Centre for Internet and Society

Global Congress On IP and Public Interest Adopts Principles for Negotiations

praskrishna — 2014-01-13T08:32:25Z

A recent conference on intellectual property and the public interest concluded with the adoption of public interest principles to guide international trade negotiations and international organisations.

This article by William New was published in the Intellectual Property Watch on January 6, 2014.

The Open African Innovation Research (Open A.I.R.) conference and the Global Congress on IP & the Public Interest took place in Cape Town, South Africa from 9-13 December. The conference hosted by the University of Cape Town was funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and Germany’s Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), among others.

Principles adopted at the conference included transparency, preservation of rights within international agreements such as national flexibilities, protection for internet service providers, strengthening of the public domain, and access to knowledge and to medicines.

The event included a fairly diverse representation, and not all participants necessarily signed on to the principles that emerged from the event.

According to infojustice.org, some 200 people have signed the “Global Congress Declaration on Public Interest Principles for International IP Negotiations,” which is available here.

The declaration calls for “’a positive agenda in international intellectual property law making’ which would include a more open negotiating process, respect for stakeholders’ social and economic welfare, and preserve states’ freedoms to protect access to knowledge goods,” infojustice.org said.

In particular, the declaration took aim at the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) being negotiated by 12 countries led by the United States. It urged negotiators of the TPP and future negotiations to ensure the “ongoing release of proposed legal provisions for public comment and maximize the ability of all interested persons and organizations to observe and participate in negotiation processes.”

Other principles, which echo debates at international organisations in Geneva, include ensuring that nations: retain sovereignty to take actions in their public interest without constraint from intellectual property rights, be able to use anti-circumvention measures without liability, and that IP enforcement measures be “reasonable and proportional.”

Additional principles called for avoiding “the creation of new dispute resolution fora parallel to, and that may conflict with, the multilateral system,” and ensuring that IP agreements are “consistent with international law, including international human rights law and the Convention on Biological Diversity.”

Finally, the declaration said: "We record our serious concerns about the closed and secretive processes being used for current international negotiations while acknowledging the efforts of some countries to promote positive proposals within them."

Statement on Global Fund IP Policy and Generics

Also at the Cape Town event, a statement was adopted raising concern over a policy being considered by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that would establish tiered pricing for medicines.

“We note with growing concern the weakening of the Global Fund’s support for expanding access to safe, affordable generic medications as the answer to unaffordable essential drugs,” the statement said. “We are extremely concerned about the recent announcement of a ‘blue-ribbon Task Force’ on tiered-pricing of medicines in middle-income countries.”

In addition, the statement raised concern about a new Global Fund partnership with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations on “fake medicines.” It said the effort could create confusion in consumers’ minds about generic medicines. For them, the best approach would be “strong drug regulatory agencies together with effective technology transfer.”

"The Global Fund should retain its public interest focus and disentangle the interests of public health from the interests of those who claim intellectual-property over drugs," it said. "Regressive policy suggestions and public campaigns that undermine generic competition are counter to the Fund’s public mission."

Open A.I.R.

One aspect of the Open A.I.R. project is that the fellows who have been trained over the past few years now will go out and spread the word.

Seble Baraki, legal researcher at the Justice and Legal Systems Research Institute in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, told Intellectual Property Watch, “I go and tell people what I’ve learned and see how it is going to help” on issues like health or branding to ensure high quality products.

"By being here, I think I have brought the issue of IP in my government," she said. For instance, they have a conference on law and development with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and she has consistently mentioned that they should include something on development and IP. Now, they have agreed to do it, she said.

From studying in the North (Sweden), she had a certain idea about intellectual property. "Being part of this project helped me to see how to look at how to use IP from a public interest and development perspective.

Now, she said, she plans to go home and look at how it really makes a difference in her city, to see how IP can be used. Being part of this project, she added, "changed how you think about IP."

Other Highlights

The weeklong conference was packed with speakers and activities, and involved many of the leading figures in the public interest movement related to intellectual property rights. It also involved a first-time training on traditional knowledge related to IP rights.

The death of South African leader and “father” Nelson Mandela profoundly impacted the meeting. For example, a participant from Côte d’Ivoire said he was going to “live tweet” a journey through Mandela’s whole life, traveling from country to country.

Separately, Diane Peters, general counsel at Creative Commons, suggested a focus on a positive agenda, not taking away the right of another. There are ways to structure a dialogue so that everyone’s needs are addressed, she said.

“We are all part of some ecosystem,” she said, thinking and learning from the ideas of others. Limitations and exceptions are a right, Peters said. Authors should recognise that they also are re-using others’ ideas, same for the people who re-use and remix. “I’m really happy with how the dialogue-shaping is going,” she said.

Peters also said Creative Commons takes the view that their licences are not an answer to the problems of the copyright system. (CC licences include the version used by Intellectual Property Watch allowing re-use of our content for non-commercial purposes with attribution).

[Update: Creative Commons recently issued a policy statement on copyright reform].

The Struggle for Balance

Discussions during the week showed the diversity of topics and interests in fields affected by intellectual property rights. There were few vocal champions of the IP system, but there also was no blanket condemnation of it. Rather, discussions were attempts to address specific opportunities within IP, or concerns about its effects in certain cases. Not everyone held the same view and there were some debates during the week.

But given the variety and number of advocates from different sectors, such as the access to medicines and access to knowledge movements, there were some rallying cries around certain issues.

One relatively common area was the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), as concerns are high about raising IP protection levels without the participation of public interest groups. A speaker asserted that the United States is using the TPP to target BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) as it did in the negotiations for the 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

There also were a number of discussions about the meaning of “open,” in issues like open access, open education, and open source. On a related note, Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bangalore, India-based Centre for Internet and Society, said there are different types of open standards, and that using digital signatures instead of biometrics gives a decentralised system that protects human rights.

One speaker said they had been struck during the week by the need for a South-South network. Another asked how developing countries can use IP frameworks that have been predetermined in the North and that are not appropriate.

Participants repeatedly expressed positive attitudes about such a large and high-energy gathering (which the beautiful setting did nothing to diminish), allowing endless networking opportunities. But there was an urgency about the gathering for many, as global efforts to strengthen the IP system are working against their goals.

“We are seeing an assault on pretty much every single level,” one public health advocate said at the closing session. “Even when we win” and are able to advance the cause for access to medicines, the judges have been trained by the North (meaning with a pro-IP slant) and “turn the whole thing over.”

George Washington University Prof. Susan Sell described the “forum-shifting” that occurs with forces seeking to strengthen global intellectual property rules, as they seek international organisations where they can effect change in their favour. She likened it to a “cat and mouse” situation. She also said that IP policy is not an end in itself, but is public policy.

A participant from Jordan said that country did not play “cat-and-mouse” very well as when it signed its bilateral free trade agreement with the United States it took in all the bad aspects of the US copyright law.

Another speaker said the IP system does not encourage innovation for need but rather innovation for profit. He said governments in countries with strong rights holders are “captured,” and that governments need to be recaptured. He said organisations like the Gates and Clinton foundations are promoters of strong IP protection. Developing countries, activists, need to stop being the mouse, he said, and “start becoming the dog that chases the cat.”

“How do we forum-shift to all of the spaces we can win,” another speaker asked later, “[and] push the IP maximalist agenda to where we are not always on the defensive?”

“We are seeing an assault on pretty much every single level,” said a third. “Even when we win and are able to insert an agenda for [access to medicines], the judges have been trained by the North and turn the whole thing over.”

The mood, as Sell characterised it, is that “we can never stop and congratulate ourselves too much, because it just keeps coming.”

The annual event will continue next December, this time in Kuala Lumpur.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/ip-watch-january-6-2014-william-new-global-congress-on-ip-and-public-interest-adopts-principles-for-negotiations

ଆଦିବାସୀ ଭାଷାର ଉନ୍ନତିକଳ୍ପେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T10:43:58Z

Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted in this article published by Odishan.com on January 12, 2014.

