety of significant anti-competitive concerns.”

Discriminatory pricing proposals are what activists fear could take place if India abandons its stand on Net Neutrality, and users will be the one to suffer.

But there is counter-argument to the whole Net Neutrality debate. It states that in a country like India many still don’t have access to data or mobile Internet because it is expensive and that zero-ratings could be a possible solution.

Zero ratings ensure that a TSP or ISP could declare a service or an app as free, and usually these are services that the company has tied-up with. The Facebook-Reliance initiative under the Internet.org initiative is a Zero rating system, where the idea was to provide certain services like Facebook, ClearTrip, NDTV, etc for free for users in certain part of the country. A benevolent scheme no doubt, but a violation of Net Neutrality all the same. Thanks to the furor over Net Neutrality, ClearTrip and others have started pulling out of Internet.org.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended Internet.org saying while network operators shouldn’t discriminate between services, “for people who are not on the internet though, having some connectivity and some ability to share is always much better than having no ability to connect and share at all. That’s why programs like Internet.org are important and can co-exist with net neutrality regulations.”

Zuckerberg isn’t the only one making an argument for Zero-rating apps. In a paper for Brookings Institute, Darrell M. West argues that zero-rating apps can actually help improve data access to those who can’t afford it.

As an example, the paper points out how “in Paraguay, an Internet.org project has generated an increase in “the number of people using the internet by 50% over the course of the partnership and [an] increase [in the] daily data usage by more than 50%.” In addition to this the paper says that, African nations have reported substantial upticks in Internet usage following introduction of Facebook Zero.

Interestingly, some countries like Chile have banned Zero ratings because they violate Net Neutrality. Pranesh Prakash says that the argument given in favour of ‘zero ratings’ is a bogus one.

Prakash says, “Exclusive deals like Flipkart-Airtel, or Reliance or Facebook or even free Wikipedia, end-up becoming anti-competitive. Discriminatory deals should not be allowed or those that become anti-competitive under Section 3 of Competition act should not be allowed.”

“If zero-rating can exist in an environment of competition, only then it’s a good thing,” he adds.

But government stepping-in isn’t entirely unexpected. Sajai Singh, Partner at J Sagar Associates Law Firm, points out that the government has now woken up to a new disruptive technology. He gives an example of cable television saying that when it first came up in India, the government had no laws to deal with cable.

“This is another example of the government playing catch up and it happens all across the world. It’ll happen more often with newer disruptive technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence. For instance, when the driverless car comes the government will have to bring in some legislation,” he adds.

For now, TRAI has received over 7-8 lakh comments on the discussion paper that they had first put up on their site on 27 March.

It is fair to argue that Net Neutrality has helped preserve the Internet’s free and open character in India and that a deviation from the same will hurt users the most. Then there’s the very real picture that India needs to provide Internet access to more of its citizens especially those who can’t afford it. For TRAI, treading a fine line between the two will prove to be a real challenge.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/indian-express-april-23-2015-net-neutrality-debate-in-india

Privacy International Network Meeting

praskrishna — 2015-05-02T05:02:55Z

Sunil Abraham will be attending this meeting organized by Privacy International, UK in London on April 22 and 23, 2015.

A total of 26 delegates have been invited to take part in this meeting. The emphasis of the meeting is to share stories and experiences and discuss more about taking the research forward.

Some of the strategies discussed include stories of policy engagement (how to inform policy and interact with policy-makers); Research and Investigations; UN Privacy Agenda; Privacy International Network; Governance and good practice; Reflections and looking forward.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/privacy-international-network-meeting

CII Digital India Summit

praskrishna — 2015-05-02T03:56:58Z

The Digital India Summit was organized at the Taj Mahal Hotel and Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on April 21 and 24, 2015. Pranesh Prakash participated in it.

