Navigation

Free and Open Source Software

by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Jan 11, 2010 06:57 PM
Free and open source software (FOSS) is a good thing from both the perspective of programmer and user freedoms as well as from the perspective of better and more efficient software production. Also, FOSS forms the backbone of the Internet (BIND/NSD for DNS servers, Apache for web servers, sendmail/postfix/qmail for mail servers, Asterisk for VoIP servers, etc.), and the Internet as we know it would not exist without FOSS.
Report on Open Standards for GISW 2008 — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:57 AM
A report on Open Standards prepared by Sunil Abraham, for the Global Information Society Watch 2008. As on their site, GISWatch focuses on monitoring progress made towards implementing the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) action agenda and other international and national commitments related to information and communications. It also provides analytical overviews of institutions involved in implementation.
PDF Format — by admin — last modified Aug 23, 2011 11:06 AM
Oo.org Format — by admin — last modified Aug 23, 2011 11:06 AM
MS Format — by admin — last modified Aug 23, 2011 11:07 AM
Comments on the draft National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 24, 2011 02:32 PM
A draft of the 'National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy', which some hope will be the open data policy of India, was made available for public comments in early May. This is what the Centre for Internet and Society submitted.
CIS Comments on the Interoperability Framework for e-Governance (Phase I) — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 25, 2011 04:09 PM
In November 2010, the Central Government released the Draft 0.6 of the Technical Standards for the Interoperability Framework for e-Governance (Phase I), requesting comments by January 27, 2011. Here are the comments that CIS submitted.
CIS Submission on Draft Patent Manual 2010 — by Prasad Krishna — last modified Mar 21, 2012 07:53 PM
The patent office has released a revised version of the Draft Manual of Patent Practice and Procedure. Section 8.03.06.10 of the Manual deals with patenting of computer programmes. CIS is happy to note the many improvements in this draft of the Manual from the previous version. CIS made its submission along with a few suggestions that it thinks would make the document even better.
Seminar on Software Patent and the Commons — by Prasad Krishna — last modified Oct 23, 2011 10:22 PM
A pre-grant opposition has been filed against a software patent application filed in the patent office by Certicom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Research in Motion (RIM), manufacturers of Blackberry. The opposition was filed on August 31, 2010 by the Software Freedom Law Centre which has recently expanded its operations to India. This exciting development was announced by Mishi Choudhary from SFLC on the lines of the seminar on “Software Patents and the Commons” organised on 1 September 2010 in Delhi jointly by SFLC, the Centre for Internet and Society, the Society for Knowledge Commons and Red Hat. Filing more such oppositions to software patents in India was in the pipeline and this is just the beginning of a movement to take on monopolisation of knowledge and ideas through patenting software, the organisers said.
The 2010 Special 301 Report Is More of the Same, Slightly Less Shrill — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Oct 03, 2011 01:37 PM
Pranesh Prakash examines the numerous flaws in the Special 301 from the Indian perspective, to come to the conclusion that the Indian government should openly refuse to acknowledge such a flawed report. He notes that the Consumers International survey, to which CIS contributed the India report, serves as an effective counter to the Special 301 report.
Technological Protection Measures in the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010 — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified May 18, 2012 12:51 AM
In this post Pranesh Prakash conducts a legal exegesis of section 65A of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which deals with the stuff that enables 'Digital Rights/Restrictions Management', i.e., Technological Protection Measures. He notes that while the provision avoids some mistakes of the American law, it still poses grave problems to consumers, and that there are many uncertainties in it still.
Research Project on Open Video in India — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:51 AM
Open Video Alliance and the Centre for Internet and Society are calling for researchers for a project on open video in India, its potentials, limitations, and recommendations on policy interventions.
CPOV : Wikipedia Research Initiative — by Nishant Shah — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:52 AM
The Second event, towards building the Critical Point of View Reader on Wikipedia, brings a range of scholars, practitioners, theorists and activists to critically reflect on the state of Wikipedia in our contemporary Information Societies. Organised in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by the Institute of Network Cultures, in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, the event builds on the debates and discussions initiated at the WikiWars that launched off the knowledge network in Bangalore in January 2010. Follow the Live Tweets at #CPOV
algorithms are not just abtract ideas — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Mar 13, 2012 06:43 PM
@Sriram You say, "[t]he only criterion should be whether an incentive system is required to encourage research/innovation that advances a scientific discipline." I would like [...]
algorithms are not just abtract ideas — by http://getopenid.com/bagheera — last modified Mar 13, 2012 06:43 PM
Sorry for the broken link. It is: http://blog.sriramnarayan.com/[…]/no-software-patents-versus-patent.html
algorithms are not just abtract ideas — by http://getopenid.com/bagheera — last modified Mar 13, 2012 06:43 PM
Patent law is flawed in discriminating between things that have a physical manifestation and those that don't. The only criterion should be whether an incentive [...]
