Centre for Internet and Society

Odia Wikipedia Workshop at VSSUT, Burla (Coverage in the Sambad)

praskrishna — 2013-08-19T08:51:59Z

An Odia Wikipedia workshop was organized on July 26 and 27, 2013 at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla. The Sambad (Sambalpur edition) covered the event.


Below is a scanned version of the news published in the Sambad on July 27, 2013:

Click below for more details:

Link to event page: http://bit.ly/14VdEdG (CIS has been credited for financial support).
Link to the report on mailing lists: http://bit.ly/1eWsKyl

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/odia-wikipedia-workshop-at-vssut-coverage-in-sambad

ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:ମେଳଣ/ବୁର୍ଲା (ସମ୍ବଲପୁର)

praskrishna — 2013-08-05T08:04:07Z

There was a news coverage on The Sambad, Sambalpur edition about the Odia Wikipedia workshop organized on July 26 and 27, 2013 at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla.

The Centre for Internet and Society has been credited for financial support. Click to see the report on the mailing list.

ସମ୍ବଲପୁରର ବୁର୍ଲାଠାରେ ଥିବା "ବୀର ସୁରେନ୍ଦ୍ରସାଏ ବୈଷୟିକ ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ"ରେ ୨୬ ଓ ୨୭ ଜୁଲାଇ ୨୦୧୩ (ଶୁକ୍ରବାର, ଶନିବାର) ଦିନ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଏକ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠିତ ହୋଇଯାଇଛି ।

କର୍ମଶାଳାର ବିଷୟବସ୍ତୁ

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଉପ‌ଯୋଗିତା
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପଡ଼ିଆରେ ସାଧାରଣ ସମ୍ପାଦନା
ମୁକ୍ତ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣର ଉପାଦେୟତା
"ଉଇକିପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ସ୍ଥାନ" ଗଣ-ସମ୍ପାଦନା

କର୍ମଶାଳା ବିବରଣୀ

ସମ୍ବଲପୁରର ବୁର୍ଲାଠାରେ ଥିବା ‘ବୀର ସୁରେନ୍ଦ୍ରସାଏ ବୈଷୟିକ ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ(ଭିସୁଟ)’ ର ଗୋଲ୍ଡ଼େନ ଜୁବୁଲୀ ସେମିନାର ହଲ ପରିସରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ଏକ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠିତ ହୋଇଯାଇଛି । ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟର ୧୦୦ରୁ ଉର୍ଦ୍ଧ୍ୱ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ଭାଗ ନେଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ବ୍ୟବହାର ସଂପର୍କରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଅର୍ଜନ କରିଥିଲେ । ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟର ପୁରାତନ ଛାତ୍ର ତଥା ସକ୍ରିୟ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିଆଳି ଗୋର୍ବାଚୋଭ ପୋଥାଳଙ୍କ ତତ୍ୱାବଧାନରେ ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳା ଆୟୋଜିତ ହୋଇଥିଲା ଏବଂ ଉପସ୍ଥିତ ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କୁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସଂପର୍କରେ ସବିଶେଷ ବିବରଣୀ ପ୍ରଦାନ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା । ସେ କହିଥିଲେ ଯେ, ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ୍‌ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଏକ ଖୋଲା ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ । ଏହାକୁ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରି ଜଣେ କିପରି ନିଜର ଗବେଷଣା ଦକ୍ଷତା ବିକାଶ ଓ ମାଗଣା ଜ୍ଞାନର ବିତରଣ କରିପାରିବ, ସେହି ବିଷୟରେ ଆଲୋଚନା କରିଥିଲେ । ଏହା ବ୍ୟତୀତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଇତିହାସ, ଆଭିମୁଖ୍ୟ, ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ବର୍ତ୍ତମାନ ଚାଲୁଥିବା ବିଭିନ୍ନ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ବିଷୟରେ ସବିଶେଷ ଆଲୋଚନା କରିଥିଲେ ଓ କହିଥିଲେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରୁ ଦୂରେଇ ଯାଉଥିବା ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆମୁଖୀ କରାଇବାର ଏହା ଅନ୍ୟତମ ପ୍ରଚେଷ୍ଟା । ଶ୍ରୀ ପୋଥାଳ ନିଜର ବକ୍ତବ୍ୟ ଦେଇ ସାରିବା ପରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀଙ୍କର ବିଭିନ୍ନ ପ୍ରଶ୍ନର ଉତ୍ତର ଦେଇଥିଲେ । ଏହା ପରେ କର୍ମଶାଳରେ ସେ ଉଇକିପିଡିଆରେ ନୂତନ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଲେଖିବା, ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରିବା, ଆଧାର ଦେବା ଇତ୍ୟାଦିର ପ୍ରଶିକ୍ଷଣ ଦେଇ ଏକ ଗଣ-ସମ୍ପାଦନା ଆୟୋଜନ କରିଥିଲେ । କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟର ପ୍ରାଧ୍ୟାପକ ଡ. ଅମରନାଥ ନାୟକ, ଡ଼ ବିଭୂତି ଭୂଷଣ ପାଣି, ଡ଼. ଅକ୍ଷୟ କୁମାର ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକ, ଡ. ଜ୍ୟୋତି ରଞ୍ଜନ ମହାନ୍ତି ପ୍ରମୁଖ ଉପସ୍ଥିତ ଥିଲେ । କର୍ମଶାଳାର ସଫଳ ପରିଚାଳନା ପାଇଁ ଛାତ୍ର ପ୍ରତିନିଧି ଅବିନାଶ କୁମାର ପୁହାଣ, ସୁପ୍ରଜ୍ଞାନ ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକ, ସୁଭମ ସାହୁ, ସୋମ୍ୟଶ୍ରୀ ଋତୁପର୍ଣ୍ଣୋ ସାହୁ, ଅନନ୍ୟା ସୃଷ୍ଟି ଶତପଥୀ ସାହାଯ୍ୟ କରିଥିଲେ ।

