Centre for Internet and Society

CODE Session

praskrishna — 2016-01-13T13:39:43Z

CODE Project is an IDRC funded project, and CIS is a partner institution, along with PIJIP at American University Washington College of Law, USA, Karisma Foundation, Colombia, Derechos Digitale, Chile, American Assembly, Columbia University, USA and FGV, Rio.

At this session held in New Delhi on December 17, 2015, CIS presented some preliminary research and sought input on methodology as well as content. The project broadly studies law and policy environment that facilitates/hinders content creation online in Brazil, US, India, Colombia and Chile. A second part of the project, led by PIJIP is developing a copyright index, to chart copyright law developments in many countries around the world. Nehaa Chaudhari and Anubha Sinha participated in the open session.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/code-session

Code of Civil Procedure

praskrishna — 2014-09-06T15:05:40Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/code-of-civil-procedure.zip

Code As Communication

praskrishna — 2015-01-23T03:12:15Z

Gene Kogan will give a talk at the Centre for Internet & Society's Bangalore office on February 2, 2015. The talk will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gene's talk will draw analogies between software, communication, creativity, and expressivity. Programming has a long history of comparison to other written media, with inevitable consequences on our legal policy over authorship and ownership.

With the emergence of free "creative coding" and "live coding" platforms like Processing, OpenFrameworks, PureData, vvvv, and SuperCollider, the boundaries between code and creative expression have further eroded, initiating inquiry as to its overlap with "traditional" creative writing. We are confronted with old questions within new contexts. As existing institutions incorporate emerging technologies into their creative programs and new ones take root and solidify, how do we make an infrastructure which most effectively and transparently fosters the development of creative technology? How do we ensure that this process is fair and democratic, and at greatest benefit and lowest cost to the public? What rights should users and developers receive? As the distinction between art and technology becomes blurry, what relevance does the FOSS movement have in cultivating cultural production?

Gene Kogan

Gene Kogan is a programmer and artist who writes free software for new and emerging technologies. He creates tools for live music, dance, theatre, and performance art. He contributes to numerous open-source software projects, and frequently gives workshops and demonstrations on topics related to code and art.

Follow Gene Kogan elsewhere:

Website: http://www.genekogan.com

Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/genekogan

Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/genekogan

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/genekogan

Github: http://www.github.com/genekogan

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/genekogan

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/code-as-communication

Cocorobo

praskrishna — 2012-05-23T08:53:51Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Cocorobo.jpg

coaxial cable

praskrishna — 2012-10-03T08:58:40Z

coaxial cable

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/pen.jpg

coaxial

praskrishna — 2012-10-16T04:11:35Z

coaxial

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_coaxial.png

coaxial

praskrishna — 2012-10-16T03:57:03Z

coaxial

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/coaxial.png

COAI, Centre for Internet & Society to hold pan-India meetings on privacy issues

praskrishna — 2014-07-07T07:37:34Z

In order to discuss possible legal frameworks to enable surveillance of voice and data communications in India, the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) along with the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) will hold seven roundtable meetings across the country in the coming weeks on privacy and surveillance issues.

Originally published by IANS on July 4, 2014 the news was mirrored in the Times of India, NDTV, Business Standard, Economic Times, and World News on the same day. Bhairav Acharya gave his inputs.

The recommendations and dialogues from each of these roundtables will be compiled and submitted to the relevant ministries of the government, a statement issued by COAI said here on Friday.

The roundtable meetings will take place in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and twice in New Delhi.

These roundtables are closed-door meetings involving multiple stakeholders such as the industry leaders, policy makers, and experts from the legal fraternity and civil society.

In the era of freedom, when data connectivity via the internet, has emerged as one of the most powerful tools for communications, infringement of customer privacy by government agencies through telecom networks have forced the industry to initiate discussions on the international best practices on communications privacy and surveillance, and the relevant Indian jurisprudence.

"COAI, with the Centre for Internet and Society has taken this initiative by bringing the relevant stakeholders on a common platform to discuss the matter to arrive at an acceptable conclusion," COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said.

According to Bhairav Acharya, who advises the CIS: "Legal reform is necessary to identify the limits of permissible surveillance, the protection of privacy, the procedure of intercepting communications, the expectations of service providers, and freedom of all Indians. The law must keep up with technological advancements to create a balanced, proportionate and fair mechanism to enable and regulate surveillance. This will serve India’s national interest."