ଗତକାଲି ଭୁବନେଶ୍ବରସ୍ଥିତ କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଇନଷ୍ଟିଚ୍ୟୁଟ ଅଫ ସୋସିଆଲ ସାଇନ୍ସେସ (କିସ) ପରିସରରେ କିଟ ବିଶ୍ବବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ ସହିତ ବେଙ୍ଗାଳୁରୁର ସେଣ୍ଟର ଅଫ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି-ଆକ୍ସେସ ଟୁ ନଲେଜ ପ୍ରୋଗ୍ରାମ ଏକ ମେମୋରାଣ୍ଡମ ଅଫ ଅଣ୍ଡରଷ୍ଟାଣ୍ଡିଂ (ଏମ ଓ ୟୁ)ରେ ଦସ୍ତଖତ କରିଛନ୍ତି । କିସଠାରେ ଆଦିବାସୀ ପିଲା ଓ ଅଧ୍ୟାପକମାନଙ୍କୁ ନେଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆକୁ ସମୃଦ୍ଧି କରିବା ତଥା ଆଦିବାସୀ ଭାଷାରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବିକାଶ ନିମନ୍ତେ ନୂଆ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମମାନ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରାଯିବ । ଆଦିବାସୀମାନଙ୍କର ଭାଷା, ସଂସ୍କୃତି, କଳା ଓ ଜନଜୀବନର ଅନେକ ଉପାଦେୟ ବିଷୟ ଆଜି ବି ଜନସାଧାରଣଙ୍କ ଅଗୋଚରରେ ରହିଛି ।

ଏହି ବିବିଧ ବିଷୟରେ ବୁଦ୍ଧିଜୀବୀ, ଗବେଷକ ଓ ମାନବବିଦମାନେ ଅଧିକ ଗବେଷଣା ପାଇଁ ଏହି ମିଳିତ ପ୍ରଚେଷ୍ଟା ବିଶ୍ବର ଏକ ନୂଆ ଯୁଗର ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିବ ବୋଲି ଏହାକୁ ଉଦଘାଟନ କରି କିସ ଓ କିଟର ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠାତା ଡଃ ଅଚ୍ୟୁତ ସାମନ୍ତ କହିଛନ୍ତି । ଏଥିରେ ଯୋଗଦେଇ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି-ଆକ୍ସେସ ଟୁ ନଲେଜ ପ୍ରୋଗ୍ରାମର ପ୍ରୋଗ୍ରାମ ଅଫିସର ତଥା ଏହି ଦୀର୍ଘସୂଚୀ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମକୁ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକାରୀ କରୁଥିବା ଶୁଭାଶିଷ ପାଣିଗ୍ରାହୀ ଏହା ଆଦିବାସୀଙ୍କର ଜୀବନକୁ ବିଶ୍ବସ୍ତରରେ ପରିଚିତ କରାଇବ ତଥା ଆଦିବାସୀ ଭାଷାସମୂହର ନଥିକରଣରେ ସହାୟକ ହେବ ବୋଲି ମତବ୍ୟକ୍ତ କରିଛନ୍ତି । ଏହି ଉତ୍ସବରେ କିଟ ତରଫରୁ ରେଜିଷ୍ଟ୍ରାର ଡଃ ସସ୍ମିତା ସାମନ୍ତ, କିସ ତରଫରୁ ସୂର୍ଯ୍ୟକାନ୍ତ ମହାନ୍ତି ଓ ସେଣ୍ଟର ଅଫ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି ତରଫରୁ ଟି ବିଷ୍ଣୁବର୍ଦ୍ଧନ ଏହି ମିଳିତ ଏମ ଓ ୟୁରେ ଔପଚାରିକ ଭାବେ ଦସ୍ତଖତ କରିଥିଲେ ।

ଆଗାମୀ ପାଞ୍ଚ ବର୍ଷ ନିମନ୍ତେ କିଟ ଓ କିସରେ ବହୁବିଧ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଓ ସଚେତନାମୂଳକ ଆଲୋଚନାଚକ୍ର ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଶିକ୍ଷକ ଓ ଛାତ୍ରମାନଙ୍କୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଗବେଷଣାତ୍ମକ ନଥିକରଣ ଓ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭଳି ମୁକ୍ତ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷରେ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗମାନ ଲେଖି ଓ ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରି ନିଜ ଜ୍ଞାନର ବିକାଶ କରିବା ସଙ୍ଗେସଙ୍ଗେ ଅନ୍ୟମାନଙ୍କ ନିମନ୍ତେ ମଧ୍ୟ ମୁକ୍ତଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣ କରିପାରିବେ । ଏଥିସହିତ ବିଶ୍ବର ବାକି ଦେଶମାନଙ୍କରେ ଥିବା ଅନେକ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ ଓ ଗବେଷକମାନଙ୍କ ସହ ଭାଗନେଇ ନୂତନ ଦିଗନ୍ତମାନ ଉନ୍ମୋଚନ କରିପାରିବେ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଯାହା ୨୦୧୧ ମସିହା ପରଠାରୁ ଅନେକ ସମ୍ପାଦକଙ୍କ ଦ୍ବାରା ସମ୍ପାଦନା ହେବାକୁ ଲାଗିଲା, ଏବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ବିଶାଳତମ ଅନଲାଇନ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ଓ or.wikipedia ରେ ସମସ୍ତେ ଏହାକୁ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ ତଥା ଏଥିରେ ଅଧିକ ତଥ୍ୟ ଯୋଡ଼ି ଏଥିରେ ଥିବା ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁକୁ ଅଧିକ ତଥ୍ୟପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ କରିପାରିବେ । ଏଠାରେ ଥିବା ଆଦିବାସୀ ପିଲାମାନେ ନିଜେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭଳି ଏକ ବିଶ୍ବସ୍ତରୀୟ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷରେ ଜ୍ଞାନଦାନ ଓ ଗ୍ରହଣ କରି ବାକିମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଅନେକ ସହଜ ଶିକ୍ଷଣ ତିଆରି କରିପାରିବେ ବୋଲି ବିଶ୍ବାସ ରଖନ୍ତି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ସକ୍ରିୟତମ ସଦସ୍ୟ ଶିତିକଣ୍ଠ ଦାଶ । ବୃତ୍ତିରେ ଇଞ୍ଜିନିୟର ହୋଇ ଯଦି ନିଜେ ଅନ୍ୟମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ପାଠପଢ଼ାର ସାଧନକ୍ଷେତ୍ର ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆକୁ କିଟର ଛାତ୍ରମାନେ ଉନ୍ନତ କରିପାରିବେ ବୋଲି କହନ୍ତି ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଆଉଜଣେ ସ୍ବେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ସଦସ୍ୟ ଜ୍ଞାନରଞ୍ଜନ ସାହୁ ।

ଆଗାମୀ କିଛିମାସ ଭିତରେ କିସଠାରେ ଅନେକ ପୁସ୍ତକ, ଜର୍ଣ୍ଣାଲ, ଅନଲାଇନ ଗବେଷଣା ନଥିଆଦି ଅଣାଯାଇ ଏକ ଭିତ୍ତିଭୂମିର ବିକାଶ କରାଯିବ । ଏହା ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ ତଥା ଶିକ୍ଷକମାନଙ୍କୁ ଅଧିକ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣର ସୁବିଧା ଯୋଗାଇବ । ଏହି ପରୋକ୍ଷରେ ଅଧିକ ଛାତ୍ରଙ୍କୁ ପରୋକ୍ଷରେ ସ୍ବାଭାଲମ୍ବୀ କରାଇବା ସଙ୍ଗେସଙ୍ଗେ ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଜଗତସାରା ଲୁକ୍କାୟିତ ଜ୍ଞାନର ବିତରଣରେ ସହାୟକ ହେବ । ଏହି ତୃଣମୂଳ ସ୍ତରର ପରଖ କିଟ ତଥା ଅନେକ ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନରେ ଏହିପରି ବିଭିନ୍ନ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମ ପାଇଁ ବାଟ କଢ଼ାଇବ ।

Click to read the original published by Odishan.com here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/odishan-january-12-2014-coverage-on-odia-wikipedia

‘With Internet in every pocket, power to the people’

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T06:05:48Z

Social media is set to grow in India in a big way with Google and Facebook gearing up to tap the regional languages market.

The interview was published in the Tribune on January 12, 2014.

The programme director of Access to Knowledge at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, T Vishnu Vardhan is leading the growth of Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects in Indian languages as part of grant from the Wikimedia Foundation. His experience spans across academics, industry (media) and not-for-profit sectors. He talks about the spread of the Internet and social media in India and their impact on the traditional media. Excerpts:

How powerful are the Internet and social media today?

One way to answer the question is to throw some data. There is 83 per cent of mobile connectivity, so and so per cent of Internet connectivity over computer in India, and so on. The data is important to understand the extent of penetration of digital technology in India, particularly through the mobile telephone rather than the PC-based or laptop-based access to the Internet.

When you say mobile phones, are you talking about smartphones?

These could be smartphones or feature-phones also. So many feature-phones are available in the market now. These phones do not cost much. Hardware, therefore, is not going to be anymore a deterrent for access to Internet. I have seen the elderly also getting accustomed to using computers so they can keep in touch with their children who live abroad.

What about social media and its power in India?

It is very powerful. At least it is believed to be powerful because right from political parties and politicians to small vendors, all are trying to leverage it. During the last five years, there has been a tectonic shift in this regard. It will be very interesting to see how the story unfolds in India.

What is unique about India?

Social media is set to become bigger and bigger in India with companies like Google and Facebook gearing up to tap the regional languages market.

Is English increasingly becoming strong and all pervasive in India?

I would believe it and get worried on that score. But the Internet is bringing in a lot of changes. Font problem has been solved too. The ramification of what takes place when this new regional language enabled market comes on board in social media platforms is still not very clear. But it is certainly going to be huge.

Whatever is happening in India now must be an old story in developed countries?

