Centre for Internet and Society

Here’s what everyone is saying in TRAI’s latest Net Neutrality consultation

praskrishna — 2017-05-19T09:35:35Z

Last year’s highly public and widely discussed TRAI consultation resulted in Internet providers being barred from charging differently for different parts of the Internet. This time around, the telecom regulator’s newest consultation on Net Neutrality is significantly more business-as-usual, and much more muted.

The blog post by Aroon Deep was published by Medianama on May 15, 2017.

Now that the consultation has finished accepting responses and counter-responses, here are some of the most significant themes to watch out for from telecom operators, Internet companies and advocacy groups.

1. “Same service, same rules”

Telecom operators have long complained that many apps like WhatsApp and Skype eat into their revenue by replacing the non-Internet access services that they charge for, like SMS and calling. Curiously, Indian telecom operators, instead of arguing that they should face less regulation, have called for these “over the top” (OTT) services to face more regulation instead. They argue that unlike so-called OTT apps, telcos face several regulatory constraints that put them in an uneven playing field. As such, they argue that there needs to be “same services, same rules”, a framework where OTT apps and telcos compete fairly, without regulatory imbalance.

Multiple stakeholders, such as the Broadband India Forum and Hotstar, pointed out that unlike OTT services, telecom providers held a monopoly on providing access to the Internet, mooting the argument that apps and ISPs need to be treated similarly.

Broadband India Forum’s curious reversal

In this consultation’s initial stages, the Broadband India Forum, an association of telecom operators, argued (pdf) that “OTT Communication players need to be brought under the same regulatory regime as the ISP/TSPs.” In an apparent reversal, the BIF made the opposite argument towards the end of the process (pdf), saying that “The so-called “Same Service, Same Rules” argument is flawed”. Further contradicting its earlier position, the association went on to say, “Rather than attempting to increase the regulatory burden of OTTs by applying telecom regulations to online services, there should be consideration given to reducing the regulatory burden of TSPs.”

2. What is an enterprise service?

Practically every Internet provider wants an exception on “enterprise services” or “specialized services”, like dedicated video calling services that some organizations subscribe to. For example, Reliance Jio argued that since enterprise services were “tailored” to specific business requirements, they did not affect Net Neutrality. The Centre for Internet and Society, an advocacy group and think tank, also said (pdf) that enterprise services should be exempted (from Net Neutrality restrictions), but only if i) access to the rest of the Internet is priced similarly, and ii) if the enterprise service in question cannot be served over the regular Internet in the required level of “delivery guarantee”.

Hotstar‘s submission was far more blunt. “The definition of Internet traffic should not exclude … Internet services masquerading as ‘specialized services’,” the streaming service argued. It went on to say that any specialized service seeking an exemption from Net Neutrality rules “should not be usable to provide general access to the Internet”, and must fulfil a very narrow function.

3. “Don’t touch CDNs!”

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are so-called “middle-mile” networks, which content providers use to distribute their traffic globally in a decentralized and efficient manner. CDNs typically host copies of content in servers around the world and connect directly with Internet providers, so that there is less latency when sites are accessed, and less distance between the content and the end-user. Content providers, CDN providers, and Internet providers strongly opposed CDNs from being regulated. In fact, Netflix dedicated much of its submission arguing against CDNs coming under regulatory purview, whereas TRAI itself only touched on the possibility passingly in its consultation paper.

Akamai, a large CDN provider, argued that “[A]ny net neutrality principles or rules adopted in India should apply only to Internet access service, which should refer to a publicly available electronic communications service provided by a telecommunications service provider (TSP) in India that is offered to end users on a retail basis”. To some extent, advocacy groups also argued that CDNs should largely be left out of Net Neutrality regulations. The Internet Democracy Project argued (pdf): “Since deploying high traffic content closer to the edges eases up the load on the network as a whole, [CDNs] need not be treated as violating discriminatory access to the internet.”

4. “Can we even detect Net Neutrality violations?”

Some telcos argued that detecting whether some Internet traffic was being slowed down or sped up would be next to impossible, and would require access to an ISP’s confidential internal traffic data. The GSMA, an international association of telecom operators, said (pdf) “monitoring and detecting [unfair traffic management] practices is challenging,” and that any detection framework should be highly robust. Spectranet, a broadband provider, said that it would be difficult to detect practices like throttling and paid prioritization, unless there’s a “neutral network” that is outside an ISP’s network which works with end-users to measure speeds of different applications and services to see if there’s any discriminatory traffic management.