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/ians-july-4-2014-coai-cis-to-hold-pan-india-meetings-on-privacy-issues

cnn

praskrishna — 2013-09-20T07:44:05Z

bus drivers protest

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/cnninternational.png

CMAI-TEMA

praskrishna — 2016-04-26T01:40:05Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cmai-tema

cluster

praskrishna — 2012-06-25T04:21:24Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/screenshot.png

CLP Developer Certificate

praskrishna — 2014-01-20T05:22:59Z

CLPR Developer Certificate

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Maraa.png

Cloudy Jurisdiction: Addressing the thirst for Cloud Data in Domestic Legeal Processes

praskrishna — 2012-12-09T01:00:49Z

Elonnai Hickok was a panelist at this workshop held at the IGF in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 7, 2012. The workshop was co-organised by Electronic Frontier Foundation (Peru) and University of Ottawa.

The use of cloud services is rising globally. Cloud computing and storage are uniquely tailored to take full advantage of our increasingly networked environment. However, a move to the cloud also entails tangible challenges as vast repositories of information once kept within the sacrosanct safety of the home computer are placed on a remote server in the control of a third party. While the protections of home storage and processing can be replicated in the cloud, legal norms have been slow to adopt. Jurisdiction, the classic internet governance question, is raised in particularly stark contrast in the move to the cloud, as placing user data can subject that data to the legal access laws of any (or even many) jurisdictions in the world.

While there are indicators that such data is being accessed at increasing and alarming rates, globally, yet even the dimensions of the problem remain obscure. What is needed is a set of shared international norms relating to transparency, data sovereignty and lawful access to private information. In recent years, however, International forums have appeared much more eager to adopt international standards for data access (be it to combat cybercrime, secure critical infrastructure, or help intellectual property holders uncover alleged infringers of their rights) than for data sovereignty. Standards need to be developed that will provide a basis for the special challenges to cross-jurisdictional privacy that the move to the cloud highlights. This panel will examine the need for such a cross-jurisdictional framework, what one might look like, and, importantly, how one might bring such a framework about where the issue appears to be a low priority for many national governments.

Agenda
The objective of this panel is to attempt to resolve some of the trans-border threats to civil liberties that are posed by the move to the cloud. If a baseline of privacy protection can be assured at the international level, concerns over limiting data flows on the basis of jurisdiction will be alleviated. This panel will be divided into two parts. The first part will discuss some of the challenges raised by the cloud environment for traditional civil liberties paradigms. The discussion in part two will be solution-driven—what rules can be put in place at the international level to alleviate the heightened risk to privacy and other civil liberties raised by a cloud-centric model.

Part 1: Cloud-based threats to cross-border civil liberties (45 mins)
This part will discuss some of the challenges to civil liberties arising from a cross-border cloud-based environment. The panel will be further sub-divided into 25-30 minutes of panelist input, followed by 15-20 minutes of general discussion. Panelists will be asked to spend 3-5 minutes highlighting what they view as the most pressing of these challenges may be.

This might include specific recurring problems that have arisen in many comparable online contexts, as they relate to the cloud such as, for example:

legal obligations to build in intercept capacity into Internet services (compare CALEA 2.0 efforts in US, Lawful Access in Canada, and domestic server obligations such as those imposed on RIM by India and others in order to facilitate access to data that is encrypted in transit).
Concerns that many legal regimes permit voluntary conduct without adequate safeguards for political pressure on companies, particularly smaller businesses, to comply with requests.
Inability to challenge surveillance laws because the programs are shrouded in secrecy, because individuals are never made aware they have been surveilled, because of standing issues, etc.
Ability for ‘one-stop access’: cloud centralizes mass amounts of data in one place. This concentration as well as a general erosion of traditional criteria designed to ensure surveillance is targeted in a way that impacts minimally on the general populace.
Nascent suggestions of informal information sharing arrangements through MLATs and less transparent more informal arrangements.

Part 2: Adopting protections at the International level (45 mins.)
The discussion in Part 2 will focus on how some of these problems can be addressed at the international level by adoption of a set of principled protections designed to meet the realities of online and specifically cloud services. The focus is on problem resolution.

Format for Part 2 will mirror that of Part 1. Panelists will be provided with 3-5 minutes each and asked to present their views on one or two solutions that can be adopted at the international level to the problems presented in part 1. The remainder (20-25 minutes) will be dedicated to general discussion.

It is hoped that the discussion will explore specific protections that might be adopted at the international level, how to advance those solutions, and what strategies can generally advance these objectives, on the advocacy front, by use of transparency tools to increase awareness of some of the issues.