In the US and Europe, Internet penetration took place in the PC age. But we have bypassed the PC. Internet access in India through phone is growing rapidly. India is taking a completely new path for this.

Some social media websites are also trying to get into the news domain. Have you come across instances where news has been first broken in the social media?

There are many such instances. One of the Wikipedians, Kartik Naga, took some pictures of the Mumbai terror attack and posted on commons. These were available to the world much before the traditional journalists could capture images of the incident. Real-time information about tsunami also came from people.

In the West, some print publications — newspapers and magazines — have closed down because people have apparently switched over to the Internet.

The real issue here is whether traditional media wants to stick to a particular technology or it is ready to embrace a new technology for the production and dissemination of news, which is its core activity. If traditional media is averse to embracing the new technology, there will be all kinds of problems like the paper will shut down or some completely new random players will come and corner an old veteran and so on. But if the new technology is embraced, there will be new ways and means of benefiting from it. It depends on how a traditional media entity is looking at Internet and social media. In the last two or three years, we have also seen so many news stories that got made by social media. There is a buzz about social media, and traditional media picks it up and makes it even a bigger story. I do not agree with this drawing of lines between social and traditional media. I think it is a mixed media.

You mean to say there is no threat to traditional media from social media in the long run?

There is no threat. At the end of the day, production of news is not the business of people active on social media portals. Traditional media could actually thrive by the clever use of Internet and social media.

What about news that breaks in social media and is imaginary or based on rumours. What happens then?

These things do happen. People are working on finding out ways to verify news contents on social media. There are already people whose mission in life is to prevent rumour mongering on the Internet.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-tribune-january-12-2014-shubhadeep-chaudhary-with-internet-in-every-pocket-power-to-the-people

CIS-A2K, KIIT University and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences sign MoUs

subha — 2014-02-03T06:24:18Z

KIIT University, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoUs) for furthering Odia Wikipedia.

Dr.Achyuta Samanta, Founder-Chairman of KIIT and KISS inaugurated both the collaborations formally. Dr. Sasmitarani Samanta, Registrar, KIIT and Surjya Kanta Mohanty, Chief Operating Officer, KISS signed the MoUs of KIIT and KISS respectively whereas T. Vishnuvardhan, Programme Director, CIS-A2K was there to sign in both the MoUs on behalf of CIS along with Subhashish Panigrahi, Programme Officer, CIS-A2K. Odia Wikipedians Dr. Subas Chandra Rout, Shitikantha Dash, Jnanaranjan Sahu and Sailesh Patnaik, senior faculty and management members; Prof. Parthosen Gupta, Professor-KIIT School of Management, Sucheta Priyabadini, Joint Registrar, KIIT Santosh K. Pani, Dean-KIIT School of Electrical Engineering and other staff members from KISS were there for this event.

The event was held on January 11, 2014 from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/cis-a2k-kiit-university-kaling-institute-of-social-sciences-mou

Odia WikiMeetup

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T06:46:33Z

CIS-A2K organized an Odia Wiki meetup in Bhubaneswar on January 11.

The event was attended by Odia Wikipedians Dr. Subas Chandra Rout, Shitikantha Dash, Jnanaranjan Sahu and Sailesh Patnaik. T. Vishnuvardhan, Programme Director and Subhashish Panigrahi, Programme Officer, CIS-A2K met Odia Wikipedians to discuss about various ongoing projects in Odia Wikipedia, potential projects and incubator projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/odia-wiki-meetup-january-11-2014

Odia Wikipedia Workshop at KISS

praskrishna — 2014-01-16T06:52:36Z

A day long Odia Wikipedia workshop for post-graduate students and faculty members is being organized by the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) on January 10.

Subhashish Panigrahi is conducting the workshop.

ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:କର୍ମଶାଳା/ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱର/୮

ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ରୁ

ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରସ୍ଥିତ ଆଦିବାସୀ ଆବାସିକ ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ KISS (କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଇନଷ୍ଟିଚୁଟ ଅଫ ସୋସିଆଲ ସାଇସେନ୍ସ)ଠାରେ ଏଠାକାର ଶିକ୍ଷକ ଓ ସ୍ନାତକୋତ୍ତର ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀମାନେ ଆଦିବାସୀମାନଙ୍କର ଭାଷା, ଚଳଣି ଓ ଜନ‌ଜୀବନ ବାବଦରେ ଅନେକ ଗବେଷଣାଭିତ୍ତିକ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଏକାଧିକ ଭାଷାରେ ଲେଖିବାର ଏକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରାଯାଇଛି । ପ୍ରାରମ୍ଭିକ ପର୍ଯ୍ୟାୟରେ ଏହି ନ‌ଥିକରଣ ତିନୋଟି ଭାଷାରେ (ଓଡ଼ିଆ, ଇଂରାଜୀ ଓ ହିନ୍ଦୀ)ରେ କରାଯାଇ KISS ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଯିବ । ଏହି ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସମୂହ ଜ୍ଞାନ‌କୋଷ ପରିସରରେ ଥିବାରୁ ଏସବୁକୁ ଉଇକିକରଣ କରି ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁକୁ ସମୃଦ୍ଧ କରିବା ନିମନ୍ତେ ଏହି ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳାର ଆୟୋଜନ କରାଯାଇଛି । ନ‌ଭେମ୍ବର ୧୪ (ଗୁରବାର‌) ଦିନ ସକାଳ ୧୧:୦୦ ରେ ଅନୁଷ୍ଠିତ ହୋଇ ଥିବା ପ୍ରଥମ କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ଯୋଗଦେଇଥିବା ଶିକ୍ଷକ ଓ ସ୍ନାତକୋତ୍ତର ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀମାନଙ୍କ ନିମନ୍ତେ ଏହା ଏକ ଉନ୍ନତ କର୍ମଶାଳା । ଏଥିରେ ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ଦିଆଯାଇଥିବା ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗଗୁଡ଼ିକୁ ସେମାନେ ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରି ସେଥିରେ ଅଧିକ ତ‌ଥ୍ୟ ଯୋଡ଼ି ତାହାକୁ ଉନ୍ନ୍ତ କରିବେ । ସମ୍ପାଦନା ପରେ ଆଗାମୀ ଯୋଜନା ବଆବଦରେ ଆଲୋଚନା କରାଯିବ ।

ଏଥିରେ କଣ କଣ ଶିଖିବାକୁ ମିଳିବ?

ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପିଂ
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ. ସମ୍ପାଦନା
ଆଗାମୀ ଯୋଜନା

ସ୍ଥାନ ଓ ସମୟ

KISS (କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଇନଷ୍ଟିଚୁଟ ଅଫ ସୋସିଆଲ ସାଇସେନ୍ସ), ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱର
ଜାନୁଆରି ୧୦ (ଶୁକ୍ରବାର‌), ସକାଳ ୦୯:୦୦

ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ଭାଗ ନେଉଥିବା ଉଇକିଆଳିଗଣ

--ସୁଭାସିସ ପାଣିଗାହି (ମୋ ସାଙ୍ଗେ କ‌ଥାବାର୍ତ୍ତା)

ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନର ଶିକ୍ଷକ ଓ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀଗଣ

କାମ ବିତରଣ

ନଭେମ୍ବର ମାସର କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ଭାଗନେଇଥିବା ସମସ୍ତ ଶିକ୍ଷକ ଓ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀମାନଙ୍କୁ ୧୧ଟି ଛୋଟ ଛୋଟ ଦଳରେ ଭାଗ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା । ପ୍ରତିଟି ଦଳ ଏକ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଉପରେ ମିଳିତ କାମ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିବେ । ତଳେ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗର ନାମ ଓ ଶିକ୍ଷକ ତ‌ଥା ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀଙ୍କ ନାମ ଦିଆଗଲା । ଆଜିର କର୍ମଶାଳାର ସମସ୍ତ ଅଂଶଗ୍ରହଣକାରୀ ନିଜ ନିଜର ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗରେ କିଛି ଲେଖା ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିଛନ୍ତି । ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ସେମାନେ ଏହି ଲେଖାଗୁଡ଼ିକ ସମୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ କରିବେ ।

ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ନାମ	ଶିକ୍ଷକଙ୍କ ନାମ	ଶିକ୍ଷକଙ୍କ ନାମ	ଛାତ୍ର/ଛାତ୍ରୀଙ୍କ ନାମ	ଛାତ୍ର/ଛାତ୍ରୀଙ୍କ ନାମ
ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଲୋକସଂସ୍କୃତି	ମହତ ଶତପ‌ଥୀ		ରୁକ୍ମଣ ବରିହା	ସମ୍ବାରୀ ମୁର୍ମୁ
ହୋ ପରବ			ତରଣୀସେନ ସାମଡ
ହୋ ଜନ‌ଜାତିର ପର୍ବପର୍ବାଣୀ	ଦୀପ୍ତିରଞ୍ଜନ ବେହେରା		ସୂର୍ଯ୍ୟମଣି ସଏ	ତରଣୀସେନ ସାମଡ
ହୋ ଜନ‌ଜାତିର ବିବାହ ପ୍ରଥା‎	ସୌମିତ୍ରୀ ସାମନ୍ତରାୟ			ଜଗଦୀଶ କୁମାର ସିଂ
ଲାଞ୍ଜିଆ ସଉରା ଜନ‌ଜାତିର ଘର‎	ପ୍ରୀତିନନ୍ଦା ରାୟ		ସୁବାସ ଚନ୍ଦ୍ର ସାମଲ	ଗିରିଜା ଶଙ୍କର ମଲିକ
ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ପର୍ବପର୍ବାଣୀ	ସାଇ ବିଶ୍ୱନାଥ ତ୍ରିପାଠୀ	ପ୍ରିୟମ୍ବଦା ସ୍ୱାଇଁ		କାପୁରା ସୋରେନ
ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ସଙ୍ଗୀତ	ନୀଳିମା ସାମନ୍ତ	ସୁଜ୍ଞାନୀ ରଥ	ବାସୁଦେବ ମାରାଣ୍ଡି
ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଜନ ଜାତିର ଜୀବନ ଜୀବିକା	ଶୁଭଲକ୍ଷ୍ମୀ ମହାନ୍ତି		କ୍ରିଷ୍ଣା ସୋରେନ	ମହେନ୍ଦ୍ର ବେଶ୍ରା
ମୁଣ୍ଡା ଜନ‌ଜାତି			ସରୋଜିନୀ ସିଂ

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/odia-wikipedia-workshop-kiss-january-10-2014

Rise of the bot: all you need to know about the latest threat online

praskrishna — 2014-01-31T07:16:36Z

In the last week of December, 2013, former union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal lodged a police complaint in Chandigarh after witnessing “an unusual rise in his online fan following”. The former minister told the police that his Facebook page had received more than 10,000 likes, within a span of 24 hours. While his allegation that the ‘likes’ were “fabricated” may be true, information technology experts believe a bot was at work.

The article by Danish Raza was published in the Hindustan Times on January 5, 2014. Snehashish Ghosh is quoted.

A bot is a software that mimics human behaviour on the Internet. Bots can be used to create artificial accounts on social media, provide numerous likes on a particular page, send tweets or visit various websites. All this is done without any human involvement.

Bots already constitute a significant percentage of Non Human Traffic (NHT) online, which has, according to some estimates, eclipsed human traffic. Comscore, a US-based Internet technology company noted on its blog that NHT, also known as Artificial Traffic, increased from approximately 6% of the total web traffic in 2011, to 36% in 2012. Last month, a report from Incapsula, a cloud-based security service, which aids the security and performance of websites, stated that more than 60% of web traffic was non-human in 2013. The figure was based on data collected from the 20,000 sites on Incapsula’s network .

Other than bots, NHT on the web includes traffic generated by Internet routers and back end services used by websites to communicate with third parties.

India is not immune to the problem. According to the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report for 2012, there was a 280% increase in bot infections in India between 2011 and 2012. 17% of bot-infected computers, the highest in the world, are in India and 15% of global bot-net spam is generated here. The report also states that 69 Indian cities are prone to bot infections which includes Bhubaneswar, Surat, Cochin, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Indore, Kota, Ghaziabad and Mysore.

Bot spotting
How do you spot a bot? When a bot or its friend is at work, the browser directs you to sites other than the ones you intend to visit, you get full-page pop ups and pop unders, and when you quit the browser, it gets relaunched after a few minutes. Chances are your computer is part of a chain of online events which create NHT on the web, the purpose of which may be to attack a site or a server.

Why you should be wary
Malicious traffic, malware, hacking attempts, viruses slow down the Internet and delay legitimate traffic and services. Used to target systems or take down websites, NHT generates fake clicks on advertisements to increase website statistics.

One of the perils of ignoring artificial web traffic is that it gets counted for real impressions for which clients end up paying. For example, a website owner may hire the services of a digital marketing firm to publicise the site. In the guise of increasing page views, the marketing firm can produce a bill for fake impressions, supplementing actual human traffic to the page with bot usage.

“Unless there is a curb on this practice of malicious NHT, one stands at risk of being duped by marketers, agencies and even clients,” said Chiragh Cherian, director, online PR at Perfect Relations, a brand management firm. Recent studies have estimated bot traffic to be between 4 - 31% of total web traffic in the US, which translates to between $650 million and $4.7 billion in wasted marketing spend. According to Miaozhen Systems, a leading Chinese advertising technology company, NHT caused advertisers in China to lose approximately US$ 1.6 billion between July 2012 and June 2013.

How to combat Non-Human Traffic
Most servers have defence mechanisms to tackle spam and cyber attacks. Websites are also now developing mechanisms such as asking for human authentication which is difficult for a bot to execute. “But even personal computers should be equipped with strong Internet security applications such as anti-virus and anti-spyware to prevent hacking and phishing attempts and to prevent being used as slave machines for distributed cyber attacks,” said Chintu Cherian Abraham, a digital media professional. Figures show that we need to watch out where and how we go online. According to Norton Report, 2013, 61% Indians access their social network accounts from unsecured wi-fi connections, while 42% access bank accounts and 44% shop online using unsecured wi-fi connections.

Social media companies are gradually devising mechanisms to filter bots. “When a page and a fan connect on Facebook, we want to ensure that connection involves a real person interested in hearing from a specific page and engaging with that brand’s content. As such, we have recently increased our automated efforts to remove Likes on Pages that may have been gained by means that violate our terms,” mentions Facebook’s site integrity policy.

Agency-client intervention is necessary to ensure that artificial traffic is not presented as real. “It’s also important to make all agencies, advertisers and clients aware of their responsibility to keep the Internet free from malicious NHT,” said Chiragh Cherian.

Government involvement is also needed to control the problem of malicious bots. “A lot needs to be done from the government’s side to tackle bots which can be used to target the country’s critical infrastructure such as banking websites,” said Jiten Jain, a cyber security analyst, adding, “Last year, I highlighted the flaws in HDFC’s net banking website which have been rectified now. They could have been exploited to block the net-banking service.”

Until we have a robust mechanism to filter out bogus traffic from real, it will be difficult to say whether the social media followers of Bansal and other public figures are human or not.

Know your Bots
Not all bots are used with a negative intent. Some help in research and monitoring.

The Malicious
Bots can be effectively used to impersonate and to hack accounts leading to financial losses and intellectual property theft. “Theft of personal details, username and password to operate one’s bank account is a classic example of how bots can lead to financial losses. It is an organised cyber crime,” explained Commander (Retd) Mukesh Saini, former national information security coordinator, Government of India. In May 2013, cyber criminals broke into the Mumbai-based account of the RPG group and siphoned off `2.4 crore. Three people were arrested in the case.

“The rate at which NHT is increasing is alarming,” says Tinu Cherian Abraham. “Any computer connected to the Internet is vulnerable to such attacks. The user will not get to know about it unless he or she has installed an Internet security application.”

Besides bots, computers also generate other kinds of secondary activities, while the user is surfing the Internet. This activity remains in the background and is never seen by the user, unlike the bot-generated pop ups, observes Comscore. For example, your computer might be being used as a channel to reach a server with the intention of hacking it. And you will never know.

The Good
Not all NHT is bad, though. In fact, good bots such as scrapers can be effectively used to conduct research. “Wikipedia can be scraped to investigate the frequency of edits on a Wikipedia page and track the increase in the number of editors,” explained Snehashish Ghosh, policy associate at the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet & Society.

Good bots are also used by search engines to track content on websites and enhance their search results. Search bots and other good bots formed 31% of total bots, the Incapsula report noted.

The Social
Apart from malicious and good bots, there are social media bots too. “Extensive analysis is done on social media traffic for monitoring, business lead generation, as well as reputation management. This has amounted to a lot of automated or non-human traffic,” said Abraham.

According to Facebook’s filings published in a Forbes report in February 2012, around 83 million of its users are bogus. “It’s a violation of our policies to use a fake name or operate under a false identity, and we encourage people to report any user they suspect of doing this, either through the report links we provide on the site or through the contact forms in our help centre,” a Facebook spokesperson told HT.

Twitter bots have also made its presence felt on the platform. “Twitter has witnessed very interesting bots which have found appreciation from the community for being funny and creative. The microblogging site cracked down on some harmful bots, but still some of the advanced level bots slip through the net,” said Ghosh.

In August 2012, London-based firm Digital Evaluators, which evaluates social media presence of worldwide companies, released an analysis of Twitter followers of the US Presidential Election candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. 21.9% of Barack Obama’s 17.82 million Twitter followers were found to be bogus.

The Big Brother
Ghosh said that the increase in NHT related to the Internet of things, the concept which enables communication between two or more devices, results in privacy issues. “Take a situation where your mobile device is constantly tracking your location for the purpose of switching on the air conditioner at your home before you reach. Such applications produce huge amounts of personal data and there is no clarity whether this data is being stored,” he said.

