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EU Commissioner Hedegaard to deliver keynote address at consumer world congress
European Union Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, will deliver the opening keynote address to the Consumer International (CI) 19th World Congress in Hong Kong, 3-6 May, it has been announced.
Net cracker
Is Facebook taking over our lives? And if it is, so what? In email interviews with new media researcher and user control advocate Marc Stumpel who is conducting a Facebook Resistance workshop this fortnight, and artist and communication designer Tobias Leingruber, the originator of the FB Resistance idea, Akhila Seetharaman attempts to answer these questions. This article was published in Time Out Bengaluru Vol. 3 Issue 19, April 1 - 14, 2011.
On the Path to Global Open Access: A Few More Miles to Go
This editorial by PLoS Medicine Editors Virginia Barbour, Jocalyn Clark, Susan Jones, Melissa Norton, and Emma Veitch was published in the magazine's March 2011, Volume 8, Issue 3.
Second Expert Meeting on Human Rights and the Internet
The second expert meeting on human rights and the Internet is being organised by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression on 30 and 31 March 2011 in Stockholm (Sweden). Anja Kovacs will participate in this meeting.
India Should Watch Its Internet Watchmen
The month after terrorists attacked Mumbai in 2008, India's government initiated legislation enabling it to eavesdrop on electronic communication and block websites on grounds of national security. There was no public debate before the bill in question was introduced, and hardly any debate inside parliament itself before it passed in 2009. In the law, there were no guidelines about the extent to which an individual's right to privacy would be breached. And there was certainly no mention, and therefore, reassurance, that due process would be followed when it came to restricting access to websites. This article by Rahul Bhatia was published in the Wall Street Journal on March 28, 2011.
Networking its way to better governance
New policy to regulate Government presence on social media. This article by Deepa Kurup was published in the Hindu on March 28, 2011.
‘Learn from failed UK NIR project’
The new government in the UK recently scrapped its decade-long work spending millions of pounds on establishing the National Identity Registration (NIR) number simply because it realised it wasn't workable. This article by Madhumita was published in the Deccan Chronicle on March 22, 2011.
Design!publiC - News from Livemint
The Centre for Internet and Society in partnership with Centre for Knowledge Societies, Venkataramanan Associates, Centre for Law and Policy Research and LiveMint organised Design!publiC in Delhi on March 18, 2011. On the same day, livemint.com published a series of articles.
Muzzling the Internet
It is strange suddenly to be confronted with the provisions of a law passed way back in 2008. But why should the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008, pushed through in the weeks following the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai be making news now? This news item by Sundeep Dougal was posted in Outlook on March 17, 2011.
Battle for the Internet
In this article written by Latha Jishnu and published by Down to Earth, Issue: March 15 2011, the author reports about the events in the United States in the post WikiLeaks scenario.
Catch-all approach to Net freedom draws activist ire
The Internet has revolutionized the way we socialise, date and even protest. Online activism is a faster, more effective way to get more people to react to a cause. But at the same time it is this speed that makes Internet-generated protests a far graver danger than offline protests. Egypt faced an Internet shutdown when the protest started gaining steam and China has been throttled with heavy cyber censorship for years. Unfortunately, silencing the voices of dissent online is as easy as raising them. This article by Annie Johnny appeared in the Sunday Guardian, New Delhi on 13 March 2011.
Cause and effect Facebook-style
While the world is crediting Facebook for triggering the Arab revolution, do Facebook groups in India say anything about top of mind causes for young Indians? Crime touches a chord - the pages that have sprung up for Radhika Tanwar and Aarushi Talwar illustrate this - but it's the ideological issues that have made it to our top five list. Anja Kovas, a fellow at the Centre for Internet and Society, a Bengaluru-based research organisation, analyses the success of these causes.
Draft IT guidelines may gag internet freedom
The draft rules proposed under the Information Technology Rules 2011 (due diligence observed by intermediaries guidelines) by the Indian government could lead to unprecedented levels of online censorship. This article by Shilpa Phadnis and Pranav Nambiar was published in the Times of India on March 11, 2011.
Lives suspended in the Web
When 14-year-old Manish sits behind his laptop, punching away at keys, his facial expressions reflecting his various online interactions, his parents stand in the doorway, watching curiously. Their son is physically at home, but to all purposes, lost in the limbo of the Internet. By all standards, Manish is a good, responsible young adult but his parents worry because they don’t seem to have any control over Manish’s online life. They find it difficult to understand the digital realms that he seamlessly integrates into his life.
Govt proposal to muzzle bloggers sparks outcry
A government proposal seeking to police blogs has come in for severe criticism from legal experts and outraged the online community. The draft rules, drawn up by the government under the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008, deal with due diligence to be observed by an intermediary. This article was published in the Times of India on March 10, 2011.
Anti-Social Network
Social media is driving teens to a reality they can't handle. This article by Max Martin was published in Mail Today on February 27, 2011.
New Indian Rules May Make Online Censorship Easier
Draft rules proposed by the Indian government for intermediaries such as telecommunications companies, Internet service providers and blogging sites could in effect aid censorship, according to experts. The article by John Ribeiro was published in Yahoo News on March 7, 2011.
Growing cyberspace controls, Internet filtering
OpenNet Initiative investigates, analyses filtering and surveillance practices, writes T Ramachandran in this article published in the Hindu on Sunday, February 20, 2011.
Social Network Suicide
Those disillusioned with their virtual friends circle are saying goodbye through web applications that wipe out your net identity. What’s more, you can even have your own memorial page, says Sahana Charan in this article published in the Bangalore Mirror on Sunday, February 6, 2011.
2(m) or not 2(m)
An article by Nilanjana S Roy was published in the Business Standard on February 19, 2011. In this article Nilanjana Roy explains to us how a copyright amendment might change the way we read, write and publish in India.