The Measurements Lab said (pdf) that detecting unfair traffic management was very much possible. “Academic researchers and national regulatory authorities have been actively engaged in measuring traffic management practices for well over a decade to considerable success,” M-Lab said. “The adoption of TMP measurement tools by TRAI would build on a rich history of research and implementation, and align with the current agenda of BEREC and other regulators.”

5. “Device neutrality”

Multiple operators are arguing that since the fair treatment of all data depends on the end-user’s Internet browser and device, Net Neutrality should apply to those as well. Airtel, for example, argued (pdf) that device manufacturers and content providers should also be regulated under Net Neutrality rules (Airtel cited Netflix allegedly “slowing down” data for mobile data users as an example; Netflix denied Airtel’s allegation in a counter-filing). The Internet Freedom Foundation* argued strongly against such a framework, saying that “the focus of network neutrality as a regulatory concept has been to ensure that TSPs [don’t] misuse their unique, license-enabled position” which gives them monopoly over Internet access, unlike device manufacturers and OTT services. Similarly, Hotstar argued that “Independent devices, browsers or operating systems themselves do not constitute a network and are not the subject matter of the net neutrality debate.” (emphasis theirs)

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/medianama-aroon-deep-may-15-2017-here-s-what-everyone-is-saying-in-trais-latest-net-neutrality-consultation

Here is why government twitter handles have been posting offensive and partisan messages

praskrishna — 2016-10-16T03:24:45Z

You have failed us big time Mr Kejriwal, for your petty political gains you can become headlines for Pakistani press,” read a tweet on October 5 from @IndiaPostOffice, the official twitter handle of the Indian postal service.

The article by Danish Raza was published in the Hindustan Times on October 15, 2016. Nishant Shah was quoted.

It was a reference to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urging the Prime Minister to counter Pakistan’s propaganda over surgical strikes.

Within hours, India Post tweeted an apology saying that the account was hacked.

This is the latest in a series of opinions and statements posted from official twitter handles of government departments and bodies. Of late, the Twitter handles meant to broadcast information related to government programmes have appeared like personal accounts tweeting slander and criticism.

Last month, the Twitter handle of Digital India tweeted a poem in Hindi calling on the Indian Army to persistently fire at protesters in Kashmir.

In August, the Twitter handle of Startup India retweeted a post suggesting that the Indian Army should ‘take care’ of #Presstitutes, a reference to sections of Indian media critical of the government.

The tweets expose loopholes in the government’s social media policy and raise questions about the norms followed in the recruitment of social media professionals for ministries and government institutions.

Work in Progress

The process of adopting new tools is work in progress. While the government agencies are trying to leverage social media to enhance citizen engagement, for the vast majority of government bodies, it is unexplored territory. Babus who have traditionally been dealing in paperwork and file notings are overwhelmed to see hash tags and trends. With a tech- savvy Prime Minister at the helm, every government department is trying to increase its digital footprint. At the same time, they face the challenge of reinterpreting existing work ethics and codes of conduct and applying them to the use of social media. Ministries such as the Ministry of External Affairs, Information & Broadcasting and the Prime Minister’s Office which have cohesive programmes and big mandate, have separate social media wings of their own with well- defined protocols. But these are exceptions.

Overall, the government bodies lack social media guidelines for their own efforts or which others can learn from. According to Chinmayi Arun, executive director, Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University, Delhi, mistakes are bound to happen given that everyone is new to social media. But it should be non-negotiable that when anything is said using an official governmental handle, the government should take more responsibility than just saying ‘oops’. “One of course is a clear and unequivocal statement apologising and taking back whatever was said. However, it should take pro-active measures to train and test people who handle its public-facing accounts and publish a clear monitoring and accountability mechanism by which they can be called to account. It should not be open to anyone to misuse the government’s official handles in this manner,” said Arun.

