Centre for Internet and Society

Facebook, Google deny spying access

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T10:18:48Z

The CEOs of Facebook and Google on Saturday categorically denied that the US National Security Agency had "direct access" to their company servers for snooping on Gmail and Facebook users. But both acknowledged that the companies complied with the 'lawful' requests made by the US government and shared user data with sleuths.

The article by Javed Anwer was published in the Times of India on June 9, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

In a post titled "What the ...?" Google's official blog, CEO Larry Page wrote, "We have not joined any program that would give the US governmentâ€”or any other governmentâ€”direct access to our servers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday."

A few hours later, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded. "Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers... We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday," he wrote on his page at the social media site.

According to a few PowerPoint slides allegedly leaked by an NSA official, nine technology companies - Google, AOL, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft, Skype, Facebook, YouTube and PalTalk - are providing the US government easy access to user data. While all companies have denied being part anything called PRISM, Facebook and Google have been most vocal about it.

A few hours after Facebook and Google statements, the New York Times said in a report that technology companies had "opened discussions with national security officials about developing technical methods to more efficiently and securely share the personal data of foreign users".

"In some cases, they (companies) changed their computer systems to do so," noted the NYT report.

The statements by the CEOs have done little to allay privacy fears. "The denials from the companies look highly coordinated, including similar phrases in all their responses. I don't think they are lying outright, though the NYT report suggests that they are telling a half-truth. They may not provide the US government 'direct access' to all their servers, but may be providing indirect access, or may just be responding to very broad FISA orders," said Pranesh Prakash, a policy director with Centre for Internet and Society in India.

On Friday US president Barack Obama had tacitly acknowledged NSA surveillance programmes aimed at non-US citizens. "You can't have a hundred per cent security and also then have a hundred per cent privacy and zero inconvenience. You know, we're going to have to make some choices as a society," he told reporters in the US.

Page and Zuckerberg also called on the governments to be more open about surveillance programmes. "The level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherish," wrote Page.

Added Zuckerberg, "We strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. It's the only way to protect everyone's civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term."

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/times-of-india-javed-anwer-june-9-2013-facebook-google-deny-spying-access

Sunil

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T16:01:33Z

Sunil

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

कैसे होती है इंटरनेट पर आपकी जासूसी

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T16:06:48Z

भारत में बैठे आप कब, कहां, क्या लिख रहे हैं, किससे फोन पर क्या बात कर रहे हैं, अमेरिका में बैठे अधिकारी सब देख-सुन रहे हैं. कभी सोचा है कि कैसे हो रहा है यह सब? क्या आपकी कंप्यूटर स्क्रीन उनके कंप्यूटर पर भी खुली है?

This article was published in DW on June 15, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

अमेरिकी खुफिया एजेंसियों के बड़ी इंटरनेट कंपनियों के जरिए जासूसी करने के मामले ने दुनिया भर में हलचल मचा दी है. भारत में भी नागरिक इस बात से चिंतित हैं कि ना सिर्फ अमेरिकी नागरिकों पर बल्कि भारत में रहने वाले लोगों के हर पल की खबर भी अमेरिका के हाथों में है. कैसे हो सकता है यह सब, क्या यह किसी डाक की तरह है जिसे शक होने पर अधिकारी कभी भी हाथ से खोल सकते हैं? जी नहीं, उससे भी ज्यादा.

(आपका फोन कोई और तो नहीं सुन रहा)

कैसे होती है इंटरनेट जासूसी

भारत में सेंटर फॉर इंटरनेट एंड सोसाइटी के कार्यकारी निदेशक सुनील अब्राहम ने डॉयचे वेले को बताया कि फेसबुक, गूगल और माइक्रोसॉफ्ट जैसी बड़ी कंपनियों के पास आपकी अलग अलग जानकारी होती है. समूची जानकारी को कंपनी का हर सदस्य नहीं देख सकता है. उनके पास आपकी नियमित जानकारी ही है. वे आपके मेसेज नहीं खोल सकते हैं. लेकिन जब खुफिया एजेंसी के पास आपके कंप्यूटर पर चल रहे माइक्रोसॉफ्ट प्रोसेसर से लेकर आपके गूगल, फेसबुक और दूसरे अहम अकाउंट की जानकारी होती है तो उनके पास सब कुछ होता है. वे जब चाहें आपके कंप्यूटर से खुद अपने कंप्यूटर को जोड़ कर आपकी हर हरकत का पता कर सकते हैं.

