Centre for Internet and Society

MDM Digital Media Press Release

praskrishna — 2013-10-25T09:30:54Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/mdm-press-release.pdf

MDM Press Invite

praskrishna — 2013-10-25T09:24:48Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/mdm-press-invite.pdf

Mapping Digital Media Background Note

praskrishna — 2013-10-25T09:14:24Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/mapping-digital-media.pdf

The Fight for Digital Sovereignty

sunil — 2013-10-25T07:29:22Z

It is time to incorporate free software principles to address the issue of privacy. Thanks to the revelations of Edward Snowden, a former contractor to the United States (US) National Security Agency (NSA) who leaked secrets about the agency’s surveillance programmes, a 24-year-old movement aimed at protecting the rights of software users and developers has got some fresh attention from policymakers.

The article was published in the Economic & Political Weekly, Vol-XLVIII No. 42, October 19, 2013

The free and open source software movement (often collectively labelled as FOSS or sometimes FLOSS, with the “l” standing for “libre”) guarantees four freedoms through a copyright licence – the freedom to use for any purpose, the freedom to study the code, the freedom to modify it and the freedom to distribute the modified code gratis or for a fee. Free software principles have permeated the world in the form of movements around open standards, open content, open access and open data. The second freedom is the most critical in an open society. Privacy, security and integrity are best achieved through the transparency guaranteed by free software rather than the opacity of proprietary software.

Free software is directly useful in deciding on the software required for your device operating system and applications. NSA’s surveillance programme covered operating system vendors like Microsoft and Apple, and application vendors like Skype. The concerns raised by such surveillance programmes are best addressed by shifting to free software. Increasingly, this is possible on mobile devices because of the availability of Android derivatives that keep Google’s nose out of your business and on other personal computing devices through GNU/Linux distributions such as Ubuntu. Ideally, this should be accomplished by a mandate for government and public infrastructure in specific areas where free software alternatives are on par with proprietary competitors. Two other policy options remain outside procurement policies for hardware – code escrow and independent audits. Firms that are willing to share code with the government should be preferred over those that do not, thereby encouraging proprietary software companies to provide for the second freedom in free software within a limited context. Code escrow could improve the quality of the independent audit.

Unfortunately, open hardware based on free software principles is still a fringe phenomenon in terms of market share. The Indian government cannot afford bans on foreign products, unlike the intelligence and military of Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, which recently prohibited the use of Lenovo machines in “secret” and “top secret” networks. Last October, the US government banned US telecos from using equipment from Huawei and ZTE. Both these bans are not based on any credible public evidence regarding back doors in any of the products manufactured by these Chinese companies. The Indian government, using funds like the Universal Service Obligation Fund, should support competitive research to reverse-engineer and analyse all foreign and indigenous hardware to ensure that there is no national security threat or infringement on the individual’s right to privacy. One example would be a research project to determine whether China-manufactured phones call home when they are used on Indian telecom networks.

Cloud and other online services run by corporations could also completely undermine privacy and security. This again can be partially addressed through the transparency enabled by free software and open standards. To begin with, the government must ban the use of Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc, for official purposes by those in public office, law enforcement and the military, while simultaneously mandating the use of cryptography for all sensitive material and communication. It should not, however, mandate the use of National Informatics Centre (NIC) infrastructure as it may be a single point of failure; instead, a variety of open-standards-compliant and free-software-based infrastructure for all public sector information communication technology (ICT) requirements should be encouraged. This procurement bias will result in the growth of domestic server administration and security competence, thus creating and contributing towards the establishment of a market for affordable privacy and security-enhanced services that ordinary citizens and private sector organisations can access.

The end objective through means such as free software, open hardware, code escrow and independent audits is sovereignty over software, hardware, cloud and network infrastructure. However, the state, the private sector, the consumer and the citizen may disagree on the details. Apart from law enforcement and national security concerns that may require targeted surveillance, there are other occasions when technological possibilities may have to be curtailed through policy to protect human rights and the public interest. For example, to implement the internationally accepted privacy principle of notice on electronic recording devices, some jurisdictions may require that video recorders display a blinking red light and that digital cameras make an audible click sound just like analog cameras. This was first initiated in South Korea to reduce the incidence of “upskirt photography”. This type of law may become more commonplace when technologies like Google Glass become more popular. In other words, absolute digital sovereignty may need to be curtailed in order to protect human rights in certain circumstances. But code could be used to resist regulation through law, thereby converting both the software and hardware layers of devices and networks into a battleground for sovereignty between the free software hacker and the state.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/epw-vol-xlviii-42-october-19-2013-sunil-abraham-the-fight-for-digital-sovereignty

Open Letter to Members of the European Parliament of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee

elonnai — 2013-10-23T05:00:02Z

An open letter was sent to the Members of the European Parliament of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee on the proposed EU Regulation. The letter was apart of an initiative that Privacy International and a number of other NGO's are undertaking.

Dear Members of the European Parliament of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee,

On behalf of The Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, India, we are writing to express our support of the European Commission’s proposed General Data Protection Regulation (COM (2012) 11).