Questions to think about:

Historically, interception of communications received the strongest protection at law, but it relied to a great extent on the act of interception coinciding with the communication itself. Should we be expanding this to other means of communications?
Do we have effective mechanisms to immunize private organizations from political pressure to voluntarily share information? Particularly, a lot of small companies can now have a lot of information. Are they well equipped to resist political pressure
Does the content/traffic data distinction still hold? Do we need a new framework for analysing the types of data produced as a natural byproduct of our online activities?
Can the MLAT regime form the basis for ensuring fundamental rights are respected in legitimate cross-border surveillance activities? If so, what would it take to have it reflect a baseline of protections?
Is it feasible to develop and formally adopt detailed limitations on state access at the international or regional level?
Is cloud-based info susceptible to unauthorized state access in new ways? Is this something the law can fix (mandate encryption in storage or other safeguards)? Social engineering concerns?

Background Reading:

The Draft International Principles on Surveillance & Human Rights: http://necessaryandproportionate.org/
Global Network Initiative, "Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy", http://www.globalnetworkinitiative.org/sites/default/files/GNI_-_Principles_1_.pdf
I. Brown & D. Korff, “Digital Freedoms in International Law”, GNI 2012, http://wsms1.intgovforum.org/sites/default/files/Digital%20Freedoms%20in%20International%20Law.pdf
J. McNamee, “Internet Intermediaries: The New Cyberpolice?”, GIS Watch, http://www.giswatch.org/sites/default/files/gisw_-_internet_intermediaries_-_the_new_cyber_police_.pdf
A. Escudero-Pascal & G. Hosein, "The Hazards of Technology-Neutral Policy: Questioning Lawful Access to Traffic Data", (2004) 47(3) ACM 77, http://web.it.kth.se/~aep/PhD/docs/paper6-acm-1905-reviewed_20021022.pdf
HRC, “Protect, Respect and Remedy: A Framework for Business and Human Rights”, April 2008, A/HRC/8/5, http://198.170.85.29/Ruggie-report-7-Apr-2008.pdf
HRC, “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework”, March 2011, A/HRC/7/31, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/A-HRC-17-31_AEV.pdf
ACLU, “New Justice Department Documents Show Huge Increase in Warrantless Electronic Surveillance”, Sept 2012, http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/new-justice-department-documents-show-huge-increase

Organiser(s) Name:

Katitza Rodriguez, International Rights Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation (Peru)
Tamir Israel, Staff Lawyer, Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), University of Ottawa (Canada)

Previous Workshop(s):

Submitted Workshop Panelists:

Chair: Katitza Rodriguez, International Rights Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation; (US/Peru) (Civil Society) / Confirmed

Ian Brown, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute (EU) (Academic) / Confirmed
Bertrand de la Chapelle, Program Director at International Diplomatic Academy (EU) (Civil Society) / Confirmed
Marc Crandall, Global Compliance, Google (US) (Private Sector)
Elonnai Hickok, Policy Associate, Centre for Internet & Society (India) (Civil Society) /Confirmed
Sophie Kwasny, Head of Data Protection Unit, Data Protection & Cybercrime Division, Council of Europe (IGO) / Confirmed
Bruce Schneier, Chief Security Technology Officer of BT (US) (Private Sector) / Confirmed
Wendy Seltzer, Policy Counsel, W3C (US) (Technical Community) / Confirmed

Name of Remote Moderator(s): Paul Muchene, iHub Nairobi (Kenya) (Private Sector) Assigned Panellists: de La Chapelle - Bertrand Rodriguez - Katitza Brown - Ian Schneier - Bruce KWASNY - Sophie Seltzer - Wendy Crandall - Marc

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/cloudy-jurisdiction-addressing-the-thirst-for-cloud-data-in-domestic-legeal-processes

Climate change will be a priority in talks with Modi: U.S.

praskrishna — 2016-07-02T05:08:51Z

Mr. Modi will have a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama on Tuesday and address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

The article was published in Hindu on June 6, 2016

“Advancing the ambitious climate change and clean energy agenda” and “further enhancing our security and diplomatic cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region,” would be the focus of discussions between India and the U.S during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit this week, a State Department official told The Hindu.

Mr. Modi is scheduled to arrive in Washington on Monday evening on a three-day tour.

Mr. Modi will have a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama, to be followed by a lunch at the White House on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he will address a joint session of Congress, which will be a demonstration of the bipartisan support that the India-US relationship has acquired.

“Since 2014, there have been six meetings and countless phone calls between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi, and this visit reflects the significance that the two leaders place on our natural alliance,” the official said.

