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Spending too much time on social media? Tech abuse may lead to mental health issues

Admin — 2018-10-18T00:55:46Z

Technology is a boon, no doubt. But where can we, in ourdigital lives, draw the line between convenience and addiction? ET’s Divya J Shekhar finds out how the IT city is dealing with internet addiction and how collective social effort might help find the sweet spot.

The article by Divya Shekhar was published in Economic Times on October 13, 2018. Sunil Abraham was quoted.

Fifty-odd residents in Hebbal switched off all their digital devices between 7 and 9 pm two days ago on World Mental Health Day. This Saturday, they will join other members in their 1,200-strong group to plug out once again. They plan to make this a weekly ritual.

At the centre of this initiative, which is called 'Time Out from Plugins', is a mother who started researching on technology addiction after observing her 16-year-old son play online games for long hours. Tejaswi Uthappa, a freelance writer, said that her otherwise wellbehaved son becoming irritable and snappy after being glued to the gaming console for hours got her thinking about the ill-effects of letting technology take over our lives.

Types of Technology Addiction

“As parents, we might casually complain about our children spending most of their time on television, digital games or laptops. But this is actually far more serious because it impacts their brain, and eventually, their behaviour,” said Uthappa, who now wants to reach out to schools and colleges to help create awareness about technology-addiction among youngsters.

An increasing number of Bengalureans are getting addicted to technology. Just last week, a 26-year-old checked in to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) to seek treatment as he had watched Netflix for over seven hours a day for the past six months in order to escape the reality of his unemployment. From excessive PUBG (online game) and social media overdose to need for virtual validation and incessant online shopping, psychiatrists are treating a gamut of technology addictions.

How Much is Too Much?

According to experts at Nimhans, eight out of 10 technology addiction cases are related to online gaming. This is in line with a 2013 survey conducted by the Indian Council for Medical Research in Bengaluru, which revealed that 4.1% people in the IT city between 18 and 60 years of age were addicted to their mobile phones, while 1.3% were internet addicts. This number might have increased with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) stating that as on March 2018, there were 1.18 billion wireless subscribers and 493 million internet or broadband subscribers in the country.

Manoj Kumar Sharma, a clinical psychologist at the Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) Clinic at Nimhans, said that he caters to almost six-seven patients every week, up from two-three people who checked into the clinic when it launched in 2014. “It goes to show that people are conscious and are actively taking action to correct their addictive tendencies,” he said. Most people between ages 16 and 20 are addicted to social media, Sharma explained, tend to develop body image issues if their online activity or post does not garner enough attention or ‘likes’. This need for validation from virtual friends to make up for their lonely reality is also directly proportional to the number of cosmetic surgeries.

IT City's Tech Addiction

For those between 24 and 28 years of age, the addiction is usually in the form of pornography or online streaming platforms like Netflix. Experts have also coined the term ‘online infidelity’ to describe a condition where adults satisfy themselves using online platforms rather than through physical intimacy with their respective partners.

“There is a bidirectional relationship between depression and use of technology. The latter can be used as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety. Conversely, technology abuse can also intensify depression,” said Sharma.

Medical professionals state that ideally, an individual’s daily social media consumption should be broken down to brief 20 minute sessions. “When a digital screen is the last thing you look at before going to sleep, it messes with your hormones. For instance, the heart and pulse rate increase, blood pressure for those with hypertension tends to increase and the body’s response to diabetes medication will vary,” said consulting physician and cardiologist Dr B Ramana Rao.

Increased exposure to technology, he explained, affects eyesight, causes mood alterations, and makes individuals angry and irritable. There are four main criteria, experts said, through which addiction can be determined: if use of technology affects your sleep, productivity, interpersonal relationships and makes you isolate yourself from social activities.

Open Communication

Parents, counsellors, schools and colleges are recognising the need to work together to find solutions and disconnect those vulnerable to internet overuse. Mansoor Ali Khan, member, board of management, Delhi Public School, said that while schools are often considered “uncool” if they do not use technology in classrooms, it is necessary to understand that sometimes, simple, conventional learning works best.

“Children who have been handed iPads and smartphones when they are as young as three years old, have lower concentration levels and learning capability. Moreover, the conversations they have with friends also restricted to TV shows and games,” he said.

Do you have Nomophobia?

The school plans to increase cyber literacy and make the discourse around technology addiction more transparent. Sharma of SHUT Clinic, who launched a Digital Detox app earlier this year, is now developing an intervention module that he wants to take to schools and colleges. This, he said, will help academicians study how to control use of technology as a coping mechanism for peer pressure, boredom and stress. It would also help, he
added, if parents and elders are less judgmental about those needing help.

Sunil Abraham, executive director, The Centre for Internet and Society, told ET that parents must understand the concept of introducing incremental screen time to avoid addiction. This means, children between ages 1 and 3 must have zero screen time, those between 3 and 9 must have one hour of screen time every day, while adolescents between 9 and 15 years of age can access internet only for two hours daily.

“Parents todayccessed by children need to be kept in common areas like the living room,” said Abraham, stressing that parents should never use gadgets to distract children or keep them busy.

Tejaswi Uthappa agrees. According to her, open lines of communication about internet usage and cyberspace helps people seek help. “Our initiative, for instance, started with just me. But now, there are over a thousand adults — parents, working professionals or homemakers - who come on-board the moment they hear that we combat internet addiction. Only our intent and not our method, matters to them,” she said. “So it is a question of stakeholders acknowledging that this as a problem and coming together to find ways to solve it.”

