The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 41 to 55.
‘Miracle at Marrakesh’ to help visually impaired read
https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-ramya-kannan-june-30-2013-miracle-at-marrakesh-to-help-visually-impaired-read
<b>The treaty will make access to books for the visually impaired, blind and print disabled easier.</b>
<hr />
<p>The article by Ramya Kannan was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/miracle-at-marrakesh-to-help-visually-impaired-read/article4864281.ece?homepage=true">published in the Hindu</a> on June 30, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On Friday, in the same city that established the World Trade Organisation nearly two decades ago, another significant treaty was born. In Marrakesh, Morocco, international negotiators signed a treaty that will make access to books for the visually impaired, blind and print disabled easier.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">After a week of intense debate among the negotiators (facilitated by the World Intellectual Property Organisation), the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled emerged.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">It will address the ‘book famine’ for the visually impaired by “requiring its contracting parties to adopt national law provisions that permit the reproduction, distribution and making available of published works in accessible formats through limitations and exceptions to the rights of copyright right holders.” Very simply, it allows the waiver of copyright restrictions in order for books to be available in formats such as formats such as Braille, large print text and audio books.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">Pranesh Prakash of the Centre for Internet and Society, in his closing remarks said: “It is historic that today WIPO and its members have collectively recognised in a treaty that copyright isn't just an ‘engine of free expression’ but can pose a significant barrier to access to knowledge.”</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">To recognise that copyright should not frustrate access for some groups of people and thereby to free books from that ‘constraint’ is of immeasurable significance for people otherwise unable to access books in the conventional format.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">The treaty also provides assurances to authors and publishers that that system will not expose their published works to misuse or distribution to anyone other than the intended beneficiaries. “There are no winners and no losers, this is a treaty for everyone,” said Moroccan Minister of Communications Mustapha Khalfi, going on to describe it as the “Miracle in Marrakesh.”</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">There are an estimated 285 million blind and partially-sighted people in the world, of which the largest percentage lives in India. Only 1 to 7 per cent of all books published are available in formats accessible to them. India’s key campaigner for the treaty, the late Rahul Cherian of Inclusive Planet was full of beans when he spoke to <i>The Hindu</i> in December last year, anticipating the possibility of a treaty half a year later.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">“It is a breakthrough!” he said excitedly as he broke the news, “The Extraordinary General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organisation has referred the Treaty for Visually Impaired Persons to a diplomatic conference in June of 2013.”</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-ramya-kannan-june-30-2013-miracle-at-marrakesh-to-help-visually-impaired-read'>https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-ramya-kannan-june-30-2013-miracle-at-marrakesh-to-help-visually-impaired-read</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaIntellectual Property RightsCopyrightAccess to KnowledgeWIPO2013-07-02T10:07:28ZNews ItemWiki Rahasya: Panel Discussion on Suvarna News
https://cis-india.org/news/suvarna-news-june-13-2013-wiki-rahasya-panel-discussion
<b>Dr. U.B.Pavanaja participated in a panel discussion around Wikipedia in general and about Kannada Wikipedia in specific. This was telecast by Suvarna News 24x7 (Kannada) TV channel on June 13, 2013.</b>
<h3>Videos</h3>
<p><b>Part 1 </b></p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HeGts72SxiI" width="320"></iframe></p>
<hr />
<p><b>Part 2 </b></p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/s6txDACzK8c" width="320"></iframe></p>
<hr />
<p><b>Part 3 </b></p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VjQNQ9pKORg" width="320"></iframe></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/suvarna-news-june-13-2013-wiki-rahasya-panel-discussion'>https://cis-india.org/news/suvarna-news-june-13-2013-wiki-rahasya-panel-discussion</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaVideoOpenness2013-07-02T16:36:11ZNews ItemAccess to Knowledge Bulletin — March 2013
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-march-2013
<b>In the third issue of our newsletter for 2013, we are pleased to bring you updates from the Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project, reports of events organised in Goa, and press coverage of the Kannada Wikipedia Workshop held in Mysore.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The <a href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Access_To_Knowledge/Team" target="_blank" title="Access To Knowledge/Team">A2K team</a> consists of four members based in Delhi: <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team" target="_blank">T. Vishnu Vardhan</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team" target="_blank">Nitika Tandon</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team" target="_blank">Subhashish Panigrahi</a> and <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team" target="_blank">Noopur Raval</a>, and one member <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team" target="_blank">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</a> who is working from Bangalore office.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications at <a href="http://bit.ly/TOcXId" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/TOcXId</a>.</p>
<h3>Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-basic-parameters">Visualising Basic Parameters</a> (by Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro Chattapadhyay, March 26, 2013): Sajjad and Sumandro bring you a visualisation of the growth of Indic Wikipedia in this first post on Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Events Organised</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/wikipedia-session-at-bits-goa">Introductory Wikipedia session at BITS Goa</a> (organised by CIS, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Goa, March 7, 2013). The Access to Knowledge team was invited by Nikhil Dixit from BITS to organise a Wikipedia editing session. Nitika Tandon led the editing session.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/kannada-wikipedia-workshop">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop</a> (organised by CIS, Institution of Engineers, JLB Road, Mysore, March 24, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the event.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Events Co-organised</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/wiki-womens-day-in-goa">Wiki Women's Day in Goa</a> (organised by the Wikimedia India Chapter and CIS, Nirmala Institute of Education, Panaji, Goa, March 8, 2013). Nitika Tandon participated in this workshop held on International Working Women's Day, and shares the developments in this report.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/wikipedia-workshop-for-kannada-science-writers">Wikipedia Workshop for Kannada Science Writers</a> (organised by Wikimedia Chapter India, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath and CIS, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath Conference Hall, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore, March 17, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Upcoming Event (Co-organised)</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/telegu-wiki-mahotsavam-2013">Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</a> (co-organised with the Telegu Wikipedia community, Hyderabad, April 9 to 11, 2013). Vishnu Vardhan is participating in this event as a speaker. A public event will be held on April 11 from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. at Golden Threshold (Sarojini Naidu's house) in Hyderabad.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Events Participated In</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-womens-workshop-bangalore-2013">Wikipedia Women's Workshop Bangalore 2013</a> (organised by Wikimedia India, Servelots Infotech, Jayanagar, Bangalore, March 8, 2013). The event was covered by <a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-womens-workshop-bangalore-2013">Kannada Prabha</a> on March 9, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-at-avenir">Wikipedia at Avenir</a> (organised by the Wikipedia community, Netaji Subhash Engineering College, Kolkata, West Bengal, March 11, 2013). CIS supported the event.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Event Report from Other Organisations</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia Community members helped the Higher Education Innovation and Research Applications Programme (HEIRA) of CSCS Bangalore organize a day-long workshop on ‘Digital Literacy’ at Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar, Maharasthra on January 17, 2013. Tanveer Hasan of HEIRA shares with us the developments in <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/ahmednagar-marathi-wikipedia-workshop-report">this report</a>.</p>
<h3>Media Coverage</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-report-in-prajavani">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop, Mysore</a> (Prajavani, March 25, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/">About CIS</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS was registered as a society in Bangalore in 2008. As an independent, non-profit research organisation, it runs different policy research programmes such as Accessibility, Access to Knowledge, Openness, Internet Governance, and Telecom. The policy research programmes have resulted in outputs such as the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/advocacy/accessibility/blog/e-accessibility-handbook">e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities</a> with ITU and G3ict, and <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/digital-natives/front-page/blog/dnbook">Digital Alternatives with a Cause?</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/digital-natives/front-page/blog/position-papers">Thinkathon Position Papers</a> and the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/digital-natives/front-page/blog/digital-natives-with-a-cause-a-report">Digital Natives with a Cause? Report</a> with Hivos, etc. We have conducted policy research for the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, etc., on <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/a2k/blog/cis-analysis-july2011-treaty-print-disabilities">WIPO Treaties</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/a2k/blog/analysis-copyright-amendment-bill-2012">Copyright Bill</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/internet-governance/front-page/blog/cis-feedback-to-nia-bill">NIA Bill</a>, etc.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is accredited as an observer at WIPO. CIS staff participates in the Standing Committee for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meetings regularly held in Geneva, and participate in the discussions and comments on them from a public interest perspective. Our Policy Director, Nirmita Narasimhan won the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/accessibility/blog/national-award">National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities</a> from the Government of India and also received the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/news/nirmita-nivh-award">NIVH Excellence Award</a>.</p>
<h3>Follow us elsewhere</h3>
<ul>
<li>Get short, timely messages from us on <a href="https://twitter.com/cis_india">Twitter</a></li>
<li>Join the CIS group on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/28535315687/">Facebook</a></li>
<li>Visit us at <a href="https://cis-india.org/">http://cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Support Us</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<h3>Request for Collaboration</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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 <a href="mailto:sunil@cis-india.org">sunil@cis-india.org</a> or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at <a href="mailto:nishant@cis-india.org">nishant@cis-india.org</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>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.</i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-march-2013'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-march-2013</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessWikipediaAccess to KnowledgeWikimedia2013-04-15T16:47:20ZPageAccess to Knowledge Bulletin — April 2013
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-april-2013
<b>In the third issue of our newsletter for 2013, we are pleased to bring you updates from the Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project, reports of events organised in Kolkata, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Wikimedia Foundation, beginning from September 1, 2012, awarded the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) a two-year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and develop free knowledge in India. Consequently, Wikimedia Foundation’s India Program became the <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan" target="_blank">Access to Knowledge (A2K) program</a> of CIS. In the third issue of our newsletter for 2013, we are pleased to bring you updates from the Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project, reports of events organised in Goa, and press coverage of the Kannada Wikipedia Workshop held in Mysore.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The <a href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Access_To_Knowledge/Team" target="_blank" title="Access To Knowledge/Team">A2K team</a> consists of three members based in Delhi: <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team" target="_blank">T. Vishnu Vardhan</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team" target="_blank">Nitika Tandon</a> and <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team" target="_blank">Subhashish Panigrahi</a> and one member <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team" target="_blank">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</a> who is working from Bangalore office. <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team" target="_blank">Noopur Raval</a>, Programme Officer (Access to Knowledge) has resigned. April 24, 2013 was her last working day. Archives of our newsletters are <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications at <a href="http://bit.ly/TOcXId" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/TOcXId</a>.</p>
<p><b>Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-page-views-and-project-pages">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #2: Visualising Page Views and Project Pages</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Guest Blog</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/indian-wiki-women-history-month">Indian WikiWomen celebrate Women’s History Month</a> (by Netha Hussain, April 29, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Event Organised</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-udupi-april-29-2013">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop</a> (April 29, 2013, Govinda Pai Research Centre, MGM College Udupi). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the workshop and gave a talk on Kannada Wikipedia.</li>
</ul>
<p>Events Co-organised</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The following events were organised in the month of March but reports were written during the month of April. Vishnu Vardhan and Subhashish Panigrahi held meetings with wikipedians:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wiki-meet-up-kolkata">Kolkata Wiki Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Kolkata Wiki Community, March 14, 2013). </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikipedia-cuttack-community-meetup-march-16-2013">Odia Wikipedia - Cuttack Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Odia Wiki Community, Cuttack, March 16, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikipedia-meet-up-bhubaneswar-march-17-2013">Odia Wikipedia – Bhubaneswar Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Odia Wiki Community, Bhubaneswar, March 17, 2013). </li>
</ul>
<p>The following event was organised in the month of April. We will be publishing the report soon:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/telegu-wiki-mahotsavam-2013">Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</a> (organised by Telugu Wikipedia Community and CIS, Hyderabad, April 9 – 11, 2013). Vishnu Vardhan was one of the trainers at the Wikipedia Academy at Centre for Good Governance on April 9, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan spoke about the Access to Knowledge work in one of the sessions of Wikimedia Meeting with Media Heads on April 10, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan gave a talk on A2K’s plans for the growth of Telegu Wikipedia in 2013-14 at the Telegu Wikipedia general meeting on April 11, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan also gave a talk about Access to Knowledge in the digital era at the Wiki Chaitanya Vedika on April 11, 2013.</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/">About CIS</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS was registered as a society in Bangalore in 2008. As an independent, non-profit research organisation, it runs different policy research programmes such as Accessibility, Access to Knowledge, Openness, Internet Governance, and Telecom. The policy research programmes have resulted in outputs such as the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/advocacy/accessibility/blog/e-accessibility-handbook">e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities</a> with ITU and G3ict, and <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/digital-natives/front-page/blog/dnbook">Digital Alternatives with a Cause?</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/digital-natives/front-page/blog/position-papers">Thinkathon Position Papers</a> and the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/digital-natives/front-page/blog/digital-natives-with-a-cause-a-report">Digital Natives with a Cause? Report</a> with Hivos, etc. We have conducted policy research for the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, etc., on <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/a2k/blog/cis-analysis-july2011-treaty-print-disabilities">WIPO Treaties</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/a2k/blog/analysis-copyright-amendment-bill-2012">Copyright Bill</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/internet-governance/front-page/blog/cis-feedback-to-nia-bill">NIA Bill</a>, etc.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is accredited as an observer at WIPO. CIS staff participates in the Standing Committee for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meetings regularly held in Geneva, and participate in the discussions and comments on them from a public interest perspective. Our Policy Director, Nirmita Narasimhan won the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/accessibility/blog/national-award">National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities</a> from the Government of India and also received the <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/news/nirmita-nivh-award">NIVH Excellence Award</a>.</p>
