The Centre for Internet and Society
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Comments on the DoT Panel Report via MyGov
https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/comments-on-dot-panel-report-via-mygov
<b>On behalf of the Centre for Internet and Society, I must commend the Department of Telecom Panel on its report. Overall, it displays a far better understanding of the underlying issues than the TRAI consultation paper did, and is overall a good effort at balancing the different sides. However, some of its most important recommendations are completely off-mark and would be disastrous if accepted by the government.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is praiseworthy that the panel emphasizes the separation in regulatory terms between the network layer and the service layer. This also means that telecom carriers should be regulated differently from OTT services.</p>
<h3>Licensing of Communication OTT Services</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The proposal by the DoT panel of a licensing regime for communication OTT services is a terrible idea. It would presumptively hold all licence non-holders to be unlawful, and that should not be the case; as the panel itself notes, apps that lower the cost of communication are a welcome development and should be encouraged by the government and not made presumptively unlawful.<br /><br />While it is in India's national interest to want to hold VoIP services to account if they do not follow legitimate regulations, it is far better to do this through ex-post regulations rather than an ex-ante licensing scheme. <br /><br />A licensing scheme would benefit Indian VoIP companies (including services like Hike, which Airtel has invested in) over foreign companies like Viber, or free/open source technologies like WebRTC. The Universal Licence is designed for a world where all the licencees have an operational presence in India. This is not true of communications OTT services. Therefore a licensing regime would unjustly favour some services over others.<br /><br />Further, VoIP services need not be provided by a company: a person can choose to run XMPP, SIP, or Mumble — all of which are protocol that support VoIP — on their own computers. Will a licensing regime force such individuals' many of whom may not be Indian nationals — to become licence-holders if they facilitate domestic communications within India? The DoT panel report doesn't say. This would also result in a licensing regime unjustly favouring some services over others.<br /><br />The report also doesn't say how one would distinguish between OTT communication services and OTT application services, when many apps such as personal assistance apps like HelpChat, are centred around communications. It also does not mention what regulatory distinction exists between text communication services and video/voice communication services, or between purely domestic and international video/voice communications. Stating that certain telecom companies are currently earning most of their revenue from domestic voice traffic will not suffice as a regulatory, just as it did not suffice to say that VSNL's international telephony monopoly earned it a lot of money. Regulatory fairness is the important issue and not protecting specific business models. Thus, there is no rational distinction to be drawn. Even if the panel has some regulatory distinction that it has not stated, this is an impossibility to enforce. Much domestic IP traffic is 'round-tripped', with traffic leaving India and coming back in. How would the regulator propose to regulate that?<br /><br />Will there be a revenue-sharing mechanism, as is currently the case under the Unified Licence? If so, how will it be calculated in case of services like WhatsApp? These questions too find no answer in the report.<br /><br />Given these numerous objections and unanswered questions, the government would be well-advised not seek to license OTT communications services. Instead, it would be useful for the government to hold public consultations about:<br /><br /> 1. What Universal Licence conditions makes sense in the world of IP-based services, and international services?<br /> 2. How can we frame ex-post regulations that address legitimate concerns? Is there overlap with provisions of the IT Act such as s.69, s.69B, s.79, and others?<br /> 3. How can we ensure that the regulatory burden for telecom players with respect to their being able to provide IP-based services that are equivalent to OTT communication services?</p>
<h3>Net neutrality</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While the DoT panel reiterates a number of times that the core principles of Net neutrality should be adhered to, it nowhere defines what these core tenets are. We suggest the following definition:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> net neutrality is the principle that we should regulate gatekeepers to ensure they do not use their power to unjustly discriminate between similarly situated persons, content or traffic.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The above definition applies to the way the ISPs treat consumers, treat interconnecting networks, as well as the way they treat traffic internally.<br />We agree with the panel that in that while Net neutrality should find place in a new law, for the time being Net neutrality principles can be enforced through the licence agreement between the DoT and telecom providers.</p>