ଆର୍ଥିକ ସହାୟତା

କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମର ସଫଳ ପରିଚାଳନା ନିମନ୍ତେ "ସେଣ୍ଟର ଫର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି - ଆକ୍ସେସ ଟୁ ନଲେଜ" ତରଫରୁ ଟ.୨,୦୦୦/- ର ଆର୍ଥିକ ସହାୟତା ପ୍ରଦାନ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା ।

ଯୋଗଦେଇଥିବା ପୁରୁଖା ଉଇକିଆଳି

ଗୋର୍ବାଚୋଭ ପୋଥାଳ

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/coverage-of-odia-wikipedia-workshop-in-sambad-july-26-27-2013

Guilty until Proven Innocent: Pirates, Pornographers, Terrorists and the IT Act in India

praskrishna — 2013-08-28T10:19:23Z

The Research Center of Media and Communication at the University of Hamburg organized the Summer School 2013 at Hamburg, Germany from July 29 to August 2, 2013. Dr. Nishant Shah was a panelist in the session on "Guilty until Proven Innocent: Pirates, Pornographers, Terrorists and the IT Act in India".

The Summer School Book of Abstracts/Information brochure can be downloaded here

This year’s Summer School offered by the Research Center of Media and Communication at the University of Hamburg picked up upon a crucial issue for current media development – a topic relevant to academia, media practice and media policy. In the age of digitisation, the landscape of media and communications is being increasingly influenced by phenomena that can be viewed as reappropriations of previously published media communications. The Summer School pursued central questions about the kinds of reappropriated media communications that were being developed and the relationship between ‘old’ and ‘new’ shaping them. This repurposing was analysed from four different perspectives: repurposing as recombination, as reactualisation, as piracy and as plagiarism.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/repeat-remix-remediate-summer-school-2013

Whats & Hows of Wiki

praskrishna — 2013-10-25T07:00:23Z

The Kings School students of class 10 were blessed to have Nitika Tandon & Subhashish Panigrahi of Wikipedia Foundation to conduct a workshop on the whats & hows of Wiki, creating & editing Wiki pages, etc. Our students also got a hands on experience, and they edited the Bibinca page on Wiki.

This was published in the King's School Portal on July 26, 2013. Nitika Tandon and Subhashish Panigrahi are quoted.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-kings-school-july-26-2013-whats-and-hows-of-wiki

Connaught Summer Institute on Monitoring Internet Openness and Rights

praskrishna — 2013-07-26T09:17:45Z

Malavika Jayaram is a speaker at this event being held at the Munk School of Global Affairs, Bloor Street West.

Click to read the original posted on Citizen Lab website

Monday, July 22, 2013

Location: Munk School of Global Affairs (Observatory Site), 315 Bloor Street West (map)

14:00 - 17:00	Meet and Greet at the Citizen Lab Participants are free to drop by the Lab between 2:00-5:00 pm to see the space and meet with Citizen Lab researchers. Participants should go to the reception desk on the first floor and have the receptionist call the Lab.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Location: Campbell Conference Room, South House, Munk School of Global Affairs (Trinity site), 1 Devonshire Place (map)

08:00 - 09:00	Breakfast
09:00 - 09:15	Opening Remarks
09:15 - 10:45	Tutorial "Welcome to Oz: Beyond a Black and White Debate on Internet Regulation (and Control)" – Jon Penney (Berkman Centre/Oxford Internet Institute/Citizen Lab) and Ryan Budish (Berkman Centre/Herdict)
10:45 - 11:00	Break
11:00 - 12:00	Commercialization of Information Controls "Regulators, Politicians, and Deep Packet Inspection: Who's Driving What and Why" – Chris Parsons (University of Victoria) "Fingerprinting Internet Filtering Products" – Jakub Dalek (Citizen Lab) "Cash Rules Everything Around Me: The Commercialization of Online Spying" – Bill Marczak (UC Berkeley)
12:00 - 13:45	Lunch
13:45 - 14:45	Circumvention / Attacks 1 "Collateral Freedom" – David Robinson (Robinson + Yu) "Remedy: Relays Monitoring and Deployment" – KheOps (Telecomix) "Fake Domain Attacks on Civil Society Groups" – Michael Carbone (Access)
14:45 - 15:45	Characterization / Measurement 1 "Iran through the Eyes of Big Data" – Collin Anderson (Independent Researcher) "Measurement, Detection, and Comparison of Surveillance Data" – Praveen Selvasekaran (Simple Tech Life) "Filbaan: What is Filtered Today?"
15:45 - 16:00	Break
16:00 - 16:45	Identity Systems and Monitoring "Desperately Seeking the Names: Examining the Historical Progression of Real Name Policies on the Chinese Internet" – Lianrui Jia (Carleton University) "India's Civil Liberties Crisis: Digital Free Will in Free Fall" – Malavika Jayaram (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore)
17:00 - 18:30	Poster and Demo Session Light refreshments will be served "User-side Approach for Censorship Detection: Home-router and Client-based Platforms" – Giuseppe Aceto (University of Naples Federico II) "The Cyber Losers" – Aaron Brantly and Katrin Verclas (National Democratic Institute) "What is the Impact of Internet Censorship in China?" – Carlotta James (Psiphon Inc.) "Open Integrity Index" – Jun Matsushita "M-Lab: Exploring the Possibilities for Open, Global Censorship and Surveillance Detection" – Stephen Soltesz (Open Technology Institute) and Meredith Whittaker (Google Research) "Mapping Google: Global Business Infrastructure and Implications for Openness " – John Harris Stevenson (University of Toronto) "Chat Program Censorship and Surveillance in China: Tracking TOM-Skype and Sina UC" – Greg Wiseman (Citizen Lab) "The Growth and Spread of Cyberspace Controls" – Benjamin Zaiser (Free University of Berlin)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Location: Campbell Conference Room, South House, Munk School of Global Affairs (Trinity site), 1 Devonshire Place (map)