<p><b>Follow us elsewhere</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Get short, timely messages from us on <a href="https://twitter.com/cis_india">Twitter</a></li>
<li>Join the CIS group on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/28535315687/">Facebook</a></li>
<li>Visit us at <a href="https://cis-india.org/">http://cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Support Us</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Request for Collaboration</b><br />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 <a href="mailto:sunil@cis-india.org">sunil@cis-india.org</a> or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at <a href="mailto:nishant@cis-india.org">nishant@cis-india.org</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>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.</i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-april-2013'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-april-2013</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessWikipediaAccess to KnowledgeWikimedia2013-05-29T10:57:49ZPageApril 2013 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2013-bulletin
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) welcomes you to the fourth issue of its newsletter for the year 2013. In this issue we bring you an overview of our research programs, updates of events organised by us, events we participated in, news and media coverage, and videos of some of our recent events.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/celebrating-5-years-of-cis"><b>Celebrating 5 Years of CIS</b></a><br />We at the Centre for Internet and Society celebrate 5 years of existence with an exhibition showcasing our work and accomplishments over this time. The exhibition will be held concurrently at both our Bangalore and Delhi offices from May 20 to 24, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.</p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/google-policy-fellowship-call-for-applications-2013">Google Policy Fellowship</a></b><br />CIS is inviting applications for the Google Policy Fellowship programme. Google is providing a USD 7,500 stipend to the India fellow who will be selected by July 1, 2013. Fellowship focus areas include Access to Knowledge, Openness in India, Freedom of Expression, Privacy, and Telecom Send in your applications for the position by June 15, 2013.</p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Jobs</b><br /> CIS invites applications for the posts of <a href="https://cis-india.org/jobs/vacancy-for-developer">Developer</a> (NVDA Screen Reader Project), and <a href="https://cis-india.org/jobs/programme-officer-internet-governance">Programme Officer</a> (Internet Governance). To apply send your resume to <a href="mailto:sunil@cis-india.org">sunil@cis-india.org</a> and <a href="mailto:pranesh@cis-india.org">pranesh@cis-india.org</a>. CIS also invites applications for the post of <a href="https://cis-india.org/jobs/programme-officer-pilot-projects-access-to-knowledge">Programme Officer</a> (Access to Knowledge, Pilot Projects). To apply for this position send your resume to <a href="mailto:vishnu@cis-india.org">vishnu@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<hr />
<h2><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is doing two projects in partnership with the <b>Hans Foundation</b>. One is to create a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India and another is for developing a screen reader and text-to- speech synthesizer for Indian languages. CIS is also working with the World Blind Union and many other organisations to develop a Treaty for the Visually Impaired helped by the WIPO:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>National Resource Kit for Persons with Disabilities</b><br />Anandhi Viswanathan from CIS and Manojna Yeluri from the Centre for Law and Policy Research are working in this project. Draft chapters have been published. Feedback and comments are invited from readers for the chapters on Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-himachal-pradesh-call-for-comments">The Himachal Pradesh Chapter</a> (by Anandhi Viswanathan, April 30, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-goa-call-for-comments">Goa Chapter</a> (by Anandhi Viswanathan, April 30, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-jammu-kashmir-call-for-comments">The Jammu & Kashmir Chapter</a> (by Anandhi Viswanathan, April 30, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-rajasthan-call-for-comments">The Rajasthan Chapter</a> (by Manojna Yeluri, April 30, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p>Note: <i>All of these are early drafts and will be reviewed and updated</i>.</p>
<p><b>Events Organised</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/girls-in-ict-day-mithra-jyothi">Girls in ICT Day</a> (April 25, 2013, Mitra Jyothi Auditorium, HSR Layout, Bangalore). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja gave a talk on Social Media and Kannada Language for Women with Disabilities. Sara Morais wrote an event report.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/events/global-accessibility-awareness-day-2013">Global Accessibility Awareness Day</a> (May 9, 2013, TERI, Southern Regional Centre, Domlur, Bangalore).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Announcement</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/cis-itu-d-sector-membership">CIS Gets ITU-D Sector Membership</a>: CIS has become a sector member of ITU-D.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> and <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness">Openness</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Wikimedia Foundation <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">awarded</a> CIS a two year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and develop the growth of Indic language communities and projects by community collaborations and partnerships. This is being carried out by the Access to Knowledge team based in Delhi. CIS is also doing a project (Pervasive Technologies) on examining the relationship between production of pervasive technologies and intellectual property. CIS also promotes openness including open government data, open standards, open access, and free/libre/open source software through its Openness programme.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan"><b>Wikipedia</b></a><br />Beginning from September 1, 2012, Wikimedia Foundation <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">awarded</a> CIS a two-year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and develop free knowledge in India. The <a href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Access_To_Knowledge/Team" title="Access To Knowledge/Team">A2K team</a> consists of four members based in Delhi: <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team">T. Vishnu Vardhan</a>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team">Nitika Tandon</a> and <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team">Subhashish Panigrahi</a>, and one team member <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</a> who is working from Bangalore office. <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team">Noopur Raval</a>, Programme Officer has left the organisation. April 24, 2013 was her last working day.</p>
<p><b>Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-page-views-and-project-pages">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #2: Visualising Page Views and Project Pages</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/indian-wiki-women-history-month">Indian WikiWomen celebrate Women’s History Month</a> (by Netha Hussain, April 29, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/konkani-wikipedia-analysis">Analysis of Konkani Wikipedia: Facts & Challenges</a> (by Nitika Tandon, April 30, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikipedia-needs-assessment">Odia Wikipedia: Needs Assessment</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, April 30, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Event Organised</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-udupi-april-29-2013">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop</a> (April 29, 2013, Govinda Pai Research Centre, MGM College Udupi). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the workshop and gave a talk on Kannada Wikipedia.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Co-organised</b><br />The following events were organised in the month of March but reports were written during the month of April. Vishnu Vardhan and Subhashish Panigrahi held meetings with wikipedians:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wiki-meet-up-kolkata">Kolkata Wiki Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Kolkata Wiki Community, March 14, 2013). </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikipedia-cuttack-community-meetup-march-16-2013">Odia Wikipedia - Cuttack Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Odia Wiki Community, Cuttack, March 16, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikipedia-meet-up-bhubaneswar-march-17-2013">Odia Wikipedia – Bhubaneswar Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Odia Wiki Community, Bhubaneswar, March 17, 2013). </li>
</ul>
<p>The following event was organised in the month of April. We will be publishing the report soon:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/telegu-wiki-mahotsavam-2013">Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</a> (organised by Telugu Wikipedia Community and CIS, Hyderabad, April 9 – 11, 2013). Vishnu Vardhan was one of the trainers at the Wikipedia Academy at Centre for Good Governance on April 9, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan spoke about the Access to Knowledge work in one of the sessions of Wikimedia Meeting with Media Heads on April 10, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan gave a talk on A2K’s plans for the growth of Telegu Wikipedia in 2013-14 at the Telegu Wikipedia general meeting on April 11, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan also gave a talk about Access to Knowledge in the digital era at the Wiki Chaitanya Vedika on April 11, 2013.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Other </b><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k"><b>Access to Knowledge</b></a><b> Updates</b></p>
<p><b>WIPO</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/cis-intervention-eu-blocking-wipo-treaty-for-blind">CIS Intervention on the Treaty for the Visually Impaired at SCCR/SS/GE/2/13</a> (Geneva, April 18 – 20, 2013). Pranesh Prakash participated in the session and spoke about the rights of the visually impaired.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Internet Governance programme conducts research around the various social, technical, and political underpinnings of global and national Internet governance, and includes online privacy, freedom of speech, and Internet governance mechanisms and processes. Currently, CIS is doing a project with <b>Privacy International</b>, London to facilitate research and events around surveillance, and freedom of speech and expression.</p>
<p><b>Information Technology</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/it-amendment-act-69-a-rules-draft-and-final-version-comparison">IT (Amendment) Act, 2008, 69A Rules: Draft and Final Version Comparison</a> (by Jadine Lannon, April 27, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-telegraph-act-419-a-rules-and-it-amendment-act-69-rules">Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, 419A Rules and IT (Amendment) Act, 2008, 69 Rules</a> (by Jadine Lannon, April 28, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/it-amendment-act-69-rules-draft-and-final-version-comparison">IT (Amendment) Act, 2008, 69 Rules: Draft and Final Version Comparison</a> (by Jadine Lannon, April 30, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/it-amendment-act-69-b-draft-and-final-version-comparison">IT (Amendment) Act, 2008, 69B Rules: Draft and Final Version Comparison</a> (by Jadine Lannon, April 30, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Resources</b><br />The below rules were published recently:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/it-procedure-and-safeguards-for-interception-monitoring-and-decryption-of-information-rules-2009">Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/it-procedure-and-safeguard-for-monitoring-and-collecting-traffic-data-or-information-rules-2009">Information Technology (Procedure and safeguard for Monitoring and Collecting Traffic Data or Information) Rules, 2009</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/indian-telegraph-act-section-419-a-rules">Rules Under Section 419A of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885</a></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Newspaper Column</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-express-april-6-2013-nishant-shah-off-the-record">Off the Record</a> (by Nishant Shah, Indian Express, April 6, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Privacy</b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indias-big-brother-the-central-monitoring-system">India´s ´Big Brother´: The Central Monitoring System</a> (CMS) (by Maria Xynou, April 8, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Organised</b><br />Maria Xynou gives an overview of the discussions and recommendations from the privacy round tables held in Delhi and Bangalore:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/report-on-the-first-privacy-round-table-meeting">A Privacy Round Table in Delhi</a> (organized by CIS and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, FICCI Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi, April 3, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/report-on-the-2nd-privacy-round-table">A Privacy Round Table in Bangalore</a> (organized by CIS and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Jayamahal Palace, Jayamahal Road, Bangalore, April 20, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Announcements</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">2nd Expert Committee meeting on draft 'Human DNA Profiling Bill 2012': The Department of Biotechnology has constituted an Expert Committee to discuss various issues of this Bill in detail. Sunil Abraham has been nominated as one of the members of this Committee. A meeting of this Expert Committee has been scheduled for May 13, 2013 under the Chairmanship of Dr. T. S. Rao, Adviser, DBT.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Chinmayi Arun is one of the international experts supporting the Internet & Jurisdiction project, a global multi-stakeholder dialogue process.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Upcoming Events</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/privacy-round-table-chennai">A Privacy Round Table in Chennai</a> (co-organised with Data Security Council of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Residency Towers, Sir Thyagaraja Road, T Nagar, Chennai, May 18, 10.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/consilience-2013-law-technology-committee-nls-bangalore">Consilience – 2013</a> (National Law School of India University, Bangalore, May 26 – 27, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Other Event Hosted</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/a-talk-by-marialaura-ghidni">Or-bits.com — A Talk by Marialaura Ghidini</a> (CIS, Bangalore, April 19, 2013). Marialaura Ghidini gave a talk abou the creation and activities of or-bits.com, a web-based curatorial platform that she founded in 2009.</li>
</ul>
<h3>News and Media</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-april-1-2013-prashant-jha-clarify-and-define-terms-in-it-rules-panel-tells-govt">Clarify and define terms in IT rules, panel tells govt</a>. (by Prashant Jha, Hindu, April 1, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/privacy-surgeon-simon-davies-april-9-2013-india-takes-its-first-serious-step-toward-privacy-regulation">India takes its first serious step toward privacy regulation – but it may be misguided</a> (Privacy Surgeon, April 9, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/ndtv-video-april-11-2013-the-social-network-regulating-social-media-unrealistic-impossible-necessary">Regulating Social Media: Unrealistic, Impossible, Necessary?</a> (NDTV, April 11, 2013). Pranesh Prakash participated in a discussion on social media aired on NDTV.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/hindustan-times-zia-haq-april-12-2013-social-media-may-influence-160-lok-sabha-seats-in-2014">Social media may influence 160 LS seats in 2014</a> (by Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, April 12, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wall-street-journal-april-15-2013-r-jai-krishna-vote-will-social-media-impact-the-election">Vote: Will Social Media Impact the Election?</a> (by R. Jai Krishna, Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/d-w-april-15-2013-untangling-the-web-of-indias-ungovernable-net">Untangling the web of India's 'ungovernable' Net</a> (Deutsche Welle, April 15, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/gni-annual-report-mentions-cis">CIS in GNI Annual Report</a> (April 25, 2013). CIS gets mentioned in GNI Annual Report. Sunil Abraham is quoted in it. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/india-together-april-27-2013-satarupa-sen-bhattacharya-is-free-speech-an-indian-value">Is free speech an Indian value?</a> (by Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya, India Together, April 27, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access">Knowledge Repository on Internet Access</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS in partnership with the Ford Foundation is executing a project on Internet Access. It covers the history of the internet, technologies involved, principle and values of internet access, broadband market and universal access and will touch upon various polices and regulations which has an impact on internet access and bodies and mechanism which are responsible for formulation policies related to internet access. The blog posts and modules will be published in a new website: <a href="http://www.internet-institute.in">www.internet-institute.in</a>.</p>