हालांकि अमेरिकी कांग्रेस द्वारा पारित कानून के अनुसार केवल जिस व्यक्ति पर शक है, उसके अकाउंट से जुड़ी जानकारी के लिए खुफिया एजेंसी को पहले अदालत से अनुमति लेनी होती है जिसके आधार पर उन्हें इंटरनेट कंपनियां सर्वर तक की पहुंच देती हैं. लेकिन अब्राहम ने बताया कि एजेंसी ने ऐसा करने के बजाए कंपनियों के साथ मिलकर एक पीछे का रास्ता निकाला है जिसके तहत उनके पास सभी के अकाउंट का ब्योरा आ गया.

भारतीयों पर भी जासूसी

अब्राहम ने बताया कि भारत में इस्तेमाल हो रहे सभी बड़े सॉफ्टवेयर और फेसबुक और गूगल जैसी सोशल नेटवर्किंग साइटें अमेरिका में रजिस्टर्ड हैं. यानि यहां जो कुछ भी हो रहा है वह सब अमेरिकी सर्वर

	से हो कर गुजर रहा है. ऐसे में उनके लिए भारत में बैठे किसी व्यक्ति के अकाउंट को खोलना और पढ़ना जरा भी मुश्किल नहीं है. जबकि भारत अमेरिकी नागरिकों के साथ ऐसा नहीं कर सकता है. इस तरह कोई भी भारतीय अकाउंट अमेरिका की नजर से छुपा नहीं है. भारत सरकार के लिए जरूरी यह भी है कि उसके बड़े अधिकारियों, सैन्य अधिकारियों और सरकारी विभागों की जानकारी के साथ ऐसा कुछ ना हो सके. भारत के विदेश मंत्रालय ने इस मामले पर आपत्ति जताते हुए अमेरिका को ऐसा करने से रोकने का दावा किया है. यह अमेरिका के हाथों भारतीयों की निजता का हनन है. अब्राहम कहते हैं कि इस बारे में दोनों सरकारों के बीच बातचीत के बाद ही नतीजे सामने आएंगे. हालांकि भारत सरकार ऐसा पूरी तरह रोक पाएगी इस पर संदेह ही है.

से हो कर गुजर रहा है. ऐसे में उनके लिए भारत में बैठे किसी व्यक्ति के अकाउंट को खोलना और पढ़ना जरा भी मुश्किल नहीं है. जबकि भारत अमेरिकी नागरिकों के साथ ऐसा नहीं कर सकता है. इस तरह कोई भी भारतीय अकाउंट अमेरिका की नजर से छुपा नहीं है.

भारत सरकार के लिए जरूरी यह भी है कि उसके बड़े अधिकारियों, सैन्य अधिकारियों और सरकारी विभागों की जानकारी के साथ ऐसा कुछ ना हो सके. भारत के विदेश मंत्रालय ने इस मामले पर आपत्ति जताते हुए अमेरिका को ऐसा करने से रोकने का दावा किया है. यह अमेरिका के हाथों भारतीयों की निजता का हनन है. अब्राहम कहते हैं कि इस बारे में दोनों सरकारों के बीच बातचीत के बाद ही नतीजे सामने आएंगे. हालांकि भारत सरकार ऐसा पूरी तरह रोक पाएगी इस पर संदेह ही है.