One of the areas where the lack of sensitisation is apparent is the usage of the same mobile device for multiple twitter handles – the most common reason for such goof-ups cited by social media consultants attached to various government departments. “I believe these were inadvertently posted by people handling these accounts. It may neither have been their mandate nor their intention. It happens when the person has configured multiple twitter handles from the same device and ends up posting from the wrong account,” said Amit Malviya, BJP’s National Convener, IT.

The majority of ministries and government departments do not give phones to members of the social media teams. It is up to the individual to use his personal device or get an additional one to manage the professional handle (s). A mistake will happen if a comment which was to be posted from the personal handle is posted from the official handle.

Twitter Goof-ups from GoI Accounts

“Because of the personalised and individual nature of social media, it is easy to forget that they are representing an institution and not themselves when using these handles. This also suggests the lack of public usage training in these organisations, and the need to educate our public actors in using social media with more responsibility as office bearers of an institution rather than a personal expression or an opinion,” said Nishant Shah, co-founder of the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore.

Another issue is that access to the account is given to multiple people. “Each one of them brings their individual personality and politics to their operation of the handle,” said Shah.

Hiring Issues

Part of the problem lies in the fact that there is no standard protocol on who can access the twitter handle of Indian government bodies and how this person or team is hired.

A few ministries (example: the ministry of railways) have a team comprising of government employees and staff of private agencies handling their account. Others have outsourced the job to agencies.

During the campaigning for the 2009 election, political parties got outside expertise to mark their presence online. The selection parameters of social media consultants – established public relations firms in some cases and individuals in others – was not uniform.

Unlike the traditional public relations officers who are from the Indian Information Services cadre, the social media consultants were selected based on their expertise in the field, political affiliation, and proximity to a party or leader.

Those who started handling social media accounts of political parties and leaders included trolls and social media influencers. “Parties got youngsters who were politically motivated and willing to work for political parties. They became cheaper alternatives for social media experts,” said Ishan Russel, political communication consultant.

After the NDA came to power, almost every ministry outsourced its digital expertise to agencies. Many individuals who were earlier directly working with leaders and parties got back with them via agencies. “If an agency is looking for people to handle the twitter account or Facebook page of a certain ministry in the BJP government, then those who are politically inclined towards the BJP will apply for the vacancies and their chances of getting hired are also much higher than someone who is neutral or known to be an AAP sympathiser,” said Vikas Pandey, 32-year-old software engineer, who headed the “I Support Namo” campaign on Facebook and Twitter, as a volunteer for the BJP.

Last year, the Prime Minister felicitated more than a dozen social media enthusiasts, including Vikas. The move raised eyebrows because many felt that the government was encouraging trolls. “It illuminates the fact that trolls have found gainful employment in the Government of India. Also that the entire edifice of the centre is being taken over by woefully undereducated bigots,” said Swati Chaturvedi, senior journalist and author.

Agency, the Soft Target

Till the time the government staff is well versed with social media tools, attributing the mistakes to an ‘outside agency’ appears to be the norm.

In the case of the twitter goof-up involving Startup India, Commerce and Industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman blamed a private agency that was managing the account of Startup India. “The retweets were done by an employee of the agency hired by the department of industrial policy and promotion. The person assigned by the agency for this particular job is not decided by the department and is the sole prerogative of the agency,” she said.

S Radha Chauhan, CEO of National e-Governance Division, attributed the controversial post from Digital India’s twitter handle to an agency called Trivone. “The person responsible had mistakenly tweeted from the official handle what he wanted to tweet from his personal account,” said Chauhan.

Those familiar with the functioning of the government’s social media verticals say that agencies are mentioned to cover up for mistakes often committed by someone from the government staff. “When in crisis, blame the agency, is the thumbrule the government follows. The fact is that each twitter post is approved by the client before it is posted,” said a senior executive with a digital marketing firm attached to a ministry which has recently earned lot of praise for its social media initiatives.

Nishtha Arora, social media and digital consultant in a reputed ad agency, was handling a political account till very recently. She said that the client required her to just randomly tweet or RT to be heard by the followers of a tech-savvy minister and be his digital mouthpiece. “I often had to draft tweets which looked like press releases,” she said.

