The Centre for Internet and Society
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February 2014 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2014-bulletin
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) welcomes you to the second issue of its newsletter (February) for the year 2014: </b>
<p>-------------------------------<br />Highlights<br />-------------------------------</p>
<ul>
<li>We published revised chapters for the states of Mizoram, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, as part of our National Resource Kit project.</li>
<li>In the concluding blog post of a three-part study Ananth Padmanabhan looks at the Indian law in the Copyright Act and the Information Technology Act, and concludes that both those laws restrain courts and private companies from ordering an ISP to block a website for copyright infringement.</li>
<li>Telugu Wikipedia celebrated its 10<sup>th</sup> anniversary. An event was co-organized in Vijaywada to celebrate the same.</li>
<li>The second Institute on Internet and Society was held in Pune from February 11 to 17. The proceedings from the workshop are captured in a blog post. </li>
<li>CIS announced an Open Call for Comments for the latest draft of the Privacy Bill, 2013 prepared by Bhairav Acharya.</li>
<li>Forbes India published its “30 Under 30 List”. Pranesh Prakash is featured in the list.</li>
<li>As part of the Making Change Project, Denisse Albornoz wrote a blog post that compares the production behind a performance with the process of storytelling.</li>
<li>Beli gives an introduction to spectrum sharing. The post looks at GSM and CDMA, and touches upon LTE, and how they might share spectrum.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-----------------------------------------------<a href="https://cis-india.org/jobs"><br />Jobs<br /></a>-----------------------------------------------<br />CIS is seeking applications for the post of Program Officer (Access to Knowledge): <a href="http://bit.ly/1fnydB0">http://bit.ly/1fnydB0</a>. There are two vacancies for this post and it is full-time based in Delhi. To apply, please send your resume to Sunil Abraham (<a href="mailto:sunil@cis-india.org">sunil@cis-india.org</a>), Nirmita Narasimhan (<a href="mailto:nirmita@cis-india.org">nirmita@cis-india.org</a>) and Pranesh Prakash (<a href="mailto:pranesh@cis-india.org">pranesh@cis-india.org</a>) with three writing samples of which at least one demonstrates your analytic skills, and one that shows your ability to simplify complex policy issues.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">----------------------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility and Inclusion<br /></a>----------------------------------------------<br />As part of our project (under a grant from the Hans Foundation) on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India, we bring you draft chapters for the states of Mizoram, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. With this we have completed compilation of draft chapters for 35 states.</p>
<p><i>Based upon discussion with the office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) the following chapters were revised</i>:</p>
<p>► National Resource Kit Chapter</p>
<ul>
<li>The Mizoram Chapter (by CLPR, February 5, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1eUSvxW">http://bit.ly/1eUSvxW</a> </li>
<li>The Dadra & Nagar Haveli Chapter (by CLPR, February 6, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1mv3YhJ">http://bit.ly/1mv3YhJ</a> </li>
<li>The Haryana Chapter (by Anandhi Viswanathan, February 10, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1dVOiKI">http://bit.ly/1dVOiKI</a> </li>
<li>The Himachal Pradesh Chapter (by Anandhi Viswanathan, February 12, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1jSk03x">http://bit.ly/1jSk03x</a> </li>
</ul>
<p>► Other</p>
<p># Participation in Events</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">National Consultation on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Development Process (organized by CBM India in collaboration with United Nations Solution Exchange for Gender Community, WHO Regional office for South-East Asia, New Delhi, February 12, 2014). Anandhi Viswanathan participated in a panel discussion. She made a presentation on the National Resource Kit project: <a href="http://bit.ly/OlkHVq">http://bit.ly/OlkHVq</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Zero Project Conference on Accessibility: Innovative Policies and Practices for Persons with Disabilities (organized by Essl Foundation, the World Future Council and the European Foundation Centre, United Nations Office, Vienna, February 27 and 28, 2014). Pranesh Prakash spoke on Affordable Text-to-Speech Software from India: <a href="http://bit.ly/1czo32s">http://bit.ly/1czo32s</a>. Nominations on e-speak were recognised as examples of innovative practices and policies from India. Pranesh Prakash was also a speaker on Copyright Exception for Accessible Formats: <a href="http://bit.ly/1l8HRth">http://bit.ly/1l8HRth</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-----------------------------------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a><br />-----------------------------------------------------------<br />The Access to Knowledge programme addresses the harms caused to consumers and human rights, and critically examines Open Government Data, Open Access to Scholarly Literature, and Open Access to Law, Open Content, Open Standards, and Free/Libre/Open Source Software.</p>
<p># Analyses</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Can Judges Order ISPs to Block Websites for Copyright Infringement? (Part 2) (by Ananth Padmanabhan, February 5, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1cddoKm">http://bit.ly/1cddoKm</a>. Analyses the law laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court on secondary and contributory copyright infringement.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Can Judges Order ISPs to Block Websites for Copyright Infringement? (Part 3) (by Ananth Padmanabhan, February 5, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1g35mDg">http://bit.ly/1g35mDg</a>. Analyses the Indian law in the Copyright Act and the Information Technology Act. </li>
</ul>
<p># Participation in Events</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">2nd International Conference on Managing Intellectual Property Rights and Strategy (MIPS 2014) (organized by Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay with support from the Ministry of Human Resources Development IPR Chair Project, Government of India): <a href="http://bit.ly/PsPEbq">http://bit.ly/PsPEbq</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Consultation on Institutional Arrangements for IP management under MHRD (organized by the Planning Commission and Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi, February 21, 2014). Nehaa Chaudhari participated in this consultation: <a href="http://bit.ly/1fTCoar">http://bit.ly/1fTCoar</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">National Conference on Use of Technology in Higher Education (organized by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development and Planning Commission in partnership with Microsoft Research and British Council, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, February 25, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/P6u78i">http://bit.ly/P6u78i</a>. Nehaa Chaudhari participated in the event as a panelist in the session on "Future of Content Creation". </li>
</ul>
<p align="left"># Media Coverage</p>
<ul>
<li>Pranesh Prakash: Influencing India's IP Laws (by Samar Srivastava, Forbes India, February 15, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1kBzLMq">http://bit.ly/1kBzLMq</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The following has been done under grant from the Wikimedia Foundation (<a href="http://bit.ly/SPqFOl">http://bit.ly/SPqFOl</a>). As part this project (<a href="http://bit.ly/X80ELd">http://bit.ly/X80ELd</a>), we organised 4 workshops in the month of January, published an article in DNA, and signed a memorandum of understanding with KIIT University and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences to further the development of Odia Wikipedia:</p>
<p>►Wikipedia</p>
<p># Articles / Blog Entries</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Odia Language's Presence in Digital Media and Wikipedia's Role (by Subhashish Panigrahi, The Samaja, March 2, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1ieF3sC">http://bit.ly/1ieF3sC</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Indian Wikimedia community coordinates Women’s History Month (by Netha Hussain and Jeph Paul, Wikimedia Foundation, March 6, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1cyRfqf">http://bit.ly/1cyRfqf</a>,</li>
</ul>
<p># Events Co-organized</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Cinemathon2014 Bangalore (organized by Pad.ma and CIS-A2K, CIS, Bangalore, February 8-9, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/MRRkZz">http://bit.ly/MRRkZz</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Tewiki 10th Anniversary (organized by CIS-A2K and Telugu Wikipedia community, February 15, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1iI2Pxs">http://bit.ly/1iI2Pxs</a>. T. Vishnu Vardhan and Rahmanuddin Shaikh were speakers at the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Cinemathon2014 Mumbai (organized by Pad.ma and CIS-A2K, CAMP Studio, Mumbai, February 15-16, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/P5YGL8">http://bit.ly/P5YGL8</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia Mangalore Workshop (organized by Roshini Nilaya and CIS-A2K, Mangalore, February 26, 2014). Dr. U.B.Pavanaja gave a presentation on Wikipedia with a special focus on students and women.</li>
</ul>
<p>CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<p># Media Coverage</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Father-son duo promote Punjabi online (by Jatinder Preet, Sunday Guardian, February 1, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1l87b2h">http://bit.ly/1l87b2h</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">୧୦ ବର୍ଷରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ୱିକିପିଡିଆ (Rabibara Sambad (Sunday supplement of Odia newspaper The Sambad), February 9, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1igMynn">http://bit.ly/1igMynn</a>. This is a feature about Odia Wikipedia's 10th anniversary and the story of a dead volunteer community reviving after 8 years.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia Mangalore Workshop (Prajavani, February 27, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1gVMG6f">http://bit.ly/1gVMG6f</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p># Participation in Event</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Dynamics of Education to Employment Journey: Opportunities and Challenges (organized by KIIT School of Management, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, February 21-22, 2014). T. Vishnu Vardhan gave a talk: <a href="http://bit.ly/1ePwqHc">http://bit.ly/1ePwqHc</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p>Event Organized</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wiki Women's Workshop (ICG – Dona Paula, Goa, March 9, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/MRRJLy">http://bit.ly/MRRJLy</a>. The event is being organized as part of the commemoration of the International Women's Day. </li>
</ul>
<p>Openness</p>
<p># Event Organised</p>
<ul>
<li>Bitcoin & Open Source with Aaron Koenig (CIS, Bangalore, February 7, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1fbN6mP">http://bit.ly/1fbN6mP</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-----------------------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a><br />-----------------------------------------------<br />CIS is doing a project (under a grant from Privacy International and International Development Research Centre (IDRC)) on conducting research on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). So far we have organised seven privacy round-tables and drafted the Privacy (Protection) Bill. Gautam Bhatia gives an analysis of the right to privacy from a constitutional perspective. Bhairav Acharya prepared an updated version of the Privacy Protection Bill which was published for comments.</p>
<p># Call for Comments</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Privacy Protection Bill, 2013 (by Bhairav Acharya, February 25, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1g3TwIX">http://bit.ly/1g3TwIX</a>. CIS announced an Open Call for Comments to the latest version of the bill.</li>
</ul>
<p># Articles</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Internet Way (by Nishant Shah, Biblio Vol. 19 No.8 (1&2), January – February 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1kBp9gJ">http://bit.ly/1kBp9gJ</a>. Dr. Nishant Shah's review of the book “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” by Bantam Press/Random House Group, London can be found on page 16.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Surveillance and the Indian Constitution - Part 3: The Public/Private Distinction and the Supreme Court’s Wrong Turn (by Gautam Bhatia, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy Blog, February 25, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1kBosnw">http://bit.ly/1kBosnw</a>. This was originally published on Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy Blog.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Big Democracy, Big Surveillance: India's Surveillance State (by Maria Xynou, Open Democracy, February 28, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1nkg8Ho">http://bit.ly/1nkg8Ho</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Will You be Paid to Post a Picture? (by Nishant Shah, Indian Express, February 18, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/P65d8L">http://bit.ly/P65d8L</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p># Blog Entries</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">February 11: The Day We Fight Back Against Mass Surveillance (by Divij Joshi, February 14, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1e7drCV">http://bit.ly/1e7drCV</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Calcutta High Court Strengthens Whistle Blower Protection (by Divij Joshi, February 24, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1cG8v7t">http://bit.ly/1cG8v7t</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS Welcomes 52nd Report on Cyber Crime, Cyber Security, and Right to Privacy (by Elonnai Hickok, February 24, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1oviMJ4">http://bit.ly/1oviMJ4</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">UIDAI Practices and the Information Technology Act, Section 43A and Subsequent Rules (by Elonnai Hickok, February 25, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1fbSfep">http://bit.ly/1fbSfep</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p align="left"># Events Organized</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Nullcon Goa Feb 2014 — International Security Conference (organised by Nullcon, Bogmallo Beach Resort, Goa, February 12 – 15, 2014). CIS is one of the sponsors for this event: <a href="http://bit.ly/1lrBu5I">http://bit.ly/1lrBu5I</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Counter Surveillance Panel: DiscoTech & Hackathon (co-organized by CIS, MIT Centre for Civic Media Co-Design Lab, Tactical Technology Collective, Hackteria.org, and Shristi School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, March 1, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/NCGMyH">http://bit.ly/NCGMyH</a> </li>
</ul>
<p># Participation in Events</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">First Meeting of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group for India Internet Governance Forum (organized by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, New Delhi, February 10, 2014). Sunil Abraham participated in this meeting: <a href="http://bit.ly/1fKu5xz">http://bit.ly/1fKu5xz</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Internet Intermediary Liability: Towards Evidence-based Policy and Regulatory Reform to Secure Human Rights on the internet (organized by Association for Progressive Communications, The Wedgewood, Melville, Johannesburg, February 10-11, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1fMAEK2">http://bit.ly/1fMAEK2</a>. Elonnai Hickok was a speaker. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Towards an Equitable and Just Internet (organized by IT for Change, New Delhi, February 14-15, 2014). Bhairav Acharya was a speaker: <a href="http://bit.ly/1cz9EDt">http://bit.ly/1cz9EDt</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Workshop on Media Law & Policy Curriculum Development (organized by the Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University, Delhi and University of Oxford in support with the International Higher Education-Knowledge Economy Partnerships Programme of the British Council, February 16, 2014, National Law University, Delhi): <a href="http://bit.ly/1ovoT00">http://bit.ly/1ovoT00</a>. Bhairav Acharya was a speaker. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Changing Role of the Media in India: Constitutional Perspectives (organized by School of Law, Christ University, February 28, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1lB2nTO">http://bit.ly/1lB2nTO</a>. Snehashish Ghosh moderated a session at this conference. </li>
</ul>
<p>--------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/news">News & Media Coverage</a><br />--------------------------------<br />CIS gave its inputs to the following recent media coverage:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Dangers of Birdsong (by Namrata Joshi, Outlook, January 25, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1kB8J7L">http://bit.ly/1kB8J7L</a>. </li>
<li>A Tale of Two Internet Campaigns (by Deepa Kurup, The Hindu, February 11, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1lDdRZy">http://bit.ly/1lDdRZy</a>. </li>
<li>Dark days for the creative class in India: Siddiqui (by Haroon Siddiqui, thestar.com, February 16, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1gdtgbC">http://bit.ly/1gdtgbC</a>. </li>
<li>The Forbes India 30 Under 30 List (by Abhilasha Khaitan, Forbes India, February 21, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1ovnvKM">http://bit.ly/1ovnvKM</a>. Pranesh Prakash features in the list. </li>
<li>India ‘tea parties’ enable politicians to woo urban youth with technology (by Avantika Chilkoti, Financial Times, February 26, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1cGfOMm">http://bit.ly/1cGfOMm</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">--------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities">Digital Humanities</a><br />--------------------------------<br />CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:</p>
<p># Blog Entries</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Defending the Humanities in the Digital Age (by Nishant Shah, DML Central, February 24, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1czdZqg">http://bit.ly/1czdZqg</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Digital Humanities in India- Mapping Changes at the Intersection of Youth, Technology and Higher Education (by Sneha PP, February 21, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1qd6xo4">http://bit.ly/1qd6xo4</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">--------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives">Digital Natives</a><br />--------------------------------<br />CIS is doing a research project titled “Making Change”. The project will explore new ways of defining, locating, and understanding change in network societies. Having the thought piece 'Whose Change is it Anyway' as an entry point for discussion and reflection, the project will feature profiles, interviews and responses of change-makers to questions around current mechanisms and practices of change in South Asia and South East Asia:</p>