<p><b>Upcoming Event</b><br />We are hosting an “Institute on Internet and Society” with the support of Ford Foundation India, which is to be held from June 8, 2013 to June 14, 2013. Call for registration and relevant details have been <a href="http://www.internet-institute.in/">announced</a>.</p>
<p>The following units have been published:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/internet-infrastructure">Internet Infrastructure</a> (by Srividya Vaidyanathan, April 30, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/isp-introduction">Internet Service Provider – Introduction</a> (by Srividya Vaidyanathan, April 30, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/telecom">Telecom</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility of telecommunications services and resources and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</p>
<p><b>Newspaper Column</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-april-4-2013-prioritizing-communications-energy">Prioritizing Communications & Energy</a> (by Shyam Ponappa, Business Standard and Organizing India Blogspot, April 4, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<b> </b>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/open-citizen-radio-networks-to-race-for-.radio-gtld">From Open Citizen Radio Networks to the Race for .RADIO gTLD</a> (by Sharath Chandra Ram, April 30, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Event Participated</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Broadband Policy Course (organised by Lirne Asia, Bangalore, April 5 – 6, 2013). Nirmita Narasimhan and Snehashish Ghosh attended the course.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/">About CIS</a></h2>
<p>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.<br /> <b>Follow us elsewhere</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Get short, timely messages from us on <a href="https://twitter.com/cis_india">Twitter</a></li>
<li>Join the CIS group on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/28535315687/">Facebook</a></li>
<li>Visit us at <a href="https://cis-india.org/">http://cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Support Us</b><br />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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Request for Collaboration</b><br />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 <a href="mailto:sunil@cis-india.org">sunil@cis-india.org</a> or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at <a href="mailto:nishant@cis-india.org">nishant@cis-india.org</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>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.</i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2013-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/april-2013-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceDigital HumanitiesCISRAWOpenness2013-05-31T08:07:38ZPageA Treat for the Blind
https://cis-india.org/news/business-world-june-26-2013-chitra-narayanan-a-treat-for-the-blind
<b>The WIPO treaty will provide copyright exceptions on books making them available to blind people in formats they can use.</b>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Chitra Narayanan was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.businessworld.in/en/storypage/-/bw/a-treat-for-the-blind/r959485.0/page/0">published in Business World</a> on June 26, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">For millions of visually impaired people around the globe, it’s a landmark treaty that could open up the kingdom of books for them. After days of intense deliberations at Marrakesh in Morrocco, about 600 World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) negotiators, including delegates from India, reached a consensus on a treaty that will provide copyright exceptions on books making them available to blind people in formats they can use.</p>
<div id="stcpDiv" style="text-align: justify; ">
<div>Wipo, a United Nations agency, is dedicated to the use of intellectual property as a means of stimulating innovation and creativity. The agency has 186 member states.</div>
<div><br />Sure, content is king. But for the visually impaired, the right platform for accessing content is what makes the difference. Thanks to audio books, a host of apps, and digital platforms such as Bookshare, which provides content in accessible formats, the technology is already there to bring the rich world of 'hardcovers' and 'paperbacks' alive for those who cannot see. What’s more, these books are compatible with all kinds of devices from mobile phones to tablets to PCs.<br /> <br />Now, at last, there is legal sanction as well to content that was not being made available in accessible formats by the copyrights holders. For the 15 million people who are blind in India, the treaty is expected to open education doors as well as provide entertainment needs. India has the world’s largest number of blind people.<br /> <br />Bangalore-based Centre for Internet Society, a policy research organisation, has been at the forefront of negotiations at WIPO to get the treaty through. Minutes after the session concluded, Pranesh Prakash, policy Director at CIS and his colleague Sunil Abraham were tweeting ecstatically about the “win”.<br /><br />For five long years, this Wipo treaty has witnessed contentious discussions on issues such as including exports of copyrighted works, translations of copyrighted works and so on. According to Prakash, who responded over twitter, “On Exports we won, but re-exports which was earlier permitted has become much more difficult.”<br /> <br />There are also other grainy areas such as commercial availability of the books. According to a post on the Intellectual Property Watch website, soon after the agreement was reached, commercial availability still stands under Article 4 (National Law Limitations and Exceptions on Accessible Format Copies) but has disappeared from Article 5 (cross border exchange of accessible format copies).<br /> <br />Although blind music legend Stevie Wonder, one of the most ardent supporters of the treaty, must be crooning Signed, Sealed, Delivered... it’s early days yet. The draft of the treaty has to be ratified by governments before being adopted.<br /> <br />But for five long years, it has been a long hard battle between copyright owners and those fighting for human rights of the visually impaired. Finally, as one observer, put it: 'a rare victory is in sight for human rights'.</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/business-world-june-26-2013-chitra-narayanan-a-treat-for-the-blind'>https://cis-india.org/news/business-world-june-26-2013-chitra-narayanan-a-treat-for-the-blind</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaCopyrightAccessibilityAccess to Knowledge2013-07-11T06:02:27ZNews ItemMay 2018 Newsletter
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/may-2018-newsletter-1
<b>CIS newsletter for the month of May 2018.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>Dear readers,</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Previous issues of the newsletters can be <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">accessed here</a>.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Highlights</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) has published a collection of stories of the impact of internet shutdowns on people's lives in the country. The stories were provided by 101 Reporters. The project was funded by Facebook and MacArthur Foundation. The report edited by Debasmita Haldar, Ambika Tandon and Swaraj Barooah can be <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-shutdown-stories/at_download/file">accessed here</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Anubha Sinha on behalf of CIS participated in the 36th Session of WIPO SCCR at Geneva from May 28 to June 1, 2018. CIS made statements on <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-draft-action-plan-for-educational-and-research-institutions-and-persons-with-other-disabilities">Draft Action Plan for Educational and Research Institutions and Persons with Other Disabilities</a>, <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-draft-action-plan-for-libraries-archives-and-museums">Draft Action Plan for Libraries, Archives and Museums</a>, <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-limitations-and-exceptions-agenda">Limitations and Exceptions Agenda</a>, and <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-proposed-treaty-for-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations">Proposed Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations</a>. CIS was one among the 14 NGOs which <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/ngos-circulate-letter-at-wipo-sccr-36-raising-serious-concerns-about-draft-broadcasting-treaty">circulated a letter</a> that raised concerns about the draft Broadcasting Treaty.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">India's Department of Telecommunications released a draft new telecom policy, titled ‘Draft National Digital Communications Policy 2018’. Anubha Sinha wrote <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/the-wire-anubha-sinha-may-6-2018-india-draft-telecom-policy">an analysis on this in the Wire</a> on May 6, 2018.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Singapore based Asian Business Law Institute published a compendium on “<a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/regulation-of-cross-border-transfers-of-personal-data-in-asia">Regulation of cross-border transfer of personal data in Asia</a>”. The compendium contains 14 detailed reports. The chapter titled Jurisdictional Report India was authored by Amber Sinha and Elonnai Hickok.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The purpose of privacy notices and choice mechanisms is to notify users of the data practices of a system, so they can make<a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/design-concerns-in-creating-privacy-notices"> informed privacy decisions, wrote Saumyaa Naidu in a blog post</a> which was edited by Elonnai Hickok.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Divij Joshi <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-intermediary-liability-regime">wrote a report that assesses the compliance of the Indian intermediary liability framework with the Manila Principles on Intermediary Liability</a>, and recommends substantive legislative changes to bring the legal framework in line with the Manila Principles. The report was edited by Elonnai Hickok and Swaraj Barooah.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Data is potentially a toxic asset, if it is not collected, processed, secured and shared in the appropriate way wrote Amber Sinha in an <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/epw-amber-sinha-may-18-2018-for-indias-data-protection-regime-to-be-efficient-policymakers-should-treat-privacy-as-a-social-good">article published in the Economic & Political Weekly</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Saman Goudarzi, Elonnai Hickok and Amber Sinha wrote a report titled <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ai-in-banking-and-finance">AI in the Banking and Finance Industry in India</a> which seeks to map the present state of use of AI in the banking and financial sector in India. The report was edited by Shyam Ponappa. Mapping was done by Shweta Mohandas. Pranav M Bidare, Sidharth Ray, and Aayush Rathi provided research assistance in preparing this report.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam focuses on updating the list of Indian citizens in the state. Khetrimayum Monish Singh and Nazifa Ahmed wrote a research paper that has provided a discourse analysis of media content and user opinions on Facebook, and media responses on the NRC official website. All posts related to this study can be <a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/life-of-a-tuple/">found here</a>.</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Articles:</strong></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-shyam-ponappa-may-3-2018-huawei-pointer">The Huawei pointer</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard and Organizing India Blogspot; May 3, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/the-wire-anubha-sinha-may-6-2018-india-draft-telecom-policy">India's Draft Telecom Policy Needs to Bridge the Gap Between Intent and Execution </a>(Anubha Sinha; Wire; May 6, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/epw-amber-sinha-may-18-2018-for-indias-data-protection-regime-to-be-efficient-policymakers-should-treat-privacy-as-a-social-good">India's Data Protection Framework Will Need to Treat Privacy as a Social and Not Just an Individual Good</a> (Amber Sinha; Economic & Political Weekly, Volume 53, Issue No. 18, 05 May, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/indian-express-nishant-shah-may-20-2018-digital-native-web-of-wander">Digital Native: Web of Wander </a>(Nishant Shah; Indian Express; May 20, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p><span><strong>CIS in the News:</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ozy-aayush-soni-may-11-2018-indias-national-id-project-brings-pain-to-those-it-aims-to-help">India's National ID Project Brings Pain to Those it Aims to Help</a> (Aayush Soni; Ozy.com; May 11, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-wire-karan-saini-may-11-2018-aadhaar-remains-an-unending-security-nightmare-for-a-billion-indians">Aadhaar Remains an Unending Security Nightmare for a Billion Indians</a> (Karan Saini; Wire; May 11, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/times-of-india-may-18-2018-u-sudhakar-reddy-more-errors-in-aadhaar-data-in-andhra-pradesh-than-in-voter-database">More errors in Aadhaar data in Andhra Pradesh than in voter database</a> (U Sudhakar Reddy; Times of India; May 18, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/hindu-sarumathi-k-may-19-2018-putting-women-human-rights-activists-on-the-world-map">Putting women human rights activists on the world map</a> (Sarumathi K.; Hindu; May 19, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/openness/news/your-story-sohini-mitter-may-22-2-018-open-data-ecosystem-can-boost-indias-gdp-22-b-double-farmer-income">An open data ecosystem can boost India's GDP by $22 B and double farmer income</a> (Sohini Mitter; Your Story; May 23, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/quartz-india-may-24-2018-ananya-bhattacharya-complying-with-europes-gdpr-is-a-struggle-for-indian-it-firms">Complying with Europe’s GDPR will be a “matter of survival” for Indian IT firms</a> (Ananya Bhattacharya; Quartz India; May 24, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/deccan-herald-rajitha-menon-surupasree-sarmmah-dont-blindly-forward-whatsapp-messages-you-could-be-sued">Don't blindly forward WhatsApp messages. You could be sued</a> (Rajitha Menon and Surupasree Sarmmah; Deccan Herald; May 29, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/economic-times-may-29-mugdha-variyar-alexas-recording-leak-in-us-echoes-privacy-issues-here">Alexa’s recording leak in US ‘echoes’ privacy issues here</a> (Mugdha Variyar; Economic Times; May 29, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/huffington-post-visvak-may-30-2018-election-experiment-proves-facebook-just-doesnt-care-about-fake-news-in-india">Election Experiment Proves Facebook Just Doesn't Care About Fake News In India</a> (Visvak; Huffington Post; May 30, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-spend-madhur-singh-may-31-2018-india-proposes-law-to-give-indians-complete-control-of-their-digital-data">India Proposes Law to Give Indians Complete Control of their Digital Health Data</a> (Madhur Singh; India Spend; May 31, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-manavi-kapur-alnoor-peermohamed-may-31-2018-patanjali-s-kimbho-swiftly-retreats-over-security-scare-ripped-on-twitter">Patanjali's Kimbho swiftly retreats over security scare, ripped on Twitter</a> (Alnoor Peermohamed and Manavi Kapur; Business Standard; May 31, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>-----------------------------------</strong><br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /><strong>----------------------------------- </strong><br />Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Copyright and Patent</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Blog Entries</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS participated in the 36th SCCR held in Geneva from May 28 to June 1, 2018 and made the following statements:</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-proposed-treaty-for-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organizations">Statement on the Proposed Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations</a><span> (Anubha Sinha; May 28, 2018).</span></li>