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-divya-shekhar-october-13-2018-spending-too-much-time-on-social-media

Speculative Futures Lab on Artificial Intelligence in Media, Entertainment, and Gaming

Admin — 2018-12-05T03:12:58Z

Pranav Manjesh Bidare attended the event organised by Quicksand between November 16 and 18, 2018 in Bangalore as a panelist.

Pranav was a panelist in the session discussing "Ethics of AI in the Creative spaces" on November 17, alongside Urvashi Aneja, and Abishek Reddy from Tandem Research. For more info see this.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/speculative-futures-lab-on-artificial-intelligence-in-media-entertainment-and-gaming

Speak Easy: Citizenship, Freedom of Expression and Online Governance

praskrishna — 2012-08-01T04:56:36Z

The event organised by the YP Foundation, Youth Ki Awaaz, Change.Org and RTI Anonymous was held at the American Centre in Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi on July 31, 2012. Chinmayi Arun, a Fellow at the Centre for Internet & Society

The event focused on exploring the freedom of expression vis-a-vis its impact on accessibility and connectivity across multiple youth movements focused on gender, speciality, education, governance and arts.

There were group discussions with Venkatesh Nayak (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative), Anja Kovacs (Internet Democracy Project), Chinmayi Arun (Centre for Internet & Society) among others.

Agenda

2.00 2.30	Registrations open for workshops!
2.30 2.45	Getting started – ‘Why Speak Easy?’
2.45 4.30	Speak Easy \| Learn: Workshops on advocating online, citizenship journalism, filing the Right to Information (RTI) application, and participating in online legislation with Youth Ki Awaaz, Change.Org, Get Up 4 Change, The YP Foundation and PRS Legislative.
4.30 6.00	Speak Easy \| Converge: Exploring the Freedom of Expression vis-à-vis its impact on accessibility and connectivity across multiple youth movements focused on gender, sexuality, education, governance and arts. Group Discussions with Venkatesh Nayak (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative), Anja Kovacs (Founder, Internet Democracy Project), Chinmayi Arun (Centre for Internet and Society) and many others.
6.00 7.00	Speak Easy \| Demand: How can young people dialogue with decision makers?

Venue Partner: The American Center
Read the original published in the YP Foundation here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/speak-easy

SpaceX Explosion Slows Facebook & Israeli Efforts To Control Online Content

praskrishna — 2016-09-14T11:24:47Z

In their ‘space race’ to expand internet access to remote, impoverished areas of the world, Facebook and Google are actually vying for control o fthe online experiences of millions of people.

The article by Kit O' Connell published by Mint Press News on September 13, 2016 has quoted Pranesh Prakash.

When a rocket operated by space startup SpaceX burned up on the launch pad, it was a setback to the prospects of commercial space travel, as well as efforts by Facebook to control the online experiences of millions of rural internet users.

Facebook’s project, Internet.org, is described by founder Mark Zuckerberg in charitable terms, but critics have accused it of spreading “techno-colonialism.”

The Sept. 1 fire in Cape Canaveral, Florida, destroyed a $200 million satellite owned by SpaceCom, an Israeli communications satellite firm, and co-leased by Facebook. The satellite, Amos-6, was built by Israel Aerospace Industries, a government-owned aviation and aerospace manufacturer.

Facebook’s partnership with SpaceCom is another sign of the corporation’s deepening ties with Israel. In June, Facebook appointed Jordana Cutler, a close advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as head of policy and communications at Facebook’s Israeli office.

Another setback for Facebook’s Internet.org

“Facebook was counting on [the satellite] to beam internet service to sub-Saharan Africa as part of its ambitious Internet.org project,” noted Will Oremus, Slate’s senior technology writer.

The Los Angeles Times reported that SpaceCom’s stock fell 9 percent on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange after the explosion. Zuckerberg shared his dismay in a post on his facebook page, writing:

“As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent.”

Internet.org would help users get online in areas lacking conventional internet access, and the service, which works in partnership with local mobile phone companies, has launched, at least provisionally, in 48 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In addition to satellites, Internet.org plans to use cutting edge solar-powered drones to expand internet access in remote parts of the world.

The service is not without controversy, though. An offering called “Free Basics” would provide users who can’t afford full internet access with a curated selection of websites, tailored for use on low bandwidth devices such as older smartphones. Free Basics generated international protests after it was rolled out in India, and was eventually blocked by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in March 2015 for violating the principle of net neutrality.

In a May 12 analysis for The Guardian, Mumbai-based journalist Rahul Bhatia suggested the failure of Free Basics was also due to Zuckerberg’s dismissive attitude toward the Indian government and people.

An unnamed Facebook executive told Bhatia that Zuckerberg made the “mistake of thinking that a third-world country is a banana republic. So institutions, the public, the press — they can be bypassed.”

Colonialism or philanthropy?

Indian students gather for a protest against Facebook’s “Free Basics” in Hyderabad, India. A central element of Facebook’s Internet.org campaign was controversial even before it was shut down in a key market this month. Indian regulators banned one of the pillars of the campaign, a service known as Free Basics, because it provided access only to certain pre-approved services – including Facebook – rather than the full Internet.

Google and its parent company, Alphabet, also intend to spread internet to rural, underserved areas through the unique balloon-based Project Loon. Tech site Pocket-Lint reported in March 2015 that SpaceX hoped to offer internet service through its satellites, in what reporter Luke Edwards called an “internet space race.”

Pranesh Prakash, a representative of the Centre for Internet & Society, an NGO based in Bangalore, India, questioned the company’s motivation in a June 2015 interview with Al-Jazeera.

