All Blogs
Revisiting Per Se vs Rule of Reason in Light of the Intel Conditional Rebate Case
Recent developments in the European Union (EU) regarding the antitrust case against Intel have brought back into focus two rules of competition law analysis- the per se rule and the rule of reason. In light of the decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the matter, this Note examines the application of the two rules to the case in detail. Additionally, it analyzes the statutory and judicial basis for the rules in the context of the EU and Indian competition law regimes, and concludes by identifying some areas in which these concepts would be relevant.
Comments on Mobile Accessibility Guidelines
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) submitted its comments on mobile accessibility guidelines to the Ministry of Electronics & IT, Govt. of India.
The Fundamental Right to Privacy: An Analysis
Last month’s judgment by the nine judge referral bench was an emphatic endorsement of the the constitutional right to privacy. In the course of a 547 page judgment, the bench affirmed the fundamental nature of the right to privacy reading it into the values of dignity and liberty. In the course of a few short papers, we will dissect the various aspects of the right to privacy as put forth by the nine judge constitutional bench in the Puttaswamy matter. The papers will focus on the sources, structure, scope, breadth, and future of privacy. Here are the first three papers, authored by Amber Sinha and edited by Elonnai Hickok.
Internet Researchers' Conference 2018 (IRC18): Offline - Call for Sessions
Does being offline necessarily mean being disconnected? Beyond anxieties such as FOMO, being offline is also seen as disengagement from a certain milieu of the digital (read: capital), an impediment to the way life is organised by and around technologies in general. However, being offline is not the exception, as examples of internet shutdown and acts on online censorship illustrate the persistence and often alarming regularity of the offline even for the ‘connected’ sections of the population. The *offline* is the theme of the third Internet Researchers' Conference (IRC18). We invite teams of two or more members to submit sessions proposals by Sunday, November 19 (final deadline). The session selection process is described below. The Conference will be hosted by the Sambhaavnaa Institute of Public Policy and Politics (Kandbari, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh) on February 22-24, 2018.
Rethinking National Privacy Principles: Evaluating Principles for India's Proposed Data Protection Law
This report is intended to be the first part in a series of white papers that CIS will publish which seeks to contribute to the discussions around the enactment of a privacy legislation in India. In subsequent pieces we will focus on subjects such as regulatory framework to implement, supervise and enforce privacy principles, and principles to regulate surveillance in India under a privacy law.
Digital native: What’s in a name? Privilege
Anonymity-based internet apps like Sarahah may not be as vicious for those surrounded by the comfort of social status. If your experience of Sarahah has been positive, it might be good to reflect on your own cultural and social capital.
RTI request to Indian Patents Office for Form 27 (Statement of Working of patents), March 2016
The Centre for Internet and Society filed this request under the Right to Information Act in March 2016 as part of research for the paper: Patent Working Requirements and Complex Products: An Empirical Assessment of India's Form 27 Practice and Compliance (July 2017). We sought forms pertaining to 61 of the patents found in our patent landscaping study. These forms were not available on the online public databases, InPASS and IPAIRS, at the time of the filing the RTI request. Research assistance was provided by intern Shreshth Wadhwa.
RTI request to Indian Patents Office for Form 27 (Statement of Working of patents), 2015
The Centre for Internet and Society filed this request under the Right to Information Act in 2015 as part of research for the paper: Patent Working Requirements and Complex Products: An Empirical Assessment of India's Form 27 Practice and Compliance (July 2017). We sought Form 27 (also known as Statements of Working) pertaining to randomly selected patents found in our patent landscaping study. These forms were not available on the online public databases, InPASS and IPAIRS, at the time of the filing the RTI request. Research assistance was provided by intern Nayana Dasgupta.
Revamp Telecom Sector & Revive The Economy
Share infrastructure and spectrum, and adopt revenue-sharing for growth. There’s little doubt our economy is facing a slough of problems, including misdirection and loss of momentum.
Praja - Enhancing Democracy Through Access to Open Data: What Are the Roles of Government and Civil Society? (Delhi, Sep 08)
Open Government Data (OGD) is widely seen to be a key hallmark of contemporary democratic practice and is often linked to the passing of freedom of information legislation. OGD is a philosophy—and increasingly a set of policies—that promotes transparency, accountability and value creation by making government data available to all. Public bodies produce and commission huge quantities of data and information. By making their datasets available, public institutions become more transparent and accountable to citizens. By encouraging the use, reuse and free distribution of datasets, governments promote business creation and innovative, citizen-centric services. Praja is organising a symposium on "open data and civil society" on Friday, Sep 8, which is supported by European Union and Friedrich Naumann Stiftung fur die Freiheit. Sumandro Chattapadhyay (Research Director) will take part in this event as a speaker in the session on "data centric approach and role of stakeholders in the urban governance ecosystem."
MediaNama - #NAMAprivacy: The Future of User Data (Delhi, Sep 6)
MediaNama is hosting a full day conference on "the future of user data in India", on the 6th of September 2017, which is particularly significant given the recent Supreme Court ruling on the fundamental right to privacy, and two government consultations: one at the TRAI, and another at MEITY. This discussion is supported by Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, will participate as a speaker in the session titled "regulating storage, sharing and transfer of data."
The Digital Humanities from Father Busa to Edward Snowden
What do Edward Snowden, the whistle-blower behind the NSA surveillance revelations, and Father Roberto Busa, an Italian Jesuit, who worked for almost his entire life on Saint Thomas Aquinas, have in common? The simple answer would be: the computer. Things however are a bit more complex than that, and the reason for choosing these two people to explain what the Digital Humanities are, is that in some sense they represent the origins and the present consequences of a certain way of thinking about computers. This essay by Dr. Domenico Fiormonte, lecturer in the Sociology of Communication and Culture in the Department of Political Sciences at University Roma Tre, was originally published in the Media Development journal.
CIS Statement on Right to Privacy Judgment
In an emphatic endorsement of the right to privacy, a nine judge constitutional bench unanimously upheld a fundamental right to privacy. The events leading to this bench began during the hearings in the ongoing Aadhaar case, when in August 2015, Mukul Rohatgi, the then Attorney General stated that there is no constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy.
Digital native: You are not alone
Away from the guidance of adults, the internet can be a lonely place for youngsters, pushing them towards self-harm.
Infographic: The Impending Right to Privacy Judgment
The ruling will be important not just for the immediate Aadhaar case but also numerous other matters to do with state intrusions, decisional autonomy and informational privacy.
Here’s why we need a lot more discussion on India’s new DNA Profiling Bill
The DNA Profiling Bill 2017 is still missing a number of safeguards that would enable individual rights. The implications of creating regional and national level DNA databanks need to be fully understood and publicly debated.
Dataset for "Patent Working Requirements and Complex Products: An Empirical Assessment of India's Form 27 Practice and Compliance"
Dataset of the first comprehensive and systematic analysis of 4,916 valid Statements of Working (Form 27) corresponding to 3,126 patents pertaining to mobile technology in India. Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Wikipedia Workshop on Template Creation and Modification Conducted in Bengaluru
A Wikipedia workshop on template creation, modification was conducted in Bengaluru on 30 July 2017. Here is a report.