<li><span><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/ngos-circulate-letter-at-wipo-sccr-36-raising-serious-concerns-about-draft-broadcasting-treaty">NGOs circulate letter at WIPO SCCR/36 raising serious concerns about draft Broadcasting Treaty</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 29, 2018).</span></li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-draft-action-plan-for-educational-and-research-institutions-and-persons-with-other-disabilities">Draft Action Plan for Educational and Research Institutions and Persons with Other Disabilities </a>(Anubha Sinha; May 31, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-the-draft-action-plan-for-libraries-archives-and-museums">Statement on the Draft Action Plan for Libraries, Archives and Museums </a>(Anubha Sinha; May 31, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/36th-sccr-cis-statement-on-limitations-and-exceptions-agenda">Statement on Limitations and Exceptions Agenda</a> (Anubha Sinha; May 31, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Participation in Event</strong></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/rightscon-toronto-2018">RightsCon Toronto 2018</a> (Organized by RightsCon; Beanfield Centre at Exhibition Place, Toronto; May 17, 2018). Maggie Huang, Amba Kak, Rohini Lakshané, Vidushi Marda, Elonnai Hickok and Anubha Sinha were among the speakers at the event. Amber Sinha remotely participated in a private meeting on 'Strategizing Civil Society Roles in the Artificial Intelligence Debate'. Anubha Sinha, Maggie Huang, Rohini Lakshané and Vidushi Marda presented their findings from the Pervasive Technologies project in a panel titled "Cheap and Chipper: IP in India's Affordable Smartphones". Prof Michael Geist moderated the session. Anubha Sinha and Vidushi Marda participated remotely. Elonnai Hickok participated in these sessions: IDRC cyber policy meeting; GNI board meeting; GNI learning session on MLATs; FOC-AN meeting; GNI session on Intermediary Liability.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><strong>-----------------------------------</strong><span style="text-align: justify; "> </span>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /><strong>-----------------------------------</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Privacy</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Reports</strong></p>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/event-report-of-the-methods-workshop-on-researching-future-of-work-in-india">Methods workshop on researching Future of Work in India</a> (Natallia Khaniejo and Aayush Rathi; May 10, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ai-in-banking-and-finance">AI in the Banking and Finance Industry in India</a> (Saman Goudarzi, Elonnai Hickok and Amber Sinha; May 14, 2018)</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-intermediary-liability-regime">Indian Intermediary Liability Regime: Compliance with the Manila Principles on Intermediary Liability</a> (Divij Joshi; May 20, 2018). The report was edited by Elonnai Hickok and Swaraj Barooah. </li>
<li><span style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/regulation-of-cross-border-transfers-of-personal-data-in-asia">Jurisdictional Report India</a> (</span>Compendium on Regulation of Cross-Border Transfers of Personal Data in Asia; Amber Sinha and Elonnai Hickok; May 31, 2018).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><strong>Blog Entry</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/design-concerns-in-creating-privacy-notices">Design Concerns in Creating Privacy Notices</a> (Saumyaa Naidu; May 29, 2018). The blog post was edited by Elonnai Hickok.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><strong>Participation in Events</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/meeting-of-coalition-for-an-inclusive-approach-on-the-trafficking-bill">Meeting of Coalition for an Inclusive Approach on the Trafficking Bill </a>(Organized by Alternative Law Forum; Bengaluru; May 3, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/fairness-transparency-and-accountable-ai">Fairness, Transparency and Accountable AI</a> (Organized by DeepMind; London; May 10, 2018). Amber Sinha participated remotely in the inaugural meeting.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/rootconf-2018">Rootconf 2018</a> (Organized by HasGeek; Bengaluru; May 11 - 12, 2018). Gurshabad Grover, Natallia Khaniejo and Aayush Rathi attended the event. </li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/inter-movements-open-forum-trafficking-bill">Inter Movements Open Forum: Trafficking Bill </a>(Organized by Sangram, Naz Foundation, NNSW, Tarshi and VAMP; India International Centre, New Delhi; May 18, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ietf-indian-community-meetup-rfcs-we-love-iot-edition">IETF Indian Community Meetup: RFCs We Love</a> (IoT edition) (Organized by Indian IETF Community; Zoomcar's office; Bengaluru; May 19, 2018). Gurshabad Grover and Sandeep Kumar attended 'RFCs We Love Meetup'.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/emerging-technologies-issues-way-forward">Emerging Technologies: Issues & Way Forward</a> (Organized by Technology Policy team at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; Bengaluru; May 23 - 24, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/privacy-in-the-digital-age-addressing-common-challenges-seizing-opportunities">Privacy in the Digital Age: Addressing Common Challenges, Seizing Opportunities</a> (Organized by DG Justice and Consumers and European Union; New Delhi; May 25, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
</ul>
<br />
<p><span style="text-align: justify; ">►Free Speech and Expression</span></p>
<p><strong>Report</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/internet-shutdown-stories">Internet Shutdown Stories</a> (Edited by Debasmita Haldar, Ambika Tandon and Swaraj Barooah; Foreword by Sunil Abraham; May 17, 2018). Case studies from the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana, West Bengal, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, and Uttar Pradesh have been highlighted in this compilation.</li>
</ul>
<p><span><strong>Blog Entry</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/didp-request-30-enquiry-about-the-employee-pay-structure-at-icann">DIDP Request #30 - Enquiry about the employee pay structure at ICANN</a> (Paul Kurian and Akriti Bopanna; May 26, 2018).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
</ul>
<div><span style="text-align: justify; ">
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; ">-----------------------------------<br /></span><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw" style="text-align: justify; "><br /></a><span style="text-align: justify; ">-----------------------------------</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources, and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Articles</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-shyam-ponappa-may-3-2018-huawei-pointer">The Huawei pointer</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard and Organizing India Blogspot; May 3, 2018).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/the-wire-anubha-sinha-may-6-2018-india-draft-telecom-policy">India's Draft Telecom Policy Needs to Bridge the Gap Between Intent and Execution</a> (Anubha Sinha; Wire; May 6, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>-----------------------------------<br /></span><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw">Researchers at Work<br /></a><span>----------------------------------- </span></p>
<div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by an emerging need to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It aims to produce local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong><strong>Draft Research Paper</strong></strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/infrastructure-as-digital-politics-media-practices-and-the-assam-nrc-citizen-identification-project-draft-paper">Infrastructure as Digital Politics: Media Practices and the Assam NRC Citizen Identification Project </a>(Khetrimayum Monish Singh and Nafiza Ahmed; May 15, 2018).</li>
</ul>
<strong> </strong>
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<div><strong>-----------------------------------</strong></div>
<p><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /><strong>----------------------------------- </strong><br />The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
<p>► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Twitter:<a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india"> http://twitter.com/cis_india</a></li>
<li>Twitter - Access to Knowledge: <a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K">https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a></li>
<li>Twitter - Information Policy: <a href="https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy">https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy</a></li>
<li>Facebook - Access to Knowledge:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k"> https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a></li>
<li>E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: <a>a2k@cis-india.org</a></li>
<li>E-Mail - Researchers at Work: <a>raw@cis-india.org</a></li>
<li>List - Researchers at Work: <a href="https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers">https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>► Support Us</p>
<div>Please help us defend consumer and 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.</div>
<p>► Request for Collaboration</p>
<div>
<p>We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<div><em>CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects</em>.</div>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/may-2018-newsletter-1'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/may-2018-newsletter-1</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet GovernanceAccess to Knowledge2018-06-12T14:03:24ZPageವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ತರಬೇತಿ ೨೦೧೮ @ ರಾಂಚಿ
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cb5cbfc95cbfcaaca1cbfcaf-ca4cb0cacca4cbf-ce8ce6ce7cee-cb0cbec82c9acbf-1
<b>ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರಾದ ವಿಕಾಸ್ ಹೆಗಡೆ ಅವರು Wiki Advanced Training 2018ರ ತಮ್ಮ ಅನುಭವ ಮತ್ತು ಕಲಿತ ವಿಚಾರಗಳನ್ನು ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ.</b>
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<p>ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಜಾರ್ಖಂಡ್ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ’ರಾಂಚಿ’ ನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾದ ’ಮುಂದುವರೆದ ತರಬೇತಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಾಗಾರ’ವನ್ನು (Wikipedia Advanced Training, 2018) ಆಯೋಜಿಸಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾ ಒಂದು ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶವಾಗಿದ್ದು ನಾನು ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತುಂಬುವ ಕೆಲಸವನ್ನು ಹಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಬಂದಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ವಿಕಿಗೆ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತುಂಬಿಸಲು ಬೇಸಿಕ್ ಮಟ್ಟದ ಎಡಿಟಿಂಗ್ ತಿಳುವಳಿಕೆ ಸಾಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಹಾಗೇ ಮುಂದುವರೆಯುತ್ತಾ ಹೋದಂತೆ ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲಿಯಲು ಮತ್ತು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಬಹಳಷ್ಟಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಉತ್ತಮ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟದ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು, ಪುಟಗಳನ್ನು ತಯಾರಿಸಲು ಹಲವು ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಂಡು ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕುದಾಗಿ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿಸಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಅನೇಕ ವಿಷಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ಮಟ್ಟದ ತಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ಜ್ಞಾನ ಅಥವಾ ಅದನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಅಗತ್ಯ.</p>
<p>ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ತರಬೇತಿ, ಸಮುದಾಯ ಕಟ್ಟುವಿಕೆ ಮುಂತಾದ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ಬೆಂಬಲಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸೆಂಟರ್ ಫಾರ್ ಇಂಟರ್ನೆಟ್ ಅಂಡ್ ಸೊಸೈಟಿ-A2K ವಿಭಾಗವು ಈ ಮುಂದುವರೆದ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ತರಬೇತಿ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹಿಂದಿನ ತಿಂಗಳು ಘೋಷಣೆ ಮಾಡಿತ್ತು. ಇದು ಮೂರು ದಿನಗಳ ಕಾಲ ನಡೆಯುವ ತರಬೇತಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯರನ್ನ ಆಹ್ವಾನಿಸಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಹಿಂದೆ ಕೆಲಬಾರಿ ಬೇರೆಬೇರೆ ಸ್ಥಳಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಮುಂದುವರೆದ ತರಬೇತಿಗಳು ನಡೆದಿದ್ದರೂ ಸಹ ನನಗೆ ಹೋಗಲು ಆಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಬಾರಿ ತಾರೀಖುಗಳು ಹೊಂದಾಣಿಕೆಯಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದುದರಿಂದ ನಾನು ಕೂಡ ಅರ್ಜಿ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದ್ದೆ. ಅರ್ಜಿ ಸಲ್ಲಿಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಆಯ್ಕೆಗೆ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಗೆ ನಾವು ಮಾಡಿದ ಕೆಲಸಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾನದಂಡಗಳಿದ್ದವು. ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಮುದಾಯದಿಂದ ನಾನು ಮತ್ತು ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನ್ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾಗಿರುವುದಾಗಿ ಕೆಲದಿನಗಳ ನಂತರ ತಿಳಿಸಿದರು.</p>
<p>ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಈ ತರಬೇತಿಯನ್ನು ’ರಾಂಚಿ’ಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಸಲು ಕಾರಣವಿತ್ತು. ಮೊದಲನೆಯದಾಗಿ, ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಗೆ ಬಹಳ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿ, ಭಾರತದ ಉತ್ತಮ ವಿಕಿಮೀಡಿಯನ್ ಎಂದು ಗುರುತಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದ ’ಗಂಗಾಧರ ಭದಾನಿ’ಯವರು ರಾಂಚಿಯವರಾಗಿದ್ದು ಈ ವರ್ಷ ಜನವರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಧನರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರ ಗೌರವಾರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ರಾಂಚಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಯೋಜನೆಯಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಎರಡನೆಯದಾಗಿ ಭಾರತದ ಪೂರ್ವಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಕಿಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ನಡೆಸುವ ಉದ್ದೇಶವೂ ಇತ್ತು. ಜೂನ್ ೨೮ನೇ ತಾರೀಖು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಂದ ಹೊರಟು ರಾಂಚಿಯನ್ನು ತಲುಪಿದೆವು. ವಿಮಾನ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣದಿಂದ ಎಂಟು ಕಿಮೀ ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ’ಲೇ ಲ್ಯಾಕ್ ಸರೋವರ್ ಪೋರ್ಟಿಕೊ’ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ತಲುಪಿದೆವು. ತಮಿಳು, ತೆಲುಗು, ಮಲಯಾಳಂ, ಬೆಂಗಾಳಿ, ಹಿಂದಿ, ಮರಾಠಿ, ಪಂಜಾಬಿ, ಗುಜರಾತಿ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ, ಒಡಿಯಾ, ಇಂಗ್ಲೀಷ್ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರೂ ಸೇರಿ ಒಟ್ಟು ಮೂವತ್ತು ಜನ ಬಂದಿದ್ದರು. ಅಂದು ಸಂಜೆ ಪೂರ್ವಭಾವಿ ಸೆಶನ್ ಇತ್ತು. ಪರಸ್ಪರ ಪರಿಚಯ, ತರಬೇತಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ, ಕಾರ್ಯಸೂಚಿ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕೊಡಲಾಯಿತು.</p>
<p>ಮಾರನೆಯ ದಿನ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ಹತ್ತು ಗಂಟೆಗೆ ಶುರುವಾದ ತರಬೇತಿಯು ನಡುವಿನ ಚಹಾ ವಿರಾಮ ಮತ್ತು ಊಟದ ವಿರಾಮದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸಂಜೆಯವರೆಗೂ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ವಿಕಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದಂತೆ ಹಲವು ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ, ಟೂಲ್ ಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿಕೊಡಲಾಯಿತು. ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಭಾಷೆಯ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರು ಅವರ ಭಾಷೆಯ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ, ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ, ಅನುಭವಗಳನ್ನು ಹಂಚಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಹಿರಿಯ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರಾಗಿದ್ದ ಗಂಗಾಧರ ಬದಾನಿಯವರ ಕುಟುಂಬವನ್ನು ಸಂಜೆ ಆಹ್ವಾನಿಸಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಭದಾನಿಯವರ ಸ್ಮರಣಾರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ಒಂದು ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಸಭೆ ನಡೆಸಿ ಗೌರವ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಇಂಗ್ಲೀಷ್ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಮಾಡಿದ ಎಡಿಟ್ ಎಣಿಕೆ ಎರಡೂವರೆ ಲಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೂ ಮೀರಿದ್ದು ಆ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದ ಕಾಣಿಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅನೇಕ ಕಿರಿಯ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರಿಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹಗಳನ್ನು ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಯಿತು. </p>
<p>ಮೊದಲ ದಿನದ ತರಬೇತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಮಯದ ಅಭಾವದಿಂದ ಎರಡ್ಮೂರು ವಿಷಯಗಳು ಬಿಟ್ಟುಹೋದದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅನಂತರದ ದಿನ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂಬತ್ತು ಗಂಟೆಗೇ ಸೇರಿದೆವು. ಅಂದು ಕೂಡ ಹಲವು ತರಬೇತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸೆಶನ್ ಗಳು ನಡೆದವು. ಆಯಾ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರು ತಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯ ವಿಕಿಗಾಗಿ ಮುಂದೆ ಯಾವ ರೀತಿ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹಮ್ಮಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಬಯಸುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಪ್ರೆಸೆಂಟ್ ಮಾಡಲು ಹೇಳಲಾಯಿತು. ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಹಾಕಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬಹುದಾದ ಯೋಜನೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಾವು ಪ್ರೆಸೆಂಟ್ ಮಾಡಿದೆವು. ಕೆಲವು hands on activityಗಳು ನಡೆದವು.</p>
<p>ಕೊನೆಯ ದಿನದ ತರಬೇತಿ ಅರ್ಧ ದಿನಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸೀಮಿತವಾಗಿದ್ದು ಒಂದೆರಡು ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಎರಡು ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ತರಬೇತಿಯ ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮೆಲುಕು, ಬೇಕಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿ, ಮುಂದಿನ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತುಕತೆ, ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ, ಹಿನ್ನುಣಿಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಯಿತು.</p>
<p>ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ರಾಜ್ಯಗಳಿಂದ ಬಂದಿದ್ದ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರು ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನ ವಾಪಸ್ ಹೊರಟರು. ನಾವು ಕೂಡ ಎರಡು ಗಂಟೆಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಹೊರಟು ನಾಲ್ಕೂ ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತರ ವಿಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಜೆ ಆರೂವರೆ ವೇಳೆಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ವಿಮಾನ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ ತಲುಪಿದೆವು. ಭಾರತದ ವಿವಿಧ ಭಾಗಗಳ, ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಭಾಷೆಗಳ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯರೊಡನೆ ಸಂವಾದ, ಹಲವು ಹೊಸ ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದು, ಕಲಿತುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದು, ತೆಲುಗು, ತಮಿಳಿನ ಹಿರಿಯ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರ ಭೇಟಿಗಳು ಒಟ್ಟಾರೆ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಅನುಭವ, ಖುಷಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿತು. ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಮೀಡಿಯ ಯೋಜನೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಲು ಈ ತರಬೇತಿ ಶಿಬಿರವು ಉತ್ಸಾಹ ತುಂಬಿತು.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://vikasavada.blogspot.com/2018/07/blog-post.html?m=1">Link to Vikas Hegde's blogpost</a></p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cb5cbfc95cbfcaaca1cbfcaf-ca4cb0cacca4cbf-ce8ce6ce7cee-cb0cbec82c9acbf-1'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cb5cbfc95cbfcaaca1cbfcaf-ca4cb0cacca4cbf-ce8ce6ce7cee-cb0cbec82c9acbf-1</a>
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No publisherVikas HegdeWikipediansSpeakKannada WikipediaWiki Advanced TrainingAccess to Knowledge2018-07-04T17:02:46ZBlog EntryCIS anniversary
https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-business-line-may-5-2013-cis-anniversary
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society will celebrate five years of its existence with an exhibition showcasing its works and accomplishments. </b>
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<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">This was published in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/cis-anniversary/article4686344.ece">Hindu Business Line</a> on May 5, 2013</p>