(किसने खोला राज)

सभी देश कर रहे हैं जासूसी

सुनील अब्राहम ने बताया कि थोड़ी बहुत इंटरनेट जासूसी सभी देशों की सरकार करती है. यह देश की सुरक्षा के लिए अहम भी है. लेकिन यह कम से कम स्तर तक ही होनी चाहिए. उनका मानना है कि वर्तमान हालात के दौरान हर देश ज्यादा से ज्यादा जानकारी का भूखा होता जा रहा है. ऐसे में निजता का क्या अर्थ है वह भी मिटता जा रहा है. लेकिन ऐसे में भी अमेरिका का भारतीयों पर जासूसी करना सही नहीं है.

इसके लिए जरूरी यह है कि भारत सरकार अपने नागरिकों को इंटरनेट पर अपनी निजता बनाए रखने के तरीकों से अवगत कराए. लेकिन यह इसलिए संभव नहीं हो सकता है, क्योंकि फिर लोगों के बारे में जरूरत पड़ने पर खुद भारत सरकार जासूसी नहीं कर पाएगी.

अब्राहम ने बताया कि ऐसी स्थिति में आईक्लाउड और एयर एंड्रॉयड जैसे सॉफ्टवेयर का इस्तेमाल भी सुरक्षित नहीं है. वह और उनके जैसे दूसरे इंटरनेट एक्सपर्ट और कार्यकर्ता लोगों से अपील करते आए हैं कि वे इन सॉफ्टवेयर का इस्तेमाल अपनी निजी जानकारी को संचित करने के लिए ना करें.

सुनील अब्राहम ने कहा कि यह तो बस शुरुआत है. ऐसा नहीं है कि ये मामले यहीं थम जाएंगे. आगे आने वाले समय में हम इस तरह की जासूसी और जानकारी लीक हो जाने की और बातें सुनें तो हैरान नहीं होना चाहिए. हमारे पास अभी तक ऐसा सिस्टम नहीं है जो निजता को पूरी तरह सुरक्षित रखने के लिए आश्वस्त कर सके.

रिपोर्ट: समरा फातिमा
संपादन: महेश झा

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/dw-june-15-report-on-internet-surveillance

Wiki Rahasya: Panel Discussion on Suvarna News

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T16:36:11Z

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.

Videos

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/suvarna-news-june-13-2013-wiki-rahasya-panel-discussion

Opportunities for TV White Spaces in India Workshop

praskrishna — 2013-09-18T04:51:11Z

Shyam Ponappa, a fellow at the Centre for Internet and Society is participating in a workshop on TV White Space. The workshop is being organized by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and sponsored by the Ford Foundation at the Royal Hotel Plaza in New Delhi on June 21, 2013.

See the original published by the Indian Institute of Technology website here

About the Workshop

This workshop will discuss the regulatory aspects of TV white space with a focus on Indian requirements. We believe that making the most efficient use of the TV white space spectrum will offer tremendous benefits to the low-income broadband users in India. It will also provide opportunities to the academia and indigenous industries for research and development, thereby creating intellectual property related to methods feasible for TV white space spectrum usage and access in India.

The workshop is intended for researchers, policy makers, and industry professionals working in the area of TV white spaces. The discussions will provide exposure to the TV white space applications and regulations across the world. The regulatory framework for TV white space present elsewhere in the world will be in focus, and we will provide suggestions for the same in India. This workshop may sow the seeds of developing a regulatory framework for TV white space operation in India.

The program consists of an overview of the TV white space regulations and standards from different countries around the world, and a discussion on the TV white space regulations necessary for the Indian context.

