All Blogs
Government of Madhya Pradesh initiates ICT Accessibility in Public Communication
The Centre for Internet and Society, joined hands with Daisy Forum of India member Arushi in Bhopal to submit a request for a notification mandating that all communication by the Government of Madhya Pradesh should be accessible to persons with disabilities.
Data Retention in India
As part of its privacy research, the Centre for Internet and Society has been researching upon data retention mandates from the Government of India and data retention practices by service providers. Globally, data retention has become a contested practice with regards to privacy, as many governments require service providers to retain more data for extensive time periods, for security purposes. Many argue that the scope of the retention is becoming disproportional to the purpose of investigating crimes.
Pervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Market Place — A Presentation by Sunil Abraham
The 2012 Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest was organized in Rio de Janeiro from December 15 to 17, 2012. The Centre for Internet & Society partnered FGV, Washington College of Law, the American Embassy, African Information Research and Training and International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development in this event. Sunil Abraham made a presentation on Pervasive Technologies on the opening day, December 15, 2012.
Five Frequently Asked Questions about the Amended ITRs
This piece discusses the five major questions that have been the subject of debate after the World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012 (WCIT). The politics surrounding the WCIT are not discussed here but it must be kept in mind that they have played a significant role in the outcome of the conference and in some of the debates about it.
Remembering Aaron Swartz, Taking Up the Fight
I encountered the Aaron Swartz memorial the other day that helps ‘liberate’ a randomly selected article from JSTOR, as an act of civil disobedience, to commemorate both the legacy that Swartz leaves behind, but also the high-profile witch-hunt case which was a crucial factor in him taking his own life.
Habits of Living: Networked Affects, Glocal Effects
Brown University is organizing an international conference that elucidates the networked conditions of our times, how they produce ways, conditions, and habits of life and living, how they spread local actions globally. The conference will be held from March 21 to 23, 2013 at Brown University, Rhode Island.
Konkani in Wikipedia Incubator — Taking it to the Next Level
An introductory session on Konkani in Wikipedia was organized by the Centre for Internet and Society, Delhi in the Konkani Department at Goa University on December 12, 2012. About 30 participants took part in the event.
Aaron Swartz: The First Martyr of the Free Information Movement
Well known American computer programmer, writer, political organizer and Internet activist died on January 11, 2013. Lawrence Liang from the Alternative Law Forum discusses with Newsclick the tragic loss. The interview was conducted by Prabir Purkayastha.
Making Public Libraries Accessible to People with Disabilities
The Centre for Internet & Society was one of the 20 disability rights groups that wrote to the Ministry of Culture on January 23, 2013 seeking remedial action on the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in accessing public libraries in India.
Promoting GLAM in Goa
We organised an introductory Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums (GLAM) session at Goa State Central Library on December 13, 2012. It was well attended by about 45 interested people coming from over 10 different GLAM institutes in Goa.
Linking Commercial Availability and Exceptions in the Treaty for Visually Impaired/Persons with Disabilities
After the landmark WIPO General Assembly meeting in December 2012 that decided to convene a diplomatic conference in June 2013 on the Treaty for Visually Impaired Persons/Persons with Print Disabilities, the Special Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights starting on February 18, 2013 is critical, says Rahul Cherian.
Bringing Konkani Encyclopedia in Public Domain
On December 14, 2012, a meeting was scheduled with the Vice Chancellor Dr. Satish R Shetye to discuss the possibility of bringing Konkani Encyclopedia in public domain. Nitika Tandon shares the development in this blog post.
A Wiki Workshop at Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Ghaziabad
The Centre for Internet & Society's Access to Knowledge team organized a Wikipedia workshop at Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology (RKGIT), Ghaziabad in collaboration with Metawings on January 17, 2013. Subhashish Panigrahi summarizes the happenings from the one-day workshop in this blog post.
Celebrating the success of Wikipedia in Wikipedia Summit Pune 2013
Wikipedia Club Pune, a local community based outreach user group in Pune has recently organized Wikipedia Summit Pune 2013 to spread words about “Spoken Wikipedia”, a project to add recorded audio for Indic language Wikipedia articles which will help the disabled to access Wikipedia and “Bridging Editor Gender Gap.”
Indic Language Wikipedias — Statistical Report — 2012
I have compiled the statistical update of the Indic language Wikipedias for the year 2012. As usual, in this report, my aim is to provide my perspectives on the health of various Indic language communities as well as the state of various Indic language wikipedias.
TV versus Social Media: The Rights and Wrongs
For most ordinary Netizens, everyday speech on social media has as much impact as graffiti in a toilet, and therefore employing the 'principle of equivalence' will result in overregulation of new media.
Wikipedia in St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa
A three hour Wikipedia workshop was organized by the Centre for Internet & Society, Delhi, in the morning of December 14, 2012 at St. Xavier's College in Mapusa, Goa. Over 30 participants attended the session.
The Violence of Knowledge Cartels
We are all struck with a sense of loss, grief and shock since we heard of the death of Aaron Swartz, by suicide. People who have been his friends have written heart-felt obituaries, saluting his dreams and visions and unwavering commitment to a larger social good.
Web of Sameness
The social Web has been an ominous space at the start of 2013. It has been awash with horror, pain and grief. The recent gang rape and death of a medical student in Delhi prevents one from being too optimistic about the year to come. My live feeds on various social networks are filled with rue and rage at the gruesome incident and the seeming depravity of our society.
Draft International Principles on Communications Surveillance and Human Rights
These principles were developed by Privacy International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and seek to define an international standard for the surveillance of communications. The Centre for Internet and Society has been contributing feedback to the principles.