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<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">The exhibition will be held concurrently at both Bangalore and Delhi offices from May 20 to 24, 2013, said a press release.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">“To promote transparency, we're getting the general public to be our auditors by throwing open our account books and contracts which show how we have spent the Rs 8.3 crore received from our donors.”</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">The exhibition will also see artists like Kiran Subbaiah, Tara Kelton, Navin Thomas, Abhishek Hazra, among others exhibiting their works, as well as lectures.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-business-line-may-5-2013-cis-anniversary'>https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-business-line-may-5-2013-cis-anniversary</a>
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No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceOpennessResearchers at Work2013-05-06T07:28:07ZNews ItemCopyrights Amendment Bill to Be Tabled in Indian Parliament – Parallel Import provisions have Been Removed
https://cis-india.org/news/copyright-amendment-bill-in-indian-parliament
<b>This week, the Indian government’s Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Parliament) will debate the Copyright Amendments Act.</b>
<p>The Centre for Internet and Society has <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/copyright-bill-parliament" class="external-link">raised a number of concerns</a> – including the removal of parallel import provisions that would allowed universities and libraries to access foreign works more cheaply, the extension of copyright terms beyond those required by the TRIPS Agreement, and the introduction of technological protection measures (with stiff penalties for circumventing them).</p>
<p>CIS <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/copyright-bill-parliament" class="external-link">describes other provisions</a> in the bill: Fair dealing exceptions have been extended “to all works except computer programs;” the “scope of compulsory licensing under sec 31 has been expanded from ‘any Indian work’ to ‘any work’;” and two provisions have been introduced to allow for the conversion, reproduction, and distribution of works for people with disabilities.</p>
<p>According to Prashant Reddy from the National University of Juridical Sciences in Kolkata, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on that reviewed the original legislation had strongly supported parallel imports of books. In a <a class="external-link" href="http://spicyipindia.blogspot.com/2011/09/parallel-imports-unexpected-dumping-of.html">blog post on Spicy IP</a>, he noted that “publishers routinely introduce old versions of books in India,” and that parallel imports would allow students to obtain newer copies at reasonable prices.</p>
<p>However, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/04233327/Removal-of-parallel-imports-cl.html?h=B">a news story in Live Mint </a>reports that the publishing industry “had strongly opposed the amendments.”</p>
<p>This article by Mike Palmedo was published in infojustice.org on September 5, 2011. Read the original story <a class="external-link" href="http://infojustice.org/archives/5328">here</a></p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/copyright-amendment-bill-in-indian-parliament'>https://cis-india.org/news/copyright-amendment-bill-in-indian-parliament</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaIntellectual Property RightsAccess to Knowledge2011-09-14T11:47:37ZNews ItemPutting a Lid on Royalty Outflows — How the RBI can Help Reduce India's IP Costs
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/lid-on-royalty-outflows
<b>While entrepreneurs, IP rights-holders and everyone else who has a stake continue to voice their opinions on the appropriate shape that the Indian IP regime ought to take, they tend to narrow their discussions to the language of substantive IP laws. However, there are regulations that cannot be found in the Patent Act, Copyright Act or Trademarks Act which nevertheless have an impact on how much one is paying for intellectual property. Paying attention to these external factors might just provide a simple solution to your IP woes.</b>
<p>One such factor is the regulation of foreign technology agreements. A foreign technology agreement is an agreement under which a transfer of technology occurs from a foreign source to an Indian entity. This transfer may include anything from the creation of an Indian wholly-owned subsidiary of a foreign parent company to the transfer of manufacturing or design know-how. </p>
<p>Regulation of these agreements in India is carried out by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as well as the Reserve Bank of India. In 1991, the Ministry’s Department of Industrial Development (DID) released Press Note No.10 which stated the following:</p>
<p>“39 C. Foreign Technology Agreements</p>
<p>i) <em>Automatic permission will be given for foreign technology agreements in high priority industries (Annex III)* upto a lumpsum payment of Rs. 1 crore, 5% royalty for domestic sales and 8% for exports, subject to total payments of 8% of sales over a 10 year period from date of agreement or 7 years from commencement of production. The prescribed royalty rates are net of taxes and will be calculated according to standard procedures</em>."</p>
<p>As a consequence, automatic approval could only be granted to high priority industries whose royalty payments fell within the prescribed limits. In every other case, the approval of the Secretariat of Industrial Approvals (SIA), DID and the RBI had to be sought. It must be noted that in theory this regulation did not place an absolute ban on royalty outflows above the 5% and 8% ceilings since the possibility of securing government approval for the same did exist. However, considering that a mere 8062 approvals were granted between 1991 and 2009[<a href="#1">1</a>], the ceiling was in effect almost absolute.</p>
<p>It appears that the stance of the government of the time was one of strict regulation. From the perspective of Indian entrepreneurs, shareholders and consumers, this was a good thing. To illustrate, imagine a foreign company which manufactures a networked camera cell phone. The company will be paying royalties for several of its features such as the camera, USB port, operating system, etc. This company then sets up a subsidiary in India to manufacture the same phones. Though the total royalties being paid by the parent company are likely to far exceed five per cent of its sales, it cannot charge the subsidiary royalties above this ceiling. Therefore, the costs for the Indian subsidiary reduce significantly. This reduction will be reflected in an increased dividend for shareholders and a reduced cost for consumers.</p>
<p>While the benefits of this royalty ceiling are manifold, it is evident that foreign rights-holders are adversely affected. Therefore, the Government has, unfortunately, gradually “liberalized” its approach towards royalty payments over the years. First the 7 or 10 year duration restrictions were done away with and next the lump sum ceiling was increased from Rs.1 crore to USD 2 million. Ultimately, the ceiling was removed altogether through the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion’s Press Note No.8 of 2009 in the name of liberalization. The adverse impacts on Indian manufacturers were almost immediate as foreign rights-holders began to revise their license agreements.[<a href="#2">2]</a>]</p>
<p>Why was this ceiling introduced in the first place? Some say it was due to the acute balance of payments deficit that existed in the country in 1991[<a href="#3">3</a>]; when India found itself overspending on imported oil. This urged the government at the time to ensure that foreign collaboration in the private sector was well regulated. Since then, the balance of payments situation in India has comparatively stabilized (though a deficit still does exist[<a href="#4">4]) and so there appears to be no immediate need to continue to regulate foreign technology collaboration. However, one can’t help but remember Mark Getty’s prediction that intellectual property will be the "oil of the twenty-first century".[</a><a href="#5">5]</a></p>
<h3>Notes</h3>
<p class="discreet"><a name="1">[1] F. Bureaus, “Tech Transfer, Royalty Payment Norms Eased”, Financial Express (November 6, 2009) available at <</a><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tech-transfer-royalty-payment-norms-eased/537816/"><u>http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tech-transfer-royalty-payment-norms-eased/537816/</u></a></p>
<u>
<p class="discreet"><a name="2">[2]http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbctv18comments/india-inc-to-bearbruntroyalty-payment-revision_472540.html">http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbctv18comments/india-inc-to-bearbruntroyalty-payment-revision_472540.html</a>>.</p>
<p class="discreet"><a name="3">[3]K. Sen, “News on Royalty Payment Brings Cheer in New Year”, Business Standard (January 4, 2010) available at <</a></p>
</u>
<p class="discreet"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u>http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/newsroyalty-payment-brings-cheer-in-new-year/381521/></u></span></p>
<p class="discreet"><a name="4">[4]http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/SDDS_ViewDetails.aspx?SDDSID=165">http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/SDDS_ViewDetails.aspx?SDDSID=165</a>>.</p>
<p class="discreet"><a name="5">[5]http://www.stealthisfilm.com/Part2/projects.php">http://www.stealthisfilm.com/Part2/projects.php</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/lid-on-royalty-outflows'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/lid-on-royalty-outflows</a>
</p>
No publisherSanjana GovilIntellectual Property RightsAccess to Knowledge2012-01-26T17:11:29ZBlog EntryEnforcement of Anti-piracy Laws by the Indian Entertainment Industry
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/piracy-and-enforcement
<b>This brief note by Siddharth Chadha seeks to map out the key actors in enforcement of copyright laws. These bodies not only investigate cases of infringement and piracy relating to the entertainment industry, but tie up with the police and IP law firms to pursue actions against the offenders through raids (many of them illegal) and court cases. Siddharth notes that the discourse on informal networks and circuits of distribution of cultural goods remains hijacked with efforts to contain piracy as the only rhetoric which safeguards the business interests of big, mostly multinational, media corporations.</b>
<h3>International Intellectual Property Alliance<br /></h3>
<p>The <a class="external-link" href="http://www.iipa.com/">International Intellectual Property Alliance</a> (IIPA) is an international lobby group of US media industries with close ties to the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ustr.gov/">United States Trade Representative</a>. It has in its reports consistently expressed dissatisfaction with Indian efforts to deal with piracy. IIPA works in close cooperation the other US lobby groups like the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and the BSA (Business Software Alliance). The IIPA reports, which place India in a 'danger zone', significantly influence regional and international discourses on piracy. Interestingly, the IIPA in India has been very successful in regionalizing and nationalizing a global discourse. Thus, in the past few years, local industry associations in India in cinema, music and software have independently run highly emotional campaigns against piracy, reminiscent of IIPA's own campaigns. </p>
<h3>Motion Pictures Association</h3>
<p>The <a class="external-link" href="http://www.mpaa.org/AboutUs.asp">Motion Picture Association of America</a> (MPAA) through its international counterpart, Motion Pictures Association (MPA), has been unofficially operational in India for the last 15 years. Its member companies are <a class="external-link" href="http://corporate.disney.go.com/">Walt Disney</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.paramount.com/">Paramount</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.sonypictures.in/">Sony Entertainment</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.foxmovies.com/">Twentieth Century Fox</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.patents.com/Universal-City-Studios-LLLP/Universal-City/CA/90328/company/">Universal Studios</a>, and <a class="external-link" href="http://www.warnerbros.com/">Warner Bros.</a> The MPA's work in India was mostly non-obtrusive till 1994 when MPA Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore, started being represented by the high profile legal firm Lall & Sethi Advocates.</p>
<p>They have collectively worked on forming enforcement teams for coordinated raids in Mumbai and Delhi since 1995. Earlier this year, MPA announced its first India office to be set up in Mumbai, called the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.mpda.in/hollywoodinvestment.html">Motion Picture Distributor's Association India (Pvt.) Limited</a> (MPDA), under the directorship of Rajiv Dalal. Mr. Dalal had previously directed strategic initiatives from the MPAA's Los Angeles office. The MPDA will engage itself in working jointly with local Indian film industries and the Indian government to promote the protection of motion pictures and television rights. </p>
<p>According to the organization's own assertion, in 2006 the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.filmpiracy.com/">MPA's Asia-Pacific operation</a> investigated more than 30,000 cases of piracy and assisted law enforcement officials in conducting nearly 12,400 raids. These activities resulted in the seizure of more than 35 million illegal optical discs, 50 factory optical disc production lines and 4,482 optical disc burners, as well as the initiation of more than 11,000 legal actions.</p>
<h3>Indian Music Industry</h3>
<p>The world's second-oldest music companies' association, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.indianmi.org/index.htm">Indian Music Industry</a> (IMI), was first established as Indian Phonographic Industry in 1936. It was re-formed in its present avatar in 1994, as a non-commercial and non-profit organization affiliated to the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ifpi.org/">International Federation of Phonographic Industry</a> (IFPI) and is registered as a society in West Bengal. IMI members includes major record companies like <a class="external-link" href="http://www.saregama.com/">Saregama</a>, HMV, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.umusicindia.com/">Universal Music (India)</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.tips.in/landing/">Tips</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.venusgroup.org/newaudio/about_us.html">Venus</a>, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.sonybmg.co.in/">Sony BMG (India)</a>, Crescendo, Virgin Records, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.music-from-india.com/">Magnasound</a>, Milestone, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.timesmusic.com/">Times Music</a> and several other prominent national and regional labels that represent over 75 per cent of the output in corporate recordings.</p>
<p>It was one of the first organizations in the country to start the trend of hiring ex-police officers to lead anti-piracy operations. In 1996, IMI hired Julio Ribeiro (a former Commissioner of Police, Mumbai; Director General of Police, Punjab; and Indian Ambassador to Romania) to head its anti-piracy operations. Their anti-piracy work is split into three specific regions, North and North Eastern, Western and Southern and East, each zone headed by a former senior police officer. IMI operates through offices in Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and several other cities and towns across India, focusing on surveillance, law enforcement, and gathering intelligence through an 80 member team hired to tackle piracy. During 2001 to 2004, IMI registered over 5500 cases, seized over 10 lakh music cassettes, and around 25 lakh CDs.</p>
<h3>Business Software Alliance</h3>
<p>Headquartered in Washington DC, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bsa.org/country.aspx?sc_lang=hi-IN">the Business Software Alliance has a regional office in Delhi</a>, and has been instrumental in conducting anti-piracy operations across the country. According to the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bsa.org/country.aspx?sc_lang=hi-IN">BSA</a>, India ranks 20 in global software piracy rankings, with a rate of 73 per cent while the Asia Pacific average is 53 per cent. China ranks second with a rate of 92 per cent and annual losses of $3,823 million while Pakistan ranks nine with 83 per cent piracy rate. They have engaged the general public in providing them with information on pirated software through an anti-piracy initiative – The Rewards Programme. Launched in 2005, reward amount up to Rs.50, 000, would be provided for information leading to successful legal action against companies using unlicensed software. The reward program was aimed to encourage people to <a class="external-link" href="http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/BSA_Nasscom_launch_initiative_to_curb_software_piracy-nid-27871.html">support the fight against piracy and to report software piracy to the NASSCOM-BSA Anti-Piracy Software Hotline</a>.</p>
<p>In 2006, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bsa.org/country.aspx?sc_lang=hi-IN">BSA</a> and <a class="external-link" href="http://www.nasscom.org/">NASSCOM</a> got a shot in their arms by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC39/fc39.html">winning the largest settlement amount for a copyright case in India</a>, with <a class="external-link" href="http://www.netlinxindia.com/">Netlinx India Pvt. Ltd</a>. The case had emerged after a civil raid was conducted at the premises of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.netlinxindia.com/">Netlinx</a> in December 2000, leading to inspection and impounding of 40 PCs, carrying illegal unlicensed software. The settlement includes damages of US$ 30,000, complete legalization of software used by them, removal of all unlicensed/pirated software and submission to an unannounced audit of computer systems during next 12 months.</p>
<h3>Industry Enforcers</h3>