“As the new networks link data from products, company assets, or the operating environment, they will generate better information and analysis, which can enhance decision making significantly. Some organisations are starting to deploy these applications in targeted areas, while more radical and demanding uses are still in the conceptual or experimental stages,” noted a McKinsey & Company report on Internet of things.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/hindustan-times-january-5-2014-danish-raza-rise-of-the-bot

Digitising contest to preserve rare books in Malayalam

praskrishna — 2014-01-31T06:33:15Z

The Malayalam Wiki Grandhasala has announced a competition in digitally preserving rare books in Malayalam.

The article was published in the Hindu on January 4, 2014.

‘Digitalisation Contest 2014’, launched by the Wiki community, is aimed at digitising rare books in Malayalam, the copyright of which has expired, and making them available online in Unicode font.

The Wiki community wants the books to reach innumerable readers through the Internet.

The competition will be held in separate categories for schools and the general public. The competition involves entering the text on the computer and proof-reading. The prizes include e-book readers and books.

In the first phase of the project, 55 books listed by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi have been offered for digitising. They include ‘Samskshepa Vedartham’ (1772), ‘Malayanmayude Vyakaranam’ (1863) and ‘Hasthalakshanadeepika’ (1892).
Copies of magazines such as ‘Rasikaranjini’ and ‘Mangalodayam’ have also been offered for digitising.

Those who wish to take part in the competition should visit the Wiki Grandhasala (ml.wikisource.org) and become a member of the project.

Details of the competition and the list of books may be downloaded. The contest will be open till January 31. It is being organised on the 10th anniversary of the Wiki Source project by the Centre for Internet and Society, IT@School project, Swanthanthra Malayalam Computing and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

For details, contact K. Manoj, general convener of the contest (cellphone number: 9495576262).

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-january-4-2014-digitising-contest-to-preserve-rare-books-in-malayalam

Access to Knowledge Bulletin — December 2013

praskrishna — 2014-02-25T10:31:35Z

The Access to Knowledge (Wikipedia) newsletter for the month of December 2013:

We from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS-A2K) thank you all for your support and collaboration and wish you a very Happy New Year. We bring you the details of our work for the month of December 2013:

CIS-A2K: Work Accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia

We are pleased to share with you the key accomplishments on Konkani Wikipedia from September to December 2013 in this report. It has been found that there has been an increased editing activity on Konkani Wikipedia, and an increase in the number of articles on Konkani Wikipedia. Konkani Vishwakosh was re-released under Creative Commons License, we initiated Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization project and signed a MoU with Goa University to build Konkani Wikipedia: http://bit.ly/1l6ttmp.

Article

Telugu Wikipedia completes 10 years (by Rahmanuddin Shaik, DNA, December 16, 2013): http://bit.ly/19OAvUV. The article was edited by Rohini Lakshané.

Blog Entries

First ever Train-the-Trainer Program in India (by Nitika Tandon, December 5, 2013): http://bit.ly/1euwSXt.
Priyadarshini Tadkodkar on Konkani language (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 17, 2013): http://bit.ly/1hldNM8. We are featuring this here as we didn’t carry this in the last newsletter.
Varsha Kavlekar on Konkani Wikipedia Incubator (by Nitika Tandon, December 12, 2013): http://bit.ly/KmxyFo.
Darshan Kandolkar on Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization Process (by Nitika Tandon, December 13, 2013): http://bit.ly/1cqKyQ2.
Darshana Mandrekar speaks on Konkani Wikipedia (by Nitika Tandon, December 16, 2013): http://bit.ly/1keWyya.
Pooja Tople on Wikimedia Projects (by Nitika Tandon, December 17, 2013): http://bit.ly/1hlbubU.

(2-6 are videos of participants from the Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization project (jointly organised by CIS-A2K and Goa University) speaking on their experiences with Wikimedia projects.)

Events Organised

You Too Can Write on Wikipedia! — Training workshop (National Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, December 5, 2013): http://bit.ly/1edmx1z.
Telugu Wikipedia Training Workshop (KBN College, Vijaywada, December 16, 2013): http://bit.ly/1i8ScnL.
Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Alvas Vishva Nudisiri Virasat (Moodabidre, December 19 – 22, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja gave a presentation about Kannada Wikipedia and also conducted a workshop on Kannada Wikipedia as a parallel track. The event was covered by Prajavani (December 22), Hosadigantha (December 22), and Deccan Herald (December 22): http://bit.ly/1dGTBkw.

Events Co-organised

Wikipedia Orientation Workshop (organised by CIS-A2K and Christ University, Bangalore, December 2, 2013): http://bit.ly/1lrkwEy.
Wikipedia Training Session @ Tiruvur (organised by CIS-A2K and Telugu Wikipedia community, Srivahini College, Tiruvur, December 19, 2013). T. Vishnu Vardhan and Rahmanuddin Shaik conducted the workshop: http://bit.ly/1e3oQX7. It was covered by Andhraprabha (http://bit.ly/1bU5VsQ).

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-december-2013

CIS-A2K: Work Accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia

nitika — 2013-12-31T11:48:02Z

The Centre for Internet and Society’s Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K team) is pleased to share with you the key accomplishments about the work it accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia from September to December 2013 in this report. In accordance with the Centre for Internet and Society’s Access to Knowledge Program’s (CIS-A2K) Konkani Work Plan 2013-14 the program has invested time and effort to build Konkani Wikimedia community and projects.

Highlights

Increased editing activity on Konkani Wikipedia

CIS-A2K has been organising different programs and workshops. The idea is to bring in as many volunteers as possible who can contribute to Konkani Wikipedia for years to come. We have organised these outreach sessions mainly in Devanagari, Romi and Kannada scripts. As a result of these programs we have been able to significantly increase no. of editors, consistently have minimum of 5-6 active editors per month and build a community of volunteers. You can also view level of editing activity on Konkani Wikipedia for the past few months in the chart below:


Above: Edits Per Month on Konkani Wikipedia (Mar-13 to Dec-13) (by Nitika Tandon, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Increased number of articles on Konkani Wikipedia

Total number of articles increased from 150 in Sep 2013 to 315 in Nov 2013. The number of articles have doubled over a period of 3 months. We should keep in mind that out of those who edited in Devanagari; 95% of them were completely new to the input method and had to spend considerable time learning and practicing it.


Above: No. of articles on Konkani Wikipedia (by Nitika Tandon, CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Translated Media Wiki messages

CIS-A2K organised translation sprint to help translate Media Wiki interface messages. We achieved translating 79% of these messages in Konkani Devanagari while all 100% messages have already been translated in Romi script

Re-release of Konkani Vishwaksh under Creative Commons License

Upon CIS-A2K‘s explicit request, Goa University has approved the re-release of Vishwakosh under Creative Commons License (CC-BY-SA 3.0) to make it freely available to public, giving them the right to share, use and even build upon the work that has already been done. This is a huge step to help preserve Konkani language and culture in the digital era. Konkani Vishwakosh is a four-volume hard copy encyclopedia (3632 pages) published by Goa University; a work that took over 14 years to develop. It encompasses the world’s information in a nutshell with special emphasis and detailed information on Goa, Konkani, Goan culture, folklore, history, geography etc. To know more about click here and here

Initiated & Completed 30% of Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization Project

Goa University in collaboration with the CIS-A2K is digitizing Konkani Vishwakosh. 37 participants are enrolled in this project who are working to digitize the encyclopedia in a time bound manner. All 3632 pages of Konkani Vishwakosh will be digitized. The program started on 19th October and in just about 2 months 30% of the encyclopedia had already been digitized. You can monitor the progress of this project on Wikisource. Here are the links for Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3 and Volume 4. Please note that some of the participants firstly digitize the encylopedia either in their Sandbox or offline and then move it to Wikisource. To know more about the project click here.

Signed an MoU with Goa University

Goa University entered into a three year MoU with CIS for building Konkani Wikipedia. As part of this partnership, Goa University and CIS-A2K will work together to help build Konkani Wikipedia and community.

White paper by a Linguist

Fr. Pratap Naik, S.J. B.Sc., B.Ed. M.A. (Linguistics), M.Phil. (Linguistics), Ph.D. (Linguistics) has written a white paper discussing issues faced by Konkani language and his views on how it should be dealt on Wikimedia projects. We'll soon upload the white paper on Wikimedia Commons and make the link available.

14 Outreach session, over 450 participants, in 3 months

CIS-A2K organised about 14 outreach sessions and reached out to over 450 people to create awareness about Konkani Wikipedia and the community between Sep-Dec 2013. Details of these sessions can be found here.

Got consensus from field experts

Over the past few months CIS-A2K has spoken with Konkani Wikipedians (such as Frederick Noronha, Deepak D'Souza, Seby Fernandes) Konkani linguists (such as Fr. Pratap), professors from Konkani Department at Goa University (Dr. Madhavi Sardesai and Dr. Priyadarshini Tadkodkar), cultural experts (such as Prof. Alito Siqueira and Harriet Vidyasagar) and other experts to propose a solution for Konkani Wikipedia that faces a problem of usage of multiple scripts. To a great extent we have got consensus from different field experts that we should strive to create separate Wikis for each script, at least those which prove to be active.

