Centre for Internet and Society

MerlinO

praskrishna — 2011-11-23T09:58:17Z

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Merlin John

praskrishna — 2011-08-10T07:04:02Z

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Merlin

praskrishna — 2011-11-23T04:41:37Z

Merlin Oommen

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Menaka

praskrishna — 2012-01-28T09:10:41Z

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Menaka

praskrishna — 2012-01-28T09:15:41Z

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Menaka

praskrishna — 2012-01-28T09:15:28Z

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Memeâ€™s the word now

praskrishna — 2013-08-08T04:27:57Z

Politicians are always seen doing things. Even if they are not doing something, they are talking about doing things. And so on oodles of internet memes and on Tumblr sites, especially, they are shown "doing things".

The article by Padmaparna Ghosh was published in the Times of India on August 4, 2013. Nishant Shah is quoted.

Whether it is our former president, Pratibha Patil, "frolicking on a Goa beach" fully covered from head to toe in a sari, or Mayawati "copying Keanu Reeves from Matrix" or Rahul Gandhi "telepathically trying to solve the country's problems", political humour is finding new expression on websites like Tumblr. (Tumblr is a microblogging platform that uses pictures and media and is often used to quickly propagate humour based on themes.) Two such sites -- on Rahul Gandhi's achievements (which opens a blank site) and on Narendra Modi's plans (which displays a button, 'Get Details' that can never be clicked, because it keeps slipping away) -- also went viral on social media sites recently.

The popularity of these satirical sites, including 'fake news' sites that run spoofs of the news, is a positive sign, say many, of political engagement in the ranks of the young, urban and connected of the country, a demographic often accused of being disinterested in politics. And in an election year humour is likely to mushroom online. "Humour will play a big role in this election. It provides the public ability to say what they want. I feel that for a sliver of urban media, there will be that other option (the funnies), which wasn't there five years ago," says Anuvab Pal, playwright and stand-up comic.

Yet the value of news satire sites, memes and Tumblrs go beyond just the joke. They may also be critiques of politics, policy issues and debates, and function as veiled messages, all smartly packaged in pop-culture nuggets. Memes (a term that has found new life on the net and which the dictionary defines as 'an idea, style, or usage that spreads with repetition from person to person within a culture') are not just photos with text on them. They also transfer ideas and ideologies. And as recent popular movements across the world have shown, forms of protest are not just limited to rallies on roads.

"The disillusionment with electoral politics that the youth globally seem to be experiencing is one of the key reasons why they are coming online to express their dissatisfaction. This is their form of political engagement. They are showing us that they do have a vision of their future, they know the kind of world they want to build, the ways in which they would like to engineer their societies, but they are not necessarily going to put their faith in the structures of old-fashioned politics," says Nishant Shah of the Centre for Internet and Society.

Irreverence, subversion and criticism have always been a part of cybercultures. Shah agrees that while satire and parodies have always existed online, easier discovery of content thanks to social media, and an atmosphere of censorship in some cases, have increased the visibility and popularity of memes. The Narendra Modi Plans site was initially taken down after getting 60,000 hits in 20 hours. It's back online now. Still, compared to other forms of censorship the internet is still a relatively safe medium for people to voice their discontentment. Shah points out that "it protects people from persecution, from those who abuse power, just because they are questioned. So these instances become even more critical in countries like India, where literalness can land somebody in trouble. Attempts at censorship are only going to lead to more people realizing that the battles to be fought are information battles."

As the last US elections proved memes have become more popular than ever. Whether it was Romney's "binders full of women" or Clint Eastwood's "empty chair", political campaigns themselves adopted and ran with the memes for greater resonance with their constituencies. Of course, the US has a much livelier culture of parody and public debates that lend themselves easily to the mockumentary style of internet engagement. Satirists here say that while India is far from emulating America's parody culture it is undoubtedly moving in that direction. Says Pal: "We are just about getting comfortable with English. Irony in a new language can sometimes be just too many layers, like a double negative. It is also generational. But the new generation is an ironic one. And honestly, if you want to govern a billion people, you should be prepared for the fact that someone will make a meme out of you."