The legal framework established under the 1995 Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) in Europe has positively influenced many existing privacy regimes worldwide, serving as a model legal framework in jurisdictions that are in the process of developing privacy regimes, including India. The positive impact of the Data Protection Directive shows the potential of the Regulation to become a global model for the protection of personal data. The Regulation seeks to address new scenarios that have arisen in the context of rapidly changing technologies and practices, increasing its potential for positively influencing privacy rights for individuals globally.

India is currently in the process of considering the enactment of privacy legislation, in part with the aim of ensuring adequate safeguards to enable and enhance information flows into India from countries around the world, including Europe. At the same time, India is seeking Data Secure Status from the EU, on the basis of its current regime.

It is clear that the EU framework for data protection has a major influence on the current and emerging privacy regime in India. India is only one country of many that are in the beginning stages of developing a comprehensive privacy regime. Thus, we ask that you keep in mind how the Regulation will impact the rights of individual in countries outside of Europe, particularly in countries that are in the process of developing privacy regimes.

We ask that you take into consideration the four following points that we believe need to be addressed in the Regulation to help ensure adequate protection of the rights of individuals in the European Union and around the world.

Strengthen the principle of purpose limitation: The Regulation should incorporate a strong purpose limitation principle that strictly limits present and future uses of personal data to the purposes for which it was originally collected. Currently, Article 6(4) allows for the further processing of data when the processing is “not compatible with the one for which the personal data have been collected”. Though the provision establishes legal requirements, one of which must be before information can be used for a further purpose, this is has proven insufficient in the existing Directive. The current provision in the Regulation dilutes the principle of purpose limitation as well as weakening an individual’s ability to make informed decisions about their personal data.
Define principles for interpretation of broad terms: The Regulation should create principles for interpreting broad terms such as “legitimate interest” and “public interest”. These vague terms are used throughout the Regulation, and create the potential for loopholes or abuse. Because these terms can be interpreted in many different ways, it is important to create a set of principles to guide their interpretation by data protection authorities and courts to avoid inconsistent application and enforcement of the Regulation.
Clarify the scope of the Regulation: The Regulation should clearly describe the jurisdictional scope and reach of its provisions. Currently Article 3(1) states that the Regulation will apply to the processing of data “in the context of the activities of an establishment of a controller or a processor in the Union”. The flow of information on the online environment coupled with trends such as cloud computing, outsourcing, and cross border business creates a scenario where defining what constitutes “context of the activities of an establishment”, is difficult and could lead to situations where personal data is not protected, as the collection, use, or storage of it does not necessarily fall within the “context of the activities”.
Address access by foreign alliance bodies: In light of growing demands by law enforcement for access, use, and transfer of personal information for investigative purposes across jurisdictions– the Regulation should define the circumstances in which personal data protected by its provisions can be accessed and used by foreign intelligence bodies, and the procedure by which to do so. The Regulation should address challenges such as access by foreign intelligence bodies to data stored on the cloud and data that has passed through/is stored on foreign networks/servers.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/open-letter-members-european-parliament-civil-liberties-justice-home-affairs-committee

Removing Barriers to Connectivity: Connecting the Unconnected

praskrishna — 2013-11-09T03:14:43Z

The workshop was organised by Internet Society and ETNO on October 23, 2013. Pranesh Prakash was a panelist.

Click to read the details on IGF website here

In the spirit of Paragraph 50 of the Tunis Agenda, our panel aims to highlight best practices that will help in “turning the digital divide into digital opportunity”, and will look at what can be done to promote broadband penetration and access to infrastructure. By forging better Internet governance environments through dialogue and interaction, stakeholders can work together to build better local infrastructure and more efficient deployment of infrastructure. Internet technical community experts, policy-makers, and development experts know well the challenges that exist in promoting deployment of Internet infrastructure. From public-works challenges to human capacity development, each country may have their own unique challenges. Provisions and policies must be put in place to ensure that broadband connections are developed, maintained and improved to sustain the rise in Internet traffic and particularly to accommodate the fast growth of video traffic. Against this backdrop, this workshop proposes to assemble a group of experts and practitioners to discuss observations from the field (practical examples and information) about how to help encourage connectivity and to “lift” barriers to connectivity. We also will identify barriers for investment faced by the private sector and tries to define ways to improve the policy landscape and identify a sustainable economic model to foster private investment. We plan to do this by identifying connectivity challenges and by identifying best practices for working with all stakeholders to manage those challenges. The developing country perspective will be reflected, and the workshop will specifically address what is needed in practical terms to connect the unconnected – eg low-cost devices, open systems and public / private partnerships. Workshop participants will engage the audience to encourage a dialogue that seeks feed-back from participants. An output of the workshop would be a collaborative “living” list of best practices and observations identified during the workshop that can serve as a baseline to be added to given national and local dynamics.

Panelists

Raj Singh, Internet Society, Male, Technical Community, SINGAPORE, Asia-Pacific Group
Martin Levy, Hurricane Electric, Male, Private Sector, UNITED STATES, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Christoph Steck, Telefonica, S.A., Male, Private Sector, SPAIN, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Jennifer Haroon, Google, Female, Private Sector, UNITED STATES, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Simon Milner, Facebook, Male, Private Sector, UNITED KINGDOM, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Pranesh Prakash, Centre for Internet & Society India, Male, Civil Society, INDIA, Asia-Pacific Group

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/igf-2013-removing-barriers-to-connectivity

OSOD 2013: International Workshop on Open Science and Open Data

praskrishna — 2013-10-22T11:02:49Z

Nehaa Chaudhari was a panelist at the International Workshop on Open Science and Open Data, 2013, held on October 07, 2013 at the Indian Statistical Institute. She gave a presentation on "Government Copyright and the Open Access Conundrum"

Parts of this presentation draw from Pranesh Prakash's views on Government Copyright. Special thanks to Bhairav Acharya for his valuable inputs and feedback.

Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute along with Creative Commons USA held this workshop. The main objective of this workshop was to bring together international experts, practitioners and advocates of Open Access to information to discuss and contemplate on key issues contributing to Open Science. The workshop also aimed to serve as a platform for institutions, academicians, scientists and researchers interested in Open Science to exchange thoughts and processes 'How To' create Open content within legal framework.

Key Speakers

Puneet Kishor (Policy Coordinator for Science and Data, Creative Commons)
ARD Prasad (DRTC, Indian Statistical Institute, India)
Devika P. Madalli (DRTC, Indian Statistical Institute, India)
Giridhar Manepalli (CNRI, USA)
Usha Munshi (Indian Institute of Public Administartion, India)
Subbiah Arunachalam (Information Scientist, India)
Sridhar Parishetty (Centre for Inclusive Governance, Bangalore)
Nehaa Chaudhari (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore)
R. Prabhakar (India Biodiversity Portal, Bangalore)
Nisha Thompson (Arghyam)
Yashas Shetty (Srishti, Centre For Experimental Media Arts, Bangalore)

Read the agenda here
Download Nehaa's presentation titled Government Accessibility and Copyright Conundrum here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/international-workshop-open-science-and-open-data

National Conference on Opening up by Closing the Circle: Strengthening Open Access in India

praskrishna — 2013-11-08T09:57:00Z

Nehaa Chaudhari was a panelist/speaker at the National Conference on Opening up by Closing the Circle: Strengthening Open Access in India.

The conference was organized by UNESCO, along with the Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) on October 21, 2013. Nehaa Chaudhari was a panelist in the discussion on "Why Open Access?". She gave a presentation on 'Pondering Copyright and Recasting Openness'. A copy of her presentation is available here. UNESCO's on the Conference is available here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/national-conference-on-opening-up-by-closing-the-circle

Charting the Charter: Internet Rights and Principles Online

praskrishna — 2013-10-21T07:03:53Z

This workshop is being organised by IRP Coalition on October 22 in Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre. Pranesh Prakash is participating as a panelist.

The Internet Governance Forum 2013 is being held at Bali from October 22 to 25. The overarching theme for the 2013 IGF meeting is: "Building Bridges"- Enhancing Multistakeholder Cooperation for Growth and Sustainable Development".

Read the original published on the IGF website

Theme: Human Rights / Freedom of Expression on the Internet

Since the Charter of Internet Rights and Principles was developed dialogue about diverse internet related human rights issues have emerged in various UN human rights mechanisms e.g. racism/racial discrimination, human rights defenders, women's human rights, freedom of association, business and human rights, protection of cultural heritage. The workshop will map the issues under discussion in the UNHRC against those in the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet (‘IRP Charter’) and explore multistakeholder perspectives and best practice examples of adherence to the Charter and human rights standards from diverse regions.

The focus is on progress, opportunities and challenges to monitor and advocate for the IRP Charter provisions particularly for marginalised groups e.g. rural and indigenous peoples, disabled people, urban poor as the second part of the two workshops put forward by the IRP Coalition and partners. Wider questions that the workshop looks to cover include: How are understandings about the interrelationship of internet governance and human rights standards developing at the Human Rights Council? Aside from freedom of expression and the right to Privacy, what other human rights are important in relation to the internet? How can the Charter be used to broaden the engagement of the Human Rights Council in internet governance issues? How does the work of the HRC inform the Charter, and other internet policy documents and mechanisms?

Since the 2009 IGF, the Internet Rights and Principles Coalition has organised a range of workshops and Coalition meetings looking at the application of human rights standards (primarily those espoused in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) to the Internet. In 2010 the previous draft of the IRP Charter (http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/charter/) was launched with a rigorous discussion about what correct interpretation of existing standards is and the role of different stakeholders in relation to these.

In 2011 the IRP Charter was distilled down to 10 key advocacy points, the Ten Internet Rights and Principles (http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/campaign/). These were debated as the Coalition undertook a closer analysis of the issue of copyright protection and how it interrelated with human rights on the internet. In 2012 the Coalition looked at how the Charter was feeding in to a derivative initiative at the Council of Europe to create a user-friendly Compendium of rights of internet users. The Coalition made a close analysis of the issue of anonymity online. This year we want to focus on human rights which, while contained in the Charter, have not received high levels of attention. We also want to loop in the work of Coalition members working on human rights, women’s rights, social, cultural and economic rights as well as the recent work of the Human Rights Council (which is the most authoritative global body applying human rights to the Internet) to incorporating human rights as an integral part of the internet governance field.

