All Blogs
Zero Draft of Content Removal Best Practices White Paper
EFF and CIS Intermediary Liability Project is aimed towards the creation of a set of principles for intermediary liability in consultation with groups of Internet-focused NGOs and the academic community.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 21) – Gyanak Tsering
CIS interviews Gyanak Tsering, Tibetan monk in exile, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.
Smartphones and the Return to Dependency
The new age smartphones that operate by touch mean much more than exciting new technology to persons with visual impairment, they signify the return to the world of dependency, a situation that the group had successfully steered out of some years ago with the support provided by accessible devices and assistive technology.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 20) – Saumil Shah
CIS interviews Saumil Shah, security expert, as part of the Cybersecurity Series.
Karnataka Goondas Act - A note on Legislative Competence
A couple of weeks ago, we had an insightful guest post by Nehaa Chaudhari on amendments to Karnataka's Goondas Act, a draconian legislation which seeks to allow preventive detention for some types of copyright violations. Today, we have a follow up post on that, that argues that the recent amendments are unconstitutional.
OpenGLAM at Wikimania 2014
GLAM activities in the last two months have been quite happening!
Privacy in Healthcare: Policy Guide
The Health Policy Guide seeks to understand what are the legal regulations governing data flow in the health sector — particularly hospitals, and how are these regulations implemented. Towards this objective, the research reviews data practices in a variety of public and private hospitals and diagnostics labs. The research is based on legislation, case law, publicly available documents, and anonymous interviews.
We are Wikipedia
Wikimedia Deutchland has included a paragraph about WeAreWikipedia on their blog.
CIS' Comments on the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science Open Access Policy
In July 2014, the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Science, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India released a draft Open Access Policy. CIS participated in discussions along with experts brought on board by the Drafting Committee to develop and review the open access policy. As a follow-up, CIS prepared comments to the draft Policy. This post makes available CIS' comments to the draft Policy.
Announcing the Tracks for the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest 2015
CIS recently announced that the Centre for Internet and Society will be hosting the fourth edition of the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest at New Delhi, India, tentatively in the first two weeks of December, 2015. This post declares the track events to be conducted, seeks your participation and invites contributions from potential funders.
Digital Humanities and the Alt-Academy
The emergence of Digital Humanities (DH) has been contemporaneous to the ‘crisis’ in the humanities, spurred by changing social and economic conditions which have urged us to rethink traditional methods, locations and concepts of research and pedagogy. This blog post examines the emergence of the phenomenon of the alt-academy in the West, and examines the nuances and possibilities of such a space in the Indian context.
Andhra Loyola College and the Centre for Internet & Society sign MoU for Better Net Access
Andhra Loyola College (ALC) and the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to steward the growth of Telugu Wikipedia and to make available free knowledge in Telugu to all Telugus across the globe.
Interviews with App Developers: [dis]regard towards IPR vs. Patent Hype – Part II
The following is a second post within a series reporting on interviews conducted with 10 of Bangalore's mobile app developers and other industry stakeholders. Within this research, CIS attempts to understand how they engage with the law within their practice, particularly with respect to IP. Here we examine how these developers responded to a question on legal protection for their works.
Learning to Forget the ECJ's Decision on the Right to be Forgotten and its Implications
“The internet never forgets” is a proposition which is equally threatening and promising.
Preventive Detention for Copyright Violation: Karnataka Amends the 'Goondas' Act
Last week, the Government of Karnataka amended the Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum Gamblers Act, 1985 (“the Karnataka Goondas Act”). The Karnataka Goondas Act would now also apply to offences under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. This article presents an overview on the various provisions of this law and discusses the potential impact of the amendment.
Transformation, or Drift?
We need transformative policies and incentives with purpose, especially in solar power and digital infrastructure.
“OTTs Eating Into Our Revenue”: Telcos in India
On August 5, 2014, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India organised a seminar on a regulatory framework for Over-The-Top services. This is a lay discussion of the Seminar and its focus on matters crucial to telecom, the Internet and the existing regulatory framework.
Second Privacy and Surveillance Roundtable
On July 4, 2014, the Centre for Internet and Society in association with the Cellular Operators Association of India organized a privacy roundtable at the India International Centre. The primary aim was to gain inputs on what would constitute an ideal surveillance regime in India.
Surat’s Massive Surveillance Network Should Cause Concern, Not Celebration
The blog post examines the surveillance network of Surat, a city in Gujarat state in India.
Analysing Alice Corporation Pty Ltd v CLS Bank International Et Al
The US Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision in Alice Corporation Pty Ltd v CLS Bank International Et Al last month. The decision concerning software related inventions (with respect to carving an exception to “abstract ideas” patent eligibility category) was the most awaited and the final patent ruling of the US’ Supreme Court’s term. This post presents an analysis of the decision and a timeline of landmark US judicial decisions on software patents.