<h3>Traffic Management</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is unclear what precisely the DoT panel means by "application-agnostic" and "application-specific" network management. Different scholars on this issue — such as Barbara van Schewick and Christopher Yoo — mean different things when they use the word "application". Without a definition, it is difficult to say whether the panel's recommendation on that front are sound.<br />Instead, we suggest the following tests:<br />Discrimination between classes of traffic for the sake of network management should only be permissible if:</p>
<ul>
<li>there is an intelligible differentia between the classes which are to be treated differently, and</li>
<li>there is a rational nexus between the differential treatment and the aim of such differentiation, and </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">the aim sought to be furthered is legitimate, and is related to the security, stability, or efficient functioning of the network, or is a technical limitation outside the control of the ISP, and </li>
<li>the network management practice is the least harmful manner in which to achieve the aim.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As for the provision of enterprise and managed services, which we more broadly term "specialized services", we would recommend:</p>
<ul>
<li> Provision of specialized services is permitted if and only if it is shown that</li>
<li>The service is available to the user only upon request, and not without their active choice, and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The service cannot be reasonably provided with "best efforts" delivery guarantee that is available over the Internet, and hence requires discriminatory treatment, or</li>
<li>The discriminatory treatment does not unduly harm the provision of the rest of the Internet to other customers.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Lastly, we would recommend that the above regulatory guidlines only be applied against ISPs, and not against public providers of Internet connectivity, such as a library, a school, an airport, a hotel, etc.</p>
<h3>Zero-rating</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On the contentious issue of zero-rating, a process that involves both ex-ante and ex-post regulation is envisaged to prevent harmful zero-rating, while allowing beneficial zero-rating. Further, the report notes that the supposed altruistic or "public interest" motives of the zero-rating scheme do not matter if they result in harm to competition, distort consumer markets, violate the core tenets of Net neutrality, or unduly benefit an Internet "gatekeeper".<br /><br />Much of the discussion around zero-rating has been happening around an assumption of common understanding of the phrase. Unfortunately, that is not true. There is no consensus as to whether a "special Facebok pack of 200MB for Rs.20" offered by a telecom company constitutes zero-rating or not. Without a working definition of zero-rating, not much progress can be made.<br /><br />We propose the following as a definition:</p>
<ul>
<li> Zero-rating is the practice of not counting (aka "zero-rating") certain traffic towards a subscriber's regular Internet usage. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><br />The zero-rated traffic could be zero-priced or fixed-price; capped or uncapped; subscriber-paid, Internet service-paid, paid for by both, or unpaid; content- or source/destination-based, or agnostic to content or source/destination; automatically provided by the ISP or chosen by the customer.<br /><br />We believe that zero-rating can be non-discriminatory in nature, and such zero-rating should not be prohibited. Having a system with both ex-ante and ex-post checks is rather heavy-handed regulation, but since the issue is very contentious in India, we believe it might be merited.<br /><br />We thank you for giving us this opportunity to comment.<br />Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director at the Centre for Internet and Society</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/comments-on-dot-panel-report-via-mygov'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/comments-on-dot-panel-report-via-mygov</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshTelecomFeatured2015-09-26T10:16:44ZBlog EntryComments on Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Discussion Paper on Standard Essential Patents and their Availability on Frand Terms
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/comments-on-department-of-industrial-policy-and-promotion-discussion-paper-on-standard-essential-patents-and-their-availability-on-frand-terms
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society gave its comments to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The comments were prepared by Anubha Sinha, Nehaa Chaudhari and Rohini Lakshané.</b>