“Digital faux pas is blamed on to someone who might be an expert in the field but yet has to bow down to the client pressure so that their agenda for the day is met and the said government body or ministry remains in the news,” she added.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-danish-raza-october-15-2016-here-is-why-government-twitter-handles-have-been-posting-offensive-and-partisan-messages

Here is the entire list of 'escorts service' websites that the government has banned

praskrishna — 2016-07-02T04:51:30Z

Another day and another opaque order asking Indian service providers to block websites that allegedly offer or advertise escort services in India. In total, the government has ordered ban on 237 websites. But as it happens whenever the Indian government bans website, there has been no public communication about the same.

The article was published in India Today on June 16, 2016

Also, it has not been explained what, if any, process was followed before these websites were banned and what norms were applied for the order that the internet service providers have received.

However, now Centre for Internet and Society has caught hold of the list of the websites that have been banned. Here is what the organisation says, "Unfortunately, the government does not make available publicly the list of websites they have ordered ISPs to block. Given that knowledge of what is censored by the government is crucial in a democracy, we are publishing the entire list of blocked websites."

As for the websites and URLs here they are:

www.sterlingbioscience.com
rawpoint.biz
www.onemillionbabes.com
www.mumbaihotcollection.in
simranoberoi.in
rubinakapoor.biz
talita.biz
www.mumbaiescortsagency.net
www.mumbaifunclubs.com
www.alishajain.co.in
www.ankitatalwar.co.in
https://www.jennyarora.ind.in
www.riya-kapoor.com
shneha.in
missinimi.in
www.mumbaiglamour.in
kalyn.in
www.saumyagiri.co.in/city/mumbai/
bookerotic.com
www.divyamalik.in
www.suhanisharma.co.in
www.ruhi.biz
umbaiqueens.in
www.aliyaghosh.com
priyasen.in
www.highprofilemumbaiescorts.co.in
charmingmumbai.com
www.poojamehata.in
kiiran.in/
mansikher.in
www.newmumbaiescorts.in
www.mumbaifunclubs.com
www.punarbas.in
www.discreetbabes.in
www.alisharoy.in
www.arpitarai.in
www.nidhipatel.in
navimumbailescort.com
www.zoyaescorts.com
www.juhioberoi.in
shoniya.in
panchibora.in
rehu.in
www.nehaanand.com
www.aditiray.co.in
www.rakhibajaj.in
www.alianoidaescorts.in
www.sobiya.in
www.alishaparul.in
mumbai-escorts.leathercurrency.com
ankita-ahuja.in
www.yamika.in
mumbailescort.co
www.ranjika.in
www.aditiray.com
www.alinamumbailescort.in
www.sonikaa.com/services/
riyamodel.in
soonam.in
www.sejalthakkar.com
www.yomika-tandon.in
www.asika.in
www.siyasharma.org/
www.rubikamathur.in
www.mumbaiescortslady.com
www.sexyshe.in
www.indepandentescorts.com
www.saanvichopra.co.in
www.goswamipatel.in
ojaloberoi.in
www.naincy.in
www.sonyamehra.com
www.pinkgrapes.in
anjalitomar.in/
www.nishakohli.com/
sagentia.co.in
mumbai.vivastreet.co.in/escort+mumbai
www.deseescortgirls.in
guides.wonobo.com/mumbai/mumbai-escorts-service/.4299
jasmineescorts.com
www.shalinisethi.com
www.highclassmumbailescort.com
www.vipescortsinmumbai.com
www.mumbaiescorts69.co.in
monikabas.co.in
www.riyasehgal.com
onlycelebrity.in
www.greatmumbaiescorts.com/escort-service-mumbai.html
www.aishamumbailescort.com
www.jennydsouzaescort.com
www.desifun.in
www.siyaescort.co.in
masti-escort.in
www.sofya.in
www.mumbaiwali.in/navi-mumbai-escort-service.php
www.mumbaiwali.in
www.calldaina.com