“They’re doing it out of their self-interest,” Prakash told Tarek Bazley, Al-Jazeera’s science and technology editor.

“They are not doing it because they are charities, because they believe in altruism etc. They’re doing it because having more people online benefits them.”

And Aral Balkan, a human rights activist, told Bazley, “I wouldn’t call it philanthropy I would call it colonialism.”

In an August 2013 post on his homepage, Balkan went into more detail about his “strong reservations about why Google and Facebook want to be the ones providing this service.”

Noting that both tech corporations profit primarily from collecting and selling information about their users, he continued:

“Google and Facebook want to give everyone access to the Internet because they need more raw materials. More data. Your data. So they can cultivate more Digital Serfs to sell to their customers.”

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/mint-pressnews-september-13-2016-kit-o-connell-spacex-explosion-slows-facebook-israeli-efforts-to-control-online-content

South African Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013

divij — 2014-05-05T06:59:51Z

As the rapid spread of technology in developing countries allows exponentially increasing availability of and access to personal data through automatic data processing, governments are beginning to recognize the necessity to evolve policies addressing data security and privacy concerns.

The source of pressure for strict legal regulations addressing data protection are both the growing recognition of the importance of privacy rights, as well as the risk of falling behind on international standards on data protection, which would hamper the potential of developing countries as destinations for outsourcing industries which depend largely on processing of information.[1] The Protection of Personal Information Act enacted by South Africa is an example of a policy which enables a comprehensive framework for data security and privacy and is a model for other developing nations which are weighing the costs and benefits of establishing a secure data protection regime.

The South African law traces the right to protection of personal information back to Section 14 of the South African Constitution, which provides for a right against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information. The law establishes strict restrictions and regulations on the processing of personal information, which includes information including relating to race, gender, sexual orientation, medical information, biometric information and personal opinion. The processing of personal information under the Act must comply with 8 principles, namely - accountability, lawful purpose for processing and processing limitation, purpose specification, information quality, openness and notice of collection, openness, reasonable security safeguards and subject participation, in line with the international standards for fair information practices.[2] The Act also recognizes ‘special personal information’, including religious or political beliefs, race, sexual orientation and trade union membership, as well as any personal information of children below the age of 18, which require stricter safeguards for processing,. Similar to the draft Indian legislation on privacy, the Act contemplates an independent regulatory mechanism, the information regulator, which would have all the necessary powers to effectively monitor compliance under the Act, including the power for punishing offences under the Act.

The Protection of Personal Information Act contains 115 Sections and is meant to be an exhaustive and heavily detailed policy to bring South Africa’s laws in line with EU and international regulations on data protection.[3] Though such progressive policies should be a model for policy changes in other developing nations, one aspect in which the law fails is to address increasing privacy concerns arising from widespread government-enabled surveillance and data retention. The POPI excludes from its application the processing of information related to national security, terrorist related activities and public safety, combating of money laundering, investigation of proof of offences, the prosecution of offenders, execution of sentences or other security measures, subject to adequate safeguards being established by the legislature for protection of personal information. Unfortunately, the ambiguous wording of the exclusions, especially in determining “adequate safeguards”, leaves its interpretation and application open for governments to engage in mass surveillance in the name of public security. Over the past few years, governments have taken to using technology and information, particularly through mass surveillance, to collect comprehensive information on their citizens and violate their liberties and privacy. In India, particularly with programs like the Central Monitoring System being implemented, any policy which purportedly aims at the protection of privacy must not only seek bare minimal compliances with the current international standards for data protection, but should also address the mass, unrestricted surveillance and data retention which is taking place in the name of public security.

Developing nations like South Africa and India face significant challenges in ensuring individual privacy, particularly the lack of sufficient legal safeguards for the protection of privacy. The right to privacy is often dismissed as an elitist or western concept, which does not have value in the context of developing nations, without engaging with the realities and the nuances of the right. Further, the costs of expensive technical safeguards means private and public bodies are required to spend significant resources in maintaining data security and these factors often outweigh privacy considerations in policy debates. The South African Act, hence, serves both as an important model for legislation and as an indication that the right to privacy is valuable to recognize in developing countries as well.

[1]. Article 25 of the European Union Directive on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of such data (Directive 95/46/EC) prohibits the transfer of data to non-member states which do not comply with adequate data protection norms.

[2]. http://oecdprivacy.org/

[3]. Link to Act: www.gov.za/documents/download.php?f=204368

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/south-african-protection-personal-information-act-2013

SOTM Asia 2018

Admin — 2018-11-28T01:22:44Z

Saumyaa Naidu, Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon attend State of the Map 2018 conference co-organized by the Centre for Internet & Society and Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore on November 17 and 18, 2018.

State of the Map Asia 2018 featured two full days of talks, workshops, an opening and closing keynote. It was an exciting two days! The program was created by curating proposals from the community and through a scoring process by the committee.

The program was held at the Indian Institude of Management campus in Bangalore. Much of the program was between two auditoriums. We also had plenty of space set aside for breakout sessions and birds of a feather meetups. (Click here to download the program.)

Click here to see the agenda

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/sotm-asia-2018

Sorry, Business Closed until Internet is Back On

Nalanda Tambe — 2017-12-19T16:25:24Z

Strap: Exporters say they lose face with international clients when internet shutdowns block deliveries.