<p><strong><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dipp-comments.pdf" class="external-link">Download the PDF </a></strong><strong>To access other submissions to the DIPP Discussion Paper on SEP and FRAND, please <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/responses-to-the-dipps-discussion-paper-on-seps-and-their-availability-on-frand-terms">click here</a></strong><strong><br /></strong></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Authors <a name="_ftnref1"></a> </strong></p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>I. PRELIMINARY</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>1. </strong> This submission presents comments by the Centre for Internet and Society, India ("<strong>CIS</strong>") on the <i>Discussion Paper on Standard Essential Patents and their Availability on FRAND Terms</i> (dated 01 March, 2016), released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion ("<strong>the</strong> <strong>DIPP</strong>"), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India (" <strong>the discussion paper/ discussion paper</strong>").</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>2. </strong> CIS commends the DIPP for its efforts at seeking inputs from various stakeholders on this important and timely issue. CIS is thankful for the opportunity to put forth its views.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>3. </strong> This submission is divided into three main parts. The <i>first </i>part, 'Preliminary', introduces the document; the <i>second</i> part, 'About CIS', is an overview of the organization; and, the <i>third </i>part, 'Submissions on the Issues', answers the questions raised in the discussion paper. A list of annexures and their URLs is included at the end of the document.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>II. ABOUT CIS</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>4. </strong> CIS is a non-profit organisation <a name="_ftnref2"></a> that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with diverse abilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, freedom of speech and expression, intermediary liability, digital privacy, and cyber-security.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>5. </strong> CIS values the fundamental principles of justice, equality, freedom and economic development. This submission is consistent with CIS' commitment to these values, the safeguarding of general public interest and the protection of India's national interest at the international level. Accordingly, the comments in this submission aim to further these principles. In addition, the comments are in line with the aims of the Make in India<a name="_ftnref3"></a> and Digital India <a name="_ftnref4"></a> initiatives of the Government of India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>III. SUBMISSION ON THE ISSUES FOR RESOLUTION</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>6. </strong> The following sections provide CIS' views and recommendations on the issues enumerated in section 11 of the discussion paper:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> a) <i> Whether the existing provisions in the various IPR-related legislations, especially the Patents Act, 1970 and antitrust legislations, are adequate to address the issues related to SEPs and their availability on FRAND terms? If not, then can these issues </i> <i>be addressed through appropriate amendments to such IPR-related legislations? If so, what changes should be affected?</i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>A.1. </strong> The issues related to Standard Essential Patents ("<strong>SEPs</strong>") and their licensing on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory ("<strong>FRAND</strong>") basis lie at the intersection of intellectual property ("<strong>IP</strong>") law and competition law <a name="_ftnref5"></a>. As such, in India, the Patents Act, 1970 ("<strong>the Patents Act</strong>") and, the Competition Act, 2002 ("<strong>the Competition Act</strong>") are the relevant legislations to be studied. These have been recently discussed, most recently, by Justice Bakhru in his comprehensive order in<i>Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ)</i> v. <i>Competition Commission of India and Another.</i> <a name="_ftnref6"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>A.2. </strong> It is our submission that at the moment, amendments to the Patents Act and the Competition Act may not be preferred. As Justice Bakhru has noted in the aforesaid decision,<a name="_ftnref7"></a> there is no conflict between the remedies in the Patents Act and in the Competition Act, and, the pursuit of rights and remedies under one of these legislations does not bar a party from pursuing rights and remedies in the other. Further, under both legislations, there are scenarios for the respective authorities - the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks ("<strong>the Controller</strong>") and the Competition Commission of India (" <strong>the CCI</strong>") for the Patents Act and for the Competition Act respectively - to seek inputs from each other.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>A.3. </strong> We also note that the CCI is a fairly nascent regulator; one whose jurisdiction is not yet a settled matter of law. While the judgment in the Ericsson-CCI case<a name="_ftnref8"></a> is indeed a good beginning, we do not believe that the matter has been conclusively decided. Accordingly, given the complex legal questions involved, over not just the interpretation of the Patents Act and the Competition Act, but also constitutional issues around the jurisdiction of regulators and the power of judicial review of the courts,<a name="_ftnref9"></a> we believe that it would be prudent to examine the ruling of the courts on these issues in some detail, before considering amendments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>A.4. </strong> In addition, we are of the opinion that our IP law, and, our competition law, fully honor our international commitments, including the requirements under the TRIPS Agreement.