08:00 - 09:00	Breakfast
09:00 - 10:20	Characterization / Methodology 2 "Refining the Tor Censorship Detector" – Sam Burnett (Georgia Tech) "From Internet Security to Internet Freedom: The case of the RPKI" – Sharon Goldberg (Boston University) "Running Software in Albuquerque to Measure Censorship Anywhere" – Jeffrey Knockel (University of New Mexico) "Social Media as Labratory: What We Can Learn about Chinese Politics from Sina Weibo Censorship and Online Discussion" – Jason Q. Ng (Citizen Lab)
10:20 - 11:00	Break
11:00 - 12:00	Circumvention 2 "VPNthnography: Hacking the Great Firewall for Fun and Profit" "Economics of Web Proxy Networks" – Bennett Haselton (Peace Fire/Citizen Lab) "Censors Working Overtime" – Karl Kathuria (Psiphon Inc.)
12:00 - 14:00	Lunch
14:00 - 15:30	Tutorial "Network Censorship Techniques, Detection, and Localization" – Nick Weaver (ICSI)
15:30 - 16:00	Break
16:00 - 17:30	Panel: Bridging Activism and Research (5 minute talks + discussion) Ali Bangi (ASL19 / Citizen Lab) Stefania Milan (Tillburg University) Deji Olukotun (PEN) John Scott-Railton (Citizen Lab / UCLA) 'Gbenga Sesan (Paradigm Initiative Nigeria)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Location: Campbell Conference Room, South House, Munk School of Global Affairs (Trinity site), 1 Devonshire Place (map)

08:00 - 09:00	Breakfast
09:00 - 10:20	Jurisdictions and Borders Online "Cyberconflict and the Legal-Territorial Paradox" – Cameran Ashraf (UCLA) "Beyond Borders: Legislative Challenges to the Management of Records in the Cloud" – Elaine Goh (University of British Columbia) "Civil Society 2.0: The Global Struggle to Govern the Democratic Impacts of ICTs" – Muzammil M. Hussain (University of Michigan) "The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the Networked Public Sphere: How to avoid a Convergent Crisis" – James Losey (Open Technology Institute)
10:20 - 10:40	Break
10:40 - 12:10	Tutorial "Ranking Companies on Digital Rights: Challenges and Synergies" – Rebecca MacKinnon (New America Foundation)
12:10 - 14:00	Lunch
14:00 - 15:30	Surveillance and Monitoring "Revisiting Webtapping: Learning From Five Years’ of U.S. Cyber and Intel Policy" – Chris Bronk (Rice University) "Who Watches the Watchmen?: Detecting Stealth and Unattributed Information Controls" – Herve Saint Louis (University of Toronto) "IX Maps" – Andrew Clement (University of Toronto) "Technologies of Control, ‘National Security’ and Systemic Abuse of Minorities in the East and Horn of Africa" – Clara Gutteridge (Equal Justice Forum)
15:30 - 15:45	Break
15:45 - 16:30	Closing Discussion on Interdisciplinary Research and Information Controls

Friday, July 26, 2013

Location: Rooms 108, 208 and Basement, North House, Munk School of Global Affairs (Trinity site), 1 Devonshire Place (map)

10:00 - 14:00

Breakout Sessions

Light refreshments will be served

The half day will be dedicated to giving participants the opportunity to break into small groups to further discuss, share, and hack on topics raised during the workshop.

Sponsor

The workshop is sponsored by University of Toronto's Connaught Fund. Since it was founded in 1972, the fund has invested more than $1 million in projects that span across the disciplines.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/citizenlab-summer-institute-on-monitoring-internet-openness-and-rights

Your life's an open Facebook

praskrishna — 2013-07-26T04:53:11Z

The jury's out on Facebook's newly introduced Graph Search. While some argue that it's a stalker's dream come true, others say it's a great tool for social research. Shikha Kumar jumps right into the debate.

Shikha Kumar's article was published in DNA on July 21, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

Do this little exercise. Log on to Facebook and type ‘friends of friends who are single’ or ‘friends of friends who like dancing’ in the search bar on the top left hand of the screen. A long list of names with photographs of people you may have never seen in your life will pop up in front of you. Better still (or worse, depending on perspective), you can refine this search further with the drop down menu on the right hand side of the screen; you can filter the results on the basis of gender, employer, current city, hometown and so on.