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-times-of-india-august-4-2013-padmaparna-ghosh-memea-s-the-word-now

Meeting with Director General of CCG

praskrishna — 2013-07-12T05:35:26Z

Director General of CGG

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Meeting on the Refreshable Braille Displays and Copyright Frameworks for Open Hardware Development

praskrishna — 2011-08-23T04:49:49Z

A meeting on Refreshable Braille Displays and Copyright Frameworks for Open Hardware Development will be held in the office of the Centre for Internet and Society on 4 December 2010.

This meeting in Bangalore will bring together three inventors who have concurrently been working on different ways of building refreshable braille displays to collaborate, share their knowledge, skills and abilities. Representatives from the disability sector will be present to articulate the needs of the disability community and provide feedback on the designs and concepts.

We will also be examining a copyright framework based on the GNU General Public License and will attempt to evolve a similar license for all future Open Hardware development.

The Centre for Social Innovation is a project by Braille Without Borders which aims to build ultra low-cost products for the developing world. Collective ownership, development and a high social-impact are the core tenets of this centre.

Keyword: accessibility

For more information on the programme, please contact:

Rahul Gonsalves
Administrative Director
Centre for Social Innovation, Braille without Borders
e: rahul@iiseconnect.org
m: +91 94 00 33 22 51

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/notices/meeting-on-the-refreshable-braille-displays-and-copyright-frameworks-for-open-hardware-development

Meeting on Net Neutrality and Related Issues

praskrishna — 2016-08-02T15:56:10Z

A meeting was convened by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on July 15, 2016 in New Delhi to discuss Net Neutrality and related issues. Sunil Abraham attended this meeting.

Click to view the Invitation Letter sent by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/meeting-on-net-neutrality-and-related-issues

Meeting on National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility

praskrishna — 2014-07-28T06:46:19Z

A meeting on National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility is scheduled to be held on 1.7.2014 at 11.30 AM in DeitY. Sunil Abraham will take part in the meeting.

The Centre for Internet and Society is now on the implementation committee. The meeting will be held under the Chairmanship of Dr. Ajay Kumar on July 1, 2014 at the Department of Electronics & IT, New Delhi.

Click to download:

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/meeting-on-national-policy-on-universal-electronic-accessibility

Meeting of the two Sub-Groups on Privacy Issues under the Chairmanship of Justice AP Shah in Delhi

praskrishna — 2012-06-14T08:31:39Z

The next meeting of the two Sub-Groups on privacy issues under the Chairmanship of Justice A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court is scheduled to be held on June 27, 2012 at 11.00 a.m. in the Committee Room No. 228, Yojana Bhawan, Planning Commission.

Members of both the Sub-Groups are requested to send their final write-ups as decided in the last meeting, by June 20, 2012 so that those could be circulated to all concerned for obtaining feedback and for discussions/ deliberations on June 27, 2012.

Shri S. Bose, Under Secretary (CIT & I) communicated this through notice No. M-13040/47/2011-CIT&I.

The notice was e-mailed to the following individuals:

Justice A.P.Shah, Chairman
Dr. Kamlesh Bajaj
Usha Ramanathan
Sunil Abraham
Prashant Reddy
Prof. Arghya Sengupta
Som Mittal
Shri Gulshan Rai
Mala Dutt

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/meeting-of-two-sub-groups-in-delhi

Meeting of the Network of Internet & Society Centers

praskrishna — 2012-12-11T10:18:41Z

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University together with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society in Berlin, in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society Bangalore, the Center for Technology & Society at the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School, KEIO University SFC, the MIT Media Lab, the MIT Center for Civic Media, and the NEXA Center for Internet & Society, will host a highly interactive and participatory meeting of representatives from these and other research centers focused on Internet and society issues.

Taking place on December 6-8 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this gathering will serve as the inaugural event for a nascent global network and create an opportunity for participants to scope and identify mechanisms for collaboration, research, and informal coordination.

Theme

Internet-driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping Points As a starting point, the December meeting will focus on the theme of “Internet-driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping Points,” provoking both substantive questions to facilitate ideas for collaboration, as well as process-oriented questions regarding the structure, governance, and composition of the network of centers. This topic is intended to provide a conceptual lens for the meeting itself, and to enable myriad connections to the diverse research areas and interests of the participating organizations; however, it is not meant to frame the thematic areas of the network writ large. Rather, we hope that the theme stimulates conversations about future areas of collaboration within and beyond the topic areas outlined in this concept note.