Has the proponent organised a workshop with a similar subject during past IGF meetings?
Yes

Indication of how the workshop will build on but go beyond the outcomes previously reached
The IRP Coalition launched the IRP Charter and Ten Principles in 2010/2011 (www.internetrightsandprinciples.org). These launches started a vigorous and productive chain of discussions and outreach initiatives in and around IGF Meetings. These were followed up in 2011 and 2012 with IGF workshops that focused in specific issues such as copyright, access as a right, and existing rights of internet users. This year we focus on human rights which, while contained in the Charter, have not received high levels of attention. We also want to loop in the work of Coalition members working on human rights, women’s rights, social, cultural and economic rights as well as the recent work of the Human Rights Council (which is the most authoritative global body applying human rights to the Internet) to incorporating human rights as an integral part of the internet governance field. Recent events underscore that the moment has come to ground human rights principles in internet governance practice as this affects everyday life, work, and government.

Background Paper

Download Background Paper

Session Type: Roundtable

Co-organisers

Ms. Dixie Hawtin, Global Partners and Associates, Private Sector, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Ms. Joy Liddicoat, Association for Progressive Communications, Civil Society, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific Group
Ms. Marianne Franklin, Goldsmiths (University of London, UK)/ IRP Coalition), Civil Society, United Kingdom, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG

Have the Proponent or any of the co-organisers organised an IGF workshop before?
Yes

The link(s) to the workshop report(s)

Panelists

Please click on the biography to view the profile of the panelists:

Joy Liddicoat, Association for Progressive Communications, Female, Civil Society, New Zealand, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Frank La Rue, United Nations, Male, Civil Society, Guatemala, Latin American and Caribbean Group - Grulac
Asif Kabani, Ministry of Finance, Male, Government, Pakistan, Asia-Pacific Group
Biography
Carl Fredrik Wettermark, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Male, Government, Sweden, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Marianne Franklin, (IRP Coalition/Goldsmiths (University of London, UK), Female, Civil Society, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific Group
Biography
Pranesh Prakash, Centre for Internet and Society, Male, Civil Society, India, Asia-Pacific Group
Biography
Cornelia Kutterer, Microsoft, Female, Private Sector, BELGIUM, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Michael Rotert, eco-German Internet Industry, Male, Technical Community, Germany, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography

Moderator

Dixie Hawtin, Global Partners and Associates

Remote Moderator

Rebecca Zausmer, Global Partners and Associates

Agenda

This round table session explores the opportunities and challenges for upholding human rights standards on the internet using the IRP Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet (http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/charter/). In tandem with the session on Disabilities and Indigenous rights this session aims to:

Address a number of human rights – moving beyond freedom of expression and privacy - to consider the IRP Charter provisions for socio-economic rights, education, women’s rights and rights of the visually impaired in the online environment.
Provide an assessment of the implementation of human rights standards on the internet o date.
Feed recommendations in to the IRP Coalition initiative to create a final version of the IRP Charter (in terms of substance, process, and uses of the document in practice)

The session will start by focusing on a selection of concrete examples (such as, the PRISM revelations, the Marrakesh Treaty on exceptions and limitations to copyright for the blind, racial discrimination, education rights online) before opening to a wider discussion. It brings together diverse perspectives on the relationship between human rights and internet policy, where the human rights movement needs to engage more or more effectively, and how the IRP Charter should be developed to assist this process. The outcomes of the workshop will feed into the IRP Coalition Meeting, ‘Towards the IRP Charter 2.0’.

Inclusiveness of the Session

Panellists will make short initial statements of up to 3 minutes, each will be tasked with a particular perspective to bring and enable several rounds of the table. It will also allow ample time for audience questions and comments. The audience will be invited to ask questions, and to answer questions which the moderators will pose to the floor.

Suitability for Remote Participation

Both the IRP and the APC have a good track record of marketing their workshops across a range of email lists, websites and social media to ensure that potential remote participants know about the workshop and can participate. Remote participants will be engaged by the remote moderator who will pose questions to them and facilitate an active remote conversation alongside the conversation in situ– making links between the two wherever possible.

Questions or Comments

Please note that Mr Frank La Rue has been invited. As his office needs some time to respond we have included his name as an unconfirmed participant for the time being.

Also a note on the number of participants:
As this is a roundtable, open discussion format there are more than five speakers in order to generate the range and depth needed for this sort of interactive and dynamic discussion. The IRP Coalition has taken the lead in instigating these sorts of discussion formats in multistakeholder meetings such as the UNESCO WSIS+10 event and the Lisbon EuroDIG. The session moderator is experienced for this format and the participants aware that long speeches are not required.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/igf-2013-workshop-99-charting-the-charter-internet-rights-and-principles-online

Fair process frameworks for cross-border online spaces

praskrishna — 2013-10-21T09:02:02Z

This workshop is being organised by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society of France, Western Europe and Others Group and Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society of Germany, Western Europe and Others Group. Sunil Abraham is one of the panelists for this workshop.

Read the original published on IGF website. Also read it on Internet & Jurisdiction website.

Theme: Legal Frameworks and Cyber-crime (Spam, Cyber-security, etc.)

This workshop is organized by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project, a global multi-stakeholder dialogue process launched in January 2012, which engages key actors from states, international organizations, companies, civil society, academia and the technical community from all around the world to address the tension between the cross-border Internet and national jurisdictions.