<p>►Making Change Project</p>
<p># Blog Entries</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Storytelling as Performance: The Ugly Indian and Blank Noise 1 (by Denisse Albornoz, February 24, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1jX4qBb">http://bit.ly/1jX4qBb</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Storytelling as Performance: The Ugly Indian and Blank Noise 2 (by Denisse Albornoz, February 27, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1fKwQil">http://bit.ly/1fKwQil</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">--------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a><br />--------------------------------<br />Shyam Ponappa, a Distinguished Fellow at CIS is a regular columnist with the Business Standard. The articles published on his blog Organizing India Blogspot is mirrored on our website:</p>
<p># Newspaper Column</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Centre- or State-Driven Development? (by Shyam Ponappa, Business Standard, February 5, 2014, Observer India Blogspot, February 7, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1ceuWFS">http://bit.ly/1ceuWFS</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p># Blog Entry</p>
<ul>
<li>An Introduction to Spectrum Sharing (by Beli, February 24, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/NZlknd">http://bit.ly/NZlknd</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">----------------------------------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access">Knowledge Repository on Internet Access</a><br />----------------------------------------------------------<br />CIS in partnership with the Ford Foundation is executing a project to create a knowledge repository on Internet and society. This repository will comprise content targeted primarily at civil society with a view to enabling their informed participation in the Indian Internet and ICT policy space. The repository is available at the Internet Institute website: <a href="http://bit.ly/1iQT2UB">http://bit.ly/1iQT2UB</a>.</p>
<p>►Event Organized</p>
<ul>
<li>Institute on Internet and Society (organised by Ford Foundation and CIS, Yashada, Pune, February 11-17, 2014): <a href="http://bit.ly/1fpTdDS">http://bit.ly/1fpTdDS</a>. Bishakha Datta, Ravikiran Annaswamy, Kingsley John, Prof. G. Nagarjuna, Nisha Thompson, Prashant Naik, Nehaa Chaudhari, Bhairav Acharya, Manu Srivastav, Dr. Abhijeet Safai, Payal Malik, Nishant Shah, Laura Stein, Sunil Abraham, Madan Muthu and Chinmayi Arun taught at the institute. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-----------------------------------------------------<br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />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.</p>
<p>► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<ul>
<li>Twitter:<a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K"> </a><a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K">https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a></li>
<li>Facebook group: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k">https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a></li>
<li>Visit us at:<a href="https://cis-india.org/"> </a><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge">https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge</a></li>
<li>E-mail: <a href="mailto:a2k@cis-india.org">a2k@cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<p>► Support Us</p>
<p>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>► Request for Collaboration:</p>
<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>. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at <a href="mailto:vishnu@cis-india.org">vishnu@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, MacArthur Foundation, IDRC and 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</i>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2014-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2014-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceDigital HumanitiesOpenness2014-04-07T07:27:46ZPageFebruary 2013 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2013-bulletin
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) wishes you a great year ahead and welcomes you to the second 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>
<h3>Memorial</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/fellow">Rahul Cherian</a>, an expert and policy activist in disability law, intellectual property and technology law passed away due to an illness while on a visit to Goa on February 7, 2013. Rahul was the founder of the Inclusive Planet Centre for Disability and Policy, and a fellow at CIS. He was also a partner at IndoJuris Law Offices in Chennai and was one of the experts who drafted the Treaty for the Visually Impaired currently being negotiated at the World Intellectual Property Organization. The <a href="https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-february-8-2013-rahul-cherian-passes-away">Hindu</a> (February 8, 2013), <a href="https://cis-india.org/news/first-post-feb-8-2013-rahul-cherian-founder-of-ngo-inclusive-planet-passes-away">First Post</a> (February 8, 2013), <a href="https://cis-india.org/news/legally-india-feb-7-2013-rip-rahul-cherian-human-rights-activist-inclusive-planet-co-founder">Legally India</a> (February 7, 2013), and <a href="https://cis-india.org/news/bar-and-bench-feb-8-2013-inclusive-planet-co-founder-disability-law-activist-and-cancer-survivor-rahul-cherian-passes-away">Bar & Bench</a> (February 8, 2013) covered this story. Lawrence Liang wrote an obituary page, <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-hindu-op-ed-lawrence-liang-feb-9-a-lightness-of-spirit">A Lightness of Spirit</a> (The Hindu, February 9, 2013) and Nishant Shah wrote a column <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/indian-express-feb-17-2013-nishant-shah-one-for-all">One For All</a> (Indian Express, February 17, 2013).</p>
<p>CIS organised a <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/events/in-memoriam-of-rahul-cherian">memorial function</a> for Rahul Cherian at the TERI, Southern Regional Centre in Bangalore on February 28, 2013.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><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), <a href="https://cis-india.org/jobs/programme-officer-access-to-knowledge-and-openness">Programme Officer</a> (Access to Knowledge and Openness), 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>.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><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 of this 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>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">National Resource Kit for Persons with Disabilities</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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 Bihar and West Bengal:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-bihar-chapter-call-for-comments">The Bihar Chapter</a> (by Manojna Yeluri, February 14, 2013): The state of Bihar is in the process of formulating a comprehensive state policy on disability. The Bihar State Policy on Disability is an extension of the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities and is currently in a draft form awaiting government approval and notification.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-west-bengal-chapter">The West Bengal Chapter</a> (by Anandhi Viswanathan, February 28, 2013): The state of West Bengal has issued the West Bengal Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules, 1999 to implement the provisions under the central Persons with Disabilities (Protection of Rights, Equal Opportunities and Full Participation) Act, 1995.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Media Coverage<br /></b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/ip-watch-feb-16-2013-catherine-saez-indian-users-perspective-on-wipo-negotiations-on-treaty-for-visually-impaired">Indian Users’ Perspective On WIPO Negotiations On Treaty For Visually Impaired</a> (by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch, February 16, 2013). Nirmita Narasimhan is quoted.</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/a2k">Access to Knowledge</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. The project researches upon the noteworthy opportunities of the new types of low cost mobile devices, content and services as available in the market.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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>, <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team">Subhashish Panigrahi</a> and <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/people/our-team">Noopur Raval</a>, and one new team member <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</a> who works from Bangalore office.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>New Team Member<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</a> joined the A2K team as Programme Officer, India Language Initiatives on February 19, 2013. Dr. Pavanaja holds a Master’s degree from Mysore University and Ph.D. from Mumbai University. He was a scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, for about 15 years. He is one of the earliest editors of Kannada Wikipedia. He has to his credit many firsts, viz., first Kannada website, first Kannada online magazine, first Indian language (Kannada) website to receive Golden Web Award, first Indian language (Kannada) editor for Palm OS, first Indian language (Kannada) editor for WinCE device (HP Jornado 720), first Indian language version (Kannada) of universally popular Logo (programming language for children) software, etc. His Kannada logo won the Manthan Award for the year 2006. He was a member of the technical advisory committee setup by the Govt. of Karnataka for Standardization of Kannada on Computers (2000). He is also a member of the Kannada Software Committee of Govt. of Karnataka (2008-current).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Events Organised</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/knowledge-sharing-through-glam">Knowledge Sharing through GLAM at Bangalore</a> (Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad, Kumara Krupa Road, Bangalore, February 25, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja, Subhashish Panigrahi and Nitika Tandon participated in this event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/wikimedia-bangalore-meetup-at-iimb">Wikimedia Bangalore Meetup @ Indian Institute of Management</a> (Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (organized in partnership with Wikispeed and NASSCOM). Vishnu Vardhan spoke on the Access to Knowledge project. Noopur Raval participated in the event.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/creative-commons-comes-to-india">Creative Commons comes to India</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, February 28, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/fifty-fourth-bangalore-wikimedia-meetup">Fifty-fourth Bangalore Wikimedia Meet-up at IIM, Bangalore</a> (by Noopur Raval, February 28, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikipedia-education-program-iimc-dhenkanal">Odia Wikipedia Community Brings Wikipedia Education Program to IIMC, Dhenkanal</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, February 28, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/foss-wikimedia-under-one-roof-gnunify">FOSS, Wikimedia and Mozilla Under One Roof at GNUnify 2013, Pune</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, February 28, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Reports</b><br />CIS organised one Wiki workshop in the month of February 2013. We also bring you the report from an event organised in the month of January:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/celebrating-odia-wikipedias-ninth-anniversary">Celebrating Odia Wikipedia's Ninth Anniversary</a> (organized by the Odia Wiki Community with support from CIS and Academy for Media Learning, January 29, 2013, Bhubaneswar). Few glimpses of the event are available as audio podcasts.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/digital-literacy-workshop">Digital Literacy Workshop at Department of Arts, Delhi University</a> (by Nitika Tandon, February 5, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Media Coverage</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ନବମ ଜନ୍ମତିଥି ଅବସରରେ କର୍ମଶାଳା: ଇମିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରୟୋଗ</a> (Odishan.com, February 4, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>ସମ୍ବାଦ:</b><a href="http://sambadepaper.com/Details.aspx?id=36615&boxid=23625437"><b><i> </i></b>ଲିପି ବ୍ୟାକରଣ ଓ ମାନକ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରୟୋଗ ଜରୁରୀ</a>. (Sambad, February, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://www.eindiadiary.com/content/odisha-workshop-organized-9th-anniversary-odia-language-application-odia-language-e-media">Odisha: Workshop organized on 9th Anniversary of Odia language: Application of Odia language in e-media</a> (e India Bureau, March 2, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://news.fullorissa.com/odia-wikipedias-9th-anniversary/">Odia Wikipedia’s 9th anniversary</a> (fullOrissa News, February 13, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Orissa/Shownews.asp?newsid=19485">Odisha: Workshop organized on 9th Anniversary of Odia language: Application of Odia language in e-media</a> (India Education Diary.com, March 2, 2013). Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://www.odishaviews.com/odia-language-workshop-organized-on-9th-anniversary-of-odia-wikipedia-application-of-odia-language-in-e-media/">Odia language workshop organized on 9th Anniversary of Odia Wikipedia: Application of Odia language in e-media</a> (Odishaviews.com, February 5, 2013). Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><b> Ongoing Events<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/wikipedia-workshop-bits-goa">Wikipedia Workshop @ BITS Goa</a> (BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus, March 7, 2013, 5.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.). </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/wikipedia-editing-workshop-in-goa">A Wikipedia Editing Workshop in Goa</a> (Nirmala Institute of Education, Goa, March 8, 2013, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Announcement<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/sanskrit-wikiquote">Sanskrit Wikiquote — Now Available</a>: The Access to Knowledge team at CIS is happy to announce the availability of Sanskrit Wikiquote. Shiju Alex, an ex-team member played an active role in bringing this out. For more info see <a href="http://bit.ly/Y9OY9R">http://bit.ly/Y9OY9R</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Pervasive Technologies<b><br /></b></h3>
<p><b>Event Participated In<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/international-conference-on-contours-of-media">International Conference on Contours of Media Governance: Teaching, Disciplinarity, Methodology</a> (organised by Jamia Millia Islamia University with support from Ford Foundation and ICSSR, Centre for Culture, Media & Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, February 25 – 27, 2013). Sunil Abraham presented preliminary findings from the Pervasive Technologies project.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness">Openness</a> Updates</h3>
<p><b>Announcements from Other Organizations<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://epublishingtrust.net/ept-2nd-annual-oa-award/">Iryna Kuchma wins the second EPT award</a>: The Electronic Publishing Trust for Development announced the winner of its 2nd Annual Award in recognition of the effort made by individuals working in the developing and emerging countries in the furtherance of Open Access (OA) to scholarly publications. Dr. Francis Jayakanth won the inaugural award last year. </li>
</ul>
<h3>HasGeek</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">HasGeek creates discussion spaces for geeks and has organised conferences like the <a href="http://fifthelephant.in/2012/">Fifth Elephant</a>, <a href="http://droidcon.in/2011">Droidcon India 2011</a>, <a href="http://androidcamp.hasgeek.com/">Android Camp</a>, etc. HasGeek is supported by CIS and works from the CIS office in Bengaluru.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Report & Video<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog/hasgeek-blog-zainab-bawa-feb-6-2013-report-of-aaron-swartz-memorial-hacknight">Report of Aaron Swartz Memorial Hacknight</a> (by Zainab Bawa, February 6, 2013). On January 19 and 20, 2013, HasGeek organized a hacknight to commemorate the life and work of Aaron Swartz. Zainab Bawa shares the developments.</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS has an agreement with <b>Privacy International</b>, London to facilitate the implementation of activities related to surveillance and freedom of speech and expression. We are also doing a project on examining the indicators of female economic empowerment in the IT industry in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Gender<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/women-in-indias-it-industry">Women in India’s IT Industry</a> (by Jadine Lannon, February 27, 2013)</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/women-in-the-it-industry">Women in the IT Industry: Request for Data</a> (by Jadine Lannon, February 28, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><b>Free Speech & Expression<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analyzing-latest-list-of-blocked-urls-by-dot">Analyzing the Latest List of Blocked URLs by Department of Telecommunications (IIPM Edition)</a> (by Snehashish Ghosh, February 14, 2013). The analysis was quoted in <a href="https://cis-india.org/news/first-post-feb-19-2013-danish-raza-why-was-the-gwalior-court-in-such-a-hurry-to-block-iipm-urls">FirstPost</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/tehelka-sunil-abraham-feb-3-2013-dont-slap-free-speech">Don’t SLAPP free speech</a> (by Sunil Abraham with inputs from Snehashish Ghosh, Tehelka, February 3, 2013, Issue 9, Volume 10).</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-hindubusinessline-feb-15-2013-chinmayi-arun-freedom-of-expression-gagged">Freedom of Expression Gagged</a> (by Chinmayi Arun, Hindu Business Line, February 15, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Media Coverage<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/ndtv-video-the-social-network-feb-5-2013-hate-speech-ban-or-ignore">Hate speech: ban or ignore?</a> (NDTV, February 5, 2013). Pranesh Prakash, Shivam Vij, and Sanjay Rajoura gave their expert views on the impact of hate speech.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/the-national-feb-6-2013-samanth-subramanian-censorship-and-sensibility-in-india">Censorship and sensibility in India</a> (by Samanth Subramanian, February 6, 2013). Pranesh Prakash is quoted.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/ny-times-feb-8-2013-betwa-sharma-online-abuse-of-teen-girls-in-kashmir-leads-to-arrests">Online Abuse of Teen Girls in Kashmir Leads to Arrests</a> (by Betwa Sharma, New York Times, February 8, 2013). Pranesh Prakash is quoted.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-feb-9-2013-t-ramachandran-indian-net-service-providers-too-play-censorship-tricks">Indian net service providers too play censorship tricks</a> (by T Ramachandran, The Hindu, February 9, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/economic-times-feb-12-2013-indu-nandakumar-anonymous-joins-protests-against-internet-shutdown-in-kashmir">Anonymous joins protests against Internet shutdown in Kashmir</a> (by Indu Nandakumar, Economic Times, February 12, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/first-post-feb-19-2013-danish-raza-why-was-the-gwalior-court-in-such-a-hurry-to-block-iipm-urls">Why was the Gwalior court in such a hurry to block IIPM URLs?</a> (by Danish Raza, FirstPost, February 19, 2013). Snehashish Ghosh’s analysis on blocked website is quoted.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/outlook-feb-22-2013-arindam-mukherjee-stop-press-counsel">Stop Press Carousel</a> (by Arindham Mukherjee, Outlook, February 22, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/computer-world-india-feature-shubra-rishi-feb-25-2013-all-indian-enterprises-should-be-very-worried">"All Indian Enterprises should Be Very Worried": Centre for Internet and Society</a> (by Shubhra Rishi, Computer World, February 25, 2013). Pranesh Prakash is quoted.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Events Participated In<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wilton-park-feb-13-15-2013-freedom-of-expression-online">Freedom of expression online: identifying and addressing challenges and developing a shared vision and a working partnership</a>: (organized by Wilton Park, Wiston House, Sussex, UK, February 13 – 15, 2013). Pranesh Prakash participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/itech-law-india-ninth-intl-asian-conference">9th International Asian Conference</a> (organized by ITech Law, Bangalore, February 14 -15, 2013). Sunil Abraham was a panelist in the session on Censorship of Online Content. </li>