With this goal in mind and building upon the research interests of the participants, the two proposed overarching “horizontal” questions of the meeting are:

What are the structural changes (as opposed to hype, fashion, spikes, etc.), from societal, economic, legal, and educational perspectives, promoted by the Internet and related technological advancements? What do we know about these tectonic shifts and where are knowledge gaps? How do these shifts compare to earlier changes facilitated by new technologies? What further changes do we anticipate?
2 What are the forces and tipping points that have catalyzed these structural changes— including the actions of individuals (such as users, citizens, and individual activists) and institutions (such as government, business, and civil society)? Where do we currently see or anticipate tipping points? As a research community that seeks to inform advocacy efforts, policymaking, civic discourse, and other societal interests, how can these concepts inform or drive our activities?

We hope to discuss these guiding (“horizontal”) questions in the context of exploring two areas of research or use cases (“verticals”), which might inspire future activities of the network itself as well as collaboration among participants:

Political participation: Various research efforts over the past decade have focused on the question of if and how the Internet changes political participation, from new forms of electronic voting to the broader question of potential changes in political discourse in the digitally networked public sphere. During the meeting, we will take stock of the current landscape, with a particular focus on recent elections and political movements around the globe, and explore open questions, future research directions, questions, emerging tools and methodologies.

Production modes: Digital technologies in general and the Internet in particular have changed the ways in which goods are produced and services provided. Within this context, new modes of production — most prominently “peer-based” models — have emerged, accompanied by innovative organizational models and set-ups. Questions we hope to explore include: How relevant are these shifts from an economic, organizational, societal, business, and creative perspective? Has recent empirical research confirmed the theory of commons-based peer production, or challenged it? What conditions facilitate new modes of Internet-based production and what are the benefits and challenges from a public policy perspective? What do interesting case studies in the field, from collaborative online journalism to crowd-funding, tell us about the direction of this trend?

In a number of learning calls leading up to the meeting, we hope to further specify the proposed substantive areas, identify core issues of mutual interest for discussion, nominate speakers and rapporteurs, and learn about each other’s work in respective areas.

Key Objectives

The meeting will not only focus on substantive issues within the proposed themes, but also seek to provide a foundation for discussions regarding structural and process-oriented objectives for the network.

Substantive goals include: based on the proposed themes and topics, becoming familiar with each other’s work; facilitating the exchange of information regarding current and future projects, research areas, and innovative methods; identifying connection points, concrete ideas for initial and continued institutional collaborations on projects, and tools to support sustained and future efforts; and building a shared vocabulary and structure for collaboration among Internet & society centers, including existing and potential actors in the Global South.

Structural/process-oriented objectives include: defining the scope and core DNA of the network; exploring initial structures for governance, shared research, exchange programs, and mechanisms for collaboration; and identifying tools and practices for communication among teams, within the network, and externally.

From Ideas to Action

Using the substantive discussion as a jumping-0ff point, we will collectively explore how to apply lessons learned from the process of conducting interdisciplinary and international research into a network that embodies those same values. What analytical frames and empirical indicators can researchers offer to better inform policy makers and citizenry? How can we make public debates more rational and informed? What are methodological and data issues we should consider in research projects? What role do we envision for advocacy and broader communication for greater societal impact? How do these discussions inform and scope the potential areas of activity of the network? Through what specific mechanisms, such as research, tool development, convenings, or teaching, will Centers address these challenges? Invited colleagues, collaborators, and guests will provoke discussions and pose questions that challenge current assumptions and encourage experimentation.

Mode of Engagement

We are committed to leveraging the tremendous diversity of the participants to develop novel understandings — and approaches to reaching them — by actively embracing differences in geography, discipline, organizational approach, culture and context, among many other facets. Not only must we consciously address the more straightforward challenges of translation (language and discipline), but we must proactively develop ways to meaningfully and efficiently engage the deeper divisions we identify among us. Allowing differences to become splits would be unfortunate, but more importantly, it is at precisely these gaps where new perspectives are possible, and great gains are within reach.