Now, depending on whether you are paranoid about your privacy, or don’t give a damn (since the government is snooping on us anyway), you will either view this feature as a stalker’s dream come true or just another irritant to rant about for a day and then forget.

Whatever your reaction, Graph Search, an upgrade on Facebook’s rudimentary ‘search’, is here to stay and it holds the potential to forever change the ‘search’ behaviour of its members.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Put simply, Graph Search is the Google search of Facebook. It indexes every little detail you have shared on Facebook — every drunken ‘like’, every status update, every unflattering photograph you are tagged in, every joke you’ve shared — so that a simple search can throw up pretty specific answers. A beta version was unveiled to a select audience in January but it went live for all English (US) users early last week.

A look at a Tumblr blog called ‘Actual Facebook Graph Searches’ gives an indication of how specific the results can get. Ranging from humorous to downright outrageous, some queries posted included ‘Single women who live nearby and who are interested in men and like Getting Drunk’ and ‘Married people who like Prostitutes.’

This is exactly why people like Adarsh Matham, a 29-year-old tech writer, cite as reason for never having been on Facebook. While he does admit the new feature can be very useful in finding jobs, dates, new friends and local businesses, he says the downsides trump the benefits. “Imagine if some pervert searches for ‘girls who like Fifty Shades of Grey in Mumbai’… It will make it easier for him to stalk them,” says Matham.

If you use your imagination, the list won’t end. Imagine what perverts at your workplace and in your apartment complex who are not ‘friends’ with you on Facebook can do with information they glean about you thanks to Graph Search.

Matham is particularly concerned with Graph Search’s misuse in India because of our social attitudes and tendency to slot people into types and judge them immediately. “One of the first things that people do when they go for a job or on a date is a Google search. Soon they will do a Graph Search too. This is a complete intrusion of one’s privacy.”

Sunil Abraham, director at the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, thinks the privacy implications are worrying because the average Indian user is not a ‘power’ user who fully exploits the site’s advanced features and is thus unclear about what personal information is public or private. “People need to be very cautious as they’re leaving behind a digital trail that is always searchable unlike on other platforms like Twitter. It’s like tattooing yourself, it’s permanent but you may not be comfortable with it in the future,” he says.

A brilliant format
Privacy concerns aside, many have warmed up to the benefits of Graph Search. Raghu Mohan, a Bangalore-based writer with YourStory.in, has used it for over six months and has only good things to say about it. “I think it’s a remarkable engineering feat. Any platform with a user data of over a billion people needs to come up with such a search facility,” says Mohan, adding that the tool has been very useful in finding work-related data.

Chetan Asher, founder and CEO of Tonic Media, a social media agency, agrees with him, saying the new feature is “very exciting” purely because of its ability to index information that was always there, but was buried somewhere. “The simple phrase-like format is brilliant… It completely changes the way you network and mine for information.”

Mohan adds that start-ups can benefit with what the feature offers. “Though not a complete marketing tool, Graph Search patterns can also provide more targeted behaviour for advertisers.” Mohan also looks at the feature as a social influencer. “If I’m looking to buy a new car, I’d rather use Graph Search to find out opinions based on my friends’ recommendations than a web search involving strangers,” he says.

From his experience, Asher says that the site doesn’t compromise the privacy settings that the user has set. But Ankit Tuteja, a 23-year-old technology expert in Delhi, would beg to differ with this. Tuteja has experimented with random searches to gauge how the feature worked with different privacy settings and found that Facebook tends to override certain security settings. “The security of your photographs are a major cause for concern,” he cautions.

For those concerned about privacy, it’s best to think carefully before ‘liking’ or uploading anything as it will remain in the digital realm forever, says Abraham. Mohan shrugs off privacy concerns as overrated. “You lost your personal life when you went online. Stalking can happen otherwise too.”

This innovation is clearly important to the company. While Asher says it is part of Facebook’s long-term plans to move beyond networking, Abraham says that faced with slow overall growth globally (except in markets like India), such innovations are just an attempt to keep its user base intact.

The more things change...
Whatever the reaction, Facebook is probably banking on the fact that after initial protests and social media debates, people will come around to accepting this intrusion into their private lives.

The American news satire website The Onion pretty much nailed this when, in a satirical piece, it ‘quoted’ Zuckerberg as saying: “Facebook will introduce a bunch of new features that everyone will hate, that will make your experience worse, you will complain about it, and then you will realize you are utterly powerless to do anything about these new features, at which point you will move on and continue to use our product every single day. Any users who strongly disagree with their policy should feel free to deactivate their accounts and reactivate them two days later.”

Admit it, you’ll probably be one of them.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/dna-july-21-2013-shikha-kumar-your-life-is-an-open-facebook

Meeting of a Sub-committee on DNA Profiling Bill in Hyderabad

praskrishna — 2013-08-21T06:21:44Z

A sub-committee has been constituted as per the recommendations of the Expert Committee of DNA Profiling Bill. The sub-committee will have a meeting in Hyderabad on August 6, 2013.