Day 1 - 21 April 2015: Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi

Programme

0900 - 1000 hrs	Registration
1000 - 1030 hrs	Inaugural Session
1000 - 1015 hrs	Opening Remarks	Mr Kiran Karnik Chairman CII National Mission on Digital India
1015 - 1030 hrs	Setting the Context, Goals	Mr Bhaskar Pramanik Chairman CII National Committee on IT & ITes & Chairman Microsoft India Private Limited
1030 - 1100 hrs	Tea Break
1100 - 1315 hrs	Breakout Sessions
Group 1 1100 - 1315 hrs	Tackling Structural Issues and Developing Business Models for Digital India
Moderated by	Mr Sanjeev Gupta, Joint Secretary - IT, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture Mr Kiran Karnik, Chairman, CII National Mission on Digital India
According to a DeitY estimate INR 100,000 cr. is needed just for funding the existing schemes. The achievement of the vision will need finance, expertise & intent from the private as well as the government. Given the different credo & objective for each sector, the need will be to build effective, collaborative & sustainable business models which provide a return on their investment while harnessing their strengths. Some of the key questions which will need to be answered are : · What is the role of public-private partnerships towards overcoming each of these five challenges? · How can we coordinate multi-stakeholder discussions and stimulate a collaborative approach towards shared goals of Digital India? · What are the sustainable business models that guarantee significant commercial (business feasibility) and social returns (such as inclusive growth, rural skill-building and employment generation)?
Group 2 1100 - 1315 hrs	Overcoming India's Last Mile Challenge-Creating Access through Network Reach, Innovative Business Models and Affordable Data-Enabled Devices/Internet plans
Moderated by	Ms Aruna Sundararajan, Additional Secretary & Administrator (USOF) and Chairman-cum- Managing Director, BBNL
Given India's size & demographics providing digital reach to the people at the right price is one of the most piquant issues that we face. Bringing every citizen on the digital backbone will increase empowerment & inclusion. Reaching out to the 2.5 lakh villages as envisaged in the plan will require intent, innovation & investment. Some of the questions that we need to discuss are: · What are the roadblocks in increasing internet penetration in India? · What are the alternate technologies that may be used to offer cost-effective internet in rural areas? · What are the regulatory changes that need to be in place? · What are the prerequisites for creating practical business models? · How do we stimulate internet usage through affordable service delivery in rural India? · What can the government do to encourage such business models?
Group 3 1100 - 1315 hrs	Developing a Digital Workforce - Empowering the Current and Future Workforce through Digital Literacy
Moderated by	Mr Pramod Bhasin, Non-Executive Vice Chairman and former President and CEO, Genpact Mr Atul Bhatnagar , Chief Operating officer, National Skill Development Corporation*
India's success in the technology sector has been based on our strength in skilled workforce. There are significant challenges in creating similar program to help build out the Made in India campaign in the manufacturing sector. The key questions are: · How should we define Digital Literacy? What does this mean and how much is still left to be done. What should we target to achieve over the next 3, 5 and 10 years? · What are the most effective measures Govt can take to enhance digital literacy and what kind of PPPs can we build to really take this to a completely different level? What are the biggest roadblocks to achieving digital literacy and how do we overcome these? · What is the role schools, colleges and vocational institutions, skills training providers can play in this area? How can that role be made much more effective and impact many more people? · How can digital literacy empower the unorganised sectors and entrepreneurship across India--in areas that are not touched by it normally--agriculture, farmers, construction, etc? How can this help bring a real revolution to these sectors which represent the majority of the work force? · How can digital literacy help create employability and access to jobs? How can it empower women and the hard to reach communities across India and bring them into the mainframe? · How can we use Digital literacy to substantially improve Governance and Transparency specially in public services and delivery of these across the population? · How can we use digital literacy to solve substantive problems such as Healthcare, Swatch Bharat, Build Smart Cities, increase Employability.
Group 4 1100 - 1315 hrs	Delivering Critical Services through a Universal, Verifiable Digital Identity
Moderated by	Mr Rajesh Bansal , Assistant Director General, UIDAI Mr Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, CII National Committee on IT and ITes and Chairman, Microsoft
The UID is already the largest program of its kind in the world. The real benefits will accrue when we build on this program to create add on programs which will harness what has been created and co-ordinate with financial, telecom & regulatory entities to create a collaborative model around direct benefit transfer and universal banking. Some of the key points that need to be discussed are: · What are the top 3 high-impact applications that would leverage the UID platform to offer critical services? · How can the govt. foster public and private sector innovation, and entrepreneurial creativity to foster UID-linked application to access services? · What is the potential for cross-sector collaboration and new business opportunities? For example, leveraging UID for enabling direct subsidies would require an effective partnership between financial services and energy sectors. What other avenues are worth exploring? · What is the action plan for different stakeholders and enablers? o Government and regulators o Corporates and institutions o Financial ecosystem partners o Telecom and IT companies o Individuals
1315 - 1415 hrs	Networking Lunch
1415 - 1435 hrs	Report back by Group 1
1435 - 1455 hrs	Report back by Group 2
1455 - 1515 hrs	Report back by Group 3
1515 - 1535 hrs	Report back by Group 4
1535 - 1550 hrs	Tea/ Coffee Break
1550 - 1700 hrs	Summing up and finalization of recommendation of each group by Mr Kiran Karnik

Day 2 - 24 April 2015: Hall No. 14, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

1100 hrs	Inauguration of Digital Pavilion by Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications & Information Technology.
1130 - 1300 hrs	Panel Discussion on "Accelerating the Digital transition"
The Panel Discussion will focus on the imperatives required to ensure digitization across the value chain and what stakeholders must do to ensure that digitization supports sustainable growth. Outcomes from the discussions on Day 1 will be presented by each of the Session Chair to Hon'ble Minister
*"Release of the CII Compendium on cross company best practices / success stories on Digital India by Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon'ble Minister of Communications and Information Technology"*

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/cii-digital-india-summit

Airtel defends Airtel Zero, calls it toll-free service

praskrishna — 2015-05-09T09:19:05Z

Releasing an official statement, Airtel said its vision is to have every Indian on the Internet while appmakers will decide how to pay for data.

With the net neutrality debate raging in the online world, Airtel's Airtel Zero platform has been in the eye of storm. Internet activists, celebrities and social media users have expressed their distrust of the platform and are campaigning for an open Internet. On Saturday, Airtel sought to play down the concerns with a statement from CEO Gopal Vittalon which was circulated to customers and also shared on the company's official Facebook page.

Stating that the company's vision is to have every Indian on the Internet, Mr. Vittal's compares Airtel Zero with a toll-free service. "We are simply taking the concept of toll-free voice to the world of data. As a result, it is for the application developers and their customers to decide how data charges will be paid for." Mr. Vittal assures all customers that Airtel Zero will be a paltform that is open to all application developers, content providers and Internet sites on an equal basis.

Airtel Zero offers a platform for application developers and others to pay to feature their products and sites. However, this has raised the issue of big companies being able to pay a higher price to be featured on the platform while fledgling companies might be at a disadvantage. This, according to many pro-net neutrality activists, violates the very essence of open Internet.

Read the full article published in the Hindu on April 20, 2015. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-april-20-2015-airtel-defends-airtel-zero-calls-it-toll-free-service