Fulfilling this commitment will be a real challenge because it requires behavior change on our part. We must avoid or explain terms of art, make explicit and explore our assumptions, explain our methods, perform necessary translations, and otherwise take steps to maximize hospitality and genuine understanding. Because this work is interactive in nature, it is essential that we are economical in our group discussion, leaving as much time for the interactions that will highlight and address gaps, rather than making extended monologues that risk losing other participants and sacrifice the provocative stimuli offered by our diversity. In short, let us be clear, brief and to the point. Let us listen to each other closely and encourage new voices, rather than inadvertently privileging only a few dominant ones. Let us be aware that participants will have different styles of engagement, and that we need to collectively find ways to embrace them, even as they adapt to this special environment. Above all, let us have enjoy this rare opportunity to gather and engage on issues we care about with this unique group of colleagues.

Draft Agenda

Thursday, December 6
9:30-1:00 pm (Optional) Cyberscholars Forum For those meeting participants who arrive in Cambridge early, we welcome them to attend a half day meeting of the Cyberscholars Working Group, which includes fellows from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Yale Information Society Project, MIT Media Lab / Center for Civic Media, and other institutions.
3:00 Opening Exercise: Mapping Collaboration The opening session of the symposium on “Structural Changes and Tipping Points” will include participants of the Cyberscholars forum, and will highlight the landscape of existing collaborations among researchers, as well as generate ideas for new modes and methods for collaboration to be considered over the course of the meeting. This early convening will allow the opportunity for representatives to bring the unique strengths of their institutions to the table and consider ways we can take advantage of coordinated efforts.
5:30 Opening Session Structural Change: Understanding Structural Changes, Tipping Points, and their Effects on Systems Historical examples of significant structural change, and the events and conditions leading up to those dramatic shifts, will offer a lens for the meeting where societal advancements catalyzed by technological innovation can be analyzed and understood. As digital technologies increasingly intersect with and support institutions, industries, and individuals, what cautionary tales does history reveal regarding how to study and engage important tipping points? What lessons from history will enable societal development? And what structures are currently changing or are ripe for change (and research) in the next decade?
6:45 Joint Reception with Cyberscholars Participants The reception will include displays from the Harvard metaLAb and the Harvard Library community.
Friday, December 7
8:30 am Breakfast
9:00 Welcome
9:15 Foundations: Key Ingredients for Structural Change in the Digital Ecosystem: Data, Algorithms, Intermediaries This opening session will set the stage by exploring the key elements that facilitate current and the next generation of structural shifts in the digitally networked information ecosystem and discuss both drivers and inhibitors of change from social, economic, legal, and educational perspectives. Instead of providing a holistic overview of all factors that are in play, the session will focus on three particularly important elements: the power of “big data”, the importance of algorithms, and the role of new intermediaries. Beyond phenomenological stock-taking, the participants will discuss the next generation of legal, ethical, economic and other issues that arise in the context of these key elements and the need for collaboration - and potentially intervention – with regard to these and related factors of change. The discussion will help orient the relationship between structural change and associated tipping points, and will be further explored throughout the day via participant-organized breakout sessions and use case discussions.
10:15 Use Case #1 Political Participation: New Orders, Democracy, Governance, and Civic Engagement Various research efforts over the past decade have focused on the question of if and how the Internet changes political participation, from new forms of electronic voting to the broader question of potential changes in political discourse in the digitally networked public sphere. During the meeting, we will take stock of the current landscape, with a particular focus on recent elections and political movements around the globe, and explore open questions, future research directions, questions, emerging tools and methodologies. Examples we could examine, and potentially consider as “tipping points,” may range from SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA to the Arab Spring and the post-election crisis in Kenya in 2008 to many other major political events. These examples may also highlight the limits, challenges, and dangers of the new media environment.
11:15 Coffee Break
11:30 Morning Breakout Sessions & Afternoon Proposals Semi-moderated discussion sessions proposed by participants in advance of the meeting (such as sessions on Internet & democracy, research methods, region specific issues, and other projects) will take place, with an eye towards developing contributions to the final session on future directions.
Additionally, participants will brainstorm and propose sessions to lead during the unconference sessions in the afternoon, with a preference for more exploratory topics. Anyone at the meeting can suggest, lead, or participate in the discussions, and topics can range from those relevant to the substantive themes of the symposium to ideas for networking, shared research, and anything beyond.
12:30 pm Lunch
1:30pm Use Case #2 Economic and Production Modes: New Models for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Digital technologies in general and the Internet in particular have changed the ways in which goods are produced and services provided. Within this context, new modes of production — most prominently “peer-based” models — have emerged, accompanied by innovative organizational models and set-ups. Questions we hope to explore include: How relevant are these shifts from an economic, organizational, societal, business, and creative perspective? Has recent empirical research confirmed the theory of commons-based peer production, or challenged it? What conditions facilitate new modes of Internet-based production and what are the benefits and challenges from a public policy perspective? What do interesting case studies in the field, from collaborative online journalism to crowd-funding, tell us about the direction of this trend? Examples of market and industry shifts, institutional changes, and individual impact may serve as illustrations of tipping points where new models of production have fostered true innovation, and reveal paths for what to expect in the future.
2:30 Participant-Led Unconference Sessions Meeting participants who proposed sessions will lead discussions around topics related to the main theme of the symposium or around ideas related to the formation of a network of centers.
3:30 Break
4:00 Reflections and Future Directions A rapporteur from each center will offer brief reflections and key takeaways based on their experience during the meeting. A shortlist of “low hanging fruit” (i.e. things that we can immediately start to collaborate on) will be developed in advance and serve as the basis for the session, so the group can make progress towards developing a substantive agenda and initial workplan for the network at the meeting.
7:00 Reception and Party
Saturday, December 8
9:00-12pm Breakfast session: Action plan for the next year In the Food for Thought mode, representatives will meet to discuss an innovation and collaboration agenda for the inaugural year of the network. Using inputs from learning calls and the previous days of the meeting, participants will work to identify existing or new projects where researchers, faculty, and staff can immediately begin collaborating. We will also create a rough plan for addressing action items that are “low hanging fruit” for the launch of the network.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/meeting-of-network-of-internet-and-society-centers

