Centre for Internet and Society

Second Meeting of the Expert Committee on WIPO

praskrishna — 2015-11-29T08:27:54Z

The second meeting of the Expert Committee on WIPO was held in the Committee Room (6th floor) of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi on November 2, 2015. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Special Secretary (I&B). Nehaa Chaudhari and Anubha Sinha attended the meeting.

Download the minutes of the first meeting here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/second-meeting-of-the-expert-committee-on-wipo

4th Annual US - China IP Conference: Best Practices for Innovation and Creativity

praskrishna — 2015-11-29T13:51:15Z

Bhairav Acharya attended this conference organized by Berkeley Law, University of California on October 6, 2015.

WHAT: The 4th Annual U.S.-China IP Conference: Best Practices for Innovation and Creativity

WHEN: Thurs. Oct. 8, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Fri. Oct. 9, 9:00 a.m.—noon

WHO: Lawyers, government officials, scholars, and corporate counsel from China and U.S.

Participants include:

Chuntian Liu, dean of China Renmin University
Ping Liu, dep. director-general, Music Copyright Society of China
Robert Merges, co-dir. of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology at Berkeley Law
Maria Strong, deputy dir. of the U.S. Copyright Office
Duane Valz, sr. patent counsel, Google

For a full list of speakers and bios, go here.

WHERE: The Claremont Hotel, 41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley, CA 94705.

DETAILS: Last year marked the first in which Chinese investment in the United States—heavily weighted toward technology—exceeded U.S. investment in China. With companies in each country increasingly seeking joint ventures in the other, intellectual property (IP) issues that lie at the core of these investments have taken on even greater importance.

Participants will compare the latest trends and developments in IP creation, protection and cross-border enforcement in China and U.S.

Panel topics include:

Opportunities and Challenges in U.S.-China Film Co-Production and Other Media
New Trends and Legal Issues in Transnational Technology Investment
Specialized IP Courts
Recent Developments in Copyright: Legislation and Cases
Recent Developments in Patents: Legislation and Cases
Cross-border IP Enforcement

For a complete agenda, go here. Read a preview story about the conference here.

Event co-sponsors: The UC Berkeley School of Law’s Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (BCLT); Loyola Law School, Los Angeles; and Renmin University of China Law School.

For more information or to schedule interviews contact: Jim Dempsey, exec. dir. BCLT, 510-643-6960; or Louise Lee, assoc. dir., llee@law.berkeley.edu, 510-642-9353.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/4th-annual-us-china-ip-conference-best-practices-for-innovation-and-creativity

Community Discussion for Making Tulu Wikipedia Live

praskrishna — 2015-12-15T07:45:54Z

CIS-A2K Programme Officer Rahmanuddin Shaik visited Mangalore on October 28 and 29 and again on November 5 and 6, 2015. During his visit he interacted with Wikipedians for making the Tulu Wikipedia live.

There were discussions on translations of system messages that appear on Wikipedia interface, creating templates pages and adding images. Around 79 strings were translated on Translatewiki.net, the community project for MediaWiki localization, and about 500 strings were approved. This event was organised at Tulu Bhavana, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Akademy. The director of the institution was part of the meeting who agreed for the following:

To relicense a lower resolution cover pages, and metadata of their 157 volumes of books under Creative Commons licenses. This will bring in those many articles on Tulu Wikipedia.
To give detailed information of winners of Tulu Sahitya Akademy award winners (this was being given away across 6 disciplines from 1993 onwards), which would add close to 100 biography articles on Tulu Wikipedia.

A possibility of CIS-A2K and Tulu Sahitya Akademy collaboration was also discussed briefly. Vishwanatha Badikana was there throughout these talks and he would be the contact person for further work.

Rahmanuddin was also invited to be a part of the World Konkani Literature festival where he spoke briefly about Konkani Wikipedia to the gathering.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/making-tulu-wikipedia-live

JP Das's Books to be Made Available Free on Wikipedia

praskrishna — 2015-12-15T08:18:51Z

Noted Odia-language author and art historian Jagannath Prasad Das's works will be available on Wikipedia for free.

A scanned version of the article published on October 16, 2015 is below:

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/jp-dass-books-to-be-made-available-free-on-wikipedia

Design!Public (6th Edition)

praskrishna — 2015-11-30T02:11:45Z

The sixth edition of Design Public conceptualized and hosted by CivicLabs, an initiative of the Center for Knowledge Societies was held at Vihara Innovation Campus, New Delhi. Sumandro Chattapadhyay was a panelist.

The event created a platform through which urban administrators could engage with a wide range of expertise representing innovation, public policy, development, technology and entrepreneurship. The event brought together leading global and Indian practitioners representing these fields, to share and exchange best practices, learnings, approaches and philosophies in an attempt to chart a way forward for an ecosystem for civic innovation for India’s cities.