Over 2,5 billion Internet users interact in shared cross-border online spaces where they can post content potentially accessible worldwide. On the one hand platforms’ Terms of Service try to set transnational rules on acceptable postings, but on the other hand content that is legal in one jurisdiction can be illegal or sensitive in other territories. No clear frameworks exist yet to handle the tensions between these competing normative orders or values and enable peaceful cohabitation in cross-border cyberspaces. This challenge constitutes a rare issue of common concern for all stakeholder groups.

Building upon the intersessional work conducted by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project since the 2012 IGF, the roundtable will address the following topics:

Can commonly agreed interoperability procedures ensure fair process in interactions between platforms, public authorities, technical operators and users regarding seizures, content takedowns and access to user data? regarding seizures, content takedowns and LEA access to user data? - See more at: http://www.internetjurisdiction.net/igf2013-workshop/#sthash.q6PQ3uMn.dpuf

How could appropriate multi-stakeholder frameworks be developed?

Note: This roundtable is listed above under the “legal frameworks and cybercrime” track. However it equally touches upon other thematic areas: Human Rights/ Freedom of Expression on the Internet (addressing takedown procedures); Internet Governance Principles (eg. fair process and accountability) and Principles of Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation (the development of mutual frameworks).

Has the proponent organised a workshop with a similar subject during past IGF meetings?

Yes

Indication of how the workshop will build on but go beyond the outcomes previously reached

At the IGF 2012, after a year of interaction with different stakeholders, the Internet & Jurisdiction Project organized two workshops titled: “What is the Geography of Cyberspace?” and “What frameworks for cross-border online communities and services?” These sessions explored the roots of the tension between the Internet and the patchwork of national jurisdictions and examined how to address this common concern. Both these two workshops and the ongoing dialogue facilitated by the I&JProject in 2013 (including several preparatory meetings around the world) confirmed the need to explore how to develop appropriate frameworks to handle the tension in a multi-stakeholder setting. Therefore, the I&J Project will gather involved stakeholders at the 2013 workshop “Fair process frameworks for cross-border online spaces” to discuss the way forward: How could appropriate frameworks be developed and what commonly agreed interoperability procedures could ensure fair process?

Background Paper: No background paper provided

Session Type: Roundtable

Mr. Bertrand De La Chapelle, Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society, France, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG

Mr. Paul Fehlinger, Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Civil Society, Germany, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG

Have the Proponent or any of the co-organisers organised an IGF workshop before?

Yes

The link(s) to the workshop report(s):

Panelists

Please click on biography to view the biography of the panelist:

Fiona Alexander, Department of Commerce, NTIA, Female, Government, United States, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Anne Carblanc, OECD, Female, Intergovernmental Organizations, France, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Elvana Thaci, Council of Europe, Female, Intergovernmental Organizations, France, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet & Society, Male, Civil Society, India, Asia-Pacific Group
Biography
Anriette Esterhuysen, Association for Progressive Communications, Female, Civil Society, South Africa, African Group
Biography
Carlos Affonso Pereira Da Souza, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Male, Technical Community, BRAZIL, Latin American and Caribbean Group – GRULAC
Biography
Ross Lajeunesse, Google, Male, Private Sector, United States, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG Biography
Ebele Okobi, Yahoo, Female, Private Sector, United States, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography
Linda Corugedo Steneberg, European Commission, Belgium, Western Europe and Others Group – WEOG
Biography

Agenda

Can commonly agreed interoperability procedures ensure fair process in interactions between platforms, public authorities, technical operators and users regarding seizures, content takedowns and access to user data?
How could appropriate multi-stakeholder frameworks be developed?

Inclusiveness of the Session

The format of the workshop is going to be an open roundtable discussion between a diverse group of stakeholders on the basis of a structured agenda, without formal presentations. Taking stock of the preparatory process with meetings around the world, the participants will be able to discuss the outcomes of the multi-stakeholder dialogue process, explore the components of possible frameworks and how to move forward. The objective is to produce a structured but fluid and dynamic discussion that includes the audience in the debate.

Suitability for Remote Participation

In addition to the remote participation tools provided by the IGF, the session will be covered live on Twitter with a dedicated hashtag and questions can also be submitted through tweets to open the discussion and engage new stakeholders. Moreover, participants of the Internet & Jurisdiction dialogue process around the world will be encouraged to participate remotely in the discussion.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/igf-2013-workshop-42-fair-process-frameworks-for-cross-border-online-spaces

FOSS: Smart Choice for Developing Countries

praskrishna — 2013-10-21T05:28:06Z

This workshop is being organised by TechNation and Open Source Alliance of Central Asia on October 23. Sunil Abraham is participating as a panelist and will speak on FOSS and IT Growth Policies in South Asia.

Read the original published on the IGF website

Theme: The Internet as an Engine for Growth and Advancement

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), once limited to advanced users, now attracts average users. Countries have adopted FOSS for its social, economic and political benefits. Russia has started to shift government to Linux by 2015 and plans to build a national repository of Open Source Software. China is teaming up with Canonical to develop an open source operating system for Chinese users called Ubuntu Kylin. According to Black Duck Software and North Bridge Venture Partners Open-Source Survey, Open Source Software is helping improve enterprise networking, smartcars, and academia. InformationWeek’s survey “Open Source Software Use Joins The Mix,” confirms that FOSS “is believed to create more opportunities for innovation than commercial or proprietary software.”