Time	Details
09:30 10:00	Inauguration and Introduction
10:00 10:30	WhiteSpace Applications, Regulations and Technologies, Dr. Apurva Mody, White Space Alliance
10:30 11:00	Tea Break
11:00 11:30	Geo-location Database – U.S. TV White Spaces and Beyond John Malyar, iConnective
11:30 12:00	TV White Space Detection and Spectrum Characterization in India, Prof. Vinay Ribeiro (IIT Delhi) and Prof. Animesh Kumar (IIT Bombay). Based on collective work done at IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay
12:00 12:30	White Space Opportunities in South India Prof. Zafar Ali Khan, IIT Hyderabad
12:30 14:00	Lunch
14:00 14:30	Enabling the Global Spectrum Village, Jeffery Yan, Microsoft
14:30 15:00	TI solutions for TV white space Jose Frangline, Texas Instruments
15:00 16:00	Panel Discussion
16:00 16:30	Tea Break
16:30 17:00	Regulations of Ofcom, Dr. Reza Karimi, Technical Policy Director, Ofcom
17:00 17:30	Regualtions of FCC, Dr. Julius Knapp, Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/iitb-june-21-2013-opportunities-for-tv-white-spaces-in-india-workshop

Cyber experts suggest using open source software to protect privacy

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T04:32:48Z

Big Brother is watching. With the Central Monitoring System (CMS) at home and PRISM from the US, millions of users worldwide have become vulnerable to online surveillance by state agencies without even realizing it. No surprise, several cyber security experts feel that building one's own personal firewall is a good way of fortifying online privacy.

The article by Kim Arora was published in the Times of India on June 22, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

One enterprising netizen has compiled a list of services, from social networks to email clients, and even web browsers, that offer better protection from surveillance. They are listed on a web page called prism-break.org.

When asked about steps that a digital native can take to protect his privacy and online data, Sunil Abraham, executive director of Bangalore-based non-profit Center for Internet and Society said, "Stop using proprietary software, shift to free/open source software for your operating system and applications on your computer and phone. Android is not sufficiently free; shift to CyanogenMod. Encrypt all sensitive Internet traffic and email using software like TOR and GNU Privacy Guard. Use community based infrastructure such as Open Street Maps and Wikipedia. Opt for alternatives to mainstream services. For example, replace Google Search with DuckDuckGo."

Use of licensed or proprietary software, which bind users legally when it comes to use and distribution, seems to be losing favour among an informed niche. While alternative software cannot offer absolute protection, it is being seen as a "better-than-nothing" option. Anonymisers like TOR, though also not entirely foolproof, are also a popular option among those who wish to keep their web usage untraceable. Once installed on a browser, anonymisers can hide the route that digital traffic takes when sent from your computer over a network before emerging at an end node.

There is one caveat, though. Some websites can deny service to users operating on certain anonymising networks. Also, anonymisers are known to reduce browsing speeds. In India, where broadband speeds are already abysmally low, anything that slows one down even further would find popularity hard to come by.

Computer and network security expert Aseem Jakhar too recommends open source software since they offer the convenience of customization to suit one's encryption needs and are able to verify the source code. For laypersons, there are other tools. "One can use anonymisers like TOR which encrypt your communication and hide your identity. With these it becomes very difficult to exactly locate the source. For email clients, it is best to use ones that offer end-to-end strong encryption," he says. Jakhar, co-founder of open security community "null", also recommends the use of customized and Linux systems for more advanced users. Default Linux distributions, he points out, may have free online services which can again be analysed by the governments.

The home-bred CMS programme seeks to directly procure data pertaining to call records and internet usage for intelligence purposes without going through telecom service providers. There were fears of abuse when information about the programme, kept under strict wraps by the government, trickled in. Department of Telecom and Ministry of IT and Communication have been reticent about the state of implementation of the 400-crore rupees programme.

PRISM, a similar, international monitoring programme mounted by the US and revealed to the world by the US National Security Authority whistleblower Edward Snowden, has raised concerns of safeguarding digital information the world over.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/times-of-india-june-22-2013-kim-arora-cyber-experts-suggest-open-source-software-to-protect-privacy

Road test

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T05:15:09Z

Road test

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RHoK

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T07:09:40Z

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RHoK

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T07:18:03Z

RHoK

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Articles 1

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T09:06:54Z

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New Editors

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T09:12:17Z

New Editors

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Page Views

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T09:14:49Z

Page Views

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In India, Prism-like Surveillance Slips Under the Radar

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T09:31:18Z

Prism, the contentious U.S. data-collection surveillance program, has captured the world’s attention ever since whistle-blower Edward Snowden leaked details of global spying to the Guardian and Washington Post.