</ul>
<p><b>Privacy<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/privacy-highlights-in-india">2012: Privacy Highlights in India</a> (by Elonnai Hickok, February 12, 2013): Elonnai summarizes the top privacy moments of 2012 in India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/eff-feb-13-2013-katitza-rodriguez-and-elonnai-hickok-surveillance-camp-iv-disproportionate-state-surveillance-a-violation-of-privacy">Surveillance Camp IV: Disproportionate State Surveillance - A Violation of Privacy</a> (by Elonnai Hickok and Katitza Rodriguez of Electronic Frontier Foundation February 19, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/big-dog-is-watching-you">BigDog is Watching You! The Sci-fi Future of Animal and Insect Drones</a> (by Maria Xynou, February 25, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Events Organized</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/analyzing-draft-human-dna-profiling-bill">Analyzing the Draft Human DNA Profiling Bill 2012</a> (March 1, 2013, CIS, Bangalore).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/uid-and-npr">Unique Identity Number (UID), National Population Register (NPR), and Governance</a> (March 2, 2013, TERI Southern Regional Centre, Bangalore).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Event Participated In</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/omnishambles-of-uid-shrouded-in-its-rti-opacity">The Omnishambles of UID, shrouded in its RTI opacity</a>: CIS sponsored Colonel Mathew Thomas to hold a workshop at the fourth National Right to Information (RTI) organized by the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, held in Hyderabad from February 15 to 18, 2013.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Upcoming Event<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/dml-conference-2013">DML Conference 2013</a> (co-organised by CIS and Digital Media & Learning Research Hub Central, Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers - Chicago, Illinois, March 14 – 16, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<h2>Internet Access – Knowledge Repository</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS in partnership with the Ford Foundation was executing the telecom knowledge repository project which included producing and disseminating modules on various aspects of telecommunications including policy, regulations, infrastructure and market. However, from November 2012 there was a change in the mandate of the project. The new repository will cover the history of the internet, technologies involved, principle and values of internet access, broadband market and universal access. It will also 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 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Event<br /></b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We are hosting an “Institute on Internet and Society” in collaboration with the Ford Foundation India, which is to be held from June 8, 2013 to June 14, 2013. Call for registration and relevant details will be announced soon on our website.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/telecom">Telecom</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While the potential for growth and returns exist for telecommunications in India, a range of issues need to be addressed. One aspect is more extensive rural coverage and the other is a countrywide access to broadband which is low. Both require effective and efficient use of networks and resources, including spectrum:</p>
<p><b>Newspaper Column<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/organizing-india-blogspot-shyam-ponappa-feb-14-2013-the-supreme-court-and-spectrum-management">The Supreme Court & Spectrum Management</a> (by Shyam Ponappa, Organizing India Blogspot, February 14, 2013, originally published in the Business Standard, February 6, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Blog Entry<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/who-minds-the-maxwells-demon">Who Minds the Maxwell's Demon: Revisiting Communication Networks through the Lens of the Intermediary</a> (by Sharath Chandra Ram, February 28, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives">Digital Natives</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Digital Natives with a Cause? examines the changing landscape of social change and political participation in light of the role that young people play through digital and Internet technologies, in emerging information societies. Consolidating knowledge from Asia, Africa and Latin America, it builds a global network of knowledge partners who critically engage with discourse on youth, technology and social change, and look at alternative practices and ideas in the Global South:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Participated In<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/humlab-umea-university-d-coding-digital-natives">D:coding Digital Natives - Seminar with Nishant Shah</a> (organized by HUMlab, February 26, 2013). Nishant Shah gave a talk on D:coding Digital Natives at Samhällsvetarhuset.</li>
</ul>
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<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/video-vortex-9-net-re-assemblies-of-video">Video Vortex # 9 Re:assemblies of Video</a> (organized by the Institute of Network Cultures, Post Media Lab, Moving Image Lab, Leuphana, et.al, February 28 – March 2, 2013). Nishant Shah delivered a <a href="http://videovortex9.net/ai1ec_event/reassemblies/?instance_id=292">key note</a> at this event.</li>
</ul>
<h2><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities">Digital Humanities</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">From 2012 to 2015, the Researchers At Work series is focusing on building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. We organised the first Habits of Living workshops in Bangalore last year. The next workshop is being held in Brown University.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Event<br /></b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities/blogs/habits-of-living/habits-of-living-networked-affects-glocal-effects">Habits of Living: Networked Affects, Glocal Effects</a> (organised by CIS and Brown University, March 21 – 23, 2013, Brown University, Rhode Island). Nishant Shah will be speaking at this event.</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>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>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2013-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2013-bulletin</a>
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No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceOpennessResearchers at Work2013-03-11T05:35:46ZPageFebruary 2012 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/feb-2012-bulletin
<b>Welcome to the Centre for Internet and Society newsletter! In this issue we bring you the updates of our research, events, media coverage and videos of the events organized by us during the month of February 2012!</b>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Accessibility</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Around 70 million disabled persons in India are unable to participate in information societies as lack of compliance with accessibility standards make interfaces impossible to use, and retrograde copyright and patent policies make it impossible to access knowledge. Accessibility is denied in banking services, web and mobile interfaces, etc. Material for the disabled therefore needs to be converted into accessible formats. The programme has resulted in outputs such as <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1497&qid=150688" target="_blank">Web Accessibility Policy Making</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1498&qid=150688" target="_blank">Making Mobile Phones and Services Accessible for Persons with Disabilities</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1499&qid=150688" target="_blank">Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1500&qid=150688" target="_blank">e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1501&qid=150688" target="_blank">Universal Service for Persons with Disabilities: A Global Survey of Policy Interventions and Good Practices</a>, etc.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Featured Research</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1497&qid=150688" target="_blank">Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective</a>: G3ict and the Centre for Internet and Society are pleased to announce the publication of a new, improved edition of the Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective. The report published in cooperation with the Hans Foundation provides an updated synopsis of the many policies that governments have implemented around the world to ensure that the Internet and websites are accessible to persons with disabilities.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Event</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1502&qid=150688" target="_blank">ITU Tutorial on Audiovisual Media Accessibility</a> (India International Centre,New Delhi, March 14 to 15, 2012): At the invitation of the Centre for Internet and Society, in cooperation with the ITU-APT Foundation of India, International Telecommunication Union is organizing a two-day Tutorial on Audio Visual Media Accessibility. The Tutorial will be preceded by the fourth meeting of the Focus Group on Audio Visual Media Accessibility on March 13, 2012. The meeting will take place in the same venue and will be hosted by the Centre for Internet and Society in cooperation with the ITU-APT Foundation of India. </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Access to Knowledge</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With the emergence of digital technologies and the unprecedented growth of the Internet and other related technologies, intellectual property rights (IPRs) the questions of ownership and control of information have become crucial. The programme focuses on the inequitable distribution of IPR, royalty, outflows, and beneficiaries of intellectual property regimes, the lack of balance in current IPR regimes [local, national and international] between consumer rights and IPR-owners’/corporation’s rights. The programme has produced analyses such as <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1503&qid=150688" target="_blank">WIPO Treaty for the Print Disabled</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1504&qid=150688" target="_blank">WIPO Broadcast Treaty</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1505&qid=150688" target="_blank">Copyright Amendment Bill</a> and <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1506&qid=150688" target="_blank">Parallel Importation of Books</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Blog Entry</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1507&qid=150688" target="_blank">Analysis of Copyright Expansion in the India-EU FTA</a> (July 2010) by Snehashish Ghosh.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Video</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Recently, the Centre for Internet and Society organised a public lecture in its office, the video is now online.</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1508&qid=150688" target="_blank">Gandhi, Freedom, and the Dilemmas of Copyright</a>: (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, January 30, 2012). Prof. Shyamkrishna Balganesh from the University of Pennsylvania gave a lecture on Gandhi, Freedom, and the Dilemmas of Copyright.</li>
</ul>
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<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Openness</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The advent of the Internet has radically defined what it means to be open and collaborative. Even the Internet is built upon open standards and free/libre/open source software. The broad rubric of the ‘Openness’ programme focuses to provide evidence based research that will help inform policy and practice of the local, national, regional, bilateral and international policies and practices around Open Government Data, Open Access to Scholarly Literature, Open Access to Law, Open Content, Open Video, Open Standards and Free/Libre/Open Source Software. The programme has resulted in reports such as <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1509&qid=150688" target="_blank">Open Government Data Study</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1510&qid=150688" target="_blank">Online Video Environment in India</a>, a reader on the Wikipedia titled <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1511&qid=150688" target="_blank">Critical Point of View: A Wikipedia Reader</a> and a film titled <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1512&qid=150688" target="_blank">People are Knowledge – Experimenting with Oral Citations on Wikipedia</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Comments<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1513&qid=150688" target="_blank"></a></h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1513&qid=150688" target="_blank">Comments on Technical Standards for Interoperability Framework for E-Governance in India</a> (Phase II), submitted to the e-Governance Standards Division.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Event Report<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1514&qid=150688" target="_blank"></a></h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1514&qid=150688" target="_blank">Francis Bags EPT Award for Open Access in Developing World</a>, (Sambasivan Auditorium, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, February 14, 2012). The award function was organized by the Electronic Publishing Trust for Development and the Centre for Internet and Society. Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam gave the welcome address. <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1515&qid=150688" target="_blank">View the video of the award function</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Interview<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1516&qid=150688" target="_blank"></a></h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1516&qid=150688" target="_blank">An Interview with Dr. Francis Jayakanth</a>: The Centre for Internet and Society conducted an email interview with Dr. Francis Jayakanth, recipient of the inaugural EPT Award for Open Access in Developing World.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Events<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1517&qid=150688" target="_blank"></a></h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1517&qid=150688" target="_blank">Free Arduino Workshop (For Beginners)</a>: (Centre for Internet and Society,Bangalore, March 3, 2012). The Centre for Internet and Society organised the Arduino workshop in Bangalore.</li>
</ul>
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<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Internet Governance</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Governments and private corporations are engaging in human rights violations online. Many different rights are impacted by internet governance policy changes. The growing phenomenon of illegal electronic surveillance by state and non-state actors and censorship of speech online are some specific problems that the Internet Governance programme seeks to address by providing evidence based research that will help inform policy and practice of the local, national, regional, bilateral and international privacy regime in the interests of the public in sectors key to information societies with a particular focus on information technology, privacy and freedom of expression. The programme has resulted in outputs such as <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1518&qid=150688" target="_blank">Banking</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1519&qid=150688" target="_blank">Telecommunications</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1520&qid=150688" target="_blank">Consumer Protection</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1521&qid=150688" target="_blank">IT Act</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1522&qid=150688" target="_blank">Limitations</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1523&qid=150688" target="_blank">Copyright</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1524&qid=150688" target="_blank">Internet Protocol</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1525&qid=150688" target="_blank">Media</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1526&qid=150688" target="_blank">Sexual Minorities</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1527&qid=150688" target="_blank">UID</a> and policy submissions such as, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1528&qid=150688" target="_blank">NIA Bill</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1529&qid=150688" target="_blank">IT Act</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1530&qid=150688" target="_blank">National Policy on Electronics</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1531&qid=150688" target="_blank">Cyber Café Rules</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1532&qid=150688" target="_blank">Security Practices Rules</a>, and <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1533&qid=150688" target="_blank">Intermediary Due Diligence Rules</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Featured Research</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Privacy India in partnership with Privacy International, UK, the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon is pleased to bring you the draft chapters of its book on Privacy in India. These include the Country Report, Telecommunication and Internet Privacy, E-Governance Identity and Privacy, Finance and Privacy, Health and Privacy, Transparency and Privacy. The chapters are an <b>early draft</b> which is in the process of being reviewed and updated. We greatly appreciate your comments and feedback:<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1534&qid=150688" target="_blank"></a></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1534&qid=150688" target="_blank">Privacy in India — An Early Draft</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Media Coverage<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1535&qid=150688" target="_blank"></a></h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1535&qid=150688" target="_blank">Personal Data, Public Profile</a>: “Whether we like it or not, we live in a world that is rapidly being Googlised”, writes Nishant Shah in the Financial Express, February 13, 2012.</li>