Meeting of the Global Network on Flexible Limitations and Exceptions

praskrishna — 2012-10-04T05:59:56Z

American University Washington College of Law organized a meeting of the Global Network in Washington D.C., on September 12 to 15, 2012. Pranesh Prakash was one of the 25 participants.

Agenda

September 12

4:00-6:00

Recent Developments in Fair Dealing In Canada Room 603 | (Webcast) Peter Jaszi, Ariel Katz, Howard Knopf, Martin Senftleben, Michael Carroll

September 13

5:00-6:00	PIJIP Welcoming Reception, Room 600. The reception will be a joint welcome for the L&E Network and a concluding reception for an Orphan Works meeting with librarians hosted by Pam Samuelson and the Berkeley clinic.
5:30-9:00	Public Knowledge hosts the 9th Annual IP3 Awards. Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

September 14

9:00	Welcome Introduction
9:30	Discussion of the model open text
12:30	Lunch
1:15	Review of draft 3-Step paper (to be circulated)
2:15	Roundtable on current developments in local contexts
3:30	Review of the current state of the TPP negotiations and U.S. proposed text on Limitations and Exceptions
5:00	Transport to Leesburg – site of TPP meeting
7:00	Dinner reception with TPP IP negotiators

September 15

9:30	Discussion of the model arguments and counterarguments document
11:30	Discussion of a possible report of findings to accompany the models
12:30	Lunch
1:15	Roundtable on the way forward What work should we prioritize between this meeting and the December Global Congress? What research is the group currently engaged in that may bear on limitations and exceptions? How could this group define future uses of the network after the Global Congress? One example might be a book or other collection of case studies reporting on how laws actually work in given countries.
3:15	Roundtable on local forums continued: where are L&E interventions needed most?
4:00	End of meeting

The following individuals participated:

Martin Senftleben
Pedro Paranagua
Pedro Mizukami
Dick Kawooya
Hong Xue
Jennifer Urban
Pam Samuelson
Ahmed Abdel Latif
Peter Yu
Andrew Rens
Carlos Affonso Pereira de Souza
Oliver Metzger
Gwen Hinze
Peter Jaszi
Michael Carroll
Sean Flynn
Meredith Jacob
Matt Sag
Jonathan Band
Ariel Katz
Howard Knopf
Alberto Cerda Silva
Pranesh Prakash
Allan Rocha de Souza
Sylvie Nerisson
Lila Bailey

Read the original published in infojustice.org here

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/info-justice-public-events-flexibility-network

Meeting of High Level Advisory Committee

praskrishna — 2014-12-31T01:03:52Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/meeting-high-level-advisory-committee.pdf