Vadodara, Gujarat: A household name in Vadodara, Jagdish Farshan has been famous for Gujarati snacks like Leelo Chevdo and Bakarwadi since 1938. Since the year 2000, they started exporting their snacks to the millions of Gujaratis settled across the globe, especially in Africa, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It is one of the many indigenous businesses that helps Gujarat contribute 25% of the total exports from India. But the outfit synonymous with both tradition and modernity for 79 years, was also one of the many exporters to receive an unexpected jolt in August 2015, during the week-long internet shutdown during the Patidar protests for reservations across the state.

Kalpesh Kandoi, the chairman of Jagdish Farshan Pvt Ltd says, “Gujaratis in various countries buy our snacks online through our website, or through email. During the internet ban, we suffered quite a lot due to the blockage of orders and failure of deliveries.” Since nearly 50% of their annual revenue comes from exports, the shutdown threw a significant spanner in the works. Although the government claims it banned only mobile data, many businesses admit to their broadband and WiFi also being hit, or seeing debilitating delays.

“Of course, if there is an emergency from the importers’ side, they can call us directly,” says Kandoi. “But then again, a kind of inconvenience is created to them from our side, which is very shameful. It destroys our trustworthiness and credibility.” Many of their production centres in Gujarat, especially Vadodara, fell back on meeting orders when bank payments were stuck, or orders weren't accessible. Thankfully for the company, its manufacturing unit in Australia was able to meet at least some of the international orders when most districts of Gujarat couldn't access the internet.

The ban seems to have had a domino effect outside India too. Preeti Shah, who imports snacks and sweets from Jagdish Farshan through her small home-based business in the USA, couldn't meet orders there during the internet ban in Gujarat. She told 101reporters on the phone from Philadelphia that when she started her business of selling Gujarati snacks 3 years ago, she marketed her service by calling her neighbours, friends and acquaintances personally. “I found that in return they emailed me their snack orders,” says Shah. “During the internet blockages in India, I had to apologise for not delivering the snacks to my clients because my orders were not fulfilled by the Gujarat-based exporters.” She lost 12 to 15 clients, most of them regulars. “The government has to realise the impact of the ban. What if I had lost all my clients just because of the internet ban?” she asks.

Gujarat is a major hub for several industries like dairy, automobile, gems, and pharmaceuticals, but its biggest exports are of cotton yarn, oilseeds, and seafood. With its highly advanced and well-equipped marine fish production techniques, it is able to export fish to UAE, Australia, USA, Japan, China, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, and Germany. Gems and jewellery too, though exported from Mumbai, are processed in Surat, Gujarat, one of the largest diamond hubs in the world. Already severely hit by demonetisation in November 2016, with large-scale closures, layoffs and losses, the diamond industry nearly buckled under the internet ban too.

Most of all, it is the unpredictable, ad hoc, and unannounced nature of the internet shutdowns that frustrates exporters, who liken it to annoying roadblocks traffic policemen install to allow VIP movement. For instance, in February 2016, the state suspended mobile internet services suddenly for four hours to prevent cheating during a revenue service exam.

Chandresh Shah, president of the Exporters and Importers (Exim) Club and the founder of Madhav Agro Foods, says that the entire export industry relies on the internet for over 95% of its business. “It is absurd on the part of government to ban internet for any reason especially when they know that it will hamper exporters to a great extent. They have to provide alternatives, or announce beforehand. People who are importing our products consider us unprofessional and we look foolish in the international markets. So such policies need to be revamped and rationalised properly.” He adds that the rising economic cost of such shutdowns must be factored in. A 2016 study by Brookings Institution that looked at 81 instances of internet shutdowns across 19 countries between July 2015 and June 2016 found that they had cost the world economy a total of $2.4 billion. India, at a conservative estimate of $968 million due to 22 shutdowns (as much as Iraq), was one of the biggest losers.

As the digital economy grows, the cost of frequent internet shutdowns will only accelerate. As the central government pushed the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Surat-based Falguni Patel (name changed) was inspired to start an online boutique in late 2014. A textiles student and first-time entrepreneur, she invested nearly Rs 10 lakhs ($15,600) through loans and savings. Unfortunately, a few months into her business, an internet ban was put in place. “It was a sheer coincidence that I received an order from Madhya Pradesh, along with an advance payment, just two days before the week-long internet ban. After that they mailed me four times – first with some requirements, then two follow-up emails and a final one demanding a refund of the advance –but I didn’t receive any of these due to the ban. Meanwhile, I used the advance to purchase raw materials needed.” After the ban was lifted, Patel realised what had happened. “When I called them personally and explained the situation, they called me unprofessional. When I said I would repay their money in 3-4 instalments, they filed a police complaint against me for theft.” Only a single order had turned bad, but it delivered a strong enough blow. Discouraged by the experience, and pressured by her parents who didn't want her to invest in the business anymore, Patel shut her website, and shelved her e-commerce dreams.

Some companies, like Dinesh Mills, one of Vadodara’s oldest textile companies, prevented losses by invoking their brand value and stepping up customer relations during the ban. Uday Shitole, General Manager – Sales, at Dinesh Mills, says the internet is a boon for the export industry due to its speed, web orders, low cost, and proper documentation. But he admits that in India, it's mandatory to have traditional back-up systems, even if this is much costlier, because political realities make even something as advanced as the internet unpredictable. Sudhir Purohit, Vice President (Exports), Dinesh Mills Ltd, says their decade-long relationships with suppliers and purchasers, initiated in the pre-internet days, stood the company in good stead. “We export the materials through digital orders too, but in our system, the negotiation of contracts has to be handled in person and non-negotiable ones can be done wholly through the internet. Without this, we will be vulnerable to any disruption, like internet ban, or accidents, that will definitely lead to delays and losses.”

