All Blogs
Designing Change? Gatekeepers in Digital Humanities
After defining the archive as one of the important concepts for digital humanities research, the question arose, whether or not a redefined archive still functions as a gatekeeper. This blog entry follows the question, if the digital humanities have overcome gatekeepers of knowledge, or if there has simply been a shift in what is doing the gatekeeping.
Privacy Protection Bill, 2013 (With Amendments based on Public Feedback)
In 2013 CIS drafted the Privacy Protection Bill as a citizens' version of a privacy legislation for India. Since April 2013, CIS has been holding Privacy Roundtables in collaboration with FICCI and DSCI, with the objective of gaining public feedback to the Privacy Protection Bill and other possible frameworks for privacy in India.
Indian Language Wikipedia Statistics (September 2012 – April 2013)
The Access to Knowledge team carried out a quantitative analysis to identify trends and growth patterns in Indian Language Wikipedias over the time period from September 2012 to April 2013.
CIS Cybersecurity Series (Part 2) - Ram Mohan
CIS interviews Ram Mohan, a pioneer in the field of Internet security and internationalization, as part of the Cybersecurity Series
Bangalore RHoKed to Create 8 Apps for a Better World!
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) on June 1 and 2, 2013 hosted a Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) event at its office. Yogesh Londhe shares with you a post-event report.
National Resource Kit: The Jharkhand Chapter (Call for Comments)
The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Jharkhand.
India's Closing Statement at Marrakesh on the Treaty for the Blind
This was the statement that the Government of India made at the closing of the WIPO Diplomatic Conference to Conclude a Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities (17-28 June 2013), after the Marrakesh Treaty (the "Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for the Blind, Visually Impaired and otherwise Print Disabled") was adopted.
CIS's Closing Statement at Marrakesh on the Treaty for the Blind
Pranesh Prakash read out an abridged version of this statement as his closing remarks in Marrakesh, where the WIPO Treaty for the Blind (the "Marrakesh Treaty") has been successfully concluded. The Marrakesh Treaty aims to facilitate access to published works by blind persons, persons with visual impairment, and other print disabled persons, by requiring mandatory exceptions in copyright law to enable conversions of books into accessible formats, and by enabling cross-border transfer of accessible format books.
A 'Kannada' Wikipedia Workshop for Bloggers
On Sunday, June 23, 2013, a day-long Kannada Wikipedia workshop was conducted at Suchitra, Bengaluru for Kannada bloggers by the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team. This blog post gives a report on the workshop.
SEBI and Communication Surveillance: New Rules, New Responsibilities?
In this blog post, Kovey Coles writes about the activities of the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), discusses the importance of call data records (CDRs), and throws light on the significant transition in governmental leniency towards access to private records.
The State is Snooping: Can You Escape?
Blanket surveillance of the kind envisaged by India's Centralized Monitoring System achieves little, but blatantly violates the citizen's right to privacy; Snehashish Ghosh explores why it may be dangerous and looks at potential safeguards against such intrusion.
Open Letter to Prevent the Installation of RFID tags in Vehicles
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) has sent this open letter to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) to urge them not to intall RFID tags in vehicles in India.
Letter for Establishment of Patent Pool for Low-cost Access Devices through Compulsory Licenses
On June 27, 2013, CIS sent a letter for establishment of a patent pool for low cost access devices through compulsory licenses.
Pervasive Technologies: Patent Pools
In this research paper, Nehaa Chaudhari gives an analysis of patent pools. She discusses the working of a patent pool, study patent pool in other areas of technology, and patenting in telecom and related technology.
Way to watch
The domestic surveillance regime in India lacks adequate safeguards.
Primer on the Treaty for the Visually Impaired
In this primer, Pranesh Prakash and Puneeth Nagaraj explain what effects a WIPO Treaty for the Visually Impaired can have and who's opposing it.
Report on the 4th Privacy Round Table meeting
This report entails an overview of the discussions and recommendations of the fourth Privacy Round Table in Mumbai, on 15th June 2013.
Interview with the Citizen Lab on Internet Filtering in India
Maria Xynou recently interviewed Masashi Crete-Nishihata and Jakub Dalek from the Citizen Lab on internet filtering in India. View this interview and gain an insight on Netsweeper and FinFisher!
Archive Practice and Digital Humanities
After trying to define the field of digital humanities in two prior blog entries, one mapping the field, the other defining its values, the third blog entry in the digital humanities series looks at a reoccurring keyword of digital humanities research, namely at the concept of the archive. The following article touches upon how it is being used within research of digital humanities and how that relates to traditional humanities archival work
Big Data, People's Lives, and the Importance of Openness
Openness has become the buzzword for everything in India right now. From the new kids on the block riding the wave of Digital Humanities investing in infrastructure of open knowledge initiatives to the rhetoric of people-centered open government data projects that are architected to create 'empowered citizens', there is an inherent belief that Opening up things will make everything good.