For more information see the Design Public website. Also see the blog post by Khusbhoo Dixit on this.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/design-public-6th-edition

Google and Facebook

praskrishna — 2015-11-30T13:09:03Z

Google and Facebook

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

Shopping on apps raise privacy and security concerns

praskrishna — 2017-03-21T14:56:26Z

The recently concluded online Diwali sales frequently offered consumers hefty discounts on merchandise if they shopped via store app, a move that experts say increases security risks for internet users.

The article by Vivek Ananth was published by the Softcopy, an IIJNM Web Publication on November 23, 2015. Sunil Abraham gave inputs.

“It makes the security much worse because of increased complexity from the user perspective,” said Sunil Abraham, executive director at Centre for Internet and Society.

“User will have to install multiple apps and then worry about the security implications arising from each app. From the e-commerce corporation perspective it might reduce effort but for users this is a nightmare.”

Do apps increase security risks?

The degree of risk depends on the specific app and can only be determined after a detailed security audit, Abraham said.

“Unfortunately there aren't many organisations doing such audits and making their results available to the public,” he added.

There are some users who say that privacy on the internet isn’t an option.

“Once you are online your privacy is kind of gone,” said Hasmit Trivedi of Mumbai. “I mean you are vulnerable.”

“That (browsing history being used to target advertisements) does concern me, but not to the extent that I'll stop using these websites,” said Sweta Rajan, a lawyer from Mumbai.

“Google has done this forever," said Dinoo Muthappa.“I don't even care if they use my search to place advertisements of what they think I need while browsing.”

Comfort and Convenience trumps privacy

“I don't really shop for things I'm not comfortable allowing the world to know. I'm ok with them using this (usage pattern and browsing information) for commercial reasons,” Rajan said.

“We live in a world where the cost of convenience is our privacy. Take my user preferences,” said Dinoo Muthappa, a lawyer from Delhi.“If it means you'll make money and somehow reflect as a discount to me later, that's fine,” she added.

“I frankly don't have a problem with it in principle,” said Akshara Kumar Chitoor, a lawyer from Bengaluru, about companies mining data to target advertisements at her. “I don't think it's very different from how certain TV channels carry certain advertisements because they know the audiences.I mean, you get Rin and Horlicks ads on Zee and Sony but not Romedy Now or Comedy Central.”

“The convenience of having it come home when I want and not having to face the guy who I know is ripping me off; these guys can use and sell my information,” Muthappa said.

“With my work timings I literally do not find time to go to a store and shop,”Rajan said. “I buy everything online. It's very convenient and time saving.”

“Personally, I think just browsing stuff to buy is much easier on your computer,” said Sreenath Unnikrishnan, a product developer from Singapore. “However, I do think apps are more convenient for payment. As in your card information is normally stored and can be accessed without having to log in and all. I can do that on a computer too, but it's less secure. At least that's what I think.”

Google and Facebook have their advertisement norms disclosed.

Twitter also follows a similar model using the email ids that their users have associated with their twitter handles.

“If the service is free - then as many have said before - you are the product, said Sunil Abraham executive director at Centre for Internet and Society. “Your personal information is being sold to marketers and advertisers. As Bruce Schneier puts it ‘surveillance is the business model of the Internet’".

The terms and conditions are sometimes very long and use difficult language.

“Transparency and Informed Consent are principles in most jurisdictions that have data protection law modelled on the EU Data Protection Directive,” Abraham said.“Part of the transparency principle is the accessibility of the language.”

The user though still has an option to opt out of the above process where their data is collected by these companies.
Privacy policies of internet companies are legal documents. These are required under data protection laws. This makes them complicated, said Abraham.

The users don’t care that their usage data is being mined by businesses till they have a bad experience, Abraham said.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-soft-copy-vivek-ananth-november-23-2015-shopping-on-apps-raise-privacy-and-security-concerns

Take-away from the I&J Project Workshop at the UN Internet Governance Forum 2015

praskrishna — 2015-11-30T14:09:57Z

The Internet & Jurisdiction Project organized the workshop “Transnational due process: A case study in multi-stakeholder cooperation” at the Internet Governance Forum convened by the United Nations on November 13, 2015.

This was published on Internet & Jurisdiction website.

The 4-day conference convened over 2000 high-level participants from states, major global Internet companies, technical Internet operators, international organizations, civil society groups and academia.

Video

The workshop organized by the I&J Project discussed how to address the tension between the cross-border nature of the Internet and a patchwork of national jurisdictions by enabling multi-stakeholder cooperation. Sunil Abraham, the Director of CIS India, stressed the limits of traditional modes of inter-state legal cooperation on the Internet:

The MLAT system is completely broken […] both from the demand side and also from the supply side.