Nalanda Tambe is a Vadodara- based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/sorry-business-closed-until-internet-is-back-on

SOPA: The bill that could kill the Internet

praskrishna — 2011-11-18T07:26:30Z

As the US government’s House Judiciary Committee begins hearings on the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, (SOPA), both supporters and opponents are ramping up their campaigning, with big names getting involved. And so they should. SOPA’s stakes are no less than the future of the Internet itself.

The key problem with SOPA is that it seeks to allow any copyright holder to sever any website’s relationship with online advertising networks or credit card processing services, simply by pointing the finger. As Ars Technica explains:

Calling its plan a “market-based system to protect US customers and prevent US funding of sites dedicated to theft of US property,” the new bill gives broad powers to private actors. Any holder of intellectual property rights could simply send a letter to ad network operators like Google and to payment processors like MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal, demanding these companies cut off access to any site the IP holder names as an infringer.

[…] So long as the intellectual property holders include some “specific facts” supporting their infringement claim, ad networks and payment processors will have five days to cut off contact with the website in question.

The bill also gives the government the power to get an injunction against foreign sites which would force ISPs to, within five days, ”prevent access by its subscribers located within the United States to the foreign infringing site.” Essentially, it obliges ISPs to break their own DNS servers by filtering or redirecting users who try to access an accused site. It would also ban any tools which allow circumvention of such blocks.

It doesn’t take a genius to see how this could be abused: An aggrieved party accuses a site of infringement, with or without reliable evidence, and suddenly that site can no longer accept credit cards or PayPal payments and its advertising revenue dries up completely. And we know that the IP industry isn’t above false accusations of copyright infringement. It’s not just business websites that could be affected, but open source projects too.

Opponents currently include businesses such as Google, Facebook, Zynga, eBay, Twitter, Yahoo!, AOL, and LinkedIn who, together, sent a letter; advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Reporters Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch; as well as eleven members of the House of Representatives who have also written a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. Another letter from human rights groups includes India’s Centre for Internet and Society as well as the Church of Sweden.

There are also complaints that the House Judiciary Committee is trying to push the legislation through with undue haste. Says PCWorld:

Critics of the legislation also complained that the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee appears to be fast-tracking the bill before opposition can build. At a 10 am hearing Wednesday, five of six witnesses are likely to speak in favor of SOPA, with only Google opposed. Witnesses the Motion Picture Association of America, trade union the AFL-CIO and pharmaceutical company Pfizer have all voiced support for the bill.

No public interest groups, Internet engineers or human rights groups have been invited to the hearing, said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a digital rights group. “This is really being railroaded, without a full public debate,” she said.

Indeed, the tone of the Committee’s so-called fact sheet, which lays out a series of ‘myths’ and ‘facts’, gives cause for concern, implying as it does that they have already decided which side of the fence they will land on. What is also disturbing is that the US Copyright Office — which as a part of the Library of Congress, one would expect to be impartial and evidence-led — will be offering an “unqualified endorsement“:

“It is my view that if Congress does not continue to provide serious responses to online piracy, the US copyright system will ultimately fail,” [Copyright Office director Maria] Pallante’s testimony says.

Pallante and representatives from Pfizer, the Motion Picture Association of America, the AFL-CIO, and Mastercard, all of whom support the bill, will be testifying tomorrow before the House Judiciary committee.

For Americans who are unimpressed by this latest move from the content industries to control the Internet, there is a letter writing campaign encouraging people to contact their congressperson. For non-Americans, Avaaz has set up a Save the Internet petition which currently has 70,000 signatures and is racking up hundreds of new signatures every minute.

There’s no doubt that tech journalists, free software advocates and digital rights campaigners and internet businesses worldwide will be glued to coverage of today’s Judiciary hearing. But, given the power of the copyright industry’s lobbying arms, it is hard to expect discussions to conclude satisfactorily. It may just be that the entire Internet will have to rely on the strength of the US Constitution, which SOPA may contravene, to save it.

This article by Suw Charman-Anderson was published in Firspost.Technology on November 16, 2011. The original can be read here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/bill-could-kill-internet

Sony site flaw puts focus on Internet security

praskrishna — 2011-05-30T13:15:07Z

INTERNET security has once again come into sharp focus with Sony discovering a loophole in their website set up to reset passwords for its users affected by the hacking of the PlayStation network. Shayan Ghosh's article was published by Mail Today on Friday,May 20, 2011.

Sony on Thursday announced that it has found a security flaw on its website that could have allowed a hacker access to private details of its gaming buffs.

"We are in the process of continuous restoration of the website loopholes that have been identified and it will be healed pretty soon," said Atindriya Bose, country manager at Sony Computer Entertainment.

Last month, Sony’s PlayStation network was hacked and user data such as email ids and credit card details were possibly stolen in huge numbers, affecting users worldwide.

"Some users could say botnets (a collection of infected computers or those taken over by hackers) are the largest threat today because they have the potential of shutting down websites, online stores and even Governmental websites and critical resources," Costin Raiu, director of the global research and analysis team, Kaspersky Lab, said, explaining the present online threat scenario.

"Others say that a much more serious threat can come from mobile malware, because there are a lot more mobile phones than computer systems," he noted.

"Even though hacking is going on we are prompt to enhance our security measures. But only these won’t help. The Indian users also need to be conscious; they also need to be vigilant about private details such as credit cards when they are on the web," Bose explained.

"A lot of companies are successful in e-commerce and have been in the industry for quite long. But regarding such flaws, it depends on how fast the company reacts to the situation," he said.

