News & Media
Site News
CIS anniversary
The Centre for Internet and Society will celebrate five years of its existence with an exhibition showcasing its works and accomplishments.
Is free speech an Indian value?
Is freedom of speech and expression deeply accepted in Indian society? Or is it merely a European cultural import that made its way along with the English language and appeared in the Constitution because of the founding fathers' genius? Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya reviews Freedom Song, a film and connects the dots.
When Netas Network
In September 2009, a freshly re-elected Congress took exception to a light-hearted tweet by its newly inducted minister Shashi Tharoor, chastising him not only for causing offence but also for being too quick to air his views on social media.
Mixed Reactions Among Participants In WIPO Talks On Treaty For The Blind
At the close of this week’s negotiating session for an international treaty on copyright exceptions for blind and visually impaired persons, some governments, including upcoming host Morocco, expressed disappointment in the outcome of a three-day drafting session, as it left so much for the diplomatic conference. But most said they are optimistic that solutions can be found.
CIS in GNI Annual Report
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) joined the Global Network Intiative (GNI) in March 2012. Recently, GNI brought out its Annual Report. Sunil Abraham is quoted in it.
Kolkata Wiki Community Meetup
Recently Centre for Internet and Society's Access To Knowledge Programme members T. Vishnu Vardhan and Subhashish Panigrahi met wikipedians in Kolkata. The event was co-organized by the Access to Knowledge team from the Centre for Internet and Society and the Wikipedian community of Kolkata.
Untangling the web of India's 'ungovernable' Net
India sells itself as a tech hub, outsourcing IT experts to the world. At home, it dreams of "equity on the Net." But millions remain unconnected and digital surveillance is on the rise.
Wikipedia Workshop in Mangalore — Report in Kannada Prabha
A workshop was conducted for students of Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangalore by Dr. U.B.Pavanaja on April 9, 2013. Kannada Prabha published a report about this on the following day, April 10, 2013.
KP Rao feted
KP Rao who had designed fonts for Indian languages including Kannada and devised the first phonetic keyboard driver for Indian languages, was felicitated at a programme organised at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management on Tuesday, reports DHNS from Mangalore.
Regulating Social Media: Unrealistic, Impossible, Necessary?
The Press Council of India Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju calls for regulating social media, saying it will prevent offensive material coming into the public domain. But is it really necessary to regulate the social media? If yes, is it possible to do it?
Vote: Will Social Media Impact the Election?
As India enters election mode, social media has become one of many platforms where possible prime ministerial candidates are being scrutinized.
Social media may influence 160 LS seats in 2014
Social media is likely to influence politics and elections in 160 of India’s 543 Parliament constituencies, making Facebook and Twitter users the nation’s newest voting bloc, a new study suggests.
India takes its first serious step toward privacy regulation – but it may be misguided
The world’s second-most populous nation may be on the cusp of embracing privacy legislation. After several false starts the Indian government appears ready to accept the need for some form of regulation.
Report of Wiki Workshop in Mangalore
A wikipedia workshop was organized in Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangalore on April 9, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the workshop. Prajavani's Mangalore edition published a report about the felicitation to K.P. Rao and about the wikipedia workshop.
Need to develop vernacular languages stressed
University of Hyderabad (UoH) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ramakrishna Rama Swamy said on Wednesday that everyone has a duty to contribute to the development of vernacular languages.
The Fifth Elephant 2013
HasGeek is organizing the Fifth Elephant from July 11 to 13, 2013 at the NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bangalore. Workshops on open source technologies and enterprise solutions will be held on July 11, 2013. You can participate in workshops only, conference only or both.
Review of Guidelines for Indian Government Websites-meeting notice
The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension has called for a meeting for review of guidelines for Indian Government websites. The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of Shri Anoop Kumar Srivastava, Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Clarify and define terms in IT rules, panel tells govt.
In the wake of concerns that the government is increasingly using ambiguously-phrased terms in legal codes to crack down on online speech, the Parliament’s Committee on Subordinate Legislation has asked for greater clarity and definition on terms which can serve as grounds for restrictions.
2nd Odia Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
The event is being organized today, April 1, 2013 online by the Odia Wikipedia Community, from 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. The Centre for Internet and Society is supporting this event.
What if the Net shut down for a few days
When spammers attacked Spamhaus, a European spam-fighting group in what was billed as the "biggest cyber attack in history", they managed to temporarily slow down the internet. But what if dedicated attackers succeeded in shutting down the internet for a longer time, maybe a few days? What would be the potential impact of such a scenario in a world where crucial data is stored on emails, most financial transactions have shifted online and an entire generation has grown up not realising what life without the web could be like?