www.mumbaiescortsservice.co.in
www.escortsgirlsinmumbai.com
www.passionmumbai.escorts.com
www.nehakapoor.in
meerakapoor.com
www.dianamumbaiescorts.net .in
www.allmumbailescort.in
www.rakhiarora.in
www.ritikasingh.com
www.rekhapatil.com
www.mumbaidolls.com
www.piapandey.com
www.mumbaicuteescorts.in
www.mumbaiescortssevice.com
www.onlycelebrity.com
www.meetescortservice.com
onlyoneescorts.com
simirai.org
www.riyamumbaiescorts.in
www.neharana.in
www.mumbaihiprofilegirls.in
www.sexyescortsmumbai.in
www.sexymumbai.escorts.com
www.four-seasons-escort.in
www.mumbaiescortsgirl.com
www.vdreamescorts.com
www.passionatemumbaiescorts.in
www.payalmalhotra.in
www.shrutisinha.com
www.juliemumbaiescorts.com
www.indiasexservices.com/mumbai.html
www.mumbai-escorts.co.in
www.aliyamumbaiescorts.net.in
shivaniarora.co.in/escort-service-mumbai.html
www.pinkisingh.com
soyam.in
www.arpitaray.com
www.localescorts.in
www.jennifermumbaiescorts.com
www.yanaroy.com
escorts18.in/mumbai-escorts.html
www.tinamumbaiescorts.com
www.mumbaijannatescorts.com
www.deepikaroy.com
www.nancy.co.in
www.pearlpatel.in
30minsmumbaiescorts.in
www.datinghopes.com
https://www.riyaroy.com/services.html
www.sonalikajain.com
www.zainakapoor.co.in
kavyajain.in
www.kinnu.co.in
exmumbai.in/
www.mansimathur.in/pinkyagarwal
exmumbai.in
www.mansimathur.in/pinkyagarwal
www.devikabatra.in
katlin.in
riyaverma.in
escortsinindia.co/
www.snehamumbaiescorts.in
shimi.in
www.mumbaiescortsforu.com/about
www.chetnagaur.co.in/chetna-gaur.html
www.escortspoint.in
www.rupalikakkar.in
www.hemangisinha.co.in
1escorts.in/location/mumbai.html
www.salini.in/navi-mumbai-independent-escort-service.php
www.salini.in/navi-mumbai-independent-escort-service.php
www.mumbaibella.in
mohitescortservicesmumbai.com
www.anchu.in
www.aliyaroy.co.in
jaanu.co.in/mumbai-escorts-service-call-girls.html
www.andyverma.com
dreams-come-true.biz
feel-better.biz
jellyroll.biz
dreamgirlmumbai.com
role-play.biz
mansi-mathur.com
www.zarinmumbaiescorts.com
mymumbai.escortss.com
www.goldentouchescorts.com
www.mumbaipassion.biz
ishitamalhotra.com
happy-ending.biz
juicylips.biz
www.escortsmumbai.name
www.kirstygbasai.net
www.hiremumbaiescorts.com
www.meeraescorts.com/mumbai-escorts.php
3-5-7star.biz
www.pranjaltiwari.com
www.richagupta.biz
way2heaven.biz
piya.co/
pinkflowers.info
www.beautifulmumbaiescorts.com
www.bestescortsinmumbai.com/charges-html
www.mumbaiescorts.me
www.tanikatondon.com
www.escortsinmumbai.biz
www.escortgirlmumbai.com
www.mumbaicallgrils.com
www.quickescort4u.com
www.mayamalhotra.com
www.legal-escort.com
escortsbaba.com/mumbai-escorts.html
rupa.biz
www.mumbaiescorts.agency/erotic-service-mumbai.html
www.escortscelebrity.com
www.independentescortservicemumbai.com/mumbai%20escort%20servi..
garimachopra.com
kajalgupta.biz
lipkiss.site
aanu.in
bombayescort.in
hotkiran.co.in
khushikapoor.in
joyapatel.in
rici.in
aaditi.in
andheriescorts.org.in
www.jiyapatel.in
spicymumbai.in
rimpyarora.in
lovemaking.co.in
riyadubey.co.in
escortservicesmumbai.in
mumbaiescorts.co.in
midnightprincess.in/
vashiescorts.co.in/
angee.in/
www.rozakhan.in/
www.mumbaiescortsvilla.in/
kylie.co.in/
escortservicemumbai.co.in

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-today-june-16-2016-here-is-the-entire-list-of-escorts-service-websites-that-govt-has-banned

Helani

praskrishna — 2013-07-30T04:26:25Z

Helani

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Helani.png

Healthcare

praskrishna — 2014-09-07T04:09:15Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/health-care.zip