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1536&qid=150688" target="_blank">Do we need the Aadhar scheme?</a>: “Decentralisation and privacy are preconditions for security. Digital signatures don’t require centralised storage and are much more resilient in terms of security”, writes Sunil Abraham in the Business Standard, February 1, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Event Reports</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1537&qid=150688" target="_blank">The High Level Privacy Conclave</a> (Paharpur Business Centre, Nehru Place Greens, New Delhi, February 3, 2012): India is in dire need of privacy law; experts say government is ironically creating huge national security risks in attempts to prevent crime and terrorism. The <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1538&qid=150688" target="_blank">event was organized</a> by Privacy India in partnership with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, Privacy International, UK and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon. Sunil Abraham was a Conclave Advisor and the moderator for the session on Internet and Privacy, Malavika Jayaram moderated in the panel on National Security and Privacy, and Elonnai Hickok spoke in the session "The Way Forward".</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1539&qid=150688" target="_blank">All India Privacy Symposium</a>: (India International Centre, New Delhi, February 4, 2012): Experts gathered in Delhi for a public symposium on privacy, transparency, e-governance and national security in India. The <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1540&qid=150688" target="_blank">event was organized</a> by Privacy India in partnership with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, Privacy International, UK, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon. The <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1541&qid=150688" target="_blank">webcast</a> of the event is online. Sunil Abraham was a Symposium Advisor and moderated in the panel on Privacy and Transparency. Elonnai Hickok gave the welcome address and spoke in the session, “The Way Forward”. Prashant Iyengar was the moderator for the panel on Privacy and Banking. Malavika Jayaram spoke in this panel.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Event Hosted</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>GeekUp with Erica Hagen (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, March 1, 2012). HasGeek organized a GeekUp with Erica Hagen of the GroundTruth Initiative. Erica gave a lecture on the theme: "<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1542&qid=150688" target="_blank">From Information to Empowerment: Unpacking the Equation</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Blog Entry</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1543&qid=150688" target="_blank">Unique ID System: Pros and Cons</a>, by Natasha Vaz.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Other Events</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1544&qid=150688" target="_blank">Cartonama Workshop</a> (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, March 2 and 3, 2012). HasGeek organized a hands-on training for managing and building location based services. The Centre for Internet and Society was a partner for this event.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1545&qid=150688" target="_blank">Climate Change and Controversy Mapping</a> (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, March 19 to 21, 2012). The workshop is being organised in collaboration with the Devechia Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Bruno Latour, Dean for Research at Sciences Po, Paris will speak in this event.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Videos</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">View the videos of some of the recent events organised by us:<a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1540&qid=150688" target="_blank"></a></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1540&qid=150688" target="_blank">All India Privacy Symposium</a>, (India International Centre, New Delhi, February 4, 2012). Privacy India in partnership with the International Development Research Centre, Canada, Privacy International, UK, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, and Society in Action Group, Gurgaon, organized the event.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1546&qid=150688" target="_blank">Whose Data is it Anyway?</a>, (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, January 24, 2012). Centre for Internet and Society and Tactical Tech co-organised the second round of discussions of the Exposing Data series. Siddharth Hande and Hapee de Groot spoke in the event.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1547&qid=150688" target="_blank">Privacy Matters — Analyzing the "Right to Privacy Bill"</a>, (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay). Privacy India in partnership with International Development Research Centre, Canada, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, the Godrej Culture Lab, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and the Centre for Internet and Society organised this event.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1548&qid=150688" target="_blank">Free Speech Online in India under Attack?</a>, (Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, December 22, 2011). The event was co-organised with the Internet Democracy Project. Achal Prabhala, Lawrence Liang and Anja Kovacs gave a lecture on freedom of expression online in India.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Telecom</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The growth in telecommunications in India has been impressive. While the potential for growth and returns exist, a range of issues need to be addressed for this potential to be realized. One aspect is more extensive rural coverage and the second aspect is a countrywide access to broadband which is low at about eight million subscriptions. Both require effective and efficient use of networks and resources, including spectrum. The programme has resulted in reports such as <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1549&qid=150688" target="_blank">India's untapped potential: Are a billion people losing out because of spectrum?</a>, <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1550&qid=150688" target="_blank">India Study Tour - Report: The South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change</a> and the <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1551&qid=150688" target="_blank">Unlicensed Spectrum-Policy Brief for Government of India NTP '11</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Featured Research</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1551&qid=150688" target="_blank">Unlicensed Spectrum-Policy Brief for Government of India NTP '11</a> by Satyen Gupta, Sunil Abraham and Yelena Gyulkhandanyan: The research paper aims to recommend unlicensed spectrum policy to the Government of India based on recent developments in wireless technology, community needs and international best practices, and seeks to demonstrate the need for and importance of unlicensed spectrum as a medium for inexpensive connectivity in rural/remote areas, as well as catalyzing innovation by being a barrier-free and cost-effective platform for the testing and implementing of new technologies.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Interview</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1552&qid=150688" target="_blank">An Interview with Stephen Song</a>: Yelena Gyulkhandanyan interviewed Stephen Song, the founder of Village Telco, an initiative to bring practical and inexpensive communication network infrastructure to rural and remote areas. He spoke about factors that catalyzed the initiative, the benefits of the network, some challenges, and the Mesh Potato.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Job Announcement</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1553&qid=150688" target="_blank">Content Developers/Trainers</a>: The Centre for Internet and Society is looking for a content developer/trainer to work on an upcoming project Building Knowledge and Capacity around Telecommunication Policies in India. This is a full-time position. To apply, please email your curriculum vitae along with three writing samples to <a href="mailto:yelena@cis-india.org">yelena@cis-india.org</a>. </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Digital Natives with a Cause?</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Digital Natives with a Cause? is a knowledge programme initiated by the Centre for Internet and Society, India and Hivos, Netherlands. It is a research inquiry that seeks to look at the changing landscape of social change and political participation and the role that young people play through digital and internet technologies, in emerging information societies. The programme has resulted in a four-book collective titled <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1554&qid=150688" target="_blank">Digital AlterNatives with a Cause?</a> and reports such as <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1555&qid=150688" target="_blank">Digital Natives with a Cause? A Report</a> and <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1556&qid=150688" target="_blank">Digital Natives with a Cause? Thinkathon: Position Papers</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Events</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1557&qid=150688" target="_blank">Digital Natives Video Contest</a>: Twenty-one candidates have been shortlisted, videos will be online soon. Voting begins from March 10, 2012. The Centre for Internet and Society is co-organising the video contest with Hivos, Netherlands.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1558&qid=150688" target="_blank">Essay Review: Digital AlterNatives with a Cause</a>: The monthly essay review for the four book collective of Digital AlterNatives with a Cause? was held from February 17 to February 26, 2012. The Centre for Internet and Society co-organized the “Essay Review” with Hivos, Netherlands.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Book Review</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1559&qid=150688" target="_blank">How to Put Up a Facebook Resistance</a>: “<i>The current discussion about Facebook's timeline is only the tip of the iceberg, a symptom of a larger conflict that lurks behind it: how much direct marketing are Facebook users willing to take? How many drastic top-down changes of the user's Facebook experience are possible unless they understand that their presence on this site and what they do there is in tension with the company's goals that provides this digital environment?</i>”, Oliver Leistert reviews Marc Stumpel’s essay, "Mapping the Politics of Web 2.0: Facebook Resistance", in Digital Alternatives with a Cause Book 2: To Think, pp.24-31.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Newsletter</h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1560&qid=150688" target="_blank">Privacy, Piracy and the Wiki Way of Web</a>: “<i>Privacy is about having more control over the personal information that we have disclosed. As we disclose more information online, we must ask who might access it and why.</i>” Nishant Shah in the Digital Natives Newsletter, volume 9, issue 2.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<hr />
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><b>News and Media Coverage</b></h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1561&qid=150688" target="_blank">What is Stewardship in Cyberspace?</a>: The second annual Cyber Dialogue forum takes place March 18-19, 2012 in Toronto, Canada. Sunil Abraham is a panelist in the session on Plenary Panel and Discussions.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1562&qid=150688" target="_blank">Secure IT 2012</a> — Securing Citizens through Technology: The event was co-organised by DST and NSDI, Govt. of India in partnership with Elets Technomedia Pvt. Ltd. on March 1, 2012 at Claridges in New Delhi. Sunil Abraham was a panelist in the event.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1563&qid=150688" target="_blank">Digitisation is making e-learning simple</a>: “<i>Learning should not be restricted to the Internet and interactive classroom sessions but should be made available on mobile phones through audio files as mobile penetration is much higher compared to Internet reach</i>”, Sunil Abraham in Deccan Herald, February 13, 2012. The article was written by Shayan Ghosh.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1564&qid=150688" target="_blank">India debates limits to freedom of expression</a>: “<i>The government’s proposals on Web censorship would kill the vibrancy of the Internet in India</i>”, Sunil Abraham in the Washington Post, February 13, 2012. The article was written by Simon Denyer.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1565&qid=150688" target="_blank">Developing location-based services</a>, Hindu, February 26, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1566&qid=150688" target="_blank">Grooming the geek</a>: “<i>Children have to learn fine motor and social skills; tablets and other technology hinder the development of these skills</i>”, Sunil Abraham in LiveMint, February 24, 2012. The article was written by Gopal Sathe.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1567&qid=150688" target="_blank">FUEL Kannada - Workshop on Kannada Computing Terminology</a>: A two days workshop on the standardization of Kannada computing terminologies was organized on January 28 and 29, 2012 at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore under the FUEL project. The workshop was organised by Sanchaya and sponsored by Red Hat.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1568&qid=150688" target="_blank">Will open access replace costly commercial publishing models?</a>: “<i>Most scientists in India are forced to work in a situation of information poverty. Others are unable to access what Indian researchers are doing, leading to low visibility and low use of their work. Thus, Indian work is hardly cited. Both these handicaps can be overcome to a considerable extent if open access is adopted widely, both within and outside the country</i>”, Subbiah Arunachalam in the Hindu, February 19, 2012. The article was written by Vasudha Venugopal.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1569&qid=150688" target="_blank">Research papers will be available in public domain</a>: “<i>A research produced by the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chennai which would be of great relevance to researchers, say in a university in Maharashtra, may not be even noticed by the scientists there. Both groups receive funds from the same source - Government of India - and yet what one does is not easily accessible to the other. Open Access would bridge that gap and make information available to everyone</i>”, Subbiah Arunachalam in the Hindu, February 15, 2012. The article was written by Vasudha Venugopal.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1570&qid=150688" target="_blank">OurSay: how India’s technology is cutting into corruption</a>: “<i>Print and cinema reflected the views of citizens and informed them of the visions and changes that the country was going through</i>”, Nishant Shah in Crikey, February 17, 2012. The blog post was written by Gautam Raju, co-founder and creative director, OurSayAustralia.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1571&qid=150688" target="_blank">India won't censor social media: Telecom Minister</a>: “<i>Glad that Sibal does not believe in censorship and that companies operating in India should follow local laws.” “But on the other hand he has asked them to evolve new guidelines and actively monitor user content which is not legally sanctioned. This makes him look two-faced</i>”, Pranesh Prakash in the Tribune. The article written by Salil Panchal was originally published by <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1572&qid=150688" target="_blank">AFP</a> and reproduced in the Tribune on February 14, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1573&qid=150688" target="_blank">Govt set to gain ‘back-door’ access to corporate email</a>: “<i>There are no allegations of terrorists using BES or any indication that any of the 5,000 enterprises have any links to terrorists or other banned outfits in India</i>”, Pranesh Prakash in LiveMint, February 14, 2012. The article was written by Shauvik Ghosh.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1574&qid=150688" target="_blank">Indian law caught in web</a>: “<i>The Internet needs regulation but it cannot be treated as a gigantic newspaper or media channel”</i>, Pranesh Prakash; <i>“In liberal democracies like India and the US, information was taken for granted and not perceived as central to the understanding of society</i>”, Nishant Shah. Nishant and Pranesh are quoted in an article by Moyna published by Down to Earth magazine.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1575&qid=150688" target="_blank">Prometheus bound and gagged</a>: The article by Adarsh Matham was published in the New Indian Express on 20 January 2012. Pranesh Prakash is quoted in this article.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1576&qid=150688" target="_blank">Internet Curbs</a>: Sunil Abraham’s article “The Quixotic Fight to Clean Up the Web” which was published in Tehelka is referred to by Rishi Majumder in this article also published in Tehelka, Vol. 9, Issue 07, February 18, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1577&qid=150688" target="_blank">Tweeple say it pithily with hash tags</a>: “<i>Our social networking sites and writing platforms are performances of a certain kind... they allow us to convert our everyday lives into games — with rewards, actions, punishments or rules</i>”, Nishant Shah in the Hindu, February 11, 2012. The article was written by Deepa Kurup.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1578&qid=150688" target="_blank">New Bill to decide on individual’s right to privacy</a>: “<i>Tesco, a major retail chain in England, is now into E-banking… There are numerous examples of such private banking entities sharing customer information with insurance policy firms. These details are often used as markers for the kind of premium that will be set for a person</i>”, Malavika Jayaram in Tehelka, February 6, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1579&qid=150688" target="_blank">A new domain name, but concerns remain the same</a>: “<i>The rhetoric is that the Internet is global, but we've been seeing [governments say] how this information has to be regulated</i>”, Nishant Shah in the Hindu, February 5, 2012. The article was written by Karunya Keshav.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1580&qid=150688" target="_blank">Common man as crusader</a>: “<i>The movement targeted at the middle-class for whom corruption is a big issue was also the first middle-class movement in a long time.