Hacking is like an arms race, according to Sunil Abraham executive director, Centre for Internet and Society. "It is going side by side with the security measures that people are taking," he said.

Abraham said there are many reasons behind the recent rise in hacking with data being stolen very often.

Firstly, the information system nowadays is more complex though not mature enough to handle such threats. Secondly, the social networking sites are a key player when it comes to damage undergone due to hacking. The level of data loss is huge when one hacks a social networking site which, was not the case before. Thirdly, new updates of these networking and gaming sites are released very frequently, which leaves little time to check the security flaws in the website.

"New features are more prone to attacks," Abraham said.

"As attackers become more sophisticated and targeted, hacking continues to be a serious threat. In fact, Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report 16 revealed that an average of 260,000 identities were exposed per data breach caused by hacking in 2010, nearly quadruple that of any other cause," Abhijit Limaye, director, security response, Symantec, said.

However, there are ethical hackers who feel the need for security and also think that hacking will be a major issue worldwide, in a couple of years.

Download the original article published by Mail Today here [PDF, 2.08 MB]

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/sony-site-flaw

Some Key Words Are Missing

praskrishna — 2015-09-27T14:22:44Z

Google manipulating search results? The Competition Commission is on its case.

The article by Arindam Mukherjee was published in Outlook on September 21, 2015. Nehaa Chaudhari was quoted.

G’s Global Woes

Google’s problems aren’t restricted to India. It is facing similar cases around the world.

Europe: The search giant has been accused of using its dominant position on the web to dominate the market for online product searches. There’s another probe on possible abuse of dominant position with Android.

Brazil: Is being investigated for favouring its own services over others on the internet

Hong Kong & Argentina: Facing issues about collecting user data

Spain: Had to shut down Google News over copyright issues.

Germany: Its Google Street View navigation service got into problems over privacy issues

Mexico: The local regulator has brought up issues similar to those in Europe

There is an uneasy calm at Google’s India offices these days. Spokespersons are giving measured statements, watched over by an army of lawyers who are busy looking at the finer points. A case against Google’s advertising and search practices with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has the potential to derail the search giant’s operations in India. Why, a nervous Google has even sought to make hearings in this case in-camera to totally shut out the media.

There is a lot at stake. An investigation report of the CCI has found Google squarely guilty of abusing its dominant position to manipulate search results on the internet and online advertising results to its own advantage and to those of companies paying for it. Google was found to “have abused its dominant position in the relevant markets of online general web search service in India and online search advertising in India in violation of the Competition Act 2002”.

Indeed, the report (which has been reviewed by Outlook) is blunt on many of the issues: “Google is found to be indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so it causes harm to its competitors as well as users.... Google steers users to its own products and services and produces biased results. This structure offers abundant opportunities for leveraging and has also raised issues of conflict of interest.” It says that through such practices Google was adversely affecting the competitive landscape in the markets for online general web search, search advertising as well as adjacent markets like travel, maps, social networking and e-commerce.

The whole brouhaha started with complaints from two parties—Chennai-based matchmaking portal Bharatmatrimony.com and Jaipur-based consumer rights organisation CUTS International—in 2012. “People who are subscribing to Google’s Adwords and are paying Google or are buying keywords are getting preference in their search results. Many of the search results on Google are either ads or sponsored links and not genuine search results. Google is pushing ads as news items which normal users would be unable to distinguish,” says Sharad Bhansali, managing partner, APJ SLG Law Offices which is representing CUTS.

CUTS also complained that Google was promoting its own products through search. Says Udai Singh Mehta, CUTS director, “Preference was being given by Google to its products and subsidiaries in search.” This, being a dominant player in search and online advertising, amounts to abusing its position. According to market estimates, Google enjoys a 93 per cent share of the search market and gets about 85 per cent of the revenues of online advertising. Says Nikhil Pahwa, editor-in-chief of Medianama: “In search cases, Google is clearly the dominant player in the market. So when they start integrating content into search, there is a problem and it becomes an issue.”

In the course of the investigation, the CCI D-G also sought opinion from about 30 companies—most of them gave similar feedback about Google’s practices. The list includes Flipkart, mapmyindia.com, makemytrip.com, Microsoft and Nokia Maps.

Google will now have to appear before the full CCI bench on September 17 for a hearing based on the D-G report. After this, the CCI will take a final call on the issue. Of course, Google can seek an extension of this hearing. According to company insiders, they have not sought an extension yet. Google will have the right to appeal any order the CCI comes out with. The first appeal would be at the court of a competition appellate tribunal headed by a retired SC judge. The final appeal can happen only with the Supreme Court.

As expected, Google denies any wrongdoing and says the abuse of dominant position will need to be proved. Manas Chaudhuri, lawyer with Khaitan & Co which deals with competition cases, told Outlook, “The report says that Google is dominant, which is correct. If it is dominant, there is nothing wrong under the Competition Act. The issue is whether or not it has abused its dominance. The ‘abuse’ is a rule-of-reason argument and as such the CCI will have to assess quite a few international best practices theories eg, ‘objective justification’, ‘analysing the statutory mandate of meeting the competition in the relevant market’, ‘consumer harm’ and ‘counterfactuals’.”

In response to queries, a Google spokesperson said, “We’re currently reviewing the report from the CCI’s ongoing investigation. We continue to work closely with the CCI and remain confident that we comply fully with India’s competition laws. Regulators and courts around the world, including in the US, Germany, Taiwan, Egypt and Brazil, have looked into and found no concerns on many of the issues raised in this report.” Actually, Google is facing a similar case in the EU, while similar issues have been raised in Brazil, Hong Kong, Argentina and Mexico.