Healthcare

praskrishna — 2014-04-22T08:58:26Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/healthcare.zip

Health and Privacy

praskrishna — 2014-02-28T04:49:28Z

Privacy India in partnership with Privacy International, UK, Society in Action Group, Gurgaon, and the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore are pleased to bring you the early draft of a chapter, Health and Privacy.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/health-privacy.pdf

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The Intransigence of STM Publishers

praskrishna — 2015-02-12T00:16:46Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/heads-i-win-tails-you-lose-the-intransigence-of-stm-publishers

Hazare 'clicks' with city techies

praskrishna — 2011-08-19T06:48:14Z

These days revolutionaries, crusaders and even rioters use social networking to further their cause. After the Arab Spring and the London riots, social networking is now playing a key role in Anna Hazare's ongoing anti-corruption campaign. Bangalore techies are in demand to run the show.

Amid a demonstration on Wednesday in support of Anna at Bangalore's Freedom Park - a jail converted into a public space - a bunch of techies were seen busy working.

They were giving a blow-by-blow account of the local show online. India Against Corruption (IAC), the citizen's movement of Anna Hazare has one of its hubs in this city. Five techies with corporate jobs are the local contact points. They belong to a group of "like-minded people", who in December 2010 started 'Saaku' (meaning 'enough' in Kannada), a state-wide campaign against corruption.

True to Bangalore style, a main activity of Saaku is a website - one that exposes acts of corruption. "We wanted to do something in the face of mounting corruption," said Anand Yadwad, 38, a member of the core team.

Now it is part of IAC. It is a California-based NRI who handles the main IAC web page, activists said.

Their main Facebook page has been 'liked' by over 320,000 people. A Google email group, pages in local languages - including in Kannada - and a Twitter feed are slowly gaining ground too. Bangalore is a hub for similar initiatives that are not necessarily part of the Anna Hazare bandwagon. A website launched by the NGO Janaagraha - ipaidabribe. com aims to "uncover the market price of corruption". People post stories about their close encounters with the corrupt kind - paying GBP 50 for customs clearance, Rs 900 to a broker for getting a learners' driving licence and so on.

There is yet another website that actually deals with issues concerning far-away Chhattisgarh.

CGNet Swara is dubbed as a mobile community radio. Adivasis and landless labourers of Chattisgarh can dial in their stories onto a server based in Bangalore. The users can dial and listen to them in local dialects - health workers demanding bribe, labour contractors withholding part of the minimum wages and so on. Though it is not envisaged as an anti-corruption platform, stories of anomalies, including in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act feature frequently on Swara. "We get such complaints maybe once in two days," said Shubhranshu Choudhary, a former BBC journalist based in Delhi who runs the show.

In effect, these three initiatives take three distinct approaches.

"Saaku takes an approach of incremental engagement in a campaign," said Sunil Abraham, the head of the Centre for Internet and Society, a Bangalorebased research group. First you can 'like' them on their Facebook page, then give a missed call, engage in local meetings and become a volunteer. "It means using the technology selectively, but driven by the people's needs and limitations," Abraham said.

Meanwhile ipaidabribe. com takes a more quantitative approach to understand the extent of bribery. CGNet Swara involves definite political risks as the complaints tend to be specific and sometimes connected with human rights issues - especially in a state like Chhattisgarh, Abraham said.

Meanwhile Bangaloreans who designed earlier campaigns call for a mix of media. "With India's infrastructure divide, unless we combine spaces like community radio with social network, campaigns cannot be successful," said Ashish Sen, president of AMARC Asia Pacific, a community broadcast forum. Namma Dhwani, a community radio project in Bangalore's neighbouring district Kolar, has gone live on local protests against corruption five years ago - with good impact. "Now with the spread of mobile telephony, the use of radio and audio becomes more meaningful," Sen said.

Maybe Delhites can look forward to listening to Anna FM!

Watch out! Private security is is the new booming industry

The new sunrise industry in Bangalore is private security. Morning trains bring thousands of athletic men, including former defence personnel, from nearby towns like Kolar Gold Fields for security duty.

And they are not just involved in watch-and-ward. These days the police teach them basics of disaster management and some of them moonlight (or sunlight after a night job) as receptionists for a while.