The sub-committee was constituted with the following members:

Dr. Raghbir Singh, Former Secretary, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law, New Delhi
Shri. Kamal Kumar, IPS, (Retd.), Director General of Police, Hyderabad
Mr. Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore
Dr. Alka Sharma, Director, DBT
Dr. Madhusudan Reddy, Staff Scientist and Group Leader, CDFD, Hyderabad

The meeting has been scheduled for August 6, 2013, 10.30 a.m. at CDFD, Hyderabad to incorporate the ipunts/suggestions of the members of the Expert Committee appropriately in the draft Human Profiling Bill. The comments/inputs on the draft Bill have been requested from all the members of the Expert Committee. Once received, the same will be forwarded to you for further discussion in the sub-committee meeting.

The information was communicated by Dr. Alka Sharma, Director/Scientist F, Medical Biotechnology Division, R. No. 713, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India,

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/meeting-of-sub-committee-on-dna-profiling-bill

Free Software

praskrishna — 2013-07-31T08:50:41Z

To spread awareness on free software and its philosophy, Free Software Movement of Karnataka (FSMK) in partnership with Jnana Vikas Institute of Technology, Bidadi, organized a 9-days workshop between July 20 and 28 at the Institute campus near Bidadi to focus on free software is real freedom to compute.

Click to read the news by M.K. Madhusoodan published in the Times of India on July 20, 2013. For more pictures, click here

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the workshop and made a presentation about Wikipedia for the participants on July 24, 2013.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/free-software

Jammu & Kashmir (Govt) Notifications

praskrishna — 2013-07-23T15:02:03Z

List of notifications published by the government of Jammu and Kashmir can be downloaded below:

The zip folder (PDF and Word) contain the following:

Reservation for Disabled/Handicapped in Government Services
The Jammu & Kashmir Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules, 2003
The Jammu & Kashmir Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1998

PDF
Word

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/jammu-kashmir-notifications

Jammu & Kashmir Notifications

praskrishna — 2013-07-23T13:08:36Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/jammu-and-kashmir-notifications.zip

Himachal Pradesh (Govt) Notifications

praskrishna — 2013-07-23T16:05:11Z

List of notifications published by the state government of Himachal Pradesh can be viewed below:

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/himachal-pradesh-govt-notifications

Snooping technology: Will CMS work in India?

praskrishna — 2013-07-22T07:19:02Z

The Indian government plans to spend $132 million on setting up its brand new Central Monitoring System this year.

Pierre Fitter's article was published in FirstPost on July 17, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

Several articles have raised valid questions about privacy violations, including this one by Danish Raza. Elsewhere, Pranesh Prakash has raised important points about how CMS may actually violate several laws and at least one Supreme Court verdict.

I ask a much more basic question: will CMS work? Can it really help security agencies eavesdrop on criminals and terrorists, despite several known technical hurdles?

	Encryption In 2008, a prominent Brazilian banker and investor named Daniel Dantas was arrested and charged with money laundering and tax evasion along with a former mayor of Sao Paulo. For five months, the Brazilian National Institute of Criminology tried to read the contents of his hard drive but failed to crack it. Dantas had encrypted his data using a free program called Truecrypt. The INC sent the hard drive to the FBI in the US, which spent a whole year trying to crack it; it too failed. Dantas’s use of encryption likely helped him escape the money laundering and tax evasion charges. He was ultimately convicted of attempting to bribe a police officer.

Encryption

In 2008, a prominent Brazilian banker and investor named Daniel Dantas was arrested and charged with money laundering and tax evasion along with a former mayor of Sao Paulo. For five months, the Brazilian National Institute of Criminology tried to read the contents of his hard drive but failed to crack it. Dantas had encrypted his data using a free program called Truecrypt. The INC sent the hard drive to the FBI in the US, which spent a whole year trying to crack it; it too failed. Dantas’s use of encryption likely helped him escape the money laundering and tax evasion charges. He was ultimately convicted of attempting to bribe a police officer.

This story illustrates a fundamental loophole at the heart of CMS. A criminal, using free and easy-to-use software, can protect his data from even the most advanced surveillance tools available in law enforcement. NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden himself used encrypted email to communicate with journalists at the Guardian. In an online chat where he took questions from the public, Snowden noted that encryption was “one of the few things that you can rely on” to protect you from the eavesdropping behemoth created of the NSA.

It should hardly be surprising then, that terror groups have been encrypting their emails and data for at least the last five years. In fact Al Qaeda developed its own encryption software called ‘Mujahideen Secrets’, to encrypt emails, chat sessions and files. Version two of Mujahideen Secrets even included a tool to delete files securely so that they could not be recovered using special software if the computer was captured. Al Qaeda’s links to several terror groups operating in India has been widely reported in the past. It is not inconceivable that they have shared their encryption software with their comrades-in-arms.

Over the years it has become easier to encrypt one’s communication. YouTube tutorials train even novice users to set up email encryption within minutes. Phone calls, text messages and online chats can also be encrypted with free, easy-to-install apps.

The biggest problem with encryption is that it is virtually impossible to break the code in a time frame that’s useful for law-enforcement purposes. Without getting too technical, modern encryption relies calculating the prime factors of very, very large integers. In 2009, a group of some of the world’s best-known mathematicians and cryptographers reported that it took them four years to factor a 768-bit integer. They estimated it would take 1,000 times longer to factorise a 1024-bit integer. GPG, which is the most widely-used email encryption software, allows users up to 4096-bit encryption. Unless you have the password to the encrypted files, it would take you a very long time to crack the encryption.