Wooing investors

Mr. Modi will interact with U.S CEOs and investors at the annual meeting of the U.S – India Business Council (USIBC) on Tuesday. USIBC President Mukesh Aghi said the meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Obama, “a PM who has not even completed half his term and a President who has only a few months left in office will be to strengthen the foundations of the relationship further and ensure continuity.”

Mr. Modi is visiting the U.S - the fourth time since he took over as PM in 2014 – at Mr Obama’s behest.

Mr. Aghi said the USIBC event would have CEOs of 25 Fortune 500 companies attending it. The event will also honour Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and Founder and Managing Director of Sun Pharmaceuticals Dilip Shanghvi with the Global Leadership Awards. “The PM’s interactions with U.S business leaders will be aimed to get more investment and technology to India,” Mr. Aghi said.

USIBC is also lobbying with the U.S and Indian governments to restart the negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty (BIT). In a letter to the U.S government last week, Mr. Aghi said: "While both governments took a break from the negotiations on account of revising the model BITs, it is important for us to come back to the negotiating table to develop a way-forward on concluding a high-quality BIT.” USIBC also sought U.S initiative to nominate India for membership of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

IPR, Human Rights

Mr. Modi is facing protests from groups in India on the intellectual property rights policy that his government announced recently. The government has claimed the new policy does not compromise the country’s ability to ensure affordable drugs, but several campaign groups believe the Modi government is coming under U.S pressure on the issue.

Seeking a White Paper in parliament on the government’s engagement with the U.S on IPR issues, 11 civil society groups in India urged Mr. Modi “to withstand the pressure from the US government and corporations and to defend the people’s interests,” during his talks in Washington.

“We understand the primary intent of the (recent) policy is to respond to the aggressive demands of United States government, backed by the corporate interests especially the pharmaceutical companies, to amend India’s IP laws that include several safeguards to protect the public interest. The government of India should remain committed to the welfare of its people’s interest and should not succumb to the pressures that it is being subjected to,” the groups said, demanding to reconsider the “implementation of the National IPR Policy and send the policy back to the drawing board.” The statement was signed by Forum Against FTAs, Lawyers Collective, All Indian Drug Action Network, Initiative for Health & Equity in Society, Third World Network, National Working Group on Patent Laws, Gene Campaign, New Trade Union Initiative, Navdanya, Software Freedom Law Centre and Centre for Internet and Society.

In the U.S Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations (FIACONA) has expressed “grave concerns about the increasing intolerance and violence against India's Christian communities.” Recalling President Obama’s statement in Delhi in January 2015 on religious freedoms, the group said “the concerns he raised in that speech are very important for the future of US-India relationship.” “While President Obama’s comments have raised the level of attention paid to this issue globally, there are several cases of Mr. Modi’s government officials continuing to protect local groups loyal to him from prosecution. The general socio-political environment created by Mr. Modi and his party has only caused greater damage to the Union of India,” John Prabhudoss, FIACONA president said.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-hindu-varghese-k-george-june-6-2016-climate-change-will-be-a-priority-in-talks-with-modi-us

Climate Change and Controversy Mapping

praskrishna — 2012-02-27T04:10:30Z

A three-day workshop with Professor Bruno Latour, Dean for Research at Sciences Po, Paris. The workshop is being organised in collaboration with the Devechia Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore from March 19 to March 21, 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

The development of ecological crisis creates problems for political representation. Because of the scale of the phenomena to be considered, the esoteric character of the scientific knowledge necessary to apprehend them, the intensity of the conflicts of values that they generate, there is no assembly to handle those crises. The workshop will explore digital tools that might allow citizens to get a grasp of ecological crisis by drawing ''cartographies of scientific and technical controversies'' a necessary preliminary for political assemblies.

The workshop is opened to PhD students from all academic fields doing empirical work in various types of ecological crisis. The participants will experiment some of the digital tools and methods developed within the "mapping controversies" consortium (MACOSPOL, demoscience and other sources of "science studies"). It requires students to devote three full days to the study. A background in Science and Technology
Studies and some grasp of digital data analysis are preferable.

Eligibility criteria:

To be a doctoral student or at the post doctoral level
To have a general interest or research connexion with ecological/climate change issues
Familiarity with digital data analysis

Candidates must send their CV and a short synopsis of their doctoral or postdoctoral research before Sunday March 4, 2012, to:
jayes@caos.iisc.ernet.in & gilles.verniers@sciences-‐po.fr

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/climate-change-and-controversy-mapping