To celebrate their work, Karnataka Security Services Association (KSSA) plans to celebrate August 21 as ' Security Day'. There will be a procession by 1500 security guards and awards will be given for outstanding service. Central Association of Private Security Industry will follow up with a national day from next year, said Flight Lieutenant (retired) K P Nagesh, the president of KSSA. According to KSSA figures there are seven million private security guards in India with five lakh in Karnataka, mostly in Bangalore.

And the industry is growing at 35 to 40 per cent annually. Still there are issues, such as ensuring minimum wages, job security and insurance, according to the association.

The late-running Bangalore Metro rail project has recently displayed a notice outside one of its stations: "Press and Photography not allowed." A local reporter was stopped by the security guard last week and promptly shown the notice.

While photography might be prohibited at sensitive installations, even defence and space establishments never specifically stop reporters. They stop everybody! They say it is just a way to keep media glare away while the metro work is running late.

Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has assured the aggrieved local media personnel that he would look into the matter. "Give me a week's time," he said on Monday.

Local chappals that are now travelling the world

Kolhapuri chappals, the ethnic footwear patronised by the erstwhile royalty of Kolhapur in Maharashtra are largely made in north Karnataka villages. In border villages like Athani in Belgaum district, many families are engaged in their production using traditional methods.

Tanned with vegetable dyes and handcrafted, the sandals have a certain macho appeal. The low-end models are affordable at Rs 250 a pair or even less. So apart from the royalty, the local wrestlers and farmers also wore them.

However, there is no record of them being used as a tool for political protests. (Don't get ideas now!) Recently a team of local women visited an international shoe fair in Dusseldorf, Germany. As local reports suggest, the chappals were a runaway hit. Toehold Artisan's Collaborative that organises local women's groups made $ 85,000 last fiscal from exports. The figure is set to rise - to a projected figure of $ 150,000.

Flying high indeed.

This article by Max Martin was published in India Today on August 18, 2011. The original story can be read here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hazare-clicks

Hate speech: ban or ignore?

praskrishna — 2013-02-13T09:40:37Z

The Social Network discusses the hate speeches: whether they should be banned or ignored. Why does the state take action against some and not against some others. This on a day when Togadia and Owaisi were simultaneously trending on the social media.

This discussion was aired on NDTV on February 5, 2013

Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society, and Shivam Vij of Kafila.com joined NDTV in the studio while actor and standup comic Sanjay Rajoura joined via webcam.

Pranesh said that the talk of banning these videos is foolish. He added, I don't think that is a solution. But the issue is one of criminal prosecution – whether that should happen or not, and with regard to the interesting dichotomy that Shivam pointed out some people are calling for somethings to be banned but not others. I think that kind of hypocrisy should be pointed out. I am happy that these small incidents of hate mongering are actually being blown out of proportion on social media because it actually gets people to react...to say wait a second...that is not right I might have a certain leanings towards Hindutva but that kind of speech is not what I support, or I might have a certain leanings towards what is called "pseudo-secularism" but that kind of speech is not what I support. So getting out that discussion out is important.

If we were on one hand a society where we had communal peace and then social media were focusing on these small kinds of incidents and blowing it out of proportion then that would be a problem.

Watch the full discussion aired on NDTV

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/ndtv-video-the-social-network-feb-5-2013-hate-speech-ban-or-ignore

HasGeek presents The Fifth Elephant

praskrishna — 2012-06-19T06:38:13Z

HasGeek and the Centre for Internet & Society invite you the Fifth Elephant at the NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bangalore on July 27 and 28, 2012.

Why The Fifth Elephant?

Modern technology with ubiquitous connectivity and cloud-hosted computing power is increasingly becoming important for making sense of data. The infrastructure, tools, processes and algorithms for storage, analytics and visualization shape the meanings and value that can be derived from the data. At the same time, these technologies are strongly intertwined i.e., the database infrastructure shapes how data is accessed for processing, as well as the tools you can (or cannot) use to represent the data in certain ways on the frontend. Similarly, the paradigms used for simplifying and storing data — MapReduce, NoSQL, RDBMS — variously enable the morphing of complex data into meaningful formats. Working with each one of them involves limitations and possibilities.

The Fifth Elephant is the first of its kind of events where you will meet different people working with different kinds of data. It is an opportunity for learning about new tools, technologies, platforms, processes and best practices, and engaging with business leaders, IT decision-makers, journalists, analysts and developers. It is also an opportunity to showcase data products, APIs, services and platforms.

A Conference? An Event?

The Fifth Elephant is not simply a series of lectures. It is a space for interactions with a diverse audience to serendipitously explore insights and solutions for your data problems, to understand how hidden meanings in data can be made manifest, and to learn how others are working with data. The event is open to data analysts and scientists, statisticians, geeks, enthusiasts, data-driven product managers and designers, enterprise architects, journalists, researchers, developers and database professionals.

The Agenda

The Fifth Elephant will be held on July 27 and 28, 2012 at the NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bangalore. Day 1 covers the technology track — big data infrastructure, analytics and visualization. Day 2 invites talks from business and industry — finance, retail, health, media, telecom — to showcase the nature of data in each of these sectors and how they are working (and not working) with the data.

Apart from demos, lectures and tutorials, there will be opportunities for open house discussions and presentations on Hadoop, NoSQL versus RDBMS paradigms, and legal and licensing frameworks for data sharing, among others. Hacker corners, a dedicated participant lounge and interactive sponsor booths will further the learning, showcasing and engagement at the event.

For submitting talks and speaking proposals, visit funnel.hasgeek.com/5el.
Corporate tickets available for company delegates and employees. For more information write to info@hasgeek.com
For sponsorship queries, write to zainab@hasgeek.com

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/has-geek-presents-the-fifth-elephant

HasGeek

praskrishna — 2012-10-02T03:00:56Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/HG.jpg

Haryana Government Notification (In Hindi)

praskrishna — 2013-03-14T06:18:42Z

We received the following notification from the state government of Haryana regarding information required on the laws, policies, programme schemes and other initiatives for persons with disabilities in Haryana.

The notification that we received is in Hindi. We would put up an accessible version in English soon. Click to download the copy of the notification received.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/haryana-notification

Haryana Government Notification

praskrishna — 2013-03-14T06:17:22Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/haryana-govt-notification.pdf

Haryana Cops Say Internet Shutdowns Hurt Police Operations

praskrishna — 2018-09-18T15:57:12Z

India sees a very high number of Internet shutdowns, often to preserve law and order, but Haryana cops are arguing against the practice.

The article by Gopal Sathe was published by Huffington Post on September 19, 2018.

Ahead of a Haryana court verdict in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, mobile Internet services were shut down in nearby areas such as Panchkula and Mohali. The Hindustan Times reported that SMSes, mobile Internet and all services apart from voice calls were suspended to keep the peace.

But as a result of the shutdown, police in Panchkula faced a challenge in estimating the size of crowds gathered at different locations. "We were until then sharing information and photos on WhatsApp to figure out the number of people pouring in the city from various points as it helped identify problem areas. DSS followers had started gathering August 22 onwards," Panchkula police commissioner Arshinder Singh Chawla has said, according to a report by Manoj Kumar first published by the Centre for Internet and Society.

This was a replay of events during the Jat agitation of 2016 as well—protestors were present in much greater numbers than police personnel, who were not aware of the scenario on the ground. The police also worried about sending messages asking for help over the radio, as this could have been tapped into by the protestors, according to the report.

The lack of mobile Internet during the DSS-related Internet shutdown also affected the use of technology such as drone cameras, Chawla said. And because the police could not communicate with security personnel at the court complex, the police inside had to scale walls to leave safely, as they could not ask their colleagues for backup.

The report points out that this is in stark contrast to what happened in Mumbai, where former police commissioner Rakesh Maria made use of WhatsApp and SMS messages to prevent a scuffle from turning into a riot during Eid celebrations in early 2015.

A study by the Software Freedom Law Centre stated that India has already over 100 Internet shutdowns in 2018, Medianama reported. The five states with the most shutdowns are Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar. This has been criticised by many, including the UN, and as the Haryana police's experience show, the shutdowns are not just harming citizens, but are counter-productive to maintaining order as well.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-gopal-sathe-september-17-2018-haryana-cops-say-internet-shutdowsn-hurt-police-operations