The US Cyber Coordinator of the State Department, Christopher Painter, stated the need to streamline procedures of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, but also highlighted the importance of pursuing in parallel more innovative approaches, such as the Internet & Jurisdiction process:

MLATS are not always the right answer. There are other answers between law enforcement channels in terms of joint investigations and there are also creative solutions that might take some of the burden off that MLAT process and I think that those are worthy of exploration.

Representing the Canadian ccTLD .ca, Mark Bull reflected upon how to develop such solutions to maintain the global nature of the Internet.

We are talking about incredibly complex issues here and I believe that complexity necessitates a multi-stakeholder process to identify solutions. And that is what I think the beauty of the Internet & Jurisdiction Project is. And it’s why because of the multi-stakeholder structure, that’s why we believe it is the best and the most effective form for discussing issues this complex.

Panelist Eileen Donahoe, the Director of Global Affairs at Human Rights Watch applauded the progress the Internet & Jurisdiction process made since 2012:

Let me say that the work of the I&J Project has been relentless and it is really important. This is one of the most complex spaces in Internet governance

The jurisdiction topic has become one of the most pressing Internet governance challenges, as I&J Project Director and Co-Founder Bertrand de La Chapelle pointed out:

There is a real element of urgency. The jurisdiction issue is at the core of many Internet governance problems. And it has been said in many workshops here in the IGF, but also outside of it. The problem is really getting worse. The jurisdiction problem is probably one of the biggest threats to the fabric of the Internet as we know it.

The objective of the workshop was to gather participants in the global Internet & Jurisdiction process from different stakeholder groups to report on progress and achievements. Furthermore, the workshop deepened the understanding of how to address jurisdictional tensions around the Internet and establish innovative legal cooperation mechanisms to prevent its fragmentation along national territorial boundaries.Council of Europe’s Elvana Thaci reminded participants of the importance to develop harmonized procedures across borders, as

Harmonization of substance is very difficult because the understanding of unlawfulness of content is very diverse.

Facebook’s Head of Policy Development, Matt Perault, talked about the need for appropriate procedures:

I am here because I believe the I&J Project is devoted to figuring out how to think about mechanisms for a race to the top on the issue of jurisdiction.

The pioneering Internet & Jurisdiction process has engaged more than 100 key entities around the world, creating a unique neutral space to build trust and catalyze operational solutions. As Will Hudson, Google’s Senior Advisor for International Policy, said:

We need to find solutions that work for all parties. It is one of the great strengths of the I&J Project, that it is looking at this challenge head on. We need to do things in this multi-stakeholder manner, and talk as a community because everyone has a stake in this and we cannot do this alone.

Participants

ANNE CARBLANC, Head of Division, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, OECD
BYRON HOLLAND, President and CEO, CIRA (Canadian ccTLD)
CHRISTOPHER PAINTER, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, US Department of State
EILEEN DONAHOE, Director Global Affairs, Human Rights Watch
EVANA THACI, Administrator, Council of Europe
MATT PERAULT, Head of Policy Development, Facebook
SUNIL ABRAHAM, Executive Director, CIS India
WILL HUDSEN, Senior Advisor for International Policy, Google

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/take-away-from-the-i-j-project-workshop-at-the-un-internet-governance-forum-2015

Net Neutrality across South Asia

praskrishna — 2016-02-27T08:09:29Z

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) and the Observer Research Foundation in association with Centre for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennnsylvania and Internet Policy Observatory is organizing this event at the Observer Research Foundation's office in New Delhi from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on December 12, 2015.

Context

Net neutrality can broadly be understood as the principle of non-discrimination which in practice allows the internet to be free and open by preventing service providers from slowing or interfering with the transfer of data. Net neutrality has risen as a global policy issue, yet cultural, political, commercial, and economical factors influence how net neutrality is understood and addressed in a particular context. Indeed, the factors driving the net neutrality debate, the way in which governments are addressing net neutrality, the role and response of industry, the public response, and the role of civil society has been varied across contexts. The topic of net neutrality is not limited to a technical debate and brings together a number of issues including the right to access, the right to freedom of expression, fair competition practices, and privacy.

This conference seeks to bring together domain experts, industry, government, and civil society across South Asia to understand how net neutrality is understood in different contexts, how it is being addressed from a policy point of view, what the varying public dialogues around net neutrality are, and what role civil society can play in influencing the debate.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/net-neutrality-across-south-asia

Cyber Security Summit 2015

praskrishna — 2015-12-16T02:10:24Z

The Government of Karnataka in association with Biz Wingz Production House organized this Summit on November 27, 2015 at JW Marriott, Bangalore from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Sunil Abraham was a panelist.