<p>Bollywood Film and Music companies, such as <a class="external-link" href="http://www.tseries.com/">T-Series</a> and <a class="external-link" href="http://www.yashrajfilms.com/">Yashraj Films</a>, have established anti-piracy arms to combat piracy in specific markets. <a class="external-link" href="http://www.tseries.com/">T-Series</a> has been in the industry for over 15 years, as a brand of Gulshan Kumar founded Super Cassettes Industries Limited, and has often been at the forefront for conducting raids along with police officials to check piracy of its copyrighted content. In its latest announcement earlier this year, <a class="external-link" href="http://www.tseries.com/">T-Series</a> launched an<a class="external-link" href="http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/t-series-to-nab-digital-content-pirates-on-own_100200953.html"> anti-piracy campaign</a> against those stealing digital content. The announcement came after they filed a complaint on June 1 with a police station in Mangalore against Classic Video shop for infringement of its copyright works like <em>Billu</em>, <em>Ghajini</em>, <em>Aap Ka Suroor</em>, <em>Apne</em>, <em>Fashion</em> and <em>Karz</em> that had been illegally downloaded and copied onto multiple discs, card readers and pen-drives.</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.yashrajfilms.com/">Yashraj Films</a>, a leading film studio, has long been a part of enforcement activities against piracy, both in the Indian market and internationally. Most recently, it was a key member in the formation of the United Producers and Distributors Forum, which also included chairman Mahesh Bhatt, Ramesh Sippy, Ronnie Screwalla of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.utvnet.com/">UTV</a>, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and <a class="external-link" href="http://www.erosplc.com/">Eros International</a>. This organization is now trying to enforce anti-piracy laws by conducting raids across the country with the help of another ex-cop from Mumbai, A.A. Khan. <a class="external-link" href="http://www.yashrajfilms.com/">Yashraj Films</a> has also established anti-piracy offices in the United Kingdom and the United States to curb piracy in those markets, as overseas returns of its films, watched by the desi diaspora is one of its largest revenue earning sources. The website of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.yashrajfilms.com/">Yashraj Films</a> lists news reports from across US and Europe of instances of crackdown on pirates. </p>
<p>In the context of intellectual property in the creative industries, these anti-piracy agents have successfully created the halo of illegality around the subject of piracy. The discourse on informal networks and circuits of distribution of cultural goods remains hijacked with efforts to contain piracy as the only rhetoric which safeguards the business interests of big media companies and multinational corporations.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/piracy-and-enforcement'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/piracy-and-enforcement</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaPiracyIntellectual Property RightsAccess to Knowledge2011-08-04T04:35:48ZBlog EntryArguments Against Software Patents in India
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/arguments-against-software-patents
<b>CIS believes that software patents are harmful for the software industry and for consumers. In this post, Pranesh Prakash looks at the philosophical, legal and practical reasons for holding such a position in India. This is a slightly modified version of a presentation made by Pranesh Prakash at the iTechLaw conference in Bangalore on February 5, 2010, as part of a panel discussing software patents in India, the United States, and the European Union.</b>
<p>This blog post is based on a presentation made at the <a href="http://www.itechlaw-india.com/">iTechLaw conference</a> held on February 5, 2010. The audience consisted of lawyers from various corporations and corporate law firms. As is their wont, most lawyers when dealing with software patents get straight to an analysis of law governing the patenting of computer programmes in India and elsewhere, and seeing whether any loopholes exist and can be exploited to patent software. It was refreshing to see at least some lawyers actually going into questions of the need for patents to cover computer programs. In my presentation, I made a multi-pronged case against software patents: (1) philosophical justification against software patents based on the nature of software; (2) legal case against software patents; (3) practical reasons against software patents.</p>
<h2>Preamble</h2>
<p>Through these arguments, it is sought to be shown that patentability of software is not some arcane, technical question of law, but is a real issue that affect the continued production of new software and the everyday life of the coder/hacker/software programmer/engineer as well as consumers of software (which is, I may remind you, everywhere from your pacemaker to your phone). A preamble to the arguments would note that the main question to ask is: <strong>why should we allow for patenting of software</strong>? Answering this question will lead us to ask: <strong>who benefits from patenting of software</strong>. The conclusion that I come to is that patenting of software helps three categories of people: (1) those large software corporations that already have a large number of software patents; (2) those corporations that do not create software, but only trade in patents / sue on the basis of patents ("patent trolls"); (3) patent lawyers. How they don't help small and medium enterprises nor society at large (since they deter, rather than further invention) will be borne out by the rest of these arguments, especially the section on practical reasons against software patents.</p>
<h2>What are Patents?</h2>
<p>Patents are a twenty-year monopoly granted by the State on any invention. An invention has to have at least four characteristics: (0) patentable subject matter; (1) novelty (it has to be new); (2) inventive step / non-obviousness (even if new, it should not be obvious); (3) application to industry. A monopoly over that invention, thus means that if person X has invented something, then I may not use the core parts of that invention ("the essential claims") in my own invention. This prohibition applies even if I have come upon my invention without having known about X's invention. (Thus, independent creation is not a defence to patent infringement. This distinguishes it, for instance, from copyright law in which two people who created the same work independently of each other can both assert copyright.) Patents cover non-abstract ideas/functionality while copyright covers specific expressions of ideas. To clarify: imagine I make a drawing of a particular machine and describe the procedure of making it. Under patent law, no one else can make that particular machine, while under copyright law, no one can copy that drawing.</p>
<h2>Philosophical Justification Against Software Patents</h2>
<p>Even without going into the case against patents <em>per se</em> (lack of independent creation as a defence; lack of 'harm' as a criterion leading to internalization of all positive externalities; lack of effective disclosure and publication; etc.), which has been done much more ably by others like <a href="http://www.researchoninnovation.org/">Bessen & Meurer</a> (especially in their book <a href="http://researchoninnovation.org/dopatentswork/">Patent Failure</a>) and <a href="http://www.againstmonopoly.org/">Boldrin & Levine</a> (in their book <a href="http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/againstnew.htm">Against Intellectual Monopoly</a>, the full text of which is available online).</p>
<p>But there is one essentially philosophical argument against software as subject matter of a patent. Software/computer programs ("instructions for a computer"), as any software engineer would tell you, are merely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm">algorithms</a> ("an effective method for solving a problem using a finite sequence of instructions") that are meant to be understood by a computer or a human who knows how to read that code.</p>
<p>Algorithms are not patentable subject matter, as they are mere expressions of abstract ideas, and not inventions in themselves. Computer programs, similarly, are abstract ideas. They only stop being abstract ideas when embodied in a machine or a process in which it is the machine/process that is the essential claim and not the software. That machine or process being patented would not grant protection to the software itself, but to the whole machine or process. Thus the abstract part of that machine/process (i.e., the computer program) could be used in any other machine/process, as it it is not the subject matter of the patent. Importantly, just because software is required to operate some machine would then not mean that the machine itself is not patentable, just that the software cannot be patented in guise of patenting a machine.</p>
<h2>Legal Case Against Software Patents</h2>
<p>In India, section 3(k) of the Patent Act reads:</p>
<blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote">
<p>(3) The following are not inventions within the meaning of this Act: (k) a mathematical or business method or computer programme (<em>sic</em>) <em>per se</em> or algorithms.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As one can see, computer programs are place in the same category as "mathematical methods", "algorithms", and "business methods", hence giving legal validity to the idea propounded in the previous section that computer programs are a kind of algorithms (just as algorithms are a kind of mathematical method).</p>
<p>Be that as it may, the best legal minds in India have had to work hard at understanding what exactly "computer programme <em>per se</em>" means. They have cited U.S. case law, U.K. case law, E.U. precedents, and sought to arrive at an understanding of how <em>per se</em> should be understood. While understanding what <em>per se</em> means might be a difficult job, it is much easier to see what it does <em>not</em> mean. For that, we can look at the 2004 Patent Ordinance that Parliament rejected in 2005. In that ordinance, sections 3(k) and (ka) read as follows:</p>
<blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote">
<p>(3) The following are not inventions within the meaning of this Act: (k) a computer programme <em>per se</em> other than its technical application to industry or a combination with hardware; (ka) a mathematical method or a business method or algorithms.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thus, it is clear that the interpretation that "computer programme <em>per se</em>" excludes "a computer programme that has technical application to industry" and "a computer programme in combination with hardware" is wrong. By rejecting the 2004 Ordinance wording, Parliament has clearly shown that "technical application to industry" and "combination with hardware" do not make a computer programme patentable subject matter.</p>
<p>Indeed, what exactly is "technical application to industry"? <a href="http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=technical">"Technical"</a> has various definitions, and a perusal through those definitions would show that barely any computer program can be said not to relate to a technique, not involve "specialized knowledge of applied arts and sciences" (it is code, after all; not everyone can write good algorithms), or not relate to "a practical subject that is organized according to scientific principles" or is "technological". Similarly, all software is, <a href="http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=software">by definition</a>, meant to be used in combination with hardware. Thus, it being used in combination with hardware must not, as argued above, give rise to patentability of otherwise unpatentable subject matter category.</p>
<p>In 2008, the Patent Office published a new 'Draft Manual Of Patent Practice And Procedure' in which it sought to allow patenting of certain method claims for software inventions (while earlier the Patent Office objected to method claims, allowing only device claims with hardware components). This Draft Manual was withdrawn from circulation, with Shri N.N. Prasad (then Joint Secretary of DIPP, the department administering the Patent Office) noting that the parts of the Manual on sections 3(d) and 3(k) had generated a lot of controversy, and were <em>ultra vires</em> the scope of the Manual (which could not override the Patent Act). He promised that those parts would be dropped and the Manual would be re-written. A revised draft of the Manual has not yet been released. Thus the interpretation provided in the Draft Manual (which was based heavily on the interpretation of the U.K. courts) cannot not be relied upon as a basis for arguments in favour of the patentability of software in India.</p>
<p>In October 2008, CIS helped organize a <a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/openness/blog/the-national-public-meeting-on-software-patents">National Public Meeting on Software Patents</a> in which Indian academics, industry, scientists, and FOSS enthusiasts all came to the conclusion that software patents are harmful for <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/software-patents/software-patenting-will-harm-industry-consumer">both the industry as well as consumers</a>.</p>
<h2>Practical Reasons Against Software Patents</h2>
<p>This is going to be an attempt at distilling and simplifying some of the main practical arguments against patenting of software.</p>
<p>There are traditionally <a href="http://www.patenthawk.com/blog/2005/04/patent_economics_part_4_incent.html">four incentives that the patent system caters to</a>: (1) incentive to invent; (2) incentive to disclose; (3) incentive to commercialize; and (4) incentive to invent substitutes. Apart from the last, patenting of software does not really aid any of them.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Patent Landmines / Submarine Patents / Patent Gridlocks / No Exception for Independent Creation</h3>
<p>Given that computer programs are algorithms, having monopolies over such abstract ideas is detrimental to innovation. Just the metaphors say a lot about software patents: landmines (they cannot be seen/predicted); submarines (they surface out of the blue); gridlocks (because there are so many software patents around the same area of computing, they prevent further innovation in that area, since no program can be written without violating one patent or the other).</p>
<p>Imagine the madness that would have ensued had patents been granted when computer programming was in its infancy. Imagine different methods of sorting (quick sort, bubble sort) that are part of Computer Science 101 had been patented. While those particular instances aren't, similar algorithms, such as data compression algorithms (including the infamous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZW">LZW compression method</a>), have been granted patents. Most importantly, even if one codes certain functionality into software independently of the patent holder, that is still violative of the patent. Computer programs being granted patents makes it extremely difficult to create other computer programs that are based on the same abstract ideas. Thus incentives # (1) and (3) are not fulfilled, and indeed, they are harmed. There is no incentive to invent, as one would always be violating one patent or the other. Given that, there is no incentive to commercialize what one has invented, because of fear of patent infringement suits.</p>
<p>An apt illustration of this is the current difficulty of choosing a royalty-free video format for HTML 5, as it shows, in practical terms, how difficult it is to create a video format without violating one patent or the other. While the PNG image format was created to side-step the patent over the LZW compression method used in the GIF image format, bringing Ogg Theora or Dirac (both patent-free video format) to surpass the levels of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC or VC-1 will be very difficult without infringing dozens if not hundreds of software patents. Chris DiBona of Google, while talking about <a href="http://www.mail-archive.com/whatwg@lists.whatwg.org/msg15476.html">improving Ogg Theora</a> as part of its inclusion in HTML 5 specifications said, "Here’s the challenge: Can Theora move forward without infringing on the other video compression patents?" Just <a href="http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:jRnXmHcZCMsJ:www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%2520LA%2520News%2520List/Attachments/140/n_03-11-17_avc.html+http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_03-11-17_avc.html&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in">the number of companies and organization that hold patents over H.264</a> is astounding, and includes: Columbia University, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea (ETRI), France Télécom, Fujitsu, LG Electronics, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and Victor Company of Japan (JVC). As is the amount of royalties to be paid ("[t]he maximum royalty for these rights payable by an Enterprise (company and greater than 50% owned subsidiaries) is $3.5 million per year in 2005-2006, $4.25 million per year in 2007-08 and $5 million per year in 2009-10"; with royalty per unit of a decoder-encoder costing upto USD 0.20.)</p>
<p>Indeed, even the most diligent companies cannot guard themselves against software patents. FFII estimates that a very simple online shopping website <a href="http://webshop.ffii.org">would violate twenty different patents at the very least</a>. Microsoft recently lost a case against i4i when i4i surfaced with a patent covering custom XML as implemented in MS Office 2003 and MS Office 2007. As a result Microsoft had to ship patches to its millions of customers, to disable the functionality and bypass that patent. The manufacturers of BlackBerry, the Canadian company Research in Motion, had to shell out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTP,_Inc.#RIM_patent_infringement_litigation">USD 617 million as settlement</a> to NTP over wireless push e-mail, as it was otherwise faced with the possibility of the court shutting down the BlackBerry service in the U.S. This happened despite there being a well-known method of doing so pre-dating the NTP patents. NTP has also filed cases against AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Palm Inc. <a href="http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2005/12/15/rimntp_mud_splashes_microsoft.php">Microsoft was also hit by Visto Corporation</a> over those same NTP patents, which had been licensed to Visto (a startup).</p>
<ul><li>
<h4>Don't These Cases Show How Software Patents Help Small Companies?</h4>