Wikipedians Speak

One of the ongoing projects of CIS-A2K is 'Wikipedians Speak' which are small videos of Wikipedians that captures their expereinces, learnings and challenges. As a part of this project CIS-A2K published several videos of Konkani Wikipedians.

Link to the post published on Wikipedia

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/work-accomplished-konkani-wikipedia

December 2013 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2014-02-25T13:51:47Z

Our newsletter for the month of December 2013 can be accessed below.

We at the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) wish you all a great year ahead and welcome you to the twelfth issue of its newsletter (December) for the year 2013:

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Highlights
-------------------------------

The National Resource Kit team has published a draft chapter highlighting the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Gujarat.
Government of India has passed the National Electronic Accessibility Policy. CIS had worked with the Department of Electronics and Information Technology to formulate this policy. We bring you a brief analysis of the policy and provisions therein in a blog post.
Nehaa Chaudhari on behalf of CIS submitted comments on the Proposed WIPO Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations to the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
CIS-A2K team has published a report highlighting the key accomplishments about the work accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia from September to December 2013.
Vipul Kharbanda has provided an analysis of the laws and regulations that apply to Bitcoin in India concluding that government can regulate Bitcoin.
We released the first documentary film (DesiSec) on cyber security in India in Bangalore on December 11.
In the module on Global Histories of the Internet (part of the Knowledge Repository on Internet Access project) Nishant Shah analyses the understanding of the internet, cyberspace and everyday life and why do we need to know the history of the internet.
The second "Institute on Internet and Society" will be held in Yashada, Pune from February 11 to 17, 2014.
As part of the Making Change project, Denisse Albornoz provides an analysis of the benefits and limitations of increasing access to information to enable citizenship and political participation.

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Jobs
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CIS is seeking applications for the posts of Program Officer (Access to Knowledge) and Program Officer (Internet Governance): http://bit.ly/1aA57K6. There are two vacancies each for these posts and these are full-time based in Delhi. To apply, please send your resume to Sunil Abraham (sunil@cis-india.org) and Pranesh Prakash (pranesh@cis-india.org) with three writing samples of which at least one demonstrates your analytic skills, and one that shows your ability to simplify complex policy issues.

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Accessibility and Inclusion
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As part of our project (under a grant from the Hans Foundation) on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India, we bring you draft chapters for the states of Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, and the union territory of Daman and Diu. With this we have completed compilation of draft chapters for 27 states and 5 union territories. Feedback and comments are invited from readers for the following chapter:

► National Resource Kit Chapter

The Gujarat Chapter (by Anandhi Viswanathan, December 31, 2013): http://bit.ly/Kxbg3b.

Note: All of the chapters published so far in this project are early drafts and will be reviewed and updated.

►Other

# Media Coverage

An “Advocacy” Saga and the Inspiring Legacy of Rahul Cherian (by Shamnad Basheer, Spicy IP, December 16, 2013): http://bit.ly/1a5B7sU.

# Blog Entry

National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility – An Analysis (by Anandhi Viswanathan, December 27, 2013): http://bit.ly/1dfCW3I.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Access to Knowledge
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Access to Knowledge programme addresses the harms caused to consumers and human rights, and critically examines Open Government Data, Open Access to Scholarly Literature, and Open Access to Law, Open Content, Open Standards, and Free/Libre/Open Source Software.

# Submission

Comments on Proposed WIPO Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (by Nehaa Chaudhari, December 7, 2013). CIS submitted its comments to the Ministry of Human Resource Development: http://bit.ly/1hpWeuu.

# Events Participated In

3rd Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest & Open A.I.R. Conference on Innovation and IP in Africa (organized by University of Cape Town, December 9-13, 2013). Sunil Abraham participated as a speaker in the sessions on Bridging into the Global Congress: Global Issues, Local Answers?, User Rights Track: What Medicines Can Teach Tech: Exploring Patent Pooling and Compulsory Licensing in the Indian Mobile Device Market (http://bit.ly/1f74yir), User Rights Track: Reclaiming the World Trade Organisation: A Modest Proposal for a WTO Agreement on the Supply of Global Public Goods (http://bit.ly/1f74yir), and was a keynote speaker on The Freedom Continuum (http://bit.ly/1dH1WEM). Nehaa Chaudhari also participated in this event: http://bit.ly/1bJArFJ.
Twenty-Sixth Session of the Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights (organized by WIPO, Geneva, December 16 – 20, 2013). CIS gave its statement on Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives (http://bit.ly/JWnjq7) and on Limitations and Exceptions for Education, Teaching and Research Institutions and Persons with Other Disabilities (http://bit.ly/JWnjq7). Nehaa Chaudhari participated as a speaker. India and the United States introduced 6 proposals on the WIPO Broadcast Treaty: http://bit.ly/1edqvr3.

The following has been done under grant from the Wikimedia Foundation (http://bit.ly/SPqFOl). As part this project (http://bit.ly/X80ELd), we held 3 workshops in the month of December, published a detailed report of key accomplishments of the work done in Konkani Wikipedia, a report on Train the Trainer Program held in the month of October and published an article in DNA.

►Wikipedia

# Article

Telugu Wikipedia completes 10 years (by Rahmanuddin Shaik, DNA, December 16, 2013): http://bit.ly/19OAvUV. The article was edited by Rohini Lakshané.

# Report

CIS-A2K: Work Accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia (by Nitika Tandon, December 31, 2013): http://bit.ly/1l6ttmp. The report throws some light on the work accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia from September to December 2013.

# Blog Entries

First ever Train-the-Trainer Program in India (by Nitika Tandon, December 5, 2013): http://bit.ly/1euwSXt.

The following are videos of participants from the Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization project (jointly organised by CIS-A2K and Goa University) speaking on their experiences with Wikimedia projects.

Priyadarshini Tadkodkar on Konkani language (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 17, 2013): http://bit.ly/1hldNM8. We are featuring this here as we didn’t carry this in the last newsletter.
Varsha Kavlekar on Konkani Wikipedia Incubator (by Nitika Tandon, December 12, 2013): http://bit.ly/KmxyFo.
Darshan Kandolkar on Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization Process (by Nitika Tandon, December 13, 2013): http://bit.ly/1cqKyQ2.
Darshana Mandrekar speaks on Konkani Wikipedia (by Nitika Tandon, December 16, 2013): http://bit.ly/1keWyya.
Pooja Tople on Wikimedia Projects (by Nitika Tandon, December 17, 2013): http://bit.ly/1hlbubU.

# Events Organised

You Too Can Write on Wikipedia! — Training workshop (National Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, December 5, 2013): http://bit.ly/1edmx1z.
Telugu Wikipedia Training Workshop (KBN College, Vijaywada, December 16, 2013): http://bit.ly/1i8ScnL.
Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Alvas Vishva Nudisiri Virasat (Moodabidre, December 19 – 22, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja gave a presentation about Kannada Wikipedia and also conducted a workshop on Kannada Wikipedia as a parallel track. The event was covered by Prajavani (December 22), Hosadigantha (December 22), and Deccan Herald (December 22): http://bit.ly/1dGTBkw.

# Events Co-organised

Wikipedia Orientation Workshop (organised by CIS-A2K and Christ University, Bangalore, December 2, 2013): http://bit.ly/1lrkwEy.
Wikipedia Training Session @ Tiruvur (organised by CIS-A2K and Telugu Wikipedia community, Srivahini College, Tiruvur, December 19, 2013). T. Vishnu Vardhan and Rahmanuddin Shaik conducted the workshop: http://bit.ly/1e3oQX7. It was covered by Andhraprabha (http://bit.ly/1bU5VsQ), Eenadu (http://bit.ly/19fsttf), Sakshi (http://bit.ly/1e3pQdU), and Prajasakthi (http://bit.ly/JJs7ja) on December 19, 2013.

# Event Participated In

A Wikipedia Workshop at IISC (organised by the Assamese Wikipedia community, Bangalore, December 1, 2013). CIS-A2K team and Wikipedian Shiju Alex supported this event: http://bit.ly/1dSutY2.

# Media Coverage

CIS gave its inputs for the following media coverage:

A Feature on Telugu Wikipedia (Namaste Telengana Newspaper, December 8, 2013): http://bit.ly/19Yjwj6.
Odisha: Odia Wikipedia reaching 5000 article mark! (Odisha Diary Bureau, December 17, 2013): http://bit.ly/1dGU2vc.

-----------------------------------------------
Internet Governance
-----------------------------------------------
CIS is doing a project (under a grant from Privacy International and International Development Research Centre (IDRC)) on conducting research on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). So far we have organised seven privacy round-tables and drafted the Privacy (Protection) Bill. This month we bring you an analysis on whether Bitcoin can be banned by the government and a blog post on misuse of surveillance powers in India. As part of its project (funded by Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and support from the IDRC) on mapping cyber security actors in South Asia and South East Asia a film DesiSec: Episode 1was screened. We also did an interview with Pranesh Prakash on cyber security. With this we have completed a total of 13 video interviews so far:

# Analysis

Can Bitcoin Be Banned by the Indian Government? (by Vipul Kharbanda, December 24, 2013): http://bit.ly/1lJrnGF.