</i>” Nishant Shah in the Hindustan Times, February 4, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1581&qid=150688" target="_blank">5 things you need to know about online privacy policies</a>: “<i>India needs to have a broad and horizontal law that establishes online privacy as a right. Unlike in European countries, India doesn't have a privacy commissioner who can state the principles, interpret the data and question the online providers</i>”, Sunil Abraham in the Economic Times on February 6, 2012. The article was written by Indu Nandakumar.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1582&qid=150688" target="_blank">India needs an independent privacy law, says NGO Privacy India</a>: “<i>India doesn't have a privacy law, but there are provisions for it in different laws. During the course of the research, we found that the Indian judiciary has not been very strict in overseeing the implementation of the privacy clauses in various laws,</i>”,<i> </i>Prashant Iyengar in the Economic Times, February 2, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/privacy-speech-at-stake-in-cyberspace-1" class="external-link">Privacy, speech at stake in cyberspace</a>: “<i>The clampdown on online free speech and the roll-out of a multi-tiered blanket surveillance regime via the draconian IT Act and its associated rules in India is part of a global trend</i>”, Sunil Abraham in LiveMint, February 3, 2012. The article was written by Leslie D’Monte.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1584&qid=150688" target="_blank">Freedom of Expression in Community Media and on the Internet Understanding Connections, Finding Common Ground</a>: A meeting co-organised by the Internet Democracy Project (Delhi) and Maraa (Bangalore) with the support of the Community Radio Forum in New Delhi on 3 February 2012. Pranesh Prakash participated in this event. Anja Kovacs gave the welcome address and spoke in the session on “The Internet and Freedom of Expression.”</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1585&qid=150688" target="_blank">Google move is not good for netizens, say experts</a>: “<i>Google is doing what is good for shareholders. This is not positive for netizens</i>,” Sunil Abraham in the Hindu Business Line, January 31, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><b>Follow us elsewhere</b></h3>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>Get short, timely messages from us on <a href="http://components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=456&qid=46981" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>Join the CIS group on <a href="http://crm.cis-india.org/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1586&qid=150688" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>Visit us at <a href="http://components/com_civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=459&qid=46981" target="_blank">www.cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>CIS is grateful to 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/feb-2012-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/feb-2012-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceResearchOpenness2012-07-09T07:48:11ZPageFebruary 2011 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2011-bulletin
<b>Greetings from the Centre for Internet and Society! In this issue we are pleased to present you the latest updates about our research, upcoming events, and news and media coverage:</b>
<h2><b>Researchers@Work</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">RAW is a multidisciplinary research initiative. CIS believes that in order to understand the contemporary concerns in the field of Internet and society, it is necessary to produce local and contextual accounts of the interaction between the Internet and socio-cultural and geo-political structures. To build original research knowledge base, the RAW programme has been collaborating with different organisations and individuals to focus on its three year thematic of Histories of the Internets in India. Monographs finalised from these projects have been published online for public review:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/cis-raw/histories/Internetcities/city-and-space">Internet, Society & Space in Indian Cities</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Digital Natives</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS has interest in developing Digital Identities as a core research area and looks at practices, policies and scholarships in the field to explore relationships between Internet, technology and identity. The Digital Natives project is funded by Hivos, Netherlands. CIS involvement has resulted into these:</p>
<h3>Columns on Digital Natives</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A fortnightly column on ‘Digital Natives’ authored by Nishant Shah is featured in the Sunday Eye, the national edition of Indian Express, Delhi, from 19 September 2010 onwards. The following articles were published in the Indian Express recently:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/dn/pull-plug">Pull the Plug</a> [published in the Indian Express on February 20, 2011]</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/dn/flash-of-change">A FLASH of Change</a> [published in the Indian Express on February 6, 2011]</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/dn/wiki-world">Wiki changes the world</a> [published in the Indian Express on January 23, 2011]</li>
</ul>
<h3>Workshop</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The third and final workshop in the Digital Natives with a Cause? research project took place in Santiago, Chile, from 8 to 10 February 2011. Samuel Tettner wrote a report about the workshop:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/dn/santiago-workshop-an-after-thought">Digital Natives with a Cause? —Workshop in Santiago — an Afterthought</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Blog Entries by Maesey Angelina</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Maesy Angelina is doing Masters on International Development, specializing in Children and Youth Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University of Rotterdam. She is working on her research on the activism of digital natives under the Hivos-CIS Digital Natives Knowledge Programme. She spent a month at CIS, working on her dissertation, exploring the Blank Noise Project under the Digital Natives with a Cause? framework. She writes a series of blog entries. The new ones are:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/dn/the-class-question">The Class Question</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/dn/diving-into-the-digital">Diving Into the Digital</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Blog Entry by Samuel Tettner</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Samuel Tettner is a Coordinator in the Digital Natives project. He has written one blog entry:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/research/dn/computers-in-society">Computer Science & Society – The Roles Defined</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Accessibility</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Estimates of the percentage of the world's population that is disabled vary considerably. But what is certain is that if we count functional disability, then a large proportion of the world's population is disabled in one way or another. At CIS we work to ensure that the digital technologies, which empower disabled people and provide them with independence, are allowed to do so in practice and by the law. To this end, we support web accessibility guidelines, and change in copyright laws that currently disempower the persons with disabilities.</p>
<h3>New Blog Entry</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/accessibility/blog/working-draft">The Working Draft of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2010: Does it exceed its Mandate in Including Provisions Relating to Other Disability Legislations</a>?</li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Intellectual Property</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS believes that access to knowledge and culture is essential as it promotes creativity and innovation and bridges the gaps between the developed and developing world positively. Hence, the campaigns for an international treaty on copyright exceptions for print-impaired, advocating against PUPFIP Bill, calls for the WIPO Broadcast Treaty to be restricted to broadcast, questioning the demonization of 'pirates', and supporting endeavours that explore and question the current copyright regime. Our latest endeavour has resulted into these:</p>
<h3>New Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/ipr/blog/exhaustion/weblogentry_view">Exhaustion: Imports, Exports and the Doctrine of First Sale in Indian Copyright Law</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/ipr/blog/parallel-importation-rebuttal">Thomas Abraham's Rebuttal on Parallel Importation</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/ipr/blog/indian-law-and-parallel-exports">Indian Law and "Parallel Exports"</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/ipr/blog/parallel-importation-of-books">Why Parallel Importation of Books Should Be Allowed</a>
<ul>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Openness</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS believes that innovation and creativity should be fostered through openness and collaboration and is committed towards promotion of open standards, open access, and free/libre/open source software, its latest involvement have yielded these results:</p>
<h3>New Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/openness/blog/digital-commons">Engaging on the Digital Commons</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/openness/blog/comments-ifeg-phase-1">CIS Comments on the Interoperability Framework for e-Governance</a> (Phase I)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/openness/blog/withdrawal-of-journal-access">Withdrawal of Journal Access is a Wake-up Call for Researchers in the Developing World</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b> Internet Governance</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Although there may not be one centralised authority that rules the Internet, the Internet does not just run by its own volition: for it to operate in a stable and reliable manner, there needs to be in place infrastructure, a functional domain name system, ways to curtail cyber crime across borders, etc. The Tunis Agenda of the second World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), paragraph 34 defined Internet governance as “the development and application by governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.” CIS involvement in the field of Internet governance has taken the following shape:</p>
<h3>Announcement</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/google-policy-fellowship">Google Policy Fellowship Program: Asia Chapter</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>New Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/intermediary-due-diligence">Comments on Intermediary Due Diligence Rules, 2011</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/cyber-cafe-rules">Comments on Cyber Café Rules, 2011</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/security-practices-rules">Comments on Draft Reasonable Security Practices Rules, 2011</a></li>
</ul>
<h3><b>Privacy</b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is doing a project, ‘Privacy in Asia’. It is funded by Privacy International (PI), UK and the International Development Research Centre, Canada and is being administered in collaboration with the Society and Action Group, Gurgaon. The two-year project commenced on 24<sup>th</sup> March 2010 and will be completed as agreed to by the stakeholders. It was set up with the objective of raising awareness, sparking civil action and promoting democratic dialogue around challenges and violations of privacy in India. In furtherance of these goals it aims to draft and promote over-arching privacy legislation in India by drawing upon legal and academic resources and consultations with the public.</p>
<h3>Blog Entries by Elonnai Hickok</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Elonnai Hickok is a Programme Associate in the Privacy in Asia project. She has published a series of Open Letters to the Finance Committee regarding the UID:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/privacy-india/biometrics">Biometrics</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/privacy-india/finance-and-security">Finance and Security</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/privacy-india/uid-and-transactions">UID and Transactions</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/privacy-india/operational-design">Operational Design</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/privacy-india/uid-budget">UID Budget</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Other New Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/privacy-india/privacy-conferencebanglaore">Conference Report: 'Privacy Matters' Bangalore</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/privacy-india/privacy-uiddevaprasad">Analysing the Right to Privacy and Dignity with Respect to the UID</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><b>Telecom</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The growth in telecommunications in India has been impressive. While the potential for growth and returns exist, a range of issues need to be addressed for this potential to be realized. One aspect is more extensive rural coverage and the second aspect is a countrywide access to broadband which is low at about eight million subscriptions. Both require effective and efficient use of networks and resources, including spectrum. It is imperative to resolve these issues in the common interest of users and service providers. CIS campaigns to facilitate this:</p>
<h3>Column</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Shyam Ponappa is a Distinguished Fellow at CIS. He writes regularly on Telecom issues in the Business Standard and these articles are mirrored on the CIS website as well.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/advocacy/telecom/blog/jhatka-or-halal">Spectrum auctions - 'Jhatka' or 'Halal'?</a> [published in the Business Standard on February 3, 2011]<b><br /> </b></li>
</ul>
<h3><b>Forthcoming Events</b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is holding some conferences/workshops in the month of March in Delhi and Bangalore:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/events/fostering-freedom-of-expression">Role of the Internet in Fostering Freedom of Expression and Strengthening Activism in India - A Workshop in Delhi</a> (March 4, 2011, Constitutional Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/events/global-freedom-expression">Global Challenges to Freedom of Expression</a> (March 4, 2011, Constitutional Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/events/electronication">Electronication: Ragas and the Future</a> (March 6, 2011 Jaaga, Bangalore)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/events/design-public">Design!publiC</a> (March 18, 2011, Taj Vivanta, New Delhi)</li>
</ul>
<h3><b>Staff Update</b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Deepti Bharthur</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Deepti Bhartur is a Research Intern at CIS. She did her BA (Hons) in Journalism from Lady Sriram College, University of Delhi and completed her Masters in Communication from Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad. Deepti joined the Accessibility team of CIS and is working on accessibility in telecom policy in India.</p>
<h2><b>News & Media Coverage</b></h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/growing-cyberspace-controls">Growing cyberspace controls, Internet filtering</a> (Hindu, February 20, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/copyright-amendment">2(m) or not 2(m)</a> (Business Standard, February 19, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/twitterati-change-world">Can the twitterati change the world?</a> (The Times of India, February 12, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/mouse-a-tool-of-revolution">Can the mouse be a tool of revolution in India?</a> (DNA, February 12, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/social-network-suicide">Social Network Suicide</a> (Bangalore Mirror, February 6, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/new-kids">New Kids on the Blog</a> (Indian Express, February 6, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/procuring-books">Procuring books in Indian libraries</a> (Hri Institute for Southasian Research and Exchange, February 4, 2011) </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/what-are-you-accused">What Are You Accused of? Find Out Online</a> (Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/one-wikipedian">One among the clan of Wikipedians</a> (Hindu, January 27, 2011)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/digital-wrongs">Digital Wrongs</a> (Forbes India, January 24, 2011)</li>
</ul>
<h3><b>Follow us elsewhere</b></h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Get short, timely messages from us on <a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india">Twitter</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Follow CIS on <a href="http://identi.ca/main/remote?nickname=cis">identi.ca</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Join the CIS group on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28535315687">Facebook</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Visit us at <a href="http://www.cis-india.org/">www.cis-india.org</a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Looking forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to write to us for any queries or details required. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please do write to us and we will unsubscribe your mail ID from the mailing list.<i><br /> CIS is grateful to 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/february-2011-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2011-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeDigital NativesTelecomAccessibilityInternet GovernanceResearchOpenness2012-07-30T11:16:29ZPageFacing up to Moral Hazard
https://cis-india.org/telecom/facing-up-to-moral-hazard
<b>Systems upholding the law and standards help navigate the grey areas of moral hazard and adverse selection writes Shyam Ponappa in this article published in the Business Standard on October 6, 2011.</b>
<p>Amid the general sense of an ailing socio-economic environment in the country, consider these situations:</p>
<p>Coal supplies for power generation are eight per cent short of generation capacity. Worse, nearly 42,000 Mw of additional generation capacity over the next five years is jeopardised because anticipated supplies are short by two-thirds of the requirement (100 million tonnes against demand for 313 million tonnes). </p>
<ul><li>The rural employment guarantee scheme, well intentioned and with some reported successes (as in Melghat in Vidarbha), shows few tangible results while distorting farm labour practices and pricing. The reasons are many: inadequate design and supervision (mud roads that are washed away every year), no integration with agricultural programmes, palliatives that deny real infrastructure and support, like extension schemes that build on successes leveraging ICT, no skill development for alternative (self) employment, and so on. </li><li>The telecommunications sector is buffeted by scandal, the downward spiral of public sector operators BSNL and MTNL, and pressures of intense competition with constrained resources and regulations.</li></ul>