<p>The astute reader might be tempted to ask: are not all of these examples of small companies getting their dues from larger companies? Doesn't all of this show that software patents actually help small and medium enterprises (SMEs)? The answer to that is: no. To see why, we need to note the common thread binding i4i, NTP, and Visto. None of them were, at the time of their lawsuits, actually creating new software, and NTP was an out-and-out "non-practising entity"/"patent holding company" AKA, patent troll. i4i was in the process of closing shop, and Visto had just started up. None of these were actually practising the patent. None of these were producing any other software. Thus, none of these companies had anything to lose by going after big companies. In other words, the likes of Microsoft, RIM, Verizon, AT&T, etc., could not file counter-suits of patent infringement, which is normally what happens when SMEs try to assert patent rights against larger corporations. For every patent that the large corporation violates of the smaller corporation, the smaler corporation would be violating at least ten of the larger corporation's. Software patents are more helpful for software companies as a tool for cross-licensing rather than as a way of earning royalties. Even this does not work as a strategy against patent trolls.</p>
</li></ul>
<p>Thus, the assertion that was made at the beginning is borne out: software patents help only patent trolls, large corporations that already have large software patent portfolios, and the lawyers who draft these patents and later argue them out in court.</p>
</li><li>
<h3>Term of Patents</h3>
<p>Twenty years of monopoly rights is outright ludicrous in an industry where the rate of turnover of technology is much faster -- anywhere between two years and five months.</p>
</li>
<li>
<h3>Software Industry Progressed Greatly Without Patents</h3>
<p>In India, software patents have never been asserted in courts (even though many have been <a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/openness/blog/the-national-public-meeting-on-software-patents">illegally granted</a>), yet the software industry in India is growing in leaps and bounds. Similarly, most of the big (American) giants of the software industry today grew to their stature by using copyright to "protect" their software, and not patents.</p>
</li>
<li>
<h3>Copyright Exists for Software</h3>
<p>As noted above, the code/expression of any software is internationally protected by copyright law. There is no reason to protect the ideas/functionality of that software as well.</p>
</li>
<li>
<h3>Insufficient Disclosure</h3>
<p>When ordinary computer programmers cannot understand what a particular software patent covers (which is the overwhelming case), then the patent is of no use. One of the main incentives of the patent system is to encourage gifted inventors to share their genius with the world. It is not about gifted inventors paying equally gifted lawyers to obfuscate their inventions into gobbledygook so that other gifted inventors can at best hazard a guess as to precisely what is and is not covered by that patent. Thus, this incentive (#2) is not fulfilled by the current system of patents either -- not unless there is a major overhaul of the system. This ties in with the impossibility of ensuring that one is not violating a software patent. If a reasonably smart software developer (who are often working as individuals, and as part of SMEs) cannot quickly ascertain whether one is violating patents, then there is a huge disincentive against developing software in that area at all.</p>
</li>
<li>
<h3>Software Patents Work Against Free/Libre/Open Source Software</h3>
<p>Software patents hinder the development of software and FOSS licences, as the licensee is not allowed to restrict the rights of the sub-licensees over and above the restrictions that the licensee has to observe. Thus, all patent clearances obtained by the licensee must be passed on to the sub-licensees. Thus, patented software, though most countries around the world do not recognize them, are generally not included in the default builds of many FOSS operating systems. This inhabits the general adoption of FOSS, since many of the software patents, even though not enforceable in India, are paid heed to by the software that Indians download, and the MP3 and DivX formats are not enabled by default in standard installations of a Linux OS such as Ubuntu.</p>
</li></ol>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Currently, the U.S. patent system is being reviewed at the administrative level, the legislative level, as well as the judicial level. At the judicial level, the question of business method patents (and, by extension, software patents) is before the Supreme Court of the United States of America in the form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilski_v._Kappos"><em>Bilski v. Kappos</em></a>. Judge Mayer of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC, which heard <em>In re Bilksi</em>) noted that "the patent system has run amok". The Free Software Foundation submitted a most extensive <a href="http://endsoftpatents.org/amicus-bilski-2009"><em>amicus curiae</em> brief</a> to the U.S. Supreme Court, filled with brilliant analysis of software patents and arguments against the patentability of software that is well worth a read.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/arguments-against-software-patents'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/arguments-against-software-patents</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshOpen StandardsAccess to KnowledgeSoftware PatentsIntellectual Property RightsPublicationsPatents2012-03-13T10:43:12ZBlog EntryTechnological Protection Measures in the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/tpm-copyright-amendment
<b>In this post Pranesh Prakash conducts a legal exegesis of section 65A of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which deals with the stuff that enables 'Digital Rights/Restrictions Management', i.e., Technological Protection Measures. He notes that while the provision avoids some mistakes of the American law, it still poses grave problems to consumers, and that there are many uncertainties in it still.</b>
<p><a href="http://www.wipo.int/enforcement/en/faq/technological/faq03.html">Technological Protection Measures</a> are sought to be introduced in India via the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010. This should be quite alarming for consumers for reasons that will be explained in a separate blog post on TPMs that will follow shortly.</p>
<p>In this post, I will restrict myself to a legal exegesis of section 65A of the Bill, which talks of "protection of technological measures". (Section 65B, which talks of Right Management Information will, similarly, be tackled in a later blog post.)</p>
<p>First off, this provision is quite unnecessary. There has been no public demand in India for TPMs to be introduced, and the pressure has come mostly from the United States in the form of the annual "Special 301" report prepared by the United States Trade Representative with input coming (often copied verbatim) from the International Intellectual Property Alliance. India is not a signatory to the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) which requires technological protection measures be safeguarded by law. That provision, interestingly, was pushed for by the United States in 1996 when even it did not give legal sanctity to TPMs via its copyright law (which was amended in 2000 by citing the need to comply with the WCT).</p>
<p>TPMs have been roundly criticised, have been shown to be harmful for consumers, creators, and publishers, and there is also evidence that TPMs do not really decrease copyright infringement (but instead, quite perversely through unintended consequences, end up increasing it). Why then would India wish to introduce it?</p>
<p>Leaving that question aside for now, what does the proposed law itself say?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>65A. Protection of Technological Measures </p>
<p> (1) Any person who circumvents an effective technological measure applied for the purpose of protecting any of the rights conferred by this Act, with the intention of infringing such rights, shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine.</p>
<p> (2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall prevent any person from:</p>
<p> (a) doing anything referred to therein for a purpose not expressly prohibited by this Act:</p>
<p> Provided that any person facilitating circumvention by another person of a technological measure for such a purpose shall maintain a complete record of such other person including his name, address and all relevant particulars necessary to identify him and the purpose for which he has been facilitated; or</p>
<p> (b) doing anything necessary to conduct encryption research using a lawfully obtained encrypted copy; or</p>
<p> (c) conducting any lawful investigation; or</p>
<p> (d) doing anything necessary for the purpose of testing the security of a computer system or a computer network with the authorisation of its owner; or</p>
<p> (e) operator; or [<em>sic</em>]</p>
<p> (f) doing anything necessary to circumvent technological measures intended for identification or surveillance of a user; or</p>
<p> (g) taking measures necessary in the interest of national security.</p>
</blockquote>
<h1>Implications: The Good Part</h1>
<p>This provision clearly takes care of two of the major problems with the way TPMs have been implemented by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>In s.65A(1) it aligns the protection offered by TPMs to that offered by copyright law itself (since it has to be "applied for the purpose of protecting any of the rights conferred by this Act"). Thus, presumably, TPMs could not be used to restrict <em>access</em>, only to restrict copying, communication to the public, and that gamut of rights.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>In s.65A(1) and 65A(2) it aligns the exceptions granted by copyright law with the exceptions to the TPM provision. Section 65A(1) states that the act of circumvention has to be done "with the intention of infringing ... rights", and s.52(1) clearly states that those exceptions cannot be regarded as infringement of copyright. And s.65A(2)(a) states that circumventing for "a purpose not expressly prohibited by this Act" will be allowed.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>A third important difference from the DMCA is that</p>
<ul>
<li>It does not criminalise the manufacture and distribution of circumvention tools (including code, devices, etc.). (More on this below.)</li>
</ul>
<h1>Implications: The Bad Part</h1>
<p>This provision, despite the seeming fair-handed manner in which it has been drafted, still fails to maintain the balance that copyright seeks to promote:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>TPM-placers (presumably, just copyright holders, because of point 1. above) have been given the ability to restrict the activities of consumers, but they have not been given any corresponding duties. Thus, copyright holders do not have to do anything to ensure that the Film & Telivision Institute of India professor who wishes to use a video clip from a Blu-Ray disc can actually do so. Or that the blind student who wishes to circumvent TPMs because she has no other way of making it work with her screen reader is actually enabled to take advantage of the leeway the law seeks to provide her through s.52(1)(a) (s.52(1)(zb) is another matter!). Thus, while there are many such exceptions that the law allows for, the technological locks themselves prevent the use of those exceptions. Another way of putting that would be to say:</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The Bill presumes that every one has access to all circumvention technology. This is simply not true. In fact, Spanish law (in <a href="http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/rdleg1-1996.l3t5.html">Article 161 of their law</a>) expressly requires that copyright holders facilitate access to works protected by TPM to beneficiaries of limitations of copyright. Thus, copyright holders who employ TPMs should be required to:</p>
<ul>
<li>tell their customers how they can be contacted if the customer wishes to circumvent the TPM for a legitimate purpose</li>
<li>upon being contacted, aid their customer in making use of their rights / the exceptions and limitations in copyright law</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<p>How seriously can you take a Bill that has been introduced in Parliament that includes a provision that states: "Nothing in sub-section (1) shall prevent any person from operator; or" (as s.65A(2)(e), read in its entirety, does)?</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1>Uncertainties</h1>
<p>As mentioned above, the provisions are not all that clear regarding manufacture and distribution of circumvention tools. Thus, the proviso to s.65A(2)(a) deserves a closer reading. What is clear is that there are no penalties mentioned for manufacture or dissemination of TPMs, and that only those who <em>circumvent</em> are penalised in 65A(1), and not those who produce the circumvention devices. However:</p>
<h2>On "shall maintain" and penalties</h2>
<p>In the proviso to s.65B(2)(a), there is an imperative ("shall maintain") requiring "any person facilitating circumvention" to keep records. It
is unclear what the implications of not maintaining such records are.</p>
<p>The obvious one is that the exemption contained in s.65(1)(a) will not apply if one were facilitated without the facilitator keeping records. Thus, under this interpretation, there is no independent legal (albeit penalty-less) obligation on facilitators. This interpretation runs into
the problem that if this was the intention, then the drafters would have written "Provided that any person facilitating circumvention ... for
such a purpose <em>maintain</em>/<em>maintained</em> a complete record ...". Instead, <em>shall maintain</em> is used, and an independent legal obligation seems,
thus, to be implied. But can a proviso create an independent legal obligation? And is there any way a penalty could <em>possibly</em> be attached
to violation of this proviso despite it not coming within 65A(1)?</p>
<h2>On "facilitating" and remoteness</h2>
<p>The next question is who all can be said to "facilitate", and how remote can the connection be? Is the coder who broke the circumvention a
facilitator? The distributor/trafficker? The website which provided you the software? Or is it (as is more likely) a more direct "the friend who sat at your computer and installed the circumvention software" / "the technician who unlocked your DVD player for you while installing it in your house"?</p>
<p>While such a record-keeping requirement is observable by people those who very directly help you (the last two examples above), it would be more difficult to do so the further up you get on the chain of remoteness. Importantly, such record-keeping is absolutely not possible in decentralized distribution models (such as those employed by most free/open source software), and could seriously harm fair and legitimate circumvention.</p>
<h1>More uncertainties</h1>
<p>It is slightly unclear which exception the bypassing of Sony's dangerous "Rootkit" copy protection technology would fall under if I wish to get rid of it simply because it makes my computer vulnerable to malicious attacks (and not to exercise one of the exceptions under s.52(1)). Will such circumvention come under s.65A(2)(a)? Because it does not quite fall under any of the others, including s.65(2)(b) or (f).</p>
<h2>On "purpose" as a criterion in 65A(2)(a)</h2>
<p>A last point, which is somewhat of an aside is that 65A(2)(a) states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Nothing in sub-section (1) shall prevent any person from doing anything referred to therein for a purpose not expressly prohibited by this Act.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There's something curious about the wording, since the Copyright Act generally does not prohibit any acts based on purposes (i.e., the prohibitions by ss.14 r/w s.51 are not based on <em>why</em> someone reproduces, etc., but on the act of reproduction). In fact, it <em>allows</em> acts based on purposes
(via s.52(1)). The correct way of reading 65A(2)(a) might then be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Nothing in sub-section (1) shall prevent any person from doing anything referred to therein for a purpose expressly allowed by this Act.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But that might make it slightly redundant as s.65A(1) covers that by having the requirement of the circumvention being done "with the intention of infringing such right" (since the s.52(1) exceptions are clearly stated as not being infringements of the rights granted under the Act).</p>
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
<p>It would be interesting to note how leading copyright lawyers understand this provision, and we will be tracking such opinions. But it is clear that TPMs, as a private, non-human enforcement of copyright law, are harmful and that we should not introduce them in India. And we should be especially wary of doing so without introducing additional safeguards, such as duties on copyright holder to aid access to TPM'ed works for legitimate purposes, and remove burdensome record-keeping provisions.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/tpm-copyright-amendment'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/tpm-copyright-amendment</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshAccess to KnowledgeCopyrightIntellectual Property RightsFLOSSTechnological Protection MeasuresPublications2012-05-17T16:51:38ZBlog EntryThe 2010 Special 301 Report Is More of the Same, Slightly Less Shrill
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/2010-special-301
<b>Pranesh Prakash examines the numerous flaws in the Special 301 from the Indian perspective, to come to the conclusion that the Indian government should openly refuse to acknowledge such a flawed report. He notes that the Consumers International survey, to which CIS contributed the India report, serves as an effective counter to the Special 301 report.</b>
<h1>Special 301 Report: Unbalanced Hypocrisy</h1>
<p>The United States Trade Representative has put yet another edition of the Special 301 report which details the copyright law and policy wrongdoings of the US's trading partners. Jeremy Malcolm of Consumers International notes that the report this year claims to be "well-balanced assessment of intellectual property protection and enforcement ... taking into account diverse factors", but:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[I]n fact, the report largely continues to be very one-sided. As in previous editions, it lambasts developing countries for failing to meet unrealistically stringent standards of IP protection that exceed their obligations under international law.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>More the report changes, <a href="http://cis-india.org/advocacy/ipr/blog/consumers-international-ip-watch-list-2009">the more it stays the same</a>. <a href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4684/195/">Despite having wider consultations</a> than just the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA, consisting of US-based IP-maximalist lobbyists like the Motion Picture Association of America, Recording Industry Association of America, National Music Publishers Association, Association of American Publishers, and Business Software Alliance) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA, consisting of US-based pharma multinationals), things haven't really changed much in terms of the shoddiness of the Special 301 report.</p>
