Internet Governance Blog
DeitY says 143 URLs have been Blocked in 2015; Procedure for Blocking Content Remains Opaque and in Urgent Need of Transparency Measures
- April 29, 2015
Across India on 30 December 2014, following an order issued by the Department of Telecom (DOT), Internet Service Providers (ISPs) blocked 32 websites including Vimeo, Dailymotion, GitHub and Pastebin.
Read more →The Hazards of a Non-neutral Internet
- May 24, 2015
Spurred by recent events, India’s policy circles are dancing to the complex tunes of net neutrality. Airtel came under fire for pricing calls made over the Internet differentially; it has since withdrawn this plan. Airtel and Reliance Communications are caught in the storm as Airtel Zero and Internet.org, the Facebook-spearheaded product for low-cost Internet access, face stiff criticism for violating net neutrality. Companies like Flipkart, which earlier supported these products, have stepped back and are throwing their weight behind net neutrality. The Department of Telecommunications has set up a six-member panel to consult on net neutrality.
Read more →Multiple Aspects Need to be Addressed as the Clamour Grows for Network Neutrality
- April 16, 2015
In the global debate there are four violations of Network Neutrality that are considered particularly egregious.
Read more →Don't Do Nothing. Take a Stand on Net Neutrality.
- May 08, 2015
Are you wondering what Net Neutrality is, and why the term has suddenly got so much attention in India among the Netizens? Do you need to be concerned about Net Neutrality? We will try to address these in this short post on Net Neutrality.
Read more →Shreya Singhal and 66A
- April 19, 2015
Most software code has dependencies. Simple and reproducible methods exist for mapping and understanding the impact of these dependencies. Legal code also has dependencies --across court orders and within a single court order. And since court orders are not produced using a structured mark-up language, experts are required to understand the precedential value of a court order.
Read more →The Supreme Court Judgment in Shreya Singhal and What It Does for Intermediary Liability in India?
- April 11, 2015
Even as free speech advocates and users celebrate the Supreme Court of India's landmark judgment striking down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act of 2000, news that the Central government has begun work on drafting a new provision to replace the said section of the Act has been trickling in.
Read more →GSMA Research Outputs
- March 14, 2015
This is a collection of research under our GSMA project that we have undertaken in collaboration with Privacy International. The research has sought to understand different legal and regulatory aspects of security and surveillance in India and consists of blog entries and reports. Any feedback or comment is welcome.
Read more →Security, Governments and Data: Technology and Policy
- April 04, 2015
On January 8, 2015, the Centre for Internet and Society, in collaboration with the Observer research foundation, hosted the day long conference "Security, Governments, and Data: Technology and Policy" The conference discussed a range of topics including internet governance, surveillance, privacy, and cyber security.
Read more →Three reasons why 66A verdict is momentous
- March 29, 2015
Earlier this week, the fundamental right to freedom of expression posted a momentous victory. The nation's top court struck down the much-reviled Section 66A of the IT Act — which criminalized communications that are "grossly offensive", cause "annoyance", etc — as "unconstitutionally vague", "arbitrarily, excessively, and disproportionately" encumbering freedom of speech, and likely to have a "chilling effect" on legitimate speech.
Read more →What 66A Judgment Means For Free Speech Online
- March 27, 2015
This week India's Supreme Court redefined the boundaries of freedom of speech on the internet. With the Court's decision in Shreya Singhal & Ors. v. Union of India, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, has been struck down in entirety and is no longer good law.
Read more →