<p>Leaving aside venality, a common thread is of laws and rules not upheld, slack standards, contracts not honoured, an absence of hard decisions and the requisite effort, and a degradation of mindsets. These are the grey areas of “moral hazard” on the one hand – where protection from the consequences of irresponsible actions induces irresponsibility – and of adverse or negative selection on the other, avoiding the best feasible choices for easier, inferior alternatives. They are widespread, and need assiduous effort to identify and set right with systems, even as criminality is dealt with by the legal system. Good people do not game situations for self-gain, but everyone faces the hazard in making choices. The importance of devising and upholding credible systems, standard operating procedures and laws that are seen to work through incentives and penalties is that these perceptions uphold the social contract and protect one from moral hazard.</p>
<p>Whatever the policies, they must have integrity and coherence; the hazard arises from not ensuring these conditions. The specific hazard is the change in behaviour for the worse. Absent this skein of expectations and constraints, there is no coherence to every individual’s uncoordinated wish list or gripes. This is the problem with well-intentioned social vigilantism, because it destroys the very fabric of order.</p>
<h3>Down the Slippery Slope</h3>
<p>The hazards in grey areas are manifested in several ways. </p>
<ol><li><strong>Abdication of responsibility by the government:</strong> The most prominent moral hazard may be the central government’s abdication of responsibility epitomised by the 2G scandal. A redeeming feature is that some alleged perpetrators are being prosecuted eventually — although how matters end will establish whether it is truly a redemption or a perpetuation of banditry with the state’s complicity (by abstaining from intervention). Similar scandals in mining and civil aviation are unravelling or are on the brink. It is these egregious developments added to the hassles in routine dealings with the government that have led to such public alienation.<br /><br />There are also many errors of government omission or inaction, such as initiatives not taken in infrastructure, like stalled efforts at power supply reforms, including the state governments’ reluctance to address sustainable electricity tariffs, or not reducing the extent of administered pricing and taxes in petroleum products (or state governments imposing non-uniform sales tax), the deterioration in the railways, and so on.<br /><br /></li><li><strong>Taking to the streets:</strong> Citizens who feel alienated can take to the streets when they are desperate or outraged. This seems to be the sentiment not only in the Arab spring, but also in varying degrees in established democracies in Europe, Israel and India. There are incipient signs even in America, with the amorphous “Occupy Wall Street” movement spreading from New York to other cities, protesting against various inequities.<br /><br />When both government and citizens are irresponsible, chaos follows. In India, absence of governance is an extenuating circumstance for activism. But equally, there are indefensible lapses by citizens: the unwillingness to be disciplined, to outgrow the anti-colonial paradigm of railing against the government-as-imperial-ruler, of fasting and civil disobedience as acceptable forms of protest, of not subscribing to order, whether in traffic, respecting queues, or managing garbage and sanitation. Yet, reports of queuing by Delhi Metro users suggest that we can perform if we must — as do all the IT professionals delivering services to international markets. But for the most part, we rail against other people’s transgressions, while being unwilling to observe discipline ourselves.<br /><br /></li><li><strong>Corporate chicanery</strong>: Apart from criminality such as in the mining and 2G scams, there is the grey area of bending the rules. Examples include the financial and operational performance of many real estate developers, or the poor automotive service quality that is an adjunct to the undeniably more refined automobiles themselves.<br /><br /></li><li><strong>Media overreach</strong>: The advent of 24x7 news channels is a boon for choice and sourcing. Tragically, many have morphed into whipping up a frenzy rather than delivering solid news and balanced views, given the battle for viewership with a lowest-common-denominator bias for sensationalism.<br /><br /></li><li><strong>Stalled government decisions</strong>: Government decisions in a number of areas were already stalled owing to problems in the approach to land acquisition, environmental effects, and in sectors such as nuclear energy. A combination of circumstances comprising all these and hyper-aggressive audits, a popular outcry stoked by frenzied media treatment relating to scams in land acquisition, 2G spectrum, and mines, has in effect created a gridlock, in which no forward-looking decisions seem possible, because of the risk of retribution for perceived missteps or errors of judgment, with hindsight.<br /><br />The grey areas occupy the space between what we want – superior standards – and what we have, which is a slackness of systems because of widespread shoddiness in the practice of leadership and citizenship, with neither inspiring confidence in the other. The way out is conceptually simple, though difficult to execute: take responsibility, devise coherent systems and practices in all areas, with incentives and penalties applied impartially, and live by them.<br /><br />Read the original article in the Business Standard <a class="external-link" href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/shyam-ponappa-facingto-moral-hazard/451562/">here</a></li></ol>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/facing-up-to-moral-hazard'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/facing-up-to-moral-hazard</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-10-26T12:50:08ZBlog EntryExtractive Charges on Spectrum & Petroleum
https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-march-5-2014-shyam-ponappa-extractive-charges-on-spectrum-petroleum
<b>The author examines whether government levies on these critical inputs are beneficial or detrimental.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shyam-ponappa-extractive-charges-on-spectrum-and-petroleum-114030501139_1.html">Business Standard</a> on March 5, 2014 was mirrored in <a class="external-link" href="http://organizing-india.blogspot.in/2014/03">Organizing India Blogspot</a> on March 6, 2014.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span> spectrum auction</span><span> last month ended with over Rs 61,000 crore (about $10 billion) bid for the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. Everyone seems upbeat: the government at high bids, and operators at staking out spectrum so that they can continue offering their services. The public at large seems enthused. Is there reason for good cheer? Consider some of the outcomes and the likely consequences.</span></span></p>
<h3><span><span>Outcomes</span></span></h3>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: justify; "><span>Dominant operators, namely, Bharti <a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Airtel" target="_blank">Airtel</a>, <a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Vodafone" target="_blank">Vodafone</a> and <a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Idea" target="_blank">Idea</a>, have won enough spectrum to continue building their businesses. So has a new potential contender, <a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Reliance+Jio" target="_blank">Reliance Jio</a>.<br /> </span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: justify; "><span>Winners must pay the amounts they've bid, in addition to making further investments in networks. Their financial compulsion will be to increase prices to amortise a payment of nearly Rs 18,300 crore, followed by the remainder to be paid in 10 annual instalments after a two-year moratorium. Competition will provide a countervailing effect against price hikes. The annual payment by all operators after two years will amount to about Rs 4,400 crore. To put this in perspective, Bharti's profits for FY 2013 were around Rs 5,000 crore and Idea's around Rs 800 crore.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: justify; "><span>This perpetuates the approach of operators paying first for the right to use spectrum, then dividing available spectrum for their mutually exclusive use. The corollary is that unless operators choose to share some of their <a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Infrastructure" target="_blank">infrastructure</a>, as some do for <a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Mobile" target="_blank">mobile</a> towers, each operator must invest in its own infrastructure. In the absence of voluntary infrastructure sharing to the extent permissible, multiple investments are needed to build parallel networks. This is comparable to railways or transportation companies setting up multiple countrywide railroad and road networks, each for their own exclusive use. The result is a very capital-intensive approach requiring much more investment, while not being sufficiently remunerative.</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>Consequences</h3>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: justify; "><span>To the extent that there are front-loaded government charges, operators have less capital for network investments.<br /> </span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: justify; "><span>Resource constraints result in service deprivation in low-potential areas, as is prevalent now. In other words, urban areas may be well served, but not less densely populated rural areas where the majority reside. It is for the same reason that metro cities are better served by airlines or transportation services: the profit potential is higher.<br /> </span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: justify; "><span>The lack of amenities in rural areas means there is continuing demographic pressure to migrate to cities. The overwhelming societal need for the provision-of-urban-amenities-in-rural-areas ("PURA") is entirely sidelined. Yet, these are the amenities people need most for economic empowerment, productivity and better living conditions.</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>Contrast this with </span><a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Sweden" target="_blank">Sweden</a><span>'s approach to </span><a class="storyTags" href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Broadband" target="_blank">broadband</a><span>, for instance. Sweden is a pioneer in the use of 700 MHz for broadband. A loosely translated quote from Sweden's information technology minister reads: "A hundred years ago, it was the ability to build good railways, good roads and good physical infrastructure that laid the foundation for jobs and growth. Today it is also about fast enough build-out of good mobile telephony."</span></span> <a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Another instance of constructive intervention, and that too in a developed metropolis, is the London Enterprise Panel's approach, because London's broadband is considered insufficiently competitive. Funds "will be invested where the market is failing (particularly where this is proving a barrier to business growth)".<a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>In India, the efficient 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands have not yet been assigned except for limited 800 MHz spectrum for CDMA. These bands are most effective for broadband in rural and semi-urban areas. However, auctions and high reserve prices militate against their effective deployment at low cost, thwarting an apparent remedy for our deficient coverage. Also, GSM operators have just bid aggressively in the recent auction to survive, and are loaded with debt. Only the financially strong Reliance Jio, which has not bid as much, can offer high bids. Vodafone may also be able to do so. So, one problem is reduced bidding capacity, but a bigger problem is reduced investment capacity: the higher they bid, the less likely they are to provide countrywide broadband quickly at reasonable prices.</span></span></p>
<h3><span><span>Petroleum Levies</span></span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span><span><span>Petroleum levies comprise another range of high government charges on critical inputs. In 2006, the taxes on petrol amounted to 52 per cent of the retail price, and on diesel, 30.4 per cent with Rs 45 to the dollar, (Delhi price: Rs 45/litre when Brent crude was $65/barrel). Tax collections now amount to around 30 per cent for petrol and 18 per cent for diesel, with Brent crude at around $110/barrel, and petrol in Delhi at Rs 74/litre. While the percentages collected are lower, the amounts collected are about 70 per cent higher than in 2006 because of the increase in the price of crude oil at a time when the economy is slumping.</span></span><br /> <span><br /></span> <span><span>There is a rationale for collecting reasonable charges to cover construction and maintenance, environmental impact mitigation and waste disposal (clean-up), and to provide incentives. But it's time our governments stopped being extractive, and rationalised charges based on objectives and policies in the public interest. Governments and politicians should be addressing these, instead of doles and giveaways. The aim should be to maximise life-cycle benefits, which can be optimised by reducing short-term capture in favour of longer-term accruals from growth, and from policies designed to deploy productive infrastructure including applying the principle of common carrier access.</span></span></span></span></p>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr1" name="fn1">1</a>]. "Digital TV [700 MHz band] will now provide frequencies for cell phones", writes IT Minister Anna-Karin Hatt - Dagens Nyheter, February 27, 2014: <a href="http://www.dn.se/debatt/digital-tv-far-nu-lamna-frekvenser-till-mobilerna/">http://www.dn.se/debatt/digital-tv-far-nu-lamna-frekvenser-till-mobilerna/</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr2" name="fn2">2</a>]. London Enterprise Panel - 2014-2020 European Structural & Investment Funds Strategy for London, January 2014: <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/London%20LEP%20ESIF%20Strategy%202014-20%20%281%29.pdf">https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/London LEP ESIF Strategy 2014-20 (1).pdf</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-march-5-2014-shyam-ponappa-extractive-charges-on-spectrum-petroleum'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-march-5-2014-shyam-ponappa-extractive-charges-on-spectrum-petroleum</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecom2014-04-07T03:57:14ZBlog EntryDr. Surendra Pal
https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/surendra-pal
<b></b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Dr.Surendra Pal </b>is the associate director of the Indian Space Research Organization’s Satellite Centre and Programme Director of ISRO’s Satellite Navigation Program.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Pioneering the creation of India’s satellite navigation and communications systems, Dr. Pal was in charge of the design, development, and the fabrication of spacecraft-related telecommunication systems for all Indian scientific, remote-sensing and communication satellites. Further, he established essential satellite-based navigation schemes in India, such as developing the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) and GPS Aided and Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN).</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/surendra-pal'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/surendra-pal</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2012-06-27T06:27:16ZPageDr. Rakesh Mehrotra
https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/rakesh-mehrotra
<b></b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dr.Rakesh Mehrotra has more than 30 years of experience in Telecom Operations, DTH Broadcasting, GMPCS and Satellite, Software Application, Global IT Solutions, and Mobile Communication Networks. He was the Ex-President, Tata Teleservices Ltd, Ex-VP ASC Enterprises Ltd (Zee TV), Ex-GM & COO, Crompton Greaves.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/rakesh-mehrotra'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/rakesh-mehrotra</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2012-08-05T14:41:14ZPageDr. Nadeem Akhtar
https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/nadeem-akhtar
<b></b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dr. Nadeem Akhtar is currently working as Principal Research Engineer at the Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT). He leads the network layer research team at CEWiT and also represents CEWiT at 3GPP Radio Access Networks Working Group meetings. His research interests lie in the field of mobile and broadband wireless access technologies. Dr. Akhtar is a member of IEEE Standards Association and ITU-APT Foundation of India.<br /><br /></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/nadeem-akhtar'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/nadeem-akhtar</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2012-06-27T06:59:40ZPageDoT — Its Powers and Responsibilities
https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/dot-its-powers-and-responsibilities
<b>The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) works under the aegis of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. DoT is headed a secretary, who is a senior member of the Indian Administrative Services. The secretary of the DoT reports to the Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">DoT used to provide basic telecommunication services. This function was shifted to BSNL after its formation in October, 2000. Presently, the main powers and responsibilities of the DoT as laid down in the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 are:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Formulation of policy, allocation of licence and co-ordination with matters relating to telegraphs, telephones, wireless, data, facsimile and telematic services and other like forms of communications.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Co-operation with international bodies on matters related to telecommunication</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Promotion of standardization and research and development in the telecom sector.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Promotion of private investment in telecommunication industry</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Allocation of spectrum mobile and radio communications.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Administration of laws with respect to any of the matters specified in this list, namely: The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885); The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 (17 of 1933); and The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Supervision over the functioning of the following organizations: Telecom Commission, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal, Centre for Development of Telematics, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, ITI Limited, Telecommunication Consultants (India) Limited and Administrative office of the Universal Service Obligation Fund.</li>
</ol>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/dot-its-powers-and-responsibilities'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/dot-its-powers-and-responsibilities</a>
</p>
No publishersnehashishTelecom2013-03-15T06:24:19ZPageDont hang up on this one
https://cis-india.org/news/dont-hang-up
<b>Is 3G the next twist in the mobile phone growth story? </b>