<h1>India and the 2010 Special 301 Report</h1>
<p>The Special 301 report for 2010 contains the following assessment of India:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>India will remain on the Priority Watch List in 2010. India continues to make gradual progress on efforts to improve its legislative, administrative, and enforcement infrastructure for IPR. India has made incremental improvements on enforcement, and its IP offices continued to pursue promising modernization efforts. Among other steps, the United States is encouraged by the Indian government’s consideration of possible trademark law amendments that would facilitate India’s accession to the Madrid Protocol. The United States encourages the continuation of efforts to reduce patent application backlogs and streamline patent opposition proceedings. Some industries report improved engagement and commitment from enforcement officials on key enforcement challenges such as optical disc and book piracy. However, concerns remain over India’s inadequate legal framework and ineffective enforcement. Piracy and counterfeiting, including the counterfeiting of medicines, remains widespread and India’s enforcement regime remains ineffective at addressing this problem. Amendments are needed to bring India’s copyright law in line with international standards, including by implementing the provisions of the WIPO Internet Treaties. Additionally, a law designed to address the unauthorized manufacture and distribution of optical discs remains in draft form and should be enacted in the near term. The United States continues to urge India to improve its IPR regime by providing stronger protection for patents. One concern in this regard is a provision in India’s Patent Law that prohibits patents on certain chemical forms absent a showing of increased efficacy. While the full import of this provision remains unclear, it appears to limit the patentability of potentially beneficial innovations, such as temperature-stable forms of a drug or new means of drug delivery. The United States also encourages India to provide protection against unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorized disclosure, of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products. The United States encourages India to improve its criminal enforcement regime by providing for expeditious judicial disposition of IPR infringement cases as well as deterrent sentences, and to change the perception that IPR offenses are low priority crimes. The United States urges India to strengthen its IPR regime and will continue to work with India on these issues in the coming year. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This short dismissal of the Indian IPR regime, and subsequent classification of India as a "Priority Watch List" country reveals the great many problems with the Special 301.</p>
<h2>On Copyrights</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>The report notes that there are "concerns over India's inadequate legal framework and ineffective enforcement". However, nowhere does it bother to point out precisely <em>how</em> India's legal framework is inadequate, and how this is negatively affecting authors and creators, consumers, or even the industry groups (MPAA, RIAA, BSA, etc.) that give input to the USTR via the IPAA. Nor does it acknowledge the well-publicised fact that the statistics put out by these bodies have time and again <a href="http://www.cis-india.org/a2k/blog/fallacies-lies-and-video-pirates">proven to be wrong</a>:</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Apart from this bald allegation which has not backing, there is a bald statement about India needing to bring its copyright law "in line with international standards" including "the WIPO Internet Treaties". The WIPO Internet Treaties given that more than half the countries of the world are not signatories to either of the WIPO Internet Treaties (namely the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty), calling them 'international standards' is suspect. That apart, both those treaties are TRIPS-plus treaties (requiring protections greater than the already-high standards of the TRIPS Agreement). India has not signed either of them. It should not be obligated to do so. Indeed, Ruth Okediji, a noted copyright scholar, <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1433848">states</a>:</p>
</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>Consistent with their predecessors, the WIPO Internet Treaties marginalize collaborative forms of creative engagement with which citizens in the global South have long identified and continue in the tradition of assuming that copyright’s most enduring cannons are culturally neutral. [...] The Treaties do not provide a meaningful basis for a harmonized approach to encourage new creative forms in much the same way the Berne Convention fell short of embracing diversity in patterns and modes of authorial expression.</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Some of the of the 'problems' noted in the report are actually seen as being beneficial by many researchers and scholars such as Lawrence Liang, Achal Prabhala, Perihan Abou Zeid <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/iipenforcement/bibliography">and others</a>, who argue that <a href="http://www.altlawforum.org/intellectual-property/publications/articles-on-the-social-life-of-media-piracy/reconsidering-the-pirate-nation">lax enforcement has enabled access to knowledge and promotion of innovation</a>. In a panel on 'Access to Knowledge' at the Internet Governance Forum, <a href="http://a2knetwork.org/access-knowledge-internet-governance-forum">Lea Shaver, Jeremy Malcolm and others</a> who have been involved in that Access to Knowledge movement noted that lack of strict enforcement played a positive role in many developing countries. However, they also noted, with a fair bit of trepidation, that this was sought to be changed at the international level through treaties such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty Agreement (ACTA).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The scope of an optical disc law are quite different from copyright law. The report condemns "unauthorized manufacture and distribution of optical discs", however it does not make it clear that what it is talking about is not just unlicensed copying of films (which is already prohibited under the Copyright Act) but the manufacture and distribution of blank CDs and DVDs as well. The need for such a law is assumed, but never demonstrated. It is onerous for CD and DVD manufacturers (such as the Indian company Moserbaer), and is an overbearing means of attacking piracy.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The report calls for "improve[ment] [of India's] criminal enforcement regime" and for "deterrent" sentences and expeditious judicial disposition of IPR infringement cases. While we agree with the last suggestion, the first two are most unacceptable. Increased criminal enforcement of a what is essentially a private monopoly right is undesirable. Copyright infringment on non-commercial scales should not be criminal offences at all. What would deter people from infringing copyright laws are not "deterrent sentences" but more convenient and affordable access to the copyright work being infringed.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2>On Patents</h2>
<p>Thankfully, this year the Special 301 report does not criticise the Indian Patent Act for providing for post-grant opposition to patent filings, as it has in previous years. However, it still criticises section 3(d) of the Patent Act which ensures that 'evergreening' of drug patents is not allowed by requiring for new forms of known substances to be patented only if "the enhancement of the known efficacy of [the known] substance" is shown. Thus, the US wishes India to change its domestic law to enable large pharma companies to patent new forms of known substances that aren't even better ("enhancement of the known efficacy"). For instance, "new means of drug delivery" will not, contrary to the assertions of the Special 301 report and the worries of PhRMA, be deemed unpatentable.</p>
<p>The United States has been going through much turmoil over its patent system. Reform of the patent system is currently underway in the US through administrative means, judicial means, as well as legislative means. One of the main reasons for this crumbling of the patent system has been the low bar for patentability (most notably the 'obviousness' test) in the United States and the subsequent over-patenting. An <a href="http://supreme.justia.com/us/447/303/case.html">American judgment</a> even noted that "anything under the sun that is made by man" is patentable subject matter. It is well-nigh impossible to take American concerns regarding our high patent standards seriously, given this context.</p>
<h2>Miscellanea</h2>
<p>The harms of counterfeit medicine, as <a href="http://www.cis-india.org/a2k/blog/fallacies-lies-and-video-pirates">we have noted earlier</a>, are separate issues that are best dealt under health safety regulations and consumer laws, rather than trademark law.</p>
<p>Data exclusivity has been noted to be harmful to the progress of generics, and seeks to extend proprietary rights over government-mandated test data. It is [clear from the TRIPS Agreement][de-trips] that data exclusivity is not mandatory. There are clear rationale against it, and the Indian pharmaceutical industry [is dead-set against it][de-india]. Still, the United States Trade Representative persists in acting as a corporate shill, calling on countries such as India to implement such detrimental laws.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Michael Geist, professor at University of Ottowa <a href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4997/125">astutely notes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Looking beyond just Canada, the list [of countries condemned by the Special 301 report] is so large, that it is rendered meaningless. According to the report, approximately 4.3 billion people live in countries without effective intellectual property protection. Since the report does not include any African countries outside of North Africa, the U.S. is effectively saying that only a small percentage of the world meet its standard for IP protection. Canada is not outlier, it's in good company with the fastest growing economies in the world (the BRIC countries are there) and European countries like Norway, Italy, and Spain.
In other words, the embarrassment is not Canadian law. Rather, the embarrassment falls on the U.S. for promoting this bullying exercise and on the Canadian copyright lobby groups who seemingly welcome the chance to criticize their own country. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>His comments apply equally well for India as well.</p>
<h1>IIPA's Recommendation for the Special 301 Report</h1>
<p>Thankfully, this year <a href="http://www.iipa.com/rbc/2010/2010SPEC301INDIA.pdf">IIPA's recommendations</a> have not been directly copied into the Special 301 report. (They couldn't be incorporated, as seen below.) For instance, the IIPA report notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The industry is also concerned about moves by the government to consider mandating the use of open source software and software of only domestic origin. Though such policies have not yet been implemented, IIPA and BSA urge that this area be carefully monitored.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Breaking that into two bit:</p>
<h2>Open Source</h2>
<p>Firstly, it is curious to see industry object to legal non-pirated software. Secondly, many of BSA's members (if not most) use open source software, and a great many of them also produce open source software. <a href="http://hp.sourceforge.net/">HP</a> and <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/linux/ossstds/">IBM</a> have been huge supporters of open source software. Even <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/opensource/">Microsoft has an open source software division</a>. [Intel][intel], <a href="http://www.sap.com/usa/about/newsroom/press.epx?pressid=11410">SAP</a>, <a href="http://www.cisco.com/web/about/doing_business/open_source/index.html">Cisco</a>, <a href="http://linux.dell.com/projects.shtml">Dell</a>, <a href="http://www.sybase.com/developer/opensource">Sybase</a>, <a href="http://www.entrust.com/news/index.php?s=43&item=702">Entrust</a>, <a href="http://about.intuit.com/about_intuit/press_room/press_release/articles/2009/IntuitPartnerPlatformAddsOpenSourceCommunity.html">Intuit</a>, <a href="http://www.synopsys.com/community/interoperability/pages/libertylibmodel.aspx">Synopsys</a>, <a href="http://www.apple.com/opensource/">Apple</a>, <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/22/jbuilder_eclipse/">Borland</a>, <a href="http://w2.cadence.com/webforms/squeak/">Cadence</a>, <a href="http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=6153839">Autodesk</a>, and <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9967593-16.html">Siemens</a> are all members of BSA which support open source software / produce at least some open source software. And <em>all</em> BSA members rely on open source software (as part of their core products, their web-server, their content management system, etc.) to a lesser or greater extent. BSA's left hand doesn't seem to know what its right hand -- its members -- are doing. Indeed, the IIPA does not seem to realise that the United States' government itself uses [open source software], and has been urged to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7841486.stm">look at FOSS very seriously</a> and is doing so, especially under CIO Vivek Kundra. And that may well be the reason why the USTR could not include this cautionary message in the Special 301 report.</p>
<h2>Domestic Software</h2>
<p>As <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/indias-copyright-proposals-are-un-american-and-thats-bad.ars">this insightful article by Nate Anderson in Ars Technica</a> notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Open source is bad enough, but a "buy Indian" law? That would be <a href="http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/sell2usgov-vendreaugouvusa/procurement-marches/buyamerica.aspx?lang=eng">an outrage</a> and surely something the US government would not itself engage in <a href="http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/sell2usgov-vendreaugouvusa/procurement-marches/ARRA.aspx?lang=eng">as recently as last year</a>. Err, right?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Furthermore, the IIPA submission do not provide any reference for their claim that "domestic origin" software is being thought of being made a mandatory requirement in governmental software procurement.<br />
</p>
<h2>WCT, WPPT, Camcording, and Statutory Damages</h2>
<p>The IIPA submission also wish that India would:</p>
<ol>
<li>Adopt a system of statutory damages in civil cases; allow compensation to be awarded in criminal cases;</li>
<li>Adopt an optical disc law;</li>
<li>Enact Copyright Law amendments consistent with the WCT and WPPT;</li>
<li>Adopt an anti-camcording criminal provision.</li>
</ol>
<p>Quick counters:</p>
<ol>
<li>Statutory damages (that is, an amount based on statute rather than actual loss) would result in ridiculousness such as the $1.92 million damages that the jury (based on the statutory damages) slapped on Jammie Thomas. The judge in that case <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/judge-slashes-monstrous-jammie-thomas-p2p-award-by-35x.ars">called the damage award</a> "monstrous and shocking" and said that veered into "the realm of gross injustice."</li>
<li>The reasons against an optical disc law are given above. Quick recap: it is a) unnecessary and b) harmful.</li>
<li>India has not signed the WCT and the WPPT. Indian law satisfies all our international obligations. Thus enacting amendments consistent with the WCT and the WPPT is not required.</li>
<li>Camcording of a film is in any case a violation of the Copyright Act, 1957, and one would be hard-pressed to find a single theatre that allows for / does not prohibit camcorders. Given this, the reason for an additional law is, quite frankly, puzzling. At any rate, IIPA in its submission does not go into such nuances.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Further conclusions</h2>
<p><a href="http://spicyipindia.blogspot.com/2010/05/us-special-301-report-and-not-so.html">Shamnad Basheer</a>, an IP professor at NUJS, offer the following as a response:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Dear USA,</p>
<p>India encourages you to mind your own business. We respect your sovereignty to frame IP laws according to your national priorities and suggest that you show us the same courtesy. If your grouse is that we haven't complied with TRIPS, please feel free to take us to the WTO dispute panel. Our guess is that panel members familiar with the English language will ultimately inform you that section 3(d) is perfectly compatible with TRIPS. And that Article 39.3 does not mandate pharmaceutical data exclusivity, as you suggest!
More importantly, at that point, we might even think of hauling you up before the very same body for rampant violations, including your refusal to grant TRIPS mandated copyright protection to our record companies, despite a WTO ruling (Irish music case) against you.</p>
<p>Yours sincerely,</p>
<p>India."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Basheer's suggestion seems to be in line with that Michael Geist who believes that other countries should join Canada and Israel in openly refusing to acknowledge the validity of the Special 301 Reports because they lack ['reliable and objective analysis'][geist-reliable]. And that thought serves as a good coda.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/2010-special-301'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/2010-special-301</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshDevelopmentConsumer RightsAccess to KnowledgeCopyrightPiracyAccess to MedicineIntellectual Property RightsData ProtectionFLOSSTechnological Protection MeasuresPublications2011-10-03T05:37:27ZBlog Entry