Here’s an example to help you understand why encryption makes CMS redundant. Let’s say the system intercepts an encrypted email sent by a LeT handler in Karachi to a sleeper cell in Mumbai. The email contains instructions to detonate a bomb in a specific market at a specific time four days from now. Even if India’s intelligence agencies managed to link up every computer they had available to process the encryption, they would still not be able to crack it in time to learn the details and stop the attack.

What about ‘Metadata’?

It should be noted that encryption only protects the body of the email. The metadata, including the sender’s and receiver’s email addresses remain unencrypted, else the service provider would be unable to send the email to its destination. Law enforcement agencies often partner with email providers to track down the exact computer on which tell-tale emails were read.

However, this method of tracing criminals has a limitation. Programs such as TOR and Hotspot Shield disguise the IP address of a user’s PC. For example, when I use TOR, Facebook will often ask me to confirm my identity as it sees me as logging in from an unfamiliar location. TOR has thousands of servers around the world through which it bounces your data before sending it to its destination.

There is another limitation to using metadata. Due to obvious legal hurdles, CMS will only be deployed to capture communication within India. If terrorists were planning an attack from elsewhere in India’s neighbourhood (as happened with 26/11), we would have to rely on that country’s intelligence services for an alert. Good luck with that!

To make untraceable phone calls, terrorists have been known to use “burner” phones. These are pre-paid phones that are easily available in the US and other countries that do not require an ID for such mobile connections. They can be topped up using cash, which makes their prolonged using even more untraceable.

Even if CMS allowed spooks to listen to these calls, it would not be able to tell who was talking to whom. From details that emerged following the Abbottabad operation that killed Osama bin Laden, we also know that terrorists have been trained to turn off their phones and remove the battery to prevent being tracked even while not on a call.

So what is CMS good for?

If terrorist communications can easily be hidden from CMS, you have to wonder why the government is going through all the effort and expense to set up such a system. What good can come off the mass hoovering of data of ordinary citizens’?

Imagine if CMS intercepted a ‘BBM chat’ between two businessmen, who were discussing a contract that could affect the business interests of a government MP.

Imagine the government getting access to emails exchanged between a journalist and a source in the IAS who wants to expose a major corruption scandal involving a cabinet minister.

Imagine if the government had access to phone calls between two opposition politicians discussing election strategies.

What if CMS tracks a PhD candidate who is researching Naxal terror and has downloaded Naxal pamphlets? What if this researcher has been able to establish contact with Naxals for an interview. Can the government use such data to charge him with participating in a Naxal conspiracy, even if his only intention was to research their motivations? In a country where chief ministers label their critics as “Naxals” for merely raising questions, are we certain we want such unmitigated power in the government’s hands?

These are all questions well worth asking, especially since the ostensible reason for setting up the CMS—monitoring terrorists and criminals—is a fool’s errand at best.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/firstpost-pierre-fitter-july-17-2013-snooping-technology

सावधान आपके प्रोफ़ाइल पर है पुलिस की नज़र!

praskrishna — 2013-07-31T04:10:37Z

जन लोकपाल, दिल्ली रेप केस और बाबा रामदेव के आंदोलनों में उमड़ी भीड़ से घबराई सरकारी एजेंसियां अब सोशल मीडिया पर कड़ी नज़र रखने के लिए मैदान में उतरी हैं.

This blog post by Parul Aggarwal was published by BBC on July 18, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

अपनी तरह के एक पहले मामले में मुंबई पुलिस ने क्लिक करें फ़ेसबुक-ट्विटर और दूसरे सोशल मीडिया पर आम लोगों की राय और उनकी भावनाओं पर निगरानी रखने की शुरुआत की है.

साइबर अपराधियों और इंटरनेट पर क्लिक करें गड़बड़ियां फैलाने वालों के अलावा अब पुलिस की नज़र उन लोगों पर भी रहेगी जो राजनीतिक-सामाजिक मुद्दों पर सोशल मीडिया में जमकर बोलते हैं.

आम लोग बने मुसीबत?

पुलिस की मंशा है समय रहते ये जानना कि जनता किन मुद्दो पर लामबंद हो रही है और विरोध प्रदर्शनों के दौरान बड़े स्तर पर लोगों का रुझान किस तरफ़ है.

सोशल मीडिया मॉनिटरिंग का ये काम मार्च 2013 में शुरु किए गए मुंबई पुलिस के सोशल मीडिया लैब के ज़रिए किया जाएगा. मुंबई पुलिस के एक वरिष्ठ अधिकारी ने बीबीसी से हुई बातचीत में कहा, ''नौजवान आजकल फ़ेसबुक पर ख़ासे एक्टिव हैं, ये लोग नासमझ हैं और बात-बात पर उग्र हो जाते हैं. सोशल मीडिया लैब के ज़रिए हम ये देखते हैं कि कौन किस मुद्दे पर ज़्यादा से ज़्यादा लिख रहा है और किस तरह की प्रतिक्रिया दे रहा है.''