<p>The ubiquitous mobile phone is the story of the decade that just passed us by. Now with the superfast 3G technology set to storm the market, consumers are eagerly awaiting faster data access and multimedia services, and it isn't time to hang up on the Indian telecom story.</p>
<p>From a clunky walkie-talkie like device that was nearly as exclusive as the landline, to an “anywhere, anytime” device that doubles as your computer, browser, map or even digital cash, the mobile phone has taken rapid strides in recent years.</p>
<p>In early 2000, Karnataka and Maharashtra led the mobile phone growth. However, experts often differ on when exactly the cellphone “explosion” began and what triggered it. Is it low-cost, mass market handsets that made it possible for just about anyone to “be connected” or the sophisticated smart phone that brought hitherto unforeseen experiences onto the mobile? Further, like mobile phone manufacturers, service providers too have been involved in a fierce price war to woo customers.</p>
<h3>Sustained growth</h3>
<p>According to an April 2010 TRAI report, there are 601.22 million wireless phone connections in the country and a teledensity (phones per 100 people) of over 50.98.</p>
<p>While wireless connections are growing by nearly three per cent every
month, wireless connections declined by 0.4 per cent in April.</p>
<p>So what will 3G do that will change the way we connect to our devices?</p>
<p>Currently, our mobile phones are devices that we use to talk, stay connected — even feel safe in this instant connectivity — click or transfer pictures, listen to music or capture videos. “The future will be about livelihood applications.</p>
<p>Services, which have thus far focussed on how to get money from consumers' pockets, will move towards evolving ways to put money back in their pockets,” says S.R. Raja, president and co-founder of Mobile Monday.</p>
<p>Mr. Raja alludes to services in the agricultural sector or existing commerce-based applications that will get a boost once 3G enters.</p>
<p>For instance, he points to a Sasken Technologies pilot initiative in rural Tamil Nadu which helps women's self-help groups sell their produce by providing access to pricing details, thereby eliminating middlemen.</p>
<p>While larger services and societal applications in the field of e-learning and telemedicine are likely to pick up, for the common user it means access to live video and multimedia content. The 3G rollout will transform the way we use our cellphone, experts say.</p>
<p>Scepticism</p>
<p>However, others are sceptical and far less optimistic about this “radical change” and believe that the 3G take-off may not be as smooth as people would like to believe.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“3G may not deliver in the short-term for the ordinary Indian. Smart phones are still expensive. Data services will be expensive as telecom operators will try to recoup what they spent on the spectrum auction,” says Sunil Abraham, researcher and director of the Centre for Internet and Society.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>The Government should start considering spectrum a public good and additionally consider open or shared spectrum to lower costs for projects run by public institutions or non-governmental organisations. Only then will the poor of India transcend SMS, he adds.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Read the original article in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/06/15/stories/2010061565420300.htm">Hindu</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/dont-hang-up'>https://cis-india.org/news/dont-hang-up</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T11:42:41ZNews ItemDigital India Needs These Policy Changes
https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-september-1-2016-shyam-ponappa-digital-india-needs-these-policy-changes
<b>Appropriate policies will increase connectivity much more than spectrum auctions.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article originally published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shyam-ponappa-digital-india-needs-these-policy-changes-116083101392_1.html">Business Standard </a>on August 31, 2016 was mirrored in <a class="external-link" href="http://organizing-india.blogspot.in/2016/09/digital-india-needs-these-policy-changes.html">Organizing India Blogspot</a> on September 1, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>There's a "List of 10 Things" for realising India's potential that Prime Minister Narendra Modi </span><span>received as the chief minister of Gujarat from Jim O'Neill, the originator of the "BRIC" concept. Many items on that list are greatly facilitated by information and communications technology (ICT): effective governance; primary, secondary, and tertiary education; improved infrastructure; and sustainable approaches that minimise negative environmental impact. While there's agreement on ICT's importance for India, there's difficulty getting it in place to best effect. This is because policy changes are needed to make Digital India </span><span>a reality. These are the kinds of decisions that will turn the rhetoric about connectivity </span><span>into reality.</span><br /><br /><span>Some changes are relatively easy, such as enabling 60 GHz Wi-Fi, while others require more effort, as explained below. These include better terms for satellite communications, enabling broadband </span><span>on the 500-600 MHz bands, and spectrum </span><span>and network sharing.</span><br /><br /><span>In our land of such range and contradictions, so much needs improvement that everything clamours for immediate attention. Attempts to address them all together are misplaced, however, because achieving results requires goal orientation, prioritisation and systematic action, to direct a convergent investment of time, effort and capital. Also, projects must be done with the realisation that the acid test is end-to-end delivery, even if it is initially to a small segment of the market. Only then can the rest of the iceberg be addressed: consistent, ongoing operation and maintenance, and scaling up. Think of the years of effort, capital and human resources invested without that first delivery in the National Optic Fibre Network. While defining objectives appropriately and setting priorities are difficult, both are imperative.</span><br /><br /><span>A recent report on The Networked Society City Index for 2016 by Ericsson reaffirms ICT's critical role in productivity and living standards.1 The report also shows that better-developed cities are on more sustainable paths to the goal of the desirable triple bottom line (TBL) of social, economic and environmental betterment. ICT facilitates not only sustainable development of cities and often their surroundings, but extends through the networked society far beyond their geographical environs. Even our metros need attention, with Mumbai and Delhi ranking at 36 and 38 out of 41.</span></span><br /> <span><span><br /></span></span> <span><b><span>The Wireless Imperative</span></b></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="text-align: justify; "><span><br /></span></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>Efforts at setting up Digital India </span><span>have to contend with the reality that most non-urban communications have to be wireless, as does a significant proportion of urban access. This is because the cost and practical difficulties in laying and maintaining fibre everywhere is far greater than building wireless networks. The accompanying chart, showing the spread of broadband </span><span>in India at the end of March 2016, illustrates this point.</span></span><br /> <span><br /></span> <span><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhzBSMelM-U/V9YMHFgKTAI/AAAAAAAACh0/iEZIIXhGUG8wXyDSTPWvITNxZWPmVMdjwCLcB/s1600/The%2BWireless%2BImperative-2016-03.png" style="text-align: center; "><img height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhzBSMelM-U/V9YMHFgKTAI/AAAAAAAACh0/iEZIIXhGUG8wXyDSTPWvITNxZWPmVMdjwCLcB/s320/The%2BWireless%2BImperative-2016-03.png" width="275" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span>The clusters are around major cities, with broadband </span><span>penetration in Delhi/NCR highest at 58.2 per cent. Except along their major connecting links, the spaces between clusters are more difficult to connect and aggregate, as habitations are not densely clustered. Also, potential revenues are generally lower in less dense areas. Such areas urgently need lower-cost wireless coverage.</span></span><br /> <span> <br /><b><span>Policy Changes Required - from Easy to Difficult</span></b></span><br /> <span><span><br /></span></span> <span><span>Of the many constraints to building more accessible ICT in India, a major set lies within the control of government and stakeholders, provided they act together and are not adversarial about policies governing access technologies:</span></span><br /> <br /></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><span>There are unused frequencies in the 60 GHz band for which inexpensive equipment is available abroad with a capacity of several gigabits. Press reports years ago mentioned the de-licensing of this band in India. Last November, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended de-licensing Wi-Fi use, and light licensing backhaul with minimal charges. Yet, this asset is wasted because there's no policy permitting its use. It costs nothing to de-license in line with global norms. Apart from additional Wi-Fi capacity, service providers could use it for backhaul from small cells. Revenues are likely to rise, and the government would collect increased taxes. Domestic manufacturers could possibly develop products for what should be a huge market.<br /> </span></li>
<li><span>Another proven technology is satellite communications. This is priced too high in India, as explained in "Satellite communications can drive the broadband revolution", Business Standard, 23 April 2016.2 Satcom tariffs are apparently nearly 300 times higher than in the US, while private sector applications for manufacturing satellites are languishing. Also, there is considerable potential for manufacturing associated equipment, such as VSATs, end-user terminals, and so on.<br /> </span></li>
<li><span>A third area is unused or underutilised government spectrum. The most-useful and least-controversial, except for turf considerations, is unused broadcast spectrum in the sub-700 MHz bands. Government departments, namely, the department of telecommunications (DoT), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY), and the Trai, could coordinate their approach, so that I&B and Doordarshan retain the spectrum, while allowing common access to shared spectrum and infrastructure for paid use by service providers. Doordarshan could increase its reach by providing programming and content over these links.</span><span><br />These frequencies would be most effective in extending rural broadband, because of the distances that could be covered inexpensively. There is an issue with equipment, as there are no large, established markets anywhere yet for TV White Space devices, and there is insufficient support for local manufacturing even with Indian intellectual property rights. In fact, we have a Catch-22 situation here: such devices are likely to have massive deployment in India, but we don't have policies that allow these frequencies for broadband. The irony is that developers who manufacture prototypes in India have no access to</span><span> spectrum </span><span><span>even for testing their products, and will have to rely on markets abroad for testing as well as sales.</span><span><b><span> </span></b></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span><b><span>Other Frequencies</span></b></span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span> </span><span> <span> </span></span><span><span>Rules restricting usage of other frequencies could also be amended through a coordinated process. The result could be policies that treat spectrum usage as part of a shared infrastructure solution for Digital India. Using a shared access for payment approach with secondary sharing, primary holders of spectrum can retain usage rights, while government revenues accrue from swathes of spectrum that now remain unused, and holders of spectrum earn from common access.</span></span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-september-1-2016-shyam-ponappa-digital-india-needs-these-policy-changes'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-september-1-2016-shyam-ponappa-digital-india-needs-these-policy-changes</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaTelecomDigital IndiaSpectrum2016-10-02T10:09:17ZBlog EntryDigital India - Now to Work
https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-october-1-2015-shyam-ponappa-digital-india-now-to-work
<b>There's a buzz about Digital India again with an Indian PM finally reaching Silicon Valley. So are we close to broadband taking off, or is this just more hype?</b>
<p>The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shyam-ponappa-digital-india-now-to-work-115100101355_1.html">Business Standard</a> on October 1, 2015 and mirrored in <a class="external-link" href="http://organizing-india.blogspot.in/2015/10/digital-india-now-to-work.html">Organizing India Blogspot</a> on October 2, 2015.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The announcements are certainly promising. For instance, that Indian Railways will provide Wi-Fi services at 500 railway stations over the next few years. Google's support tendered by CEO Sundar Pichai offers new hope that this will happen. Other promising announcements include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's announcement of cloud-based services from India, and connectivity at the village level through TV White Space (unused broadcast spectrum), and Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacob's $150-million fund for start-ups in India.<br /><br />There have been announcements like these before. For instance, the Railways announced Wi-Fi projects for years, with modest achievements. For details, see "A history of Wi-Fi and Indian Railways from 2006 to Infinity (maybe)". [See <a class="external-link" href="http://www.medianama.com/2015/02/223-a-history-of-wi-fi-and-indian-railways-from-2006-to-infinity-maybe/">http://www.medianama.com/2015/02/223-a-history-of-wi-fi-and-indian-railways-from-2006-to-infinity-maybe/</a>, Riddhi Mukherjee, February 27, 2015].</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What's troubling is that in terms of ground realities, except for TV White Space for broadband, there's little evidence of a systematic approach to problems besetting communications, and changes in policies to solve them. Everyone seems carried away, and this is as true of most of the media and the commentariat as it is of the politicians. But informed, systematic efforts at solutions are absolutely essential to achieve these aspirations.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Take the ingenuous comparisons of Silicon Valley with Bengaluru, with the latter being described as "nearly there". Such election rhetoric from former US Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry is one thing, but our savvy media folk should know better. People who visit Silicon Valley from India, or those who are based there and occasionally visit India, can't be blind to the stark differences. One is a place where the basics related to living and functioning effectively actually work well; the other isn't. One has potholed streets with garbage, decrepit or nonexistent sanitation, and chronic power cuts; the other doesn't. It's as simple as that.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This leads to another observation that's tossed off too easily, about less need for government. Blithe statements that government needs to be reduced, or to get out of the way and let the private sector function, are often made with apparently little understanding of what governments do before getting out of the way. Those essential services in Silicon Valley and elsewhere that function seamlessly and are taken for granted? That's what governments can do. In other words, that is government's responsibility: to provide, apart from security and law and order, the infrastructure services and organisation of communities, markets and financial systems that enable citizens to function effectively and live well. Yes, markets are indeed planned and structured in order to function well.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The data on broadband at the end of 2014 in the Broadband Report 2015 by the ITU and Unesco suggest that India is not doing too well compared with its developing neighbours in Asia (see chart at <span class="p-content" style="float: none; "><a href="http://www.broadbandcommission.org/%20documents/reports/bb-annualreport2015.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.broadbandcommission.org/ documents/reports/bb-annualreport2015.pdf</a></span>). Our leadership and government need to confront this reality, and apply themselves to reforms to improve conditions. Broadband subscriptions as a percentage of our population trail most countries, and the percentage of individuals using the Internet is at the bottom of the pack, with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To make Digital India a reality, here's what the government needs to do:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Trials using TV White Space (TVWS, or unused broadcast spectrum) for broadband are finally under way, after years of struggle to get them going. If they work out, policies must be framed quickly for this spectrum to be bundled with fibre backbones such as BharatNet (the erstwhile National Optic Fibre network), and licensed service providers given access at reasonable cost.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Policies need to be formulated with government and operators working together, instead of as adversaries. This will increase the probability of success, as the private sector can be convinced of and contribute to practicable methods that they accept.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Policies for sharing spectrum can be extended to other under-used spectrum held by the government and Defence (secondary sharing, as in the USA), and to networks as well. This will facilitate broad, contiguous spectrum bands that are essential to support rising data usage that is affordable. Policies must also enable authorised operators to access all networks, fostering competition while increasing revenue potential and reducing costs. The data on broadband at the end of 2014 in the Broadband Report 2015 by the ITU and Unesco suggest that India is not doing too well compared with its developing neighbours in Asia. Our leadership and government need to confront this reality, and apply themselves to reforms to improve conditions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The TVWS devices are manufactured by relatively small companies abroad with the exception of Huawei, which acquired Neul, one of the pioneers in the UK. Indian innovators can produce such devices locally, but only if they have a supportive ecosystem. That means sufficient continuing orders to create revenues for sustainable profits and cash flows. In a market like India, such orders need government support until new policies are in place and the demand is established. Once that happens, private enterprises can compete.<br /><br />For instance, a chip designer start-up in Bangalore with designs for TV and broadband cards using TV White Space has had to scramble to manufacture complete products to bring their prototypes to market. Without sustained buying, they'll languish like other device manufacturers overseas, with episodic sales to narrow markets. That's because developing economies are likely to be bigger markets for these devices than developed economies, but only after policies allow deployment; secondly, there's insufficient support in developed markets. The irony will be if Indian innovators can get only offshore prospects like Huawei as partners or investors.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Unremitting government effort in the systematic development of basic infrastructure services (at the primary level, besides communications, there's power, transportation, water and sanitation, basic health and education; at the secondary level: communities, markets and financial systems) will round out the potential for India as a producer economy as well as a large and growing market.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This is the work that now needs to get done: accept the reality of our infrastructure deficiencies, change our spectrum and network sharing policies, plan step-by-step, and execute for results.</p>