The article by Anjan Trivedi was published in Time World on June 30, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

However, it turns out India, the world’s largest democracy, is building its own version to monitor internal communications in the name of national security. Yet India’s Central Monitoring System, or CMS, was not shrouded in secrecy — New Delhi announced its intentions to watch over its citizens, however mutedly, in 2011, and rollout is slated for August. And while reports that the American system collected 6.3 billion intelligence reports in India led to a lawsuit at the nation’s Supreme Court, comparable indignation has been conspicuously lacking with the domestic equivalent.

CMS is an ambitious surveillance system that monitors text messages, social-media engagement and phone calls on landlines and cell phones, among other communications. That means 900 million landline and cell-phone users and 125 million Internet users. The project, which is being implemented by the government’s Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), is meant to help national law-enforcement agencies save time and avoid manual intervention, according to the Department of Telecommunications’ annual report. This has been in the works since 2008, when C-DOT started working on a proof-of-concept, according to an older report. The government set aside approximately $150 million for the system as part of its 12th five-year plan, although the Cabinet ultimately approved a higher amount.

Within the internal-security ministry though, the surveillance system remains a relatively “hush-hush” topic, a project official unauthorized to speak to the press tells TIME. In April 2011, the Police Modernisation Division of the Home Affairs Ministry put out a 90-page tender to solicit bidders for communication-interception systems in every state and union territory of India. The system requirements included “live listening, recording, storage, playback, analysis, postprocessing” and voice recognition.

Civil-liberties groups concede that states often need to undertake targeted-monitoring operations. However, the move toward extensive “surveillance capabilities enabled by digital communications,” suggests that governments are now “casting the net wide, enabling intrusions into private lives,” according to Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch. This extensive communications surveillance through the likes of Prism and CMS are “out of the realm of judicial authorization and allow unregulated, secret surveillance, eliminating any transparency or accountability on the part of the state,” a recent U.N. report stated.

India is no stranger to censorship and monitoring — tweets, blogs, books or songs are frequently blocked and banned. India ranked second only to the U.S. on Google’s list of user-data requests with 4,750 queries, up 52% from two years back, and removal requests from the government increased by 90% over the previous reporting period. While these were largely made through police or court orders, the new system will not require such a legal process. In recent times, India’s democratically elected government has barred access to certain websites and Twitter handles, restricted the number of outgoing text messages to five per person per day and arrested citizens for liking Facebook posts and tweeting. Historically too, censorship has been India’s preferred means of policing social unrest. “Freedom of expression, while broadly available in theory,” Ganguly tells TIME, “is endangered by abuse of various India laws.”

There is a growing discrepancy and power imbalance between citizens and the state, says Anja Kovacs of the Internet Democracy Project. And, in an environment like India where “no checks and balances [are] in place,” that is troubling. The potential for misuse and misunderstanding, Kovacs believes, is increasing enormously. Currently, India’s laws relevant to interception “disempower citizens by relying heavily on the executive to safeguard individuals’ constitutional rights,” a recent editorial noted. The power imbalance is often noticeable at public protests, as in the case of the New Delhi gang-rape incident in December, when the government shut down public transport near protest grounds and unlawfully detained demonstrators.

With an already sizeable and growing population of Internet users, the government’s worries too are on the rise. Netizens in India are set to triple to 330 million by 2016, according to a recent report. “As [governments] around the world grapple with the power of social media that can enable spontaneous street protests, there appears to be increasing surveillance,” Ganguly explains.