Cloud-based applications are often the darling of the CFO and the nemesis of the CISO & CIOs. How can an organization migrate to the cloud, thus relinquishing control, but still maintain security? Are we sacrificing security and robustness in exchange for other priorities? How do ‘Snowden’ disclosures change the legal and risk nature of cloud decision making and governance? What can proactive cloud providers do to capture the opportunity in the disruption? The panel explored these topics and more to provide the cutting edge thinking and perspectives you need to shape your own cloud strategies in ways that balance multiple priorities.

Panelists

Parag Deodhar, Chief Risk Officer, Bharti AXA General Insurance & Chief Operational Risk Officer India
Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Internet and Society
Atul kumar, GM IT, Syndicate Bank
Lopa Mudra Basu, AVP & Head of Enterprise Security & Risk Governance, SLK Global
Sagar Karan, Chief Information Security Officer, Fullerton India Credit Co. Ltd.
R Vijay, CISO –Technology, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited
Sanjivan S Shirke, Senior Vice President-Information Technology, Head -Information Security, UTI Asset Management Company Limited.
Sanjay Sahay, IPS, ADGP, Grievances & Human Rights, Police Dept, Govt of Karnataka (moderator).

More information about this event

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/cyber-security-summit-2015

Consilience – 2013

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T06:15:15Z

The Law and Technology Committee of National Law School of India University, Bangalore is organising ‘Consilience – 2013′, an annual conference on law and technology, to be held on May 25 and 26, 2013. The Centre for Internet and Society is a co-partner for this event.

Theme: Data Protection and Cyber Security in India. Click to read the report here.

Topics:
Frameworks for Data Protection in India: The J. A.P. Shah “Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy”

a. What is the scope of the principles/framework?

b. What could be the strengths and limitation of their application?

c. How does Report define privacy for India?

d. Would an alternative framework for privacy in India be better? If so, what would this framework look like?

India and the EU: The Privacy Debate

a. How does the Indian data protection regime differ from the EU regime?

b. Was the EU is justified in not accepting India as a data secure country? Reason for or against.

c. In what way does the Indian regime on data protection not meet the requirements of EU’s data protection directive?

d. What changes need to be made in the Indian regime to become EU compliant? Are these changes feasible? Should India make these changes?

Governmental Schemes, Data Protection, and Security

a. In India, do private public partnerships between government and the private sector adequately incorporate data protection standards?

b. What have been concerns related to data protection and security that have arisen from government schemes? (Please use two governmental schemes as case studies)

c. Are these concerns related to the policy associated with the project – the architecture of the project as well as the implementation?

d. Should the larger question of data protection for governmental schemes be incorporated into a privacy legislation? If yes, how so?

Contracts and Data Protection in India

a. How are contracts used to ensure data protection in India? What actors use contracts?

b. Are there weaknesses in using contracts to ensure data protection standards?

c. Do contracts address questions brought about from technology like the cloud?

Cyber security in India

a. What are the perceived challenges and threats to cyber security in India?

b. Are these currently being addressed through policy/projects? If yes, how so?

c. How does India’s cyber security regime compare to other countries?

Surveillance and Cyber Security

a. Does policy in India enable the Government of India to surveil individuals for reasons related to cyber security?

b. If so – through what policy, projects, legislation?

c. Do the relevant policies, projects, and legislation impact privacy? How so?

The Draft National Cyber Security Policy

a. What is the scope of the National Cyber Security Policy of India? Does the draft policy adequately address all of the concerns within the ambit of cyber security?

b. Would the Draft National Cyber Security Policy of India be effective in meeting the goal of enhancing cyber security levels in India?

c. How does the Draft National Cyber Security Policy compare to other countries cyber security policies?

Word Limit:

Abstract: 750-800 words

Paper: 2,500 words

Deadlines:

Abstract Submission: April 30, 2013

Paper Submission: May 15, 2013

Contact Details:

consilience2013[at]gmail[dot]com

Mohak Arora: +91-90359-21926

Shivam Singla: +91-99167-08701

Each participant is required to submit an abstract on any one of the seven topics above and can choose the specific issue within the selected topic to discuss.

For additional details, click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/consilience-2013-law-technology-committee-nls-bangalore

Katak Community Meetup

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T05:42:47Z

Odia Wikipedia Community in Cuttack

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

69A vs. 69A - Chart 1

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T07:27:49Z

69A vs. 69A - Chart 1

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/69Avs69AChart1.png

Odia Wikipedia Community at Cuttack

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T08:44:15Z

Odia Wiki Community at Cuttack

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

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules

praskrishna — 2013-04-26T09:19:30Z

69a-draft-rules-v-69-official-rules 1

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Draft69Arulesvs69ARules01.png