<ul>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-october-1-2015-shyam-ponappa-digital-india-now-to-work'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/business-standard-october-1-2015-shyam-ponappa-digital-india-now-to-work</a>
</p>
No publisherShyam PonappaBroadbandTelecomDigital IndiaSpectrum2015-11-10T03:18:15ZBlog EntryDifferent forms of Video Communication
https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/video-communication
<b>In this module, Tina Mani takes us through some of the common forms of video communication such as video calling, video conferencing, telepresence and video sharing. </b>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This post was <a class="external-link" href="http://ucallweconn.net/be/video-communication">translated</a> in Armenian.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A video is a series of images captured at a rate faster than the eye can perceive. Each image is comprised of many pixels. More pixels indicate more clarity, this is known as resolution. As you can imagine, a video file in the raw (original) format would be huge. Thanks to the digital technologies and availability of advanced digital encoding (i.e. compression) techniques, it became possible to compress these large video files into much smaller files that could be transmitted without much loss or delay. This, along with the availability of high speed IP networks facilitated video as a new means of communication.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some of the common forms of video communication are Video Calling, Video Conferencing, Telepresence and Video Sharing.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Video Calling</h3>
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<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/phone.png" style="float: left; " title="phone" class="image-inline" alt="phone" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left; "><a class="external-link" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IP_Video_Phone_1535-DSCN1202-2.JPG">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IP_Video_Phone_1535-DSCN1202-2.JPG </a></p>
<p style="text-align: left; ">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported</p>
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<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/jimmy.png" alt="jimmy" class="image-inline" title="jimmy" /><a class="external-link" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TANDBERG_E20_%28Jimmy_Wales%29.jpg"><br />http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TANDBERG_E20_%28Jimmy_Wales%29.jpg</a><br />Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported</p>
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<p style="text-align: left; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/videocalling.png" alt="video calling" class="image-inline" title="video calling" /></p>
<a class="external-link" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Video_Call.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Video_Call.jpg</a><br />Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported</td>
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<p style="text-align: left; "><i>Figure 1: Different forms of video calling – on landline, mobile and internet (e.g., on Facebook)</i></p>
<p>Video Calling is a service where two people can communicate using video, i.e., can see as well as hear each other on the phone or a personal computer (PC).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On the landline network: Video calling from PC to PC over internet is usually available as a free service, for example, from providers like Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and more recently Facebook. The user has to be logged into the application to receive the call. The availability of the user, also known as presence, is indicated to other people with a status like offline, available, etc. These services are charged when the communication has to cross over from the internet to a telecom network, and has to pass through an interconnect gateway. This situation arises when you try to call a mobile or landline number from a PC video calling application. The telecom operators charge for interconnection to their network, and so the users are charged for these calls. Detailed working will be discussed in <span>module 2.8.3</span>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On the mobile network: Video Calling used to be a facility limited to PCs or Internet Protocol (IP) phones using an internet connection, until the availability of Third Generation (3G)<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1]</a> technologies on the mobile. With 3G, came the concept of a special call type for video, using a new protocol<a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2]</a> known as H324M. It uses the Circuit Switched Mode of operation, where a 64 kilobits/sec (Kbps) channel in each direction is reserved for the call for the entire duration of the call. 3G capable handsets support this and provide a menu option to make a video call to any number in the phone book. However, 64kbps is usually not enough for high quality video. The better mode of operation is the Packet Switched Mode,<a href="#fn3" name="fr3">[3]</a> where there is no hard limit on the bandwidth available for the call.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Video calling on the internet, as well as on the mobile in the Packet Switched mode uses protocols like H323 or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).<a href="#fn4" name="fr4">[4]</a> The Circuit Switched and Packet Switched modes will be discussed in more detail in module 2.2.2. Since data (internet) connections with decent speed and low enough latency<a href="#fn5" name="fr5">[5]</a> are also available on mobile now, the internet video calling applications like Skype once available on the landline network also work seamlessly on the mobile.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One limitation that prevents the use of video calling on the mobile is that many handsets do not have a front camera, and hence one cannot see the other person and be seen at the same time.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Video Conferencing</h3>
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<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/conferencing.png" style="float: left; " title="conferencing" class="image-inline" alt="conferencing" /></p>
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<p style="text-align: center; "> </p>
<p style="text-align: left; "><a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ekiga_in_a_call.png"><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ekiga_in_a_call.png</a><br />Free license</p>
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<p><i>Figure 2: Video Conferencing on multiple devices</i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A video call that involves more than two people where all the parties can hear each other and a specific number of people can be seen by the others is called a video conference. The video screen appears as a grid with a number of screens that can be viewed simultaneously. The voice of the speaker is detected to show the video of the current speaker.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The way video conferencing works is that one video stream<a href="#fn6" name="fr6">[6]</a> is transmitted by each participant to a Multipoint Conferencing Unit (MCU). The MCU decides which of the streams to combine to form a single video stream to send to all the participants. For the audio portion, the MCU combines the audio streams from all the participants and transmits them to the recipients as a single stream.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Another simpler form of video conferencing available is a decentralized mode, where every person can see every other person, without any central control. This is in effect like multiple video calls from each person to every other person. This offers higher quality, but utilizes higher bandwidth because it requires a separate stream from each individual to every other person in the call. Skype offers a service called group calling which uses this philosophy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nowadays, with the use of High Definition (HD) cameras and videoconference solutions as a cloud offering, high quality video conferencing can be used with no fixed hardware investment. The meaning of “Cloud offering “is that all the hardware/ software is placed at a central location and not at the user premises. The only hardware needed at the user premises is a camera and a terminal (computer).</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Telepresence</h3>
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<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/teleconferencing.png" style="float: left; " title="teleconferencing" class="image-inline" alt="teleconferencing" /></p>
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<p style="text-align: left; "><a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tandberg_Image_Gallery_-_telepresence-t3-side-view-hires.jpg"><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tandberg_Image_Gallery_-_telepresence-t3-side-view-hires.jpg</a><br />Creative Commons Attribution Required</p>
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<p><i>Figure 3: Telepresence – a sophisticated video conference</i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Telepresence is a sophisticated form of a video conference, where a real life setting is simulated, so that it appears as if the other party is sitting in the same room. This requires specially designed rooms with cameras, TV screens and special seating arrangements. For example, one setting uses a curved or U-shaped seating; so that it appears that the other room is actually a different section of the same room. Also, the sound is transmitted as High Definition (HD), which makes it sound real. There are multiple screens, and each screen can display people from a room, or a projected document which can be viewed by all the rooms.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Telepresence solutions are provided by companies like Cisco, Polycom and so on, and usually used for corporate meetings across different geographical locations. These solutions are typically very expensive. For corporations or individuals cannot afford the upfront investment of a dedicated room, equipment and bandwidth required for telepresence, public telepresence rooms are offered on a rental basis in the important cities. (e.g. the Tata Public telepresence service).</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Video Sharing</h3>
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<p style="text-align: left; "><a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Teliris_VL_Unified_2.jpg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Teliris_VL_Unified_2.jpg</a><br />Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>Figure 4: Video Sharing</i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Video Sharing is an application where a person shares what he is viewing with another person in real time during a voice call. It uses a packet data connection parallel to the connection used for the voice call. When the video is shared, the recipient’s phone switches on automatically, and they can also in parallel continue the conversation. Some people also refer to an application that allows a user to upload his videos to a central location and make it available for viewing by others, for e.g. YouTube., as Video Sharing.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/video-communication'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/video-communication</a>
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No publisherTina ManiTelecom2013-03-15T05:37:39ZPageDevelopments in spectrum sharing
https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/developments-in-spectrum-sharing
<b>New ways to share spectrum can revolutionise broadband in India - An article in the Business Standard by Shyam Ponappa / New Delhi December 3, 2009, 1:35 IST</b>
<p>As the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) deliberates on spectrum and licensing after the hearings ending December 2, some important points are worth highlighting. Spectrum is public property and, therefore, need not add a layer of cost (through auctions and such other artifices), provided it is available to network builders, and these networks are available to operators for their customers on payment. The question is whether the government should give spectrum <br />free, or for an up-front price, i.e., a hefty spectrum fee, or through a progressive revenue-sharing arrangement as for telecommunications. This can be to network builders for their use, or to operators, to pool through either their own arrangements or through network builders-cum-operators.</p>
<p>One way to think about communications networks is to consider an analogy with road networks. The road network is accessed by paying road taxes and special tolls as required, e.g., when using a toll bridge or highway. The rest of the time, once a transport operator pays road taxes, the fleet’s vehicles have access to the entire public road network.</p>
<p>In the same way, it should be feasible for operators to access communications networks. These networks may be the operator’s own, or the public network, i.e., the Public Switched Telephone Network, paying as they go. In other words, whether operators use their own or others’ networks should be immaterial as long as they pay the tariffs, which result from a mesh of interconnection agreements. In this manner, network builders/service providers can use the spectrum as part of their “plant” for wireless transmission, just as they use optical fibre and copper wire for wire-line transmission.</p>
<p>Networks are already being built and operated by network builders-cum-operators. According to The Economist on developments in network operations, initially in New Zealand and then extended on a much larger and broader scale in India, “The vendors... gain economies of scale because they build, run and support networks for several Indian operators. Ericsson’s Mr Svanberg says his firm can run a network with 25% fewer staff than an operator would need. Bharti’s operating expenses are around 15% lower than they would be if it were to build and run its network itself, and its IT costs are around 30% lower, according to Capgemini.”*</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a momentous experiment in spectrum sharing is taking place in America. A company called Spectrum Bridge has developed a database-driven model for dynamic spectrum allocation in unused spectrum bands, the “white space” in the TV bands. This is in the 200 to 600 MHz band, with considerable advantages in propagation over distances, through foliage and walls, without attenuation as experienced at higher frequencies.</p>
<p>This system is being tried in Claudville, a rural community on the border of Virginia and North Carolina. As is likely to be true in rural India, using open spectrum that is unlicensed is impractical because of the distances, terrain and foliage. Fibre and copper lines are not only impractical, but also prohibitively expensive, a fact that people who suggest the use of existing wiring for broadband don’t seem to realise.</p>
<p>In this context, given the discussions on the possibility of spectrum trading as a solution going forward in the Trai hearings, it is instructive to note that despite the US Federal Communication Commission’s secondary market initiatives taken in 2003, not much spectrum trading had actually taken place until Spectrum Bridge’s introduction of their tracking and trading model, SpecEx (see www.specex.com). Subscribers view available spectrum at a chosen location and frequency band with pricing details when they want to buy, or list available spectrum to sell by location and frequency band. Therefore, any recommendations by Trai or decisions by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) or the government should take this into account in considering the path of market traded spectrum based on exclusively assigned bands. It would be unrealistic to expect such trading to take place simply because it is allowed, without other <br />facilitating developments as have been achieved by Spectrum Bridge in America.</p>
<p>A second problem is that trading in spectrum can result in effects equivalent to land-grabbing in real estate. This serves less for effective communications than as an asset play for profit.</p>
<p>Like SpecEx for priced spectrum, www.ShowMyWhiteSpace.com is a free website that the company supports to show free TV white space (the “digital dividend” that is talked about) that can be used on the basis of open access to unlicensed or open spectrum.</p>
<p>In the trial at Claudville, Spectrum Bridge deployed the network with Dell and Microsoft contributing computer equipment and software to the local school. Teachers can now incorporate distance learning resources into the school’s curriculum.</p>
<p>Our policy-makers need to move beyond debates over slicing and dicing the spectrum to determine the smallest efficient band — 2.5 MHz for CDMA and 4.4 for GSM? Is 6.2 MHz all that any operator needs?... and so on. A direct solution is to not assign spectrum for exclusive use, and instead enable its use as a common resource that must be accessed by everyone <br />who needs to communicate on the network, exactly as public roads are accessed by paying road taxes and tolls. If spectrum must be assigned nominally to operators for administrative reasons, they should be obligated to pool this spectrum for common access.</p>
<p>Once we are able to aggregate spectrum in the frequency range which allows propagation over distances and through natural and man-made obstacles — buildings, foliage, etc. — we will have the open “highways” for broadband for its widespread usage across the country. This can only be achieved at relatively low cost through a progressive revenue-sharing arrangement, which is what happened eventually for voice communications with the National Telecom Policy 1999.</p>
<p>These are complex technical and commercial issues, and require the concerted effort of stakeholders and experts to devise the most effective solution in the public interest. The Trai hearings are the first step in this process.</p>
<p>shyamponappa@gmail.com <mailto:shyamponappa@gmail.com><br /> <br />* ‘The mother of invention’, The Economist, September 24, 2009</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/shyam-ponappa-developments-in-spectrum-sharing/378457/&com=y">Link to the original article</a></p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/developments-in-spectrum-sharing'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/developments-in-spectrum-sharing</a>
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No publisherradhaTelecom2011-08-18T04:54:47ZBlog Entry