India’s junior minister for telecommunications attempted to explain the benefits of this system during a recent Google+ Hangout session. He acknowledged that CMS is something that “most people may not be aware of” because it’s “slightly technical.” A participant noted that the idea of such an intrusive system was worrying and he did not feel safe. The minister, though, insisted that it would “safeguard your privacy” and national security. Given the high-tech nature of CMS, he noted that telecom companies would no longer be part of the government’s surveillance process. India currently does not have formal privacy legislation to prohibit arbitrary monitoring. The new system comes under the jurisdiction of the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, which allows for monitoring communication in the “interest of public safety.”

The surveillance system is not only an “abuse of privacy rights and security-agency overreach,” critics say, but also counterproductive in terms of security. In the process of collecting data to monitor criminal activity, the data itself may become a target for terrorists and criminals — a “honeypot,” according to Sunil Abraham, executive director of India’s Centre for Internet and Society. Additionally, the wide-ranging tapping undermines financial markets, Abraham says, by compromising confidentiality, trade secrets and intellectual property. What’s more, vulnerabilities will have to be built into the existing cyberinfrastructure to make way for such a system. Whether the nation’s patchy infrastructure will be able to handle a complex web of surveillance and networks, no one can say. That, Abraham contends, is what attackers will target.

National security has widely been cited as the reason for this system, but no one can say whether it will actually help avert terrorist activity. India’s own 9/11 is a case in point: the Indian government was handed intelligence by foreign agencies about the possibility of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, but did not act. This is a “clear indication that having access to massive amounts of data is not necessarily going to make people safer,” Kovacs tells TIME. However, officers familiar with the new system say it will not increase surveillance or enhance intrusion beyond current levels; it will only strengthen the policy framework of privacy and increase operational efficiency. Spokespersons and officials in the internal-security and telecom departments did not respond to requests or declined to comment.

The government has been cagey about details on implementation and extent. This ability to act however the authorities deems fit “just makes it really easy to slide into authoritarianism, and that is not acceptable for any democratic country,” Kovacs says. Indeed, India has seen that before — almost four decades ago, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency for 19 months, which suspended all civil liberties. Indians complaining about Prism may want to look a little closer to home.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/time-world-anjan-trivedi-june-30-2013-in-india-prison-like-surveillance-slips-under-the-radar

Privacy (Protection) Bill, 2013

praskrishna — 2013-07-03T09:39:11Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-protection-bill-2013-amendments.pdf

Access to Knowledge Bulletin — March 2013

praskrishna — 2013-04-15T16:47:20Z

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.

The A2K team consists of four members based in Delhi: T. Vishnu Vardhan, Nitika Tandon, Subhashish Panigrahi and Noopur Raval, and one member Dr. U.B. Pavanaja who is working from Bangalore office.

Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications at http://bit.ly/TOcXId.

Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project

Visualising Basic Parameters (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.

Events Organised

Introductory Wikipedia session at BITS Goa (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.
Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (organised by CIS, Institution of Engineers, JLB Road, Mysore, March 24, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the event.

Events Co-organised

Wiki Women's Day in Goa (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.
Wikipedia Workshop for Kannada Science Writers (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.

Upcoming Event (Co-organised)

Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013 (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.

Events Participated In

Wikipedia Women's Workshop Bangalore 2013 (organised by Wikimedia India, Servelots Infotech, Jayanagar, Bangalore, March 8, 2013). The event was covered by Kannada Prabha on March 9, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.
Wikipedia at Avenir (organised by the Wikipedia community, Netaji Subhash Engineering College, Kolkata, West Bengal, March 11, 2013). CIS supported the event.

Event Report from Other Organisations

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 this report.

Media Coverage

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop, Mysore (Prajavani, March 25, 2013).

About CIS

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 e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities with ITU and G3ict, and Digital Alternatives with a Cause?, Thinkathon Position Papers and the Digital Natives with a Cause? Report 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 WIPO Treaties, Copyright Bill, NIA Bill, etc.

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 National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Government of India and also received the NIVH Excellence Award.

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Visit us at http://cis-india.org

Support Us

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

Request for Collaboration

We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at nishant@cis-india.org

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

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