Sure, at first blush, the report appears tilted against Google. What may go in its favour is the CCI’s dismal record in treating such cases. Though it is the final investigation report, experts say it is not sacrosanct: the CCI bench might not agree with it. In the last six years, over 20 such investigation reports have been dismissed by the CCI after the final hearing. And Google will try its best to bring forth the fact that it has been exonerated in similar cases in the US, Germany and Taiwan.

But with the D-G’s final investigation report giving a clear verdict against Google’s practices, it might not be so easy for the search giant to come out cleanly from this one. Says Nehaa Chaudhari, lawyer with the Centre for Internet and Society (cis), “Given that India is not the only jurisdiction where Google is using its secret algorithm to promote its own products, there is enough for the CCI to proceed on against it.” What will also help is the testimony of several companies who have said that they have suffered because of Google’s web practices.

The entire world is watching India. Clearly, if the CCI upholds the D-G report and pronounces Google guilty, it could seriously affect the search giant’s growth in India, one of the fastest growing internet markets for Google with over 300 million internet users and an even faster growing Android landscape (where also it is a dominant player). With the final EU verdict on the case yet to come out, will India set a new example for the world to follow?

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/outlook-september-21-2015-arindam-mukherjee-some-key-words-are-missing

Some Key Words Are Missing

praskrishna — 2016-10-23T01:40:12Z

Google manipulating search results? The Competition Commission is on its case.

The article by Arindam Mukherjee was published by Outlook on October 23, 2016. Nehaa Chaudhari was quoted.

G’s Global Woes

Google’s problems aren’t restricted to India. It is facing similar cases around the world.

Europe: The search giant has been accused of using its dominant position on the web to dominate the market for online product searches. There’s another probe on possible abuse of dominant position with Android.

Brazil: Is being investigated for favouring its own services over others on the internet

Hong Kong & Argentina: Facing issues about collecting user data

Spain: Had to shut down Google News over copyright issues.

Germany: Its Google Street View navigation service got into problems over privacy issues

Mexico: The local regulator has brought up issues similar to those in Europe

***

“In search cases, Google is clearly the dominant player. So when they integrate content into search, it’s a problem.”
Nikhil Pahwa, Medianama

Outlook’s cover from Oct 28, 2013

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/outlook-arindam-mukherjee-october-23-2016-some-key-words-are-missing

Some ISPs block Wordpress domain across India

praskrishna — 2012-08-26T15:16:30Z

Latest reports confirm that Tata Photon has blocked access to the Wordpress.com domain across India, following a government order to block web pages containing offensive content.

Published in tech 2 on August 25, 2012. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

Apparently, the ISP has resorted to a blanket ban, blocking access to the entire site instead of clamping down on specific web pages carrying unacceptable content. Wordpress is accessible through other ISPs such as Airtel and Reliance. However, there is no clarity yet about any other ISP blocking out Wordpress entirely, and we are in the process of verifying this.

We find that the domain can be accessed through means such as free proxy websites when using a Tata Photon connection, which could indicate that the problem does not lie with the Wordpress server. Despite the inability to view Wordpress websites and blogs, those with registered accounts on Wordpress are able to log in to the website. Certain portions of the Dashboard or website backend are known to have been blocked, and what remains accessible is functioning very slowly for Tata Photon users. Users cannot edit or post new content at the moment, but can view sections such as the website's stats. However, this all-encompassing block seems to be affecting only the Wordpress.com platform and not Wordpress.org.

The error message that most users are coming to

A blogger by the name 'Anon and on' has written, “I can’t access any WordPress.com blog from home. Neither can I open up the window for a new post or access any support forums. I’ve cleared the cache and tried different browsers, but no luck. All I can do is log in. If I try to see any WordPress.com blog or access my Dashboard or hit “New Post”, the notification I get is that the server couldn’t be contacted and that I should check my connection. Which I would do if it wasn’t for the fact that I can open any and every other website”.

We tried to contact Tata Photon to get a clear idea, but it was unavailable for comment. We also contacted Tata Photon users, who run their websites and blogs on the Wordpress platform. They said they have been unable to access the service since Monday. Many users tweeted out their puzzlement and frustration after discovering that they were suddenly unable to view their own blogs and sites.

"Tata simply blocked 25 MILLION wordpress blogs @cis_india highlight this"

"Not able to open http://Wordpress.com blogs on Tata Photon Plus."

"all wordpress blogs blocked in Tata photon plus"

"It's some Tata Photon bug. Wordpress working fine with Reliance."

"There is a known issue with Tata Photon and Wordpress. Found 5 people who have the same."

In protest, some bloggers from across the country have formed a group called the Indian Bloggers' Forum. The forum plans to approach the Supreme Court with a PIL seeking immediate unblocking of their blogs and websites.

Earlier this week, a list containing 309 URLs sought to be banned by the government in light of the Assam violence and the subsequent exodus in northeast India was leaked online. The URLs comprising Twitter accounts, HTML img tags, blog posts, entire blogs, and a handful of websites, were blocked between August 18 and 21. In an analysis of the leaked information, Pranesh Prakash, Programme Manager at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) wrote, "It is clear that the list was not compiled with sufficient care". The list included Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org among other domains. However, only select entries - 3 from Wordpress.org and 8 from Wordpress.com- were meant to be blocked out.

