All Blogs
Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group Analysis
This analysis has been done to see the trend in the selection and rotation of the members of the Multistakeholder advisory group (MAG) in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The MAG has been functional for nine years from 2006-2015. The analysis is based on data procured, collated and organised by Pranesh Prakash and Jyoti Panday. Shambhavi Singh, Law Student, NLU Delhi who was interning with CIS at the time also assisted with the organisation and analysis of the data.
Comparative Transparency Review of Collective Management Organisations in India, United Kingdom and the United States
This Transparency Review seeks to compare the publicly available information on the websites of music collective management organizations (“CMOs”) operating within India, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A total of 10 CMOs were selected, which included a range of non-profit, government registered organizations to for-profit, private organizations, managing works on behalf of record labels, publishers, composers, lyricists, and music performers. This exercise intends to contribute to the growing body of research on the relationship between transparency and effectiveness of CMOs. It concludes with recommendations and learnings which may lead to more transparent and effective functioning of copyright societies in India, and management of music copyright overall.
Role of Intermediaries in Countering Online Abuse
The Internet can be a hostile space and protecting users from abuse without curtailing freedom of expression requires a balancing act on the part of online intermediaries.
Iron out contradictions in the Digital India programme
The Digital India initiative takes an ambitious 'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani' approach to develop communication infrastructure, government information systems, and general capacity to digitise public life in India. I of course use 'public life' in the sense of the wide sphere of interactions between people and public institutions.
'Originality,' 'Authenticity,' and 'Experimentation': Understanding Tagore’s Music on YouTube
This post by Ipsita Sengupta is part of the 'Studying Internets in India' series. In this essay, she explores the responses to various renditions of songs composed by Rabindranath Tagore available on YouTube and the questions they raise regarding online listening cultures and ideas of authorship of music.
First draft of Technology Business Incubators: An Indian Perspective and Implementation Guidance Report
The Centre for Internet and Society presents the first draft of its analysis on technology business incubators("TBI") in India. The report prepared by Sunil Abraham, Vidushi Marda, Udbhav Tiwari and Anumeha Karnatak looks at operating procedures, success stories and lessons that can be learnt from TBIs in India.
Studying the Internet Discourse in India through the Prism of Human Rights
This post by Deva Prasad M is part of the 'Studying Internets in India' series. Deva Prasad is Assistant Professor at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. In this essay, he analyses key public discussions around Internet related issues from the human rights angle, and explores how this angle may contribute to understanding the features of the Internet discourse in India.
Clearing Misconceptions: What the DoT Panel Report on Net Neutrality Says (and Doesn't)
There have been many misconceptions about what the DoT Panel Report on Net Neutrality says: the most popular ones being that they have recommended higher charges for services like WhatsApp and Viber, and that the report is an anti-Net neutrality report masquerading as a pro-Net neutrality report. Pranesh Prakash clears up these and other incorrect notions about the report in this brief analysis.
Aadhaar Number vs the Social Security Number
This blog calls out the differences between the Aadhaar Number and the Social Security Number
Odia Wikisource has a new Wikisourcer, and he is the youngest in the Odia Wikimedia community!
Prateek Pattanaik (User:Shrijagannatha on Odia Wikisource) is a young researcher of Odia literature and Odissi music. He has not just digitized as many as 54 Odia-language poetry dating early 18th century but has also annotated, both poetic and prosaic translation in his blogs “Sri Jagannatha” and “Utkal Sangeet”. He has also brought a complete book “Kisora chandranana champu” on Odia Wikisource. A recent entrant into the Odia Wikimedia community, Prateek is also the youngest Odia Wikimedian. He has also digitized 18-19th century 54 poem written by various poets.
Privacy, Autonomy, and Sexual Choice: The Common Law Recognition of Homosexuality
In the last few decades, all major common law jurisdictions have decriminalised non-procreative sex – oral and anal sex (sodomy) – to allow private, consensual, and non-commercial homosexual intercourse.
Konkani Wikipedia Goes Live After 'Nine Years' of Incubation
Konkani Wikipedia is the second Wikimedia project after Odia Wikisource that has gone live out of incubation. The project stayed in the incubation for nine long years and the community has gone through a long debate to have a Wikipedia of their own. Here is a blog highlighting three Konkani Wikimedians and an advocate of the Wikipedia movement whose efforts finally paid off.
A Dissent Note to the Expert Committee for DNA Profiling
The Centre for Internet and Society has participated in the Expert Committee for DNA Profiling constituted by the Department of Biotechnology in 2012 for the purpose of deliberating on and finalizing the draft Human DNA Profiling Bill and appreciates this opportunity. CIS respectively dissents from the January 2015 draft of the Bill.
Funding of National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) - Who's Accountable?
The National Optic Fibre Network, a part of the Government's Digital India Initiative, has been in the news since the recent Expert Committee Report. In this Blog, the author examines the Accountability of the funding of the project.
Effective Activism: The Internet, Social Media, and Hierarchical Activism in New Delhi
This post by Sarah McKeever is part of the 'Studying Internets in India' series. Sarah is a PhD candidate at the India Institute, King’s College London, and her work focuses on the impact of social media on contemporary political movements. In this essay, she explores the increasingly hierarchical system of activism on the Internet, based on Western corporate desire for data, and how it is shaping who is seen and heard on the Internet in India.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 24) – Shantanu Ghosh
CIS interviews Shantanu Ghosh, Managing Director, Symantec Product Operations, India, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 23) – Justin Searle
CIS interviews Justin Searle, security expert, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.
Freedom of Expression in a Digital Age
The Centre for Internet & Society, the Observer Research Foundation, the Internet Policy Observatory, the Centre for Global Communication Studies and the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania organized this conference on April 21, 2015 in New Delhi.
Net Neutrality and the Law of Common Carriage
Net neutrality makes strange bedfellows. It links the truck operators that dominate India’s highways, such as those that carry vegetables from rural markets to cities, and Internet service providers which perform a more technologically advanced task.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 22) - Anonymous
CIS interviews a Tibetan security researcher and information activist, as part of the Cybersecurity Series. He prefers to remain anonymous.
