Centre for Internet and Society

Competition Commission of India chairman's participation in Assocham conference raises conflict of interests

praskrishna — 2015-09-19T15:33:11Z

The chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and three of the six commission members are participating in a conference organised by Assocham and sponsored by private companies like Ericsson, trade associations and two legal firms specialising in intellectual property cases.

The article by Rema Nagarajan was published in the Times of India on August 6, 2015.

This, civil society organisations argue, raises issues of conflict of interest in a quasi-judicial body like CCI participating in a conference organised by private parties that have cases before the commission.

For instance, the event partner Ericsson is facing CCI investigations on matters related to standard essential patents (SEPs), one of the conference topics, and issues related to licensing of technologies on fair and equitable terms. The vice president and head of the legal section of Ericsson also has a speaking slot in the inaugural event. The brochure clearly states that the event partner on payment of Rs 5 lakh gets several privileges including a speaker's slot in the inaugural and business sections.

Several civil society organisations including Alternative Law Forum, Centre for Internet and Society and IT for Change from Bangalore, Knowledge Commons Collective, National Working Group on Patent Laws, and Software Freedom Law Centre from Delhi have written to the CCI protesting against its participation in the conference.

In their letter to CCI chairperson Ashok Chawla, they pointed out that the day-long conference titled Interface between Intellectual property (IP) and Competition Law, being held in a five star hotel on August 7, was focusing on issues being adjudicated by CCI. While Chawla is listed in the brochure as giving the inaugural address, CCI members GP Mittal and MS Sahoo are chairing two technical sessions and a third member SL Bunker is giving a special address at the valedictory function.

Other speakers include Rajiv Aggarwal, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, representatives of Google, Intel, Microsoft, the UK IP Office, senior advocates from three Indian law firms specialising in IP and representatives of international law firms and consultancy firms.

"It is a well-set precedent that judicial and quasi-judicial bodies never directly or indirectly discuss matters pending before them. The conference is centred on discussing issues that are currently under the investigation of CCI along with commercial entities, including one which is facing the investigation," stated the letter adding that all the judicial or quasi-judicial bodies were expected to avoid not only actual conflict of interest but also perceived conflict of interest.

The civil society signatories pointed out that the event was not an academic event but a commercial one organised by a chamber of commerce along with the industry with clear commercial objectives. "The participation of CCI in the event would compromise the credibility and independence of CCI. Therefore, CCI as a guardian of public interest should not be subject to the lobbying efforts of IP owners. Providing privileged access to lobbying efforts of private enterprises like Ericsson, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Intel would cast a dark shadow on the neutrality of CCI," stated the letter requesting Chawla not to participate in the conference and to direct CCI members and CCI staff involved in investigations to avoid participation.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/times-of-india-rema-nagarajan-august-6-2015-competition-commission-of-india-chairman-participation-in-assocham-conference-raises-conflict-of-interests

Comparison Table GDPR DPD

praskrishna — 2017-02-07T13:45:58Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/comparison-table-gdpr-dpd

Comparison of National IPR Strategy September 2012, National IPR Strategy July 2014 And Draft National IP Policy, December 2015

praskrishna — 2015-10-15T16:48:50Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/comparison-of-national-ipr-strategy-september-2012-national-ipr-strategy-july-2014-and-draft-national-ip-policy-december-2015-1.pdf

Comparative Analysis of DNA Profiling Legislations from Across the World (File)

praskrishna — 2013-05-23T04:17:51Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comparative-analysis-dna-profiling-bill.xlsx

Comparative Analysis

praskrishna — 2014-10-29T13:21:52Z

Comparative Analysis

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

Companies

praskrishna — 2016-01-26T02:31:30Z

Companies

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

Community Informatics: Successfully Applying Information and Communications Technologies as a Support to Local Economic and Social Development

praskrishna — 2011-04-05T04:13:17Z

Dr. Gurstein will present a talk on the current state of development in Community Informatics and facilitate a broader discussion on community based ICTs for local development and community empowerment as are currently applied in India and worldwide.

Community Informatics (CI), also known as community networking, electronic community networking, community-based technologies or community technology refers to an emerging field of investigation concerned with principles and practices related to information and communication technology (ICT) as it applies to enabling or empowering communities or groups. It draws on insights on community development from social sciences disciplines and applies these in the areas of Information Studies and Information Systems. It is a cross- or interdisciplinary approach interested in the utilization of ICTs for different forms of community action, as distinct from pure academic study or research about ICT effects.

Community Informatics is very closely linked to broader strategies for ICT for Development that is the use of information and communications technologies as a support to economic and social development among and within less developed countries, regions and marginalized populations.

Dr. Gurstein will give a brief introduction to the current state of development in Community Informatics and facilitate a broader discussion on community based ICTs for local development and community empowerment as they are currently being applied in India and internationally.

The Speaker

Dr. Gurstein is currently Executive Director of the Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and Training (CCIRDT) in Vancouver, Canada; Research Professor in the School of Management at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark); Research Professor in the Faculty of Management at the University of Quebec (Ouatouais); and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. The CCIRDT has an affiliated organization based in Cape Town, South Africa, and Memorandums of Agreement with Izandla Zethu (Pretoria, SA) and currently being finalized with the the Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development (BIID) and with IT for Change (IT4C) an NGO based in Bangalore, India.

He is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Community Informatics and Foundation Chair of the Community Informatics Research Network. He currently has a continuing Advisory relationship with the (Canadian) Northern Indigenous Communities Satellite Network in the creation of its Research Consortium and is an Advisor to the EU funded N4C project looking at telecommunications services for underserved and indigenous people in Northern and Central Europe. He has consulted to the governments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Nepal and Jordan; to the Ford Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the UN Development Program, and the European Union; and to Nortel, Mitel, Bell Canada, and Intel among others.

Date and Time

February 25th, 2010, 05.00 pm to 07.00 pm.

Venue

Centre for Internet and Society, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bangalore - 71

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/events/community-informatics-information

Community Informatics and Open Government Data

praskrishna — 2013-09-26T11:21:23Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/community-informatics-open-govt-data.pdf

Community Discussion for Making Tulu Wikipedia Live

praskrishna — 2015-12-15T07:45:54Z

CIS-A2K Programme Officer Rahmanuddin Shaik visited Mangalore on October 28 and 29 and again on November 5 and 6, 2015. During his visit he interacted with Wikipedians for making the Tulu Wikipedia live.

There were discussions on translations of system messages that appear on Wikipedia interface, creating templates pages and adding images. Around 79 strings were translated on Translatewiki.net, the community project for MediaWiki localization, and about 500 strings were approved. This event was organised at Tulu Bhavana, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Akademy. The director of the institution was part of the meeting who agreed for the following:

To relicense a lower resolution cover pages, and metadata of their 157 volumes of books under Creative Commons licenses. This will bring in those many articles on Tulu Wikipedia.
To give detailed information of winners of Tulu Sahitya Akademy award winners (this was being given away across 6 disciplines from 1993 onwards), which would add close to 100 biography articles on Tulu Wikipedia.

A possibility of CIS-A2K and Tulu Sahitya Akademy collaboration was also discussed briefly. Vishwanatha Badikana was there throughout these talks and he would be the contact person for further work.

Rahmanuddin was also invited to be a part of the World Konkani Literature festival where he spoke briefly about Konkani Wikipedia to the gathering.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/making-tulu-wikipedia-live

Community Capacity Building Workshop at KIIT University

praskrishna — 2014-04-08T05:22:17Z

The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team is organizing a workshop for community capacity building at KIIT University on March 30, 2014.

Experienced Wikimedians and Subhashish Panigrahi from CIS-A2K mentored the community about community building strategies and outreach. They had a discussion about the further steps with students (graduating batch) of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal who took part in the Odia Wikipedia Education program. Finally there was a discussion on CIS-A2K's Odia language work plan for Wikipedia and WikiSource.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/community-capacity-building-workshop-at-kiit

Communications from DeitY regarding blocking of Traffic emanating from IP addresses from States assessed to be sensitive in the current prevailing situation

praskrishna — 2012-09-11T14:27:46Z

(DS Cell)

No.813-7/25/2011-DS

Subject: Communications from DeitY regarding blocking of Traffic emanating from IP addresses from States assessed to be sensitive in the current prevailing situation.

Notes on pre pages (24/N to 25/N) may kindly seen.

PUC at (70/C) is a communications [D.O No - 6(30)/2012-CLFE dated 23/08/2012] from Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology. It has been communicated that Ministry of Home Affairs has sent an Office Memorandum No. II/21021/221/2012-IS-II/M dated 23.08.2012 (copy enclosed). MHA has requested that "Twitter Inc may be directed to all traffic emanating from IP addresses in the States assessed by the Central Intelligence Agencies to be sensitive in the current prevailing situation viz. Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra. Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh by 6.00 PM today. In case of non- compliance of this geographical specific blocking which flows from sensitive assessment of prevailing situation, then Twitter may be blocked on All India level".

2. Department of Telecom has been requested to consider the technical feasibility of the request of MHA and advice the DIT accordingly. In this regard feedbacks have been collected from the major service providers on the following issues:

(i) allocation of State-wise IP address
(ii) technical feasibility of specific area wise /state wise blocking of website/URL.

Feedbacks received from Tata Communications, (67/C & 73/C) Bharti
Airtel (68/C & 77/C), BSNL (75/C), Reliance Communications (72/C),
IDEA (76/C) & ISPAI (74/C). These comments are compiled as below

Sr.	Name of the company	Comments on state-wise IP address allocation & specific area wise /state-wise blocking of website/URL.
1	Tata Communications	TCL does not allocate IP addresses to its customers on a state-wise basis and there is no IP Address range specific to any of the States of India. Specific area wise /state wise blocking of website /URL is technically not feasible.
2	BSNL	IP addresses in the BSNL Network is as below. 1) Leased line:- On national Basis 2) Wimax/CDMA.GSM - on Zonal Basis 3) ADSL Broadband :- On Circle basis.
3	M/s Bharti Airtel	IP addresses are allocated internally hubwise. In mobile network, we have 7 hubs and the IP address pools are internally allocated to different hubs. The blocking of website/ URL can be done at the gateway only as: 1) There is no state wise IP pool allocation to the customers, and; 2) Airtel has deployed URL blocking system at Chennai and Mumbai Internet gateway.
4	M/s Reliance Communications	IP addresses are not allotted Statewise. The blocking has been implemented at the Gateway locations. Hence specific area wise /' stale wise blocking of website / URL is not possible.
5	M/s Idea	Currently our ISP operation can't block region wise as we give bulk service to GGSN and are in a way blind to the traffic distribution after GGSN. We can only block sites/links at gateway level which will affect the complete GGSN.
6	Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI)	We would like to inform that it is technically not feasible to block website/URL area wise / state wise.

With reference to aforesaid feedbacks from Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) and major Internet Service Providers it has come out that in the present scenario Internet Service Providers having majority of Internet subscribers have not allocated IP addresses area wise /state-wise and it would not be possible for them at present to carry out specific area wise /slate-wise blocking of website/URL.

3. In view of above it is proposed to reply to Secretary, DeitY as per draft placed at (.l?/C).

Put up for kind considerations and approval please.

(Subodh Saxena)

Dir.(DS-II)

DDG(DS)

Member (T)

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/september-4-dot-mha-regional-twitter-blocking

Communication technology opens 'doors' for everyone, not only people with disabilities

praskrishna — 2014-11-04T16:36:43Z

Today, most Americans overlook improvements made since the dawn of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) in 1990.

The article by John D. Kemp and Brandon M. Macsata was published in the Hill on October 13, 2014. Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan's report is mentioned.

Today, most Americans overlook improvements made since the dawn of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") in 1990. Sidewalk ramps…automatic door openers…adjustable vanity mirrors…and automatic lighting and fixture controls were all designed to help make the "physical" world more accessible for and useable by all people, including individuals with disabilities. Now, isn't it time we opened doors to the "virtual" world, and information and communication technology ("ICT")?

Since 1998, federal agencies have been required by law to make their electronic ICT accessible to people with disabilities. Better known as "Section 508" (of the Rehabilitation Act), it mandates "individuals with disabilities who are Federal employees to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities." [1]

Accessible ICT is an evolving process, evidenced by the United States Access Board, which monitors Section 508 compliance, updating its standards, as well as other telecommunications accessibility guidelines. The House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman, Darrell Issa, has introduced legislation calling for the designation of the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in all federal Departments, including significant changes to the management of information technology. This legislation passed the House of Representatives by voice vote, with similar legislation pending in the Senate.

Congress is currently faced with countless legislative proposals focusing on IT, ranging from healthcare, Veterans benefits, telecommunications and education, to name a few.

But more needs to be done in both the public and private sectors.

Wall Street and Main Street are both being re-defined by technology. The potential for our emerging "digital economy" is endless, if that technology is made more accessible.

Consider this: CTIA recently reported that the mobile data traffic more than doubled last year! [2] We know that people with disabilities are yearning to leverage accessible technologies in their everyday lives.

Whereas there have been many improvement in accessibility features on smart phones and mobiles devices, there is a still a long way to go. A recent report, authored by Nirmita Narasimhan, Program Manager at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), and Axel Leblois, founder and Executive Director of G3ict, summarized the challenge:

"Senior citizens and people with physical or mental disabilities are often unable to access mobile phones because the equipment lacks the necessary accessibility features or because the price of the adapted phones and services remain unaffordable. Considering that 15 per cent of the world's population, or over one billion people, have a disability that affects their access to modern communications, the commercial opportunities for mobile service providers, manufacturers and smart phone application developers are consequently substantial." With so much of our daily lives dependent on mobile devices and the Internet, it is time that we ushered in an "accessible technology renaissance."[3]

Aside from being the "socially responsible" thing to do, it also makes good business sense! In the first quarter of 2013, e-commerce expenditures reached 50.18 billion U.S. dollars.[4] Worldwide, it is estimated that the total value of e-commerce revenue topped $1.2 trillion in U.S. dollars.[5]

Maybe the more pertinent question to ask is, "How can we NOT afford to make ICT more accessible for people with disabilities?"

Ironically, despite its increasing relevance in our everyday lives, the World Wide Web is largely inaccessible for people with disabilities. Many websites are lacking "ALT Tags," which are designed to help screen readers used by people who are blind or visually impaired identify and explain images, graphs and charts. Yet, missing ALT Tags are only the tip of the iceberg.

Last year, Walmart had over 59 million unique monthly visitors to its websites. As large as that number may seem, it pales in comparison to Amazon and Ebay, with 149 million and 91 million monthly unique visitors, respectively.[6] These companies, and many more - such as Deque, IBM and Microsoft - are investing in accessible ICT because they understand its inherent business and social value.

Ironically, just as people without disabilities benefit from physical accessibility improvements, they are already benefitting from accessible ICT. According to the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom), 80 percent of people using closed captions are not deaf or hard of hearing.[7]

What is accessible technology renaissance? It is one whereby we envision every single individual, regardless of disability, can fully access the modern marvels of technology. Technology is what drives our economy. Technology is what links our communities. Technology is what keeps us connected to the world around us. That is why it should be accessible to everyone.

[1] Section 508 Of The Rehabilitation Act. Section508.gov. http://www.section508.gov/Section-508-Of-The-Rehabilitation-Act .

[2] Mobile Data Traffic More Than Doubled Last Year, According to CTIA. Roll Call TechnoCRAT. June 17, 2014.

[3] Making mobile phones and services accessible for persons with disabilities. A joint report of ITU - The International Telecommunication Union and G3ict - The global initiative for inclusive ICTs. August 2012.

[4] Statistics 2013. E-Commerce Revenues. September 20, 2013.

[5] Statistics 2013. E-Commerce Revenues. September 20, 2013.

[6] Statistics 2013, E-Commerce Revenues, September 20, 2013.

[7] Did You Know? 80 Percent of People Who Use Closed Captions Are Not Hard of Hearing. CaptionsforYouTube. June 6, 2014.

Kemp is president and CEO of The Viscardi Center, and Macsata is general consultant of the National Business and Disability Council (NBDC) at The Viscardi Center.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/the-hill-john-d-kemp-and-brandon-m-macsata-october-13-2014-communication-technology-opens-doors-for-everyone-not-only-people-with-disabilities

Communication Policy Advocacy, Technology and Online Freedom of Expression

praskrishna — 2011-06-21T06:27:54Z

agenda

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/publications/communication-policy-advocacy.xls

Communication Policy Advocacy, Technology, and Online Freedom of Expression: A Toolkit for Media Development

praskrishna — 2011-06-23T04:45:30Z

Organized by the Center for Media and Communication Studies (CMCS) at the Central European University (CEU), and Internews Network, and the Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania from June 20 to July 1, 2011.

Recent events in Egypt and Tunisia remind us that the development of the internet as a global, free and open resource stands at a perpetual crossroads. The dynamic and decentralized nature of the internet, and other new technologies, continually offers new avenues for open communication and free expression as well as new challenges and threats. The strategic use of digital technologies and information tools with the goal of empowering civil society and building capacity for an open society is critical. And at the same time, so-called 'old media' continues to play a vital role in communication, especially during times of crisis and conflict.

The issue of free and open communications is not only relevant in the case of repressive regimes and transitional democracies, but is remains crucial across all layers of socio-politics. The complexities of the relationship between technology, free expression, privacy and policy lie at the heart of the relationship between global security and human rights.

This intensive summer course is designed to help both researchers and activists gain new insights into the role which civil society can play in advocating for free expression online and communication policy change, and will highlight the opportunities and challenges of technologies and online tools for mobilizing and organizing constituencies and for enhancing the security and privacy of advocates. During the course, we will explore a wide range of practical and theoretical views related to communication policy advocacy and online tools and tactics, and how to integrate research into these fields. The course will include hands-on work in developing advocacy campaigns and seek to cover some of latest developments in online tools for advocacy, security, privacy and crowd-sourcing. We will also look at Internet governance issues and online free expression policies.

As part of the course, participants will also work in teams on a group assignment for the duration of the course. Each group will be presented with a case study for which they should develop an advocacy campaign for communication policy change. Each team will be required to prepare a written report (approximately 10-15 pages in total), and give a multi-media presentation to the group at the end of the course.

In order maximize the output and opportunities for participants the course will have a maximum of 20-25 students.

Course Participants: This course is intended for practitioners, policy makers, media policy advocates, PhD students, advanced MA students, and media development professionals (drawing from government, civil society/NGOs, foundations), journalists and other media practitioners with a demonstrated interest in new media and technology and communication policy advocacy.

Course Director:

Kate Coyer, Center for Media and Communication Studies, Department of Public Policy, CEU, Budapest, Hungary
Kristina Irion, Center for Media and Communication Studies, Department of Public Policy, CEU, Budapest, Hungary
Susan Abbott, Internews Network
Leslie Harris, Center for Democracy and Technology
Monroe Price, Annenberg School for Communication, U Pennsylvania, US and Chair Center for Media and Communication Studies, CEU, Budapest, Hungary

Faculty:

Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet and Society, India
Gary Garriott, Internews Network
Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University
Kathleen Reen, Internews Network
Jacky Sutton, IREX Iraq
Sam Gregory, Witness, UK
Ivan Sigal, Global Voices online

Download the agenda here

Also see the event flier

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/notices/communication-policy-advocacy-technology-and-online-freedom-of-expression-a-toolkit-for-media-development

Communication Design and Visualising Information

praskrishna — 2017-05-20T02:45:46Z

Saumyaa conducted a session on the broad principles of communication design and visualising information.

Saumyaa spoke about

Principles and methods of visual communication
Choosing visualisation formats for specific purposes
Aesthetics and clarity in visualisations

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/communication-design-and-visualising-information