<a name="_ftnref10"></a> As such, we would urge the Government of India to not enter into free trade agreements including, <i>inter alia,</i> the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership,<a name="_ftnref11"></a> that threaten our use of TRIPS flexibilities, and, impose 'TRIPS-plus' obligations.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>A.5. </strong> We also urge the Government of India to adopt a balanced National IPR Policy, and, a National Competition Policy, both of which has been in abeyance for a considerable amount of time. We believe that these policies are crucial to realize the objectives of the Make in India and Digital India initiatives. At the same time, we submit that these policies be balanced, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders, developed through an extensive consultative process, and, suitably modified based on feedback.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> b) What should be the IPR policy of Indian Standard Setting Organizations in developing Standards for Telecommunication sector and other sectors in India where Standard Essential Patents are used? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>B.1.</strong> The discussion paper identifies four Standard Setting Organizations ("<strong>SSOs</strong>") in India, namely, the Telecom Standards Development Society of India ("<strong>TSDSI</strong>"), the Telecommunication Engineering Center ("<strong>TEC</strong>"), the Bureau of Indian Standards (" <strong>BIS</strong>"), the Global ICT Standardization Forum for India ("<strong>GISFI</strong>"), and, the Development Organization of Standards for Telecommunications in India ("<strong>DOSTI</strong>"). Comments on each of their policies have been made in the following paragraphs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>B.2.</strong> The BIS does not have an intellectual property rights ("<strong>IPR</strong>") policy of its own. The BIS Act, 2016 <a name="_ftnref12"></a> does not include one either. As the discussion paper notes, the BIS refers to the IPR policies of the relevant international SSO in the context of technology implemented in India, that is the same or equivalent to the ones developed or maintained by the respective SSOs.We recommend that BIS adopt an IPR policy at the earliest, factoring in India specific requirements differences: a large and exponentially growing mobile device market makes it possible for manufacturers, patent owners and implementers alike to achieve financial gains even with a low margin ("<strong>India specific requirements</strong>"). In addition, our comments on the IPR policy of the TSDSI in paragraph <strong>B.4.</strong> of this submission (below), may also be considered for the content of the BIS' future policy on IPR.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>B.3</strong> . According to the discussion paper, the TEC considers the IPR policies of the International Telecommunication Union. We recommend that like the BIS, the TEC also adopt its own IPR policy, factoring in the India specific requirements detailed above. In addition, our comments on the IPR policy of the TSDSI in paragraph <strong>B.4.</strong> of this submission (below), may also be considered for the content of the BIS' future policy on IPR.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>B.4. </strong> The TSDSI, a relatively new standards body, has defined an IPR policy <a name="_ftnref13"></a>. In respect of this policy, the following observations are presented. <i>First, </i>this policy notes that IPR owners should be adequately and fairly rewarded.<i>Second, </i>it requires members to disclose essential IPRs in a "timely fashion." <a name="_ftnref14"></a> <i>Third, </i>as per its policy, the TSDSI can request the owner of an essential IPR to undertake, within three months, to license it irrevocably on FRAND terms. <a name="_ftnref15"></a> At the same time, the policy also states that the (aforesaid) ask may be subject to the condition that licensees agree to reciprocate. <a name="_ftnref16"></a> Should such an undertaking not be forthcoming, the TSDSI may suspend work on the standard or technical specification in question, or, adopt another course of action. <a name="_ftnref17"></a> <i>Fourth, </i>the policy identifies two scenarios for the non availability of licences prior to publication, <a name="_ftnref18"></a> based on the existence, or, the lack thereof, of alternative technologies. In the event of a lack of alternative technology, the policy requires a member to disclose in writing its reasons for not licensing its patents. Following this, it is submitted that there is no clarity on the concrete steps that the TSDSI would adopt in case the efforts to convince a member to license their essential IPRs, fail. The policy only states that "the TSDSI shall take further action as deemed fit."<a name="_ftnref19"></a> The same is also true where the IPR owner is not a member of the TSDSI. <a name="_ftnref20"></a> <i>Fifth, </i>the policy also envisages a scenario of non-availability post publication. <a name="_ftnref21"></a> The procedure for dealing with this is akin to the one detailed above, with the TSDSI asking for a written explanation, considering further action, including the possible withdrawal of the standard or technical specification in question. <i>Sixth, </i>it is observed that the policy does not require a commitment from its members to refrain from seeking injunctive relief. <i>Seventh, </i>it is accordingly recommended that the policy be suitably modified (a) to include India specific requirements discussed above; (b) to require a commitment from its members, that they refrain from seeking injunctive relief; (c) to delete the condition where FRAND negotiations may be subject to a condition of reciprocity; (d) to identify in detail the procedure to be followed in case of patent 'hold-ups' and patent 'hold-outs'; (e) to identify in detail the procedure to be followed in case of refusal to license by TSDSI members, and, non-members, both; and, (f) to include a detailed process on the declassification of a standard or technical specification.