This workshop emphasizes three main issues: 1) Innovative FOSS technologies, 2) Capacity building in FOSS, and 3) Women as FOSS users and developers. It will discuss benefits, costs and implications of choosing FOSS; highlight the representation, role and achievements of women from the Central and South Asian region; and, guide recommendations to build capacity of women in utilizing FOSS for education, health, governance, and civil society.

Why FOSS? FOSS fosters education for the persons contributing to it and for those using it. In addition to learning new skills, FOSS developers can help solve real-life problems. Irrespective of geographic location, volunteers work collaboratively to develop software. This creates a sense of community ownership of their technology and enhances employment, employability and increases local innovation. FOSS reduces deployment costs making it a smart choice by developing countries. FOSS is affordable, stable, reliable, and free of virus.

What are innovative FOSS technologies? This workshop will showcase some of the most innovative Open Source Software technologies. It will highlight the fact that most servers are based on open source, and now common users, governments and businesses around the world are transitioning to FOSS.

Why Capacity Building? Capacity building in computer education should teach students concepts, ensure that students learn through hands on experience using a variety of tools, and leave students the choice of which tool to use to create virtual worlds. Students should be given responsibilities, including helping run IT systems. For example, students of higher classes could build or modify software for lower classes.

Organized by Open Source Alliance of Central Asia (OSACA), this workshop will explore whether the requirements to be a FOSS contributor prevent women from doing so and what it will take for women in Central and South Asia, to become valuable contributors.

Has the proponent organised a workshop with a similar subject during past IGF meetings?

No.

Co-organisers

Mr. Omar Mansoor Ansari, TechNation, Private Sector, AFGHANISTAN, Asia-Pacific Group
Mr. Sufyan Kakakhel, Open Source Alliance of Central Asia (OSACA), Civil Society, PAKISTAN, Asia-Pacific Group

Have the Proponent or any of the co-organisers organised an IGF workshop before?

No.

Panelists

H.E. Baryalai Hassam, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Male, Government, AFGHANISTAN, Asia-Pacific Group
Maria Beebe, Telecom Advisory Team (Afghanistan) Deloitte, Female, Private Sector, UNITED STATES, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Sunil Abraham, Center for Internet and Society, Male, Civil Society, INDIA, Asia-Pacific Group
Roxana Radu, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Female, Technical Community, ROMANIA, Eastern European Group
Matthias Stürmer, Open Source Switzerland, Male, Technical Community, SWITZERLAND, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Asomiddin Atoev, ISP Association of Tajikistan, Male, Private Sector, TAJIKISTAN, Asia-Pacific Group
Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Wolfgang F. Finke, Ernst-Abbe University of Applied Sciences, Male, Civil Society, GERMANY, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG
Dominique Lazankski, The TaxPayers' Alliance, Civil Society, UNITED KINGDOM, Western Europe and Others Group - WEOG

Moderator

Omar Mansoor Ansari

Remote Moderator

Ana Perdigao

Agenda

FOSS: FOSS Smart Choice for Developing Countries

This high-level thematic workshop discusses the most up-to-dated advancements in Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) technologies. With some of the best minds from the government, industry, civil society and academia learn about innovative FOSS technologies, policy and regulatory environments, project and initiatives, and how Open Source Software technologies can help enhance governance, business, education and the society. The panel will discuss implications for capacity building for women and girls in FOSS.

Workshop Agenda

0900 - 0910
Welcome and Introduction
Welcome and introduction by Session Chairman
Mr. Omar Mansoor Ansari, President at TechNation, Cofounder/ Board Director, Open Source Alliance of Central Asia (OSACA)

0910 - 0920
State of FOSS and Government Policies in Afghanistan.
H.E. Eng. Baryalai Hassam, Deputy Minister (Technical), Ministry of Communications and IT, Afghanistan

0920 - 0930
MOOCs, M-learning and other Resources Online: Implications for Capacity Building
Dr. Maria Beebe, Sr. ICT Advisor (Education), Telecom Advisory Team (Afghanistan) Deloitte, United States

0930 - 0940
Kick-Starting the Utilization of FOSS in the Public Sector in Afghanistan – Afghan Center of Open Source Systems
Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Wolfgang F. Finke, Ernst-Abbe University of Applied Sciences, Germany

0940 - 0950
Women Creating Their Spaces Online

0950 - 1000
Technology transfer and North-South partnerships through open source communities
Dr. Matthias Stürmer, Swiss Open Systems User Group /ch/open, Switzerland

1000 - 1010
FOSS and the Internet in Central Asia
Asomiddin Atoev, Cofounder/ Board Director, Open Source Alliance of Central Asia (OSACA), Chairman, ISP Association of Tajikistan.

1010 -1020
FOSS and IT Growth Policies in South Asia
Mr. Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Center for Internet and Society, India

1020 - 1030
Open Data
Dominique Lazanski
The TaxPayers' Alliance, UK

1030 -1100
Q&A and Open Discussion

Inclusiveness of the Session

This will be a panel workshop, it will allow considerable time for an Open Discussion and Q&A. We will be making the meeting highly interactive and participatory by engaging the speakers and participants to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience.