# Blog Entries

Misuse of Surveillance Powers in India (Case 1) (by Pranesh Prakash, December 6, 2013): http://bit.ly/1donbaJ.
Brochures from Expos on Smart Cards, e-Security, RFID & Biometrics in India (by Maria Xynou, December 18, 2013): http://bit.ly/1f714fN.
India’s Identity Crisis (by Malavika Jayaram, December 31, 2013 Internet Monitor Annual Report: Reflections on the Digital World, published by Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society): http://bit.ly/1lTRuuz.

# Upcoming Events

Digital Citizens: Why Cyber Security and Online Privacy are Vital to the Success of Democracy and Freedom of Expression (CIS, Bangalore, January 14, 2014): http://bit.ly/KucEU5. Michael Oghia will give a talk.
CPDP 2014 Reforming Data Protection: The Global Perspective (Brussels, January 22 – 24, 2014): http://bit.ly/KsgCws.
Nullcon Goa Feb 2014 — International Security Conference (organised by Nullcon, Bogmallo Beach Resort, Goa, February 12 – 15, 2014). CIS is one of the sponsors for this event: http://bit.ly/1lrBu5I.

# Events Organised

Big Democracy: Big Surveillance - A talk by Maria Xynou (CIS, Bangalore, December 3, 2013): http://bit.ly/19YnA31.
DesiSec: Episode 1 - Film Release and Screening (CIS, December 11, 2013): http://bit.ly/1lJt2fm.
Legal Issues pertaining to Cloud Computing (NLSIU Campus, Bangalore, December 14-15, 2013): http://bit.ly/1cvcmGq.
Biometrics or Bust? Implications of the UID for Participation and Inclusion (CIS, Bangalore, January 10, 2014). Malavika Jayaram will give a talk: http://bit.ly/1lJZhuK.

# Events Participated In

Convention on Crisis of Capitalism and brazen onslaught on Democracy (organized by INSAF, December 6, 2013). Snehashish Ghosh participated as a speaker: http://bit.ly/1gAxmNy.
International View of the State-of-the-Art of Cryptography and Security and its Use in Practice (IV) (jointly organized by Microsoft Research India, Indian Institute of Science, and Indian Institute of Technology Madras, December 6, 2013). Sunil Abraham was a panellist: http://bit.ly/1eAXl5t.
Technology in Government and Topics in Privacy (organized by Data Privacy Lab, CGIS Cafe, Cambridge Street, Harvard University Campus, December 9, 2013). Malavika Jayaram participated as a speaker on Biometrics in Beta – India's Identity Experiment: http://bit.ly/1bJDqht.
Cyberscholars Working Group at MIT (organized by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University, December 12, 2013): Malavika Jayaram made a presentation on Biometrics or Bust - India’s Identity Crisis: http://bit.ly/1eIpHef.
Seventh NLSIR Symposium on “Bridging the Security-Liberty Divide” (organised by National Law School, Bangalore, December 21-22). Chinmayi Arun and Bhairav Acharya were speakers at this event: http://bit.ly/1gjsxYe.

--------------------------------
News & Media Coverage
--------------------------------
CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

MongoDB startup hired by Aadhaar got funds from CIA VC arm (by Lison Joseph, Economic Times, December 3, 2013): http://bit.ly/1f77bRg.
A Three-Way Race Draws Delhi’s Young, and Everyone Else, Out to Vote (by Betwa Sharma, New York Times, December 4, 2013): http://bit.ly/1gAxoFf.
India for UN body to resolve internet governance issues (by Kim Arora, The Times of India, December 5, 2013): http://bit.ly/JWESqe.
Card transactions with Aadhaar validation need more time: experts (by Kirti V. Rao and Moulishree Srivastava, Livemint, December 5, 2013): http://bit.ly/1hq35UL.
Indian government wakes up to risk of Hotmail, Gmail (originally published by AFP, December 7, 2013): http://bit.ly/19LrlOS. This was also mirrored in The Times of India (http://bit.ly/1hpYEJu), Reuters (http://bit.ly/1gaHhZk), Dawn (http://bit.ly/1azuV95), NDTV (http://bit.ly/19Ys7lS), Yahoo News (http://yhoo.it/JCSreE), The Malaysian Insider (http://bit.ly/1eAPAMW) and Asia One Digital (http://bit.ly/JWuw9R). A slightly modified version was published by Silicon India on December 11: http://bit.ly/1gAtzjd.

# Announcement

Pranesh Prakash has been elected as the Asia-Pacific representative to the executive committee of the NonCommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) (part of the Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group, which is in turn part of the Generic Names Supporting Organization, which is in turn part of ICANN): http://bit.ly/KuIVeC.

--------------------------------
Telecom
-------------------------------
Shyam Ponappa, a Distinguished Fellow at CIS is a regular columnist with the Business Standard. The articles published on his blog Organizing India Blogspot is mirrored on our website:

# Newspaper Column

For a Telecom Revival (by Shyam Ponappa, Business Standard, December 4, 2013 and Organizing India Blogspot, December 5, 2013): http://bit.ly/1avRDii.

--------------------------------
Digital Humanities
--------------------------------
CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:

# Blog Entry

The Conflict of Konigsberg (by Anirudh Sridhar, December 17, 2013): http://bit.ly/1cEXhhU.

--------------------------------
Digital Natives
--------------------------------
CIS is doing a research project titled “Making Change”. The project will explore new ways of defining, locating, and understanding change in network societies. Having the thought piece 'Whose Change is it Anyway' as an entry point for discussion and reflection, the project will feature profiles, interviews and responses of change-makers to questions around current mechanisms and practices of change in South Asia and South East Asia:

►Making Change Project

# Blog Entries

Tactical Technology: Information is Power? (by Denisse Albornoz, December 26, 2013): http://bit.ly/1cEUrcY.
Tactical Technology: Designing Activism (by Denisse Albornoz, December 27, 2013): http://bit.ly/1a9IuzH.

►Other

# Newspaper Column

Digital Native (by Nishant Shah, Indian Express, December 22, 2013): http://bit.ly/1f7mU2P.

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Knowledge Repository on Internet Access
------------------------------------------------------------
CIS in partnership with the Ford Foundation is executing a project to create a knowledge repository on Internet and society. This repository will comprise content targeted primarily at civil society with a view to enabling their informed participation in the Indian Internet and ICT policy space. The repository is available at the Internet Institute website: http://bit.ly/1iQT2UB.

# Upcoming Event

Institute on Internet and Society (organised by Ford Foundation and CIS, Yashada, Pune, February 11-17, 2014): http://bit.ly/180mQi9. Registrations are closed for this event.

# Modules

History of the Internet: Building Conceptual Frameworks (by Nishant Shah, December 31, 2013): http://bit.ly/19WRHLb.
Internet Privacy in India (by Elonnai Hickok, December 31, 2013): http://bit.ly/19SNk6v.

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About CIS
-----------------------------------------------------
The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

► Follow us elsewhere

Twitter:https://twitter.com/CISA2K
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
Visit us at:https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge
E-mail: a2k@cis-india.org

► Support Us

Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of ‘The Centre for Internet and Society’ and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd ‘C’ Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru – 5600 71.

► Request for Collaboration:
We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at nishant@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at vishnu@cis-india.org.

CIS is grateful to its donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation and the Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2013-bulletin

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Alvas Vishva Nudisiri Virasat

praskrishna — 2013-12-31T09:48:19Z

The Access to Knowledge team from the Centre for Internet and Society conducted a workshop at Moodabidre from December 19 to 22, 2013.

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja gave a presentation about Kannada Wikipedia and also conducted a workshop on Kannada Wikipedia as a parallel track. He spoke about Kannada and IT in general and also about Kannada Wikipedia. The event was covered by Prajavani (December 22), Hosadigantha (December 22), and Deccan Herald (December 22). Scanned copies of these are reproduced below:


Above: A report published by Prajavani


Above: Article by Guruprasad TN about Kannada Wikipedia, Dr. Pavanaja is quoted.


Above: Article in Hosadigantha. Dr. Pavanaja is quoted.

Also there was a report published by Udayavani on December 24, 2013. This can be accessed here: http://bit.ly/1cjwIyD.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-alvas-vishva-nudisiri-virasat

Odisha: Odia Wikipedia reaching 5000 article mark!

praskrishna — 2013-12-31T05:10:30Z

Many are not aware of the existence of Odia Wikipedia and other Indian language Wikipedias. But Odia Wikipedia has been growing gradually all these years and has become the most searched website and largest online encyclopedia in Odia language.

The Report by Odisha Diary bureau, Bhubaneswar was published on December 17, 2013. Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted.