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>B.5. </strong> The IPR policy of GISFI<a name="_ftnref22"></a>, is substantially similar to the IPR policy of the TSDSI, discussed in paragraph <strong>B.4.</strong> of this submission (above). <i>Inter alia, </i> GISFI's IPR policy also does not indicate the specific steps to be taken in case an IPR owner refuses to license essential IPRs for which no alternative technology is available. This is true in the cases both, where the refusal is by a member, and, by a non-member. <a name="_ftnref23"></a>Our recommendations on the IPR policy of the TSDSI in paragraph <strong>B.4.</strong> of this submission (above), may also be considered for the GISFI's IPR policy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>B.6. </strong> According to the discussion paper, the IPR policy of the DOSTI resembles that of the GIFSI. It is submitted that these policies are similar in the context of refusal to license by a member or non-member, and, like the TSDSI and the GISFI, the DOSTI also requires the patent holder to license its IPR irrevocably on FRAND terms. Accordingly, we reiterate our comments on the IPR policy of the TSDSI in paragraph <strong>B.4.</strong> of this submission (above). The aforesaid recommendations may also be considered to be relevant for the DOSTI's IPR policy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>B.7.</strong> We are also of the opinion that it would be useful for Indian SSOs to consider recommending the use of royalty-free licenses for IPRs. Illustratively, the World Wide Web Consortium ("<strong>W3C</strong>") <a name="_ftnref24"></a> and the Open Mobile Alliance ("<strong>OMA</strong>") <a name="_ftnref25"></a> encourage royalty-free licensing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> c) Whether there is a need for prescribing guidelines on working and operation of Standard Setting Organizations by Government of India? If so, what all areas of working of SSOs should they cover? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>C.1. </strong> In our opinion, in a milieu where instances of SEP litigation are becoming increasingly complex, and, there is a tangible threat of the abuse of the FRAND process, it might be useful for the Government of India to make suggestions on the working of Indian SSOs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>C.2. </strong> It is suggested that the Government of India develop Model Guidelines that may be adopted by Indian SSOs, taking into account India specific requirements, including the ones detailed in paragraph <strong>B.2.</strong> of this submission (above). We believe that this measure will also enable the fulfilment of the objectives of the Make in India and Digital India initiatives.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>C.3. </strong> We recommend that various stakeholders, including IP holders, potential licensees and users of IP, civil society organizations, academics, and, government bodies, including the the Indian Patent Office ("<strong>IPO</strong>"), the Department of Telecommunications, the DIPP, TRAI, and, the CCI be consulted in the creation of these Model Guidelines.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>C.4.</strong> In our opinion, the Model Guidelines may cover (a) the composition of the SSO; (b) the process of admitting members; (c) the process of the determination of a standard or technical specification; (d) the process of declassification of a standard or technical specification; (e) the IPR Policy; (f) resolution of disputes; (g) applicable law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> d) Whether there is a need for prescribing guidelines on setting or fixing the royalties in respect of Standard Essential Patents and defining FRAND terms by Government of India? If not, which would be appropriate authority to issue the guidelines and what could be the possible FRAND terms? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>D.1. </strong> In light of the inadequacies in the IPR policies (discussed above) of various SSOs in India, as well the the spate of ongoing patent infringement lawsuits around mobile technologies, we recommend that the Government of India intervene in the setting of royalties and FRAND terms.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>D.2. </strong> We propose that the Government of India initiate the formation of a patent pool of critical mobile technologies and apply a compulsory license with a five per cent royalty<a name="_ftnref26"></a>. Further details of this proposal have been enumerated in answer to question 'f' of the discussion paper (below).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>D.3.</strong> Our motivations for this proposal are many-fold.<i> </i>In our opinion, it is near-impossible for potential licensees to avoid inadvertent patent infringement. As a part of our ongoing research on technical standards applicable to mobile phones sold in India, we have found nearly 300 standards so far <a name="_ftnref27"></a>. It is submitted that carrying out patent searches for all the standards would be extremely expensive for potential licensees. Further, even if such searches were to be carried out, different patent owners, SSOs and potential licensees disagree on valuation, essentiality, enforceability, validity, and coverage of patents. In addition, some patent owners are non-practising entities ("<strong>NPEs</strong>") and may not be members of SSOs. The patents held by them are not likely to be disclosed. More importantly, home-grown manufacturers that have no patents to leverage and may be new entrants in the market would be especially disadvantaged by such a scenario. Budget phone manufacturers, standing to incur losses either as a result of heavy licensing fees, or, potential litigation, may close down. Alternatively, they may pass on their losses to consumers, driving the now-affordable phones out of their financial reach. With the objectives of Make in India and Digital India in sight, it is essential that Indian consumers continue to have access to devices within their purchasing power.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> e) On what basis should the royalty rates in SEPs be decided? Should it be based on Smallest Saleable Patent Practicing Component (SSPPC), or on the net price of the Downstream Product, or some other criterion? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>E.1. </strong> It is our submission that royalty rates for SEPs should be based on the smallest saleable patent practising component ("<strong>SSPPC</strong>"). Most modern telecommunication and IT devices are complex with numerous technologies working in tandem. Different studies indicate that the number of patents in the US applicable to smartphones is between 200,000 and 250,000. <a name="_ftnref28"></a> A comprehensive patent landscape of mobile device technologies conducted by CIS reveals that nearly 4,000 patents are applicable to mobile phones sold in India. <a name="_ftnref29"></a> It is thus extremely difficult to quantify the exact extent of interaction and interdependence between technologies in any device, in such a way that the exact contribution of the patented technology to the entire device can be determined.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>E.2. </strong> The net cost of the device is almost always several times that of the chipset that implements the patented technology. Armstrong et al <a name="_ftnref30"></a> have found that the cost of a 4G baseband chip costs up to $20 including royalties in a hypothetical $400 phone sold in the US. One of the litigating parties in the ongoing patent infringement lawsuits in India has stated that one of the reasons for preferring to leverage its patents as downstream as possible in the value chain is that it will earn the company more royalties <a name="_ftnref31"></a>. In instances where patent exhaustion occurs much earlier in the value chain, such as in the case of the company's cross-licenses with Qualcomm (another company that owns patents to chip technologies), the company does not try to obtain royalties from the selling prices of devices for the cross-licensed technologies. It is submitted that such market practices could be detrimental to the government's objectives such as providing a mobile handset to every Indian by 2020 as a part of the Digital India programme <a name="_ftnref32"></a>. It is also worth noting in this context that the mobile device is the first and only medium of access to the Internet and telecom services for a large number of Indians, and, consequently, the only gateway to access to knowledge, information and critical services, including banking. <a name="_ftnref33"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>E.3. </strong> The discussion paper notes that J. Gregory Sidak, having studied the proceedings before the Delhi High Court, approved of the manner in which the court determined royalties.<a name="_ftnref34"></a> In his paper, Sidak(2015)<a name="_ftnref35"></a> notes that in determining royalties, the court relied, <i>inter alia, </i>on the decision of <i>CSIRO</i> v.<i>Cisco</i> ("<strong>the CSIRO case</strong>"), a 2015 decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 2015. <a name="_ftnref36"></a> We humbly disagree with the opinion of the Delhi High Court on the manner of determining royalties, and, with Sidak's approval of the same.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>E.4.</strong> It is our submission that the CSIRO case <a name="_ftnref37"></a> relied on a previous judgment, which we disagree with. The decision, a 2014 district court judgment, analogises the determination of royalties on SEPs to the determination of royalties on a copyrighted book. The court notes, "[b]asing a royalty solely on chip price is like valuing a copyrighted book based only on the costs of the binding, paper, and ink needed to actually produce the physical product. While such a calculation captures the cost of the physical product, it provides no indication of its actual value." In our opinion, this analogy is flawed. While a book is a distinct product as a whole, a mobile phone is a sum-total of its parts. If at all, a mobile phone could be compared with a book with several authors, as multiple technologies belonging to several patent holders are implemented in it. This judgement bases valuation for one set of technologies on the whole device, thus awarding compensation to the licensor even for those technologies implemented in the device that are not related to the licensed technologies. In our opinion, charging royalty