The clampdown on websites with content deemed to be offensive and disruptive led to the Indian government ordering the blocking of around 310 web pages. The Centre began to come down heavily on the channels it believed were playing a role in triggering fear, and leading to violence and the mass displacement of Indians from the northeast. It has been reported that morphed images and videos were uploaded to these websites with the intention of inciting the Muslim community in the country.

If your access to Wordpress has been blocked, let us know in your comments.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/tech2-in-com-som-isps-block-wordpress-domain-across-india

Solutions for Enabling Cross-border Data Flows

praskrishna — 2012-12-07T22:42:35Z

ICC BASIS and the Internet Society are co-organising a workshop at the IGF (Baku - 7 November 2012 - 14:30 to 16:00) to explore solutions for enabling cross-border data flows. Malavika Jayaram is a panelist.

This was published by Internet Society. For details published on the IGF website, see here

BRIEF OVERVIEW

The Internet has revolutionised our ability to communicate and share data beyond national boundaries, thereby facilitating cross-border social and commercial interactions. Enabling cross-border data flows, however, raises a number of important Internet governance policy considerations for a broad range of stakeholders, such as business, intermediaries, users, law enforcement agencies, governments, policymakers and the wider Internet technical community. In this context, the workshop will explore policy issues, from various stakeholder perspectives.

The dynamic panel of experts will provide a wide range of perspectives for this discussion and explore concrete solutions and options for enabling cross-border data flows. This is an important opportunity to raise awareness about the practical and the policy realities raised by these issues. It will also be an opportunity to share concrete issues, experiences, possible approaches and solutions.

MODERATOR
Jeff Brueggeman, Vice President-Public Policy & Deputy Chief Privacy Officer, AT&T

PANELLISTS
Joseph Alhadeff, Chief Privacy Strategist, Vice President, Global Public Policy, Oracle
Maria Häll, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Sweden
Malavika Jayaram, Partner, Jayaram & Jayaram, Bangalore
Christine Runnegar, Senior Policy Advisor, Internet Society
Ivan Sanchez Medina, Member of the Columbian National Telecommunications Commission, CRC

LEAD DISCUSSANTS
Olga Cavalli, Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Argentina
Christoph Steck, Chief Regulatory Officer, Telefonica (TBC)
Kevin Bankston, Senior Counsel and Free Expression Director, Center for Democracy & Technology

REMOTE MODERATOR
Constance Weise, ICC BASIS

SUBSTANTIVE RAPPORTEUR
Karen Mulberry, Policy Advisor, Internet Society

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/solutions-for-cross-border-data-flows

Socio-financial Online Networks: Globalizing Micro-Credit through Micro-transactional Networked Platforms – A Public Lecture by Radhika Gajalla

praskrishna — 2011-06-24T11:37:52Z

The Centre for Internet and Society invites you to a public lecture by Prof. Radhika Gajalla of Bowling Green State University. She will give a lecture on how microfinance online functions through the social networked online space and the micro-transactional abilities of the interface together work to enhance financialization of the globe.

In her lecture, she will focus on how this is made possible by the increased digitalization of financial practices and the role micro practices play in producing globalization. She will also lay emphasis on the fact that the increased digitalization of finance also means that "financial literacy" is also removed into the virtual space so that it is further away from subaltern daily praxis while simultaneously staging subaltern presence in cosmopolitan space through mobilizing structures of 'feeling' that Dr. Shameem Black refers to as "sentimental sympathy".

Prof. Gajalla’s lecture will also touch upon issues like what online socially networked micro-credit websites do visually and through the use of multiple tools that are embedded in the discourse of interactivity is to make it seem as if the subaltern is indeed participating in these networks. Thus, the appearance of a subaltern presence is produced. In this production of appearance of the subaltern presence in online contexts, just as in other visual and static contexts, the complexity of socio-cultural and economic intersections are not clearly revealed or accounted for. This reproduces exotic notions of the authentic, mummified ‘other’ and offers the subaltern image up for consumption. In turn, as Web 2.0 tools are set up to actually reach the offline subaltern via non-profit or for profit representatives that connect to these online networks, the subaltern in turn is tapped as a consumer for capital.

Radhika Gajjala

Radhika Gajjala is a Professor of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University and Director of the American Culture Studies program. Her book, "Cyber Selves: Feminist Ethnographies of South Asian Women" was published in 2004. She has co-edited collections on "South Asian Technospaces", "Global Media Culture and Identity" and "Webbing Cyberfeminist Practice: Communities, Pedagogies, and Social Action". She is presently working on a forthcoming book, "Weavings of the Real and Virtual: Cyberculture and the Subaltern" to be published in 2012 and is also working on two interrelated projects — one on "Microfinance Online and Money in Virtual Worlds and Social Media" in relation to the ITization and NGOization of global socio-economic work and play environments and the other on "Coding and Placement of Affect and Labour in Digital Diasporas".

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/socio-financial-online-networks

Society 5.0 and Artificial Intelligence with a Human Face

Admin — 2019-05-14T14:51:56Z

On 10 May 2019 Radhika Radhakrishnan attended a stakeholder's roundtable consultation on "Society 5.0 and Artificial Intelligence with a Human Face", organized by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The event aimed to chart a roadmap for India’s participation at the G20, under the Japanese Presidency.

The agenda can be found here. Radhika's inputs were primarily focused on the feminist and gender implications of publicly deployed AI models, challenges and opportunities for academic AI-focused research in the Global South, recommendations for AI capacity building and skilling in the Global South, and regulation of black-box AI.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/society-5-0-and-artificial-intelligence-with-a-human-face