Suitability for Remote Participation

We will be providing remote participation through video conferencing, creating social media, Twitter and Facebook, accounts that are interlinked and can communicate real time updates with the remote participants. A team of volunteers will be engaged to manage the communication with remote participants.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/igf-2013-workshop-287-foss-smart-choice-for-developing-countries

Interview with Bruce Schneier - Internationally Renowned Security Technologist

maria — 2013-10-17T08:54:32Z

Maria Xynou recently interviewed Bruce Schneier on privacy and surveillance. View this interview and gain an insight on why we should all "have something to hide"!

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a "security guru" by The Economist.

He is the author of 12 books -- including Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive -- as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. His influential newsletter "Crypto-Gram" and his blog "Schneier on Security" are read by over 250,000 people. He has testified before Congress, is a frequent guest on television and radio, has served on several government committees, and is regularly quoted in the press.

Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, a program fellow at the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Advisory Board Member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Security Futurologist for BT -- formerly British Telecom.

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) interviewed Bruce Schneier on the following questions:

Do you think India needs privacy legislation? Why/ Why not?
The majoity of India's population lives below the line of poverty and barely has any Internet access. Is surveillance an elitist issue or should it concern the entire population in the country? Why/ Why not?
“I'm not a terrorist and I have nothing to hide...and thus surveillance can't affect me personally.” Please comment.
Can free speech and privacy co-exist? What is the balance between privacy and freedom of expression?
Should people have the right to give up their right to privacy? Why/ Why not?
Should surveillance technologies be treated as traditional arms/weapons? Why/ Why not?
How can individuals protect their data (and themselves) from spyware, such as FinFisher?
How would you advise young people working in the surveillance industry?

VIDEO

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/interview-with-bruce-schneier

Bengali eSpeak Aids in Disaster Management

anirudh — 2013-11-07T09:21:07Z

Software developed on the eSpeak was deployed in Bangladesh and helped its citizens for disaster management.

The Bangla e-Speak text to speech synthesizer which was developed as part of a project funded by The Hans Foundation and executed by CIS in partnership with other partner organizations from the Daisy Forum of India was recently deployed in Bangladesh during cyclone Mahasen to read out messages which were sent during the emergency. A lot of organizations are working on TTS and their usefulness has already been established by Mahiti when they developed the Bangla Bol eSpeak. The text-to- speech (TTS) software is a very important technology for the visually impaired in that it gives a voice to text, enabling access to a whole host of information.[1]

Currently, a lot of proprietary TTS programmes are available like Balabolka, and Ultra Hal TTS reader but this TTS is an inexpensive alternative for the visually impaired.[2] This is because eSpeak is an open source compact software speech synthesizer. It is currently not available in many local Indian languages but it is possible to add new languages and even new dialects. The Bangla TTS project converted speech into Bengali.[3]

This programme was used in an innovative and useful way by applying it in disaster situations. In the case of a disaster, whether natural or national security related, the news media do not provide information in an accessible format. It is extremely important in these situations for the visually impaired to have clear access to ongoing events, get updates about things like rescue plans. The main work in order to be useful in these scenarios involved integrating national Geographic Information System (GIS), mobile phone networks and fax for the different stakeholders that need to interact before the disaster and for the responses after the disaster.[4]

The Bangla TTS was also integrated into the National Disaster Response system in Bangladesh, a country that is geographically vulnerable to many natural disasters like floods.

In order to integrate the TTS into the National Disaster Response system of Bangladesh, within the framework of the established philosophy, the entire disaster management system was built on an open-source stack. The automated bulk outward calling provision that was built for alerting people about an impending disaster had to broadcast the messages of which the text-to-voice conversion also had to be automated. During the process, many open source tools were tried but eSpeak was finally tried as it has a really low memory footprint and is very efficient for a large scale of operation. During the cyclone Mahasen, this proved decisive as the call volumes were very high and eSpeak scaled to meet the huge demand. All the pre-emptive alerts that were sent through the disaster management system were sent through this TTS. The programme helped a large size of the population and a diverse demographic. The Entire coastal Bangladeshi population benefited from the system. During the peak load, the system handled 27,000 calls, which shows that it has the capacity to deliver in the most difficult situations.

Mahiti,along with a partner in Bangladesh, was the organization responsible for developing this software. There are currently a few Bangla Text to Speech softwares on the internet like Kathak TTS but the Bangla Bol has some unique features.[5]

It’s an eSpeak Bangla language support which is open-source and is based on the”formant synthesis" method. This method enables the integration of many languages without modifying the underlying framework. It also enables language experts with even no programming knowledge to add or improve the language supported in eSpeak which is the most important feature of eSpeak. eSpeak was not just chosen because of its technical strengths, but also because it’s a part of a project to develop and integrate into a Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) open-source project which aims to enable computer desktop accessibility (screen reader functionality) to the blind. This is so that it can be used in many local Indian languages. Bangla was part of the first set of four languages that was completed by Mahiti (Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam were the remaining three). Therefore, while the far reaching consequences of the development work under this project being carried on in India to benefit its own marginalized populations and that of neighboring countries was never in doubt, this recent usage in Bangladesh adds fresh impetus to the work and underscores the criticality of this work.

[1]. Sen, Prasanjit. "Reading without Seeing: Mahiti's work on eSpeak." Mahiti Blog. Mahiti, 27 08 2013. Web. 2 Oct. 2013.

[2]. Alam, Firoj , and Mumit Khan. "Text To Speech for Bangla Language using Festival." BRAC University, Bangladesh . (2007): n. page. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.

[3]. Sen, Prasanjit. "Mahiti launches 'Bangla Bola' eSpeak (Bengali Speaking eSpeak) ." Mahiti Blog. Mahiti, 28 08 2013. Web. 2 Oct. 2013.

[4]. "Our Work- mproving National Disaster response."Mahiti.org. Mahiti, n.d. Web. 2 Oct 2013.

[5]. See footnote 2.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/bengali-e-speak-aids-in-disaster-management

Making Wikipedia Better

Pooja Saxena and Nirbheek Chauhan — 2013-10-25T07:30:44Z

It wasn’t something that we set out to do when we started working on The Ballot, but one of the most satisfying unintentional side-effects of the project has been the chance to correct facts and figures, and remove inappropriate content from entries related to India and its politics on Wikipedia.

The first oddity we spotted was way back in August, the day we announced The Ballot to the world. The Hindi word “bewajah” (which means “without reason”) was cropping up all over the wiki entry on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Nirbheek restored this entry. When we were putting together our post about the representation of women in the Lok Sabha, we noticed errors in the census figures on Wikipedia. Once we had extracted the right numbers from the data available on the census portal, not only did we use them in our post, but we also corrected them in the wiki entry. More recently, some missing information in the info-boxes in the entries on a handful of Indian states gave Pooja the opportunity to make her first ever edits!

These, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg. We have a longer list of issues to fix, and an even longer one for potential improvements. If only we could spare more time and involve more collaborators, a real difference could be made to the quality of Wikipedia entries on Indian politics.

We met Subhashish of the Access to Knowledge programme at CIS yesterday and have some great things planned with him for the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

About The Ballot
The Ballot is a visual compendium of information about the world’s largest democracy. Every week till the general elections in 2014, it will publish easily digestible yet relevant nuggets of information about India, its government and its workings, presented as richly illustrated graphs and charts.

About Pareidolic
Pareidolic is a collection of collaborative projects by Nirbheek Chauhan, a software developer, and Pooja Saxena, a typeface designer. Besides their weekly efforts towards The Ballot, Pareidolic also released a free and open source Devanagari to Bharati Braille Converter this year, which is on its way to supporting several other Indian languages.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/making-wikipedia-better

The 2013 EPT Award for Individuals in Developing Countries Working for Open Access

praskrishna — 2013-10-29T07:30:10Z

Below is the press release announcing the 3rd Annual Award for individuals in the developing world who have made a significant contribution to Open Access. The application form for nominations follows the announcement. The EPT hopes to receive a similarly large number of representations as were received for the award in its first two years.

Please send your proposal by 30/11/2013 to: EPT Chair, Derek Law, at d.law@strath.ac.uk

Open Access Week arrives again this October, and is a time to celebrate all that has been achieved in the previous twelve months. The Electronic Publishing Trust is a long standing advocate of OA and the difference it can make. As our contribution to this year’s OA Week, we are offering our third annual international award to recognise the impact that individuals can make. The huge interest in and success of the first two awards makes it clear that such international recognition acknowledges the very real efforts being made by many individuals throughout the world, and accelerates the development of models for achieving the open and free transfer of essential information for the progress of research.

Announcement

The Electronic Publishing Trust[*] is pleased to announce that it is offering its third annual award for individuals in developing and transition countries[**] who have made significant advances to the cause of open access and the free exchange of research findings. Information on previous winners can be found on our website at http://epublishingtrust.net/

Nominations are sought for the award. Individuals may be nominated by themselves or others or by organisations, sending a statement using the attached form to the chair of the EPT Board, (d.law@strath.ac.uk) outlining the achievements of the individual. Please find the nominations form below.

Nominations should be received by 30th November 2013. Selection of a winner will be made by a panel of EPT Board Members which will be chaired by Dr Patrick Corran, and will include Leslie Chan, Subbiah Arunachalam, Barbara Kirsop, co-founder of the charity, and Judy Ugonna.

The result will be announced in January 2014 and it is intended that a presentation will be made at a location convenient to the winner. The award recipient will be publicly recognised through the presentation of a certificate and an engraved award. It is also hoped to have a “side” event at future OA meetings to celebrate the work of the winner.

EPT Award submission form for nominations

The EPT Award is for individuals who have made an impact on the progress of open access to research findings.
Nominations may be made by individuals or organisations.
Please supply the following information:

Name of nominee:
Affiliation of nominee:
Position or role of nominee:
Contact address and email of nominee:
Contact address and email of proposer:

Please provide a brief statement to describe the ACTIVITIES of the nominee in support of Open Access (no more than 250 words).

Please describe the RESULTS AND SIGNIFICANCE of these activities (not more than 500 words).

[*]. The Electronic Publishing Trust for Development (EPT) was established in 1996 to facilitate open access to the world’s scholarly literature and to support the electronic publication of reviewed bioscience journals from countries experiencing difficulties with traditional publication.

[**]. As defined by the UN at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#transition

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/ept-award-for-individuals-in-developing-countries-working-for-open-access