Initiated in 2002 Odia Wikipedia saw its first edit in 2004 and suffered from low contribution for almost seven years. But slowly the gloomy scene changed with the first workshop in Bengaluru which started initiating more consecutive Wikipedia training workshops in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Nalconagar, Baleswar, Dhenkanal and many other cities. Over these years after many outreach workshops individuals who are experts in different subject areas and organizations and institutions like Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal and KIIT University have been associated with the Odia Wikipedia editor community.

After Gopal Chandra Praharaj's Purnachandra Ordiya Bhashakosha and Binod Kanungo's Jnanamandal no such progressive encyclopedic compilation was done in Odia. Where the encyclopedias take years for reprinting which is also negligible in regional languages Odia Wikipedia articles get revised every now and then. “This has been possible because of the collaborative writing mechanism of Wikipedia All of us keep editing the articles that refine the content and make it free from biased and incorrect facts.”, says Mrutyunjaya Kar, one of the very active Wikipedians. Some time ago noted linguists like Natabara Satpathy and Deepak Kanungo raised questions about the authenticity and writing standards of the articles on Odia Wikipedia.

"But I think we have overcome those issues of poor quality content. And the very thing Wikipedia got is the gradual growth of articles in terms of amount of information and accuracy. Something that attracted me to Odia Wikipedia is the way one liner stub articles grow to good quality articles in few days", says Subhashish Panigrahi, Programme Officer to Centre of Internet and Society's Access To Knowledge program that is working for the growth of Indian languages. Many of the valuable aspects of Odisha's history, diverse languages, cultural heritage and tourism are being documented and shared for free on the internet which otherwise would not ever come to the limelight.

Available in 286 world languages Wikipedia is edited by more than 77,000 contributors across the world. Odia Wikipedia has only a small community consisting handful of contributors. We aim to reach out to more people to spread the sum of the entire knowledge in our own language, says another active contributor Shitikantha Dash. Odia Wikipedia could be accessed at: https://or.wikipedia.org

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/orissa-diary-december-17-2013-odia-wikipedia-reaching-5000-article-mark

An “Advocacy” Saga and the Inspiring Legacy of Rahul Cherian

praskrishna — 2013-12-31T04:51:50Z

For those interested in policy advocacy, the NUJS Law Review has an elaborate paper outlining the tireless advocacy efforts (spanning more than 10 full years) of a bunch of dedicated campaigners who strove valiantly to foster access for the disabled.

The blog post by Shamnad Basheer was published by Spicy IP on December 16, 2013.

Their efforts resulted in the culmination of a newly introduced section 52(1)(zb) to the copyright regime. As many of you know, this is one of the widest possible copyright “disability” exceptions anywhere in the world, providing effectively that any conversion of a copyrighted work to make it more accessible to a disabled person (on a non- profit basis) will not count as a copyright infringement.

One name that stands out and will continue to stand out for all time to come in this advocacy campaign is that of Rahul Cherian, a pioneering crusader for disability rights. Rahul not only led the advocacy campaign that led to this revolutionary copyright exception for India, but also played a stellar role with the WBU (World Blind Union) in helping shape an international treaty on similar lines (the Marrakesh treaty) and bring it to fruition.

Unfortunately, even before the Marrakesh treaty was adopted, Rahul was snatched away from us by a cruel twist of fate. However, his legacy lives on and will continue to guide us for a long time to come. As Lawrence Liang notes in this moving piece: “Rahul leaves behind an important legacy in terms of his work, but a far more important one on how we understand the very idea of a free spirit. His singularity, while irreplaceable, provides us with a vocabulary of thinking of human rights struggles as really a right to the maximum enjoyment of life and doing it with a sense of lightness.”

It may interest you to note that Rahul began his career as an IP attorney with Kurian and Kurian, a Chennai based IP boutique. He later found his true calling in working to improve the lot of the differently-abled. He founded Inclusive Planet, a technology/policy outfit to create technology solutions to redress the book famine (by encouraging sharing of accessible literature) and undertake policy advocacy on behalf of disabled communities.

Disability Advocacy and Indian Copyright Amendment

It was a chance call from Rahul that got me into disability advocacy as well; and in no time, his excitement and passion rubbed off on me. Along with other outstanding disability activists and scholars (prominent amongst them were Prof Sam Taraporewala, Dipendra Manocha, Nirmita Narasimhan, Lawrence Liang, Kanchan Pamnani, Ketan Kothari and Neha Trivedi), we campaigned for a meaningful copyright exception, made representations before the Parliamentary Standing Committee and succeeded in getting this historic amendment through the legislature. All this was possible owing to the stellar support of the government (and in particular the untiring work of GR Raghavender, the copyright registrar and Prof NSG, the governments’ key copyright advisor).

We’ve reflected on this advocacy effort in detail in this NUJS law review special issue dealing with the 2012 copyright amendments. To access other articles in this special issue (which resulted from a copyright conference at NUJS a year or so ago), see here (hold your cursor over the NUJS Volume 5 (Number 4) to get access to all the special issue articles).

Rahul is a co-author of this piece (along with Prof Taraporewala and me), but passed away just as we neared completion, making it his last work of writing/scholarship. We consider ourselves blessed to have been a part of his last writing endeavor. We’re also very grateful to the NUJS law review for dedicating the entire special issue to Rahul’s memory.

Our Paper

For those interested, the abstract of our paper states as below:

“In a momentous development, the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, was amended to introduce one of the most progressive provisions ever in the history of global copyright law. These amendments seek to foster access to copyrighted works for the disabled by providing for the conversion and distribution of copyrighted works without the risk of copyright infringement. It is important to appreciate that these amendments did not emerge overnight. Rather, they were the culmination of more than a decade of advocacy, by a group of dedicated campaigners drawn from a diverse set of stakeholders, including leaders of the disability community, civil society activists and the academia. This paper provides a ringside view of the evolution and progress of the campaign, with its final culmination in the amendment. It tracks the advocacy effort through the lens of ‘new social movements’, and focuses on the need to bring together different stakeholders with complementary skills to achieve shared goals of public interest. Additionally, this paper reflects upon the scope of the amendment, the current international efforts to secure a global treaty on this count and India’s role in shaping it.

The authors of this paper were an integral part of the advocacy campaign and worked extensively with several others to secure the introduction of this critical amendment. Unfortunately upon completion of this paper, we lost the most committed campaigner of all, Rahul Cherian. This paper is dedicated to his memory and the boundless passion and enthusiasm with which he brought so many of us together in his quest for creating a better world for the disabled. Over the last few years, Rahul worked tirelessly to champion the cause of the disabled in India and achieved commendable progress on several fronts. However, the copyright amendment will rate as his crowning glory, given the rather difficult political terrain that had to be traversed. Rahul is to be credited for providing a fresh fillip to the advocacy campaign and mediating differences between a diverse set of people with different skill sets, ideologies and expectations and ensuring that they worked together as ‘one’ team with a common goal.”

Rahul’s journey is far from over. Though we’ve lost him physically, his energy, spirit and infectious enthusiasm will continue to inspire many of us who struggle in our own little way to make this planet more inclusive, habitable and humane.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/spicy-ip-december-16-2013-shamnad-basheer-an-advocacy-saga-and-inspiring-legacy-rahul-cherian

Telugu Wikipedia completes 10 years

rahim — 2013-12-31T04:40:40Z

Telugu Wikipedia completed 10 years on December 10, 2013. Several training sessions, aka Wiki Academies, were planned by the Telugu Wikipedia community to mark the occasion.

The article by Rahmanuddin Shaikh was published by DNA on December 16, 2013. It was edited by Rohini Lakshané.

Telugu Wikipedia completed 10 years on December 10, 2013. Several training sessions, aka Wiki Academies, were planned by the Telugu Wikipedia community to mark the occasion. One such session, the Te-Wiki Shikshana Shibir was organised at Hyderabad on December 8. It was the fifth Wiki Academy ever held in the city.

The Wiki Academy saw a turnout of around 21 people coming from various teaching backgrounds, right from a professor of Telugu from Osmania University to a teacher at a private school. Teachers, professors, student-teachers, and instructors participated in the event. It has carved the way for organising Te-Wiki Dasabdi (Telugu Wikipedia decennial celebrations) with more enthusiasm.

The Telugu teaching community has affirmed that it would make use of the Telugu Wikipedia in and out of the classroom. Many of the participants have already turned into Wikipedia editors. "A few of the difficulties the Telugu teaching fraternity faces have been solved by the Telugu Wikipedia," said one of the participants hailing from Mysore CIIL. "I've been horrified by the mere touch of keyboard and mouse, this Telugu Wikipedia seems promising to deal with my Computerophobia," said HoD, Telugu Osmania University, Prof S.V. Satyanarayana. The professor also urged the organisers to conduct one such workshop for his students in the coming days.

Resources:

Event page on Telugu Wikipedia
Photos of the WikiAcademy
Cross-posted at Wikimedia India Chapter blog

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/dna-december-16-2013-rahmanuddin-shaikh-telugu-wikipedia-completes-10-years