दिल्ली रेप केस हो या इस तरह के दूसरे पब्लिक मूवमेंट, पिछले दिनों ऐसे कई मामले हुए हैं जब पुलिस ये नहीं जान पाई कि लोग क्या सोच रहे हैं या कितनी हद तक और कितनी बड़ी संख्या में लामबंद हो रहे हैं. हमारा काम है सोशल मीडिया पर नज़र रखते हुए पुलिस को ये बताना कि लोग किन चीज़ों के बारे में बात कर रहे हैं किस तरह के मुद्दे ज़ोर पकड़ रहे हैं."
रजत गर्ग, सीईओ सोशलऐप्सएचक्यू

इस काम में पुलिस को तकनीकी मदद मिल रही है नैसकॉम और तकनीकी क्षेत्र की एक निजी कंपनी ‘सोशलऐप्सएचक्यू’ से.

सोशल मीडिया पर लामबंदी

सोशलऐप्सएचक्यू के सीईओ रजत गर्ग ने बीबीसी से हुई बातचीत में कहा, ''दिल्ली रेप केस हो या इस तरह के दूसरे पब्लिक मूवमेंट, पिछले दिनों ऐसे कई मामले हुए हैं जब पुलिस ये नहीं जान पाई कि लोग क्या सोच रहे हैं या कितनी हद तक और कितनी बड़ी संख्या में लामबंद हो रहे हैं. हमारा काम है सोशल मीडिया पर नज़र रखते हुए पुलिस को ये बताना कि लोग किन चीज़ों के बारे में बात कर रहे हैं किस तरह के मुद्दे ज़ोर पकड़ रहे हैं. ''

फ़ेसबुक-ट्विटर पर क्लिक करें निगरानी कोई नई बात नहीं लेकिन अब तक ये काम ज्यादातर मार्केटिंग कंपनियां ही करती आई हैं. लेकिन सोशलऐप्सएचक्यू जैसी कंपनियां जो कर रही हैं वो 'ओपन सोर्स इंटेलिजेंस' यानी सार्वजनिक स्रोतों से मिली संवेदनशील जानिकारियों को इकट्ठा करना है.

विशेष सॉफ्टवेयर्स की मदद

रजत गर्ग के मुताबिक़, “इंटरनेट को खंगालने और जानकारियां जुटाने का काम सॉफ्टवेयर करते हैं और जानकारियों को समझने और इन पर निगरानी का काम तकनीकी विशेषज्ञों की टीम. इससे ये देखा जा सकता है कि कि कौन से मुद्दे ज़ोर पकड़ रहे हैं और कौन लोग इन्हें लेकर सबसे ज़्यादा एक्टिव हैं. इन लोगों के सोशल नेटवर्क के ज़रिए ये जाना जा सकता है कि किसकी पहुंच कितने लोगों तक है और कोई भी गतिविधिति क्या रुप ले सकती है.’’ सरकार की दलील है कि जो जानकारियां सोशल मीडिया पर क्लिक करें सार्वजनिक रुप से मौजूद हैं केवल उन्हीं की निगरानी की जाती है. हालांकि तकनीक के जानकार कहते हैं कि भारत में प्राइवेसी से जुड़े क़ानून बेहद लचर हैं और फ़ेसबुक-ट्विटर का इस्तेमाल करने वाले ज्यादातर लोग अपनी निजी जानकारियां छिपाने जैसी तकनीकों से अनजान हैं.	अपनी वेबसाइट पर आपत्तिजनक सामग्री डालने को लेकर कार्टूनिस्ट असीम त्रिवेदी को भी गिरफ्तार किया गया था.

रजत गर्ग के मुताबिक़, “इंटरनेट को खंगालने और जानकारियां जुटाने का काम सॉफ्टवेयर करते हैं और जानकारियों को समझने और इन पर निगरानी का काम तकनीकी विशेषज्ञों की टीम. इससे ये देखा जा सकता है कि कि कौन से मुद्दे ज़ोर पकड़ रहे हैं और कौन लोग इन्हें लेकर सबसे ज़्यादा एक्टिव हैं. इन लोगों के सोशल नेटवर्क के ज़रिए ये जाना जा सकता है कि किसकी पहुंच कितने लोगों तक है और कोई भी गतिविधिति क्या रुप ले सकती है.’’

सरकार की दलील है कि जो जानकारियां सोशल मीडिया पर क्लिक करें सार्वजनिक रुप से मौजूद हैं केवल उन्हीं की निगरानी की जाती है. हालांकि तकनीक के जानकार कहते हैं कि भारत में प्राइवेसी से जुड़े क़ानून बेहद लचर हैं और फ़ेसबुक-ट्विटर का इस्तेमाल करने वाले ज्यादातर लोग अपनी निजी जानकारियां छिपाने जैसी तकनीकों से अनजान हैं.

अपनी वेबसाइट पर आपत्तिजनक सामग्री डालने को लेकर कार्टूनिस्ट असीम त्रिवेदी को भी गिरफ्तार किया गया था.

पारदर्शिता की कमी

ऐसे में सार्वजनिक मंच पर कई ऐसी जानकारियां उपलब्ध हो सकती हैं जो उन्हें पुलिस की आंख की किरकिरी बना दें.

साल 2012 में पूर्व शिवसेना प्रमुख बाला साहब ठाकरे की निधन के मौक़े पर बुलाए गए मुंबई बंद के ख़िलाफ़ फ़ेसबुक पर टिप्पणी करने वाली एक लड़की और उसकी पोस्ट को लाइक करने वाली उसकी दोस्त को रातोंरात गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया. पुलिस ने ये कार्रवाई एक स्थानीय शिवसेना नेता की शिकायत पर की थी.

कथित तौर पर संविधान का मज़ाक उड़ाने और अपनी वेबसाइट पर आपत्तिजनक सामग्री डालने को लेकर कार्टूनिस्ट असीम त्रिवेदी को भी गिरफ्तार किया गया. मीडिया में हुए हंगामे के बाद सभी लोगों को छोड़ दिया गया लेकिन भारत में अब तक इस तरह के कई ऐसे मामले सामने आ चुके हैं.

सूचना प्रौद्योगिकी क़ानून की धारा 66 कहती है कि इस तरह की कार्रवाई बेहद संवेदनशील और राष्ट्रहित से जुड़े मामलों में ही की जानी चाहिए. हालांकि धारा 66 की आड़ में सरकार और नेताओं के ख़िलाफ़ बोलने वालों की गिरफ्तारी सरकार की मंशा पर कई सवाल खड़े करती है.

इंटरनेट से जुड़े मुद्दों पर काम करने वाली संस्थाएं मानती हैं कि भारत में इंटरनेट और आम लोगों पर निगरानी रखने के मामले में सरकार की ओर से पारदर्शिता की बेहद कमी है.

'दुरुपयोग की संभावना'

द सेंटर फ़ॉर इंटरनेट एंड सोसाएटी से जुड़े प्रनेश प्रकाश कहते हैं, ''भारत में सूचना प्रौद्योगिकी और इंटरनेट से जुड़े क़ानूनों को अगर पढ़ें तो समझ आता है कि वो कितने ख़राब तरीक़े से लिखे गए हैं. इन क़ानूनों में स्पष्टता और जवाबदेही की गुंजाइश न होने के कारण ही उनका इस्तेमाल तोड़-मरोड़ कर किया जाता है.''

सोशल मीडिया के ज़रिए इंटरनेट पर सार्वजनिक रुप से बहुत कुछ हो रहा है. कुच्छेक मामलों को छोड़कर चीन जैसे देशों के मुकाबले अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता को लेकर भारत सरकार ने अबतक कोई दमनकारी नीति नहीं अपनाई है. लेकिन समस्या ये है कि तकनीक की मदद से अगर दिन-रात निगरानी होगी और जानकारियां सामने आएंगी तो उनके दुरुपयोग की संभावना बढ़ जाती है. "

प्रनेश कहते हैं, ''साल 2011 में सरकार ने केंद्रीय मंत्रालयों और विभागों के लिए सोशल मीडिया से जुड़े दिशा-निर्देश जारी किए. इसका मक़सद था सरकारी विभागों को ये बताना कि सोशल मीडिया पर आम लोगों से कैसे जुड़ें. यही वजह है कि जब सरकार और पुलिस से जुड़े विभागों ने सोशल मीडिया लैब बनाए तो ज्यादातर लोगों ने समझा कि इनका मक़सद जनता की निगरानी नहीं बल्कि आम लोगों से जुड़ना है.''

तो मुंबई पुलिस का ये क़दम क्या आम लोगों और मानवाधिकार संगठनों के लिए ख़तरे की घंटी है ?

प्रनेश कहते हैं, “सोशल मीडिया के ज़रिए इंटरनेट पर सार्वजनिक रुप से बहुत कुछ हो रहा है. कुछ एक मामलों को छोड़कर चीन जैसे देशों के मुक़ाबले अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता को लेकर भारत सरकार ने अब तक कोई दमनकारी नीति नहीं अपनाई है. लेकिन समस्या ये है कि तकनीक की मदद से अगर दिन-रात निगरानी होगी और जानकारियां सामने आएंगी तो उनके दुरुपयोग की संभावना बढ़ जाती है.”

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/bbc-uk-july-18-2013-parul-aggarwal-social-media-monitoring

Goa (Govt) Notifications Word Files

praskrishna — 2013-07-16T06:11:18Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/goa-govt-notifications-2.zip

Goa (Govt) Notifications PDF Files

praskrishna — 2013-07-16T06:09:17Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/goa-govt-notifications-1.zip

Centre for Internet and Society

Odia Wikipedia Workshop at VSSUT, Burla (Coverage in the Sambad)

ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:ମେଳଣ/ବୁର୍ଲା (ସମ୍ବଲପୁର)

କର୍ମଶାଳାର ବିଷୟବସ୍ତୁ

କର୍ମଶାଳା ବିବରଣୀ

ଆର୍ଥିକ ସହାୟତା

ଯୋଗଦେଇଥିବା ପୁରୁଖା ଉଇକିଆଳି

Guilty until Proven Innocent: Pirates, Pornographers, Terrorists and the IT Act in India

Whats & Hows of Wiki

Connaught Summer Institute on Monitoring Internet Openness and Rights

Monday, July 22, 2013

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Friday, July 26, 2013

Sponsor

Your life's an open Facebook

Meeting of a Sub-committee on DNA Profiling Bill in Hyderabad

Free Software

Jammu & Kashmir (Govt) Notifications

Jammu & Kashmir Notifications

Himachal Pradesh (Govt) Notifications

Contents

Snooping technology: Will CMS work in India?

सावधान आपके प्रोफ़ाइल पर है पुलिस की नज़र!

आम लोग बने मुसीबत?

सोशल मीडिया पर लामबंदी

विशेष सॉफ्टवेयर्स की मदद

पारदर्शिता की कमी

'दुरुपयोग की संभावना'

Goa (Govt) Notifications Word Files

Goa (Govt) Notifications PDF Files