Arguments Against Software Patents in India — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Mar 13, 2012 06:43 PM
CIS believes that software patents are harmful for the software industry and for consumers. In this post, Pranesh Prakash looks at the philosophical, legal and practical reasons for holding such a position in India. This is a slightly modified version of a presentation made by Pranesh Prakash at the iTechLaw conference in Bangalore on February 5, 2010, as part of a panel discussing software patents in India, the United States, and the European Union.
Openness, Videos, Impressions — by Nishant Shah — last modified Sep 22, 2011 08:23 PM
The one day Open Video Summit organised by the Centre for Internet & Society, iCommons, Open Video Alliance, and Magic Lantern, to bring together a range of stakeholders to discuss the possibilities, potentials, mechanics and politics of Open Video. Nishant Shah, who participated in the conversations, was invited to summarise the impressions and ideas that ensued in the day.
Open Standards Workshop at IGF '09 — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:54 AM
The Centre for Internet and Society co-organized a workshop on 'Open Standards: A Rights-Based Framework' at the fourth Internet Governance Forum, at Sharm el-Sheikh. The panel was chaired by Aslam Raffee of Sun Microsystems and the panellists were Sir Tim Berners-Lee of W3C, Renu Budhiraja of India's DIT, Sunil Abraham of CIS, Steve Mutkoski of Microsoft, and Rishab Ghosh of UNU-MERIT.
Second Response to Draft National Policy on Open Standards for e-Governance — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Jul 08, 2009 12:49 AM
Another draft (labelled "version 2", dated May 26, 2009) of the draft national policy on open standards for e-governance was made available to Fosscomm, while many software companies were speaking out against NASSCOM's position on the policy. CIS drafted a second response addressing both the allegations against NASSCOM as well as the few shortcomings we perceive in the draft policy.
Letter on South Africa's IPRs from Publicly Financed R&D Regulations — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 04, 2011 12:42 PM
Being interested in legislations in developing nations styled after the United States' Bayh-Dole Act, CIS responded to the call issued by the South African Department of Science and Technology for comments to the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Regulations.
Letter to Education Secretary, Government of Karnataka, Advocating Adoption of FOSS in State IT Academies — by Sanchia de Souza — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:55 AM
The Centre for Internet and Society is a signatory to a letter being sent to the Education Secretary, Government of Karnataka, advocating the adoption of FOSS at state IT academies.
An Interview With Arjen Kamphuis — by Sanchia de Souza — last modified Aug 18, 2011 01:01 PM
In an email interview with the Centre for Internet and Society, Dutch open source activist Arjen Kamphuis discussed his experience of successfully working with the government for a policy mandating open standards for all government IT in the Netherlands.
RTI Application to Visvesvaraya Technological University — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 18, 2011 01:01 PM
The Centre for Internet and Society filed an RTI application to Visvesvaraya Technological University asking it to provide details about its curriculum design, and its tie-ups with various software vendors.
Lecture by Eben Moglen and Mishi Choudhary — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:55 AM
The Software Freedom Law Center, National Law School, and the Centre for Internet and Society organised a lecture by Mishi Choudhary and Eben Moglen for students of NLS on Saturday, December 13, 2008.
Workshop on Reforming the International ICT Standardization System — by Pranesh Prakash — last modified Aug 23, 2011 10:56 AM
On Day 4, the last day, of the Internet Governance Forum, a workshop was conducted by the Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards on the reforming the international ICT standardisation system. The panellists were Bob Jolliffe of Freedom to Innovate South Africa, Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society, Ashish Gautam of IBM India, and Aslam Raffee, Chairperson of the Government IT Officers' Council, OSS Working Group, Republic of South Africa, who moderated the session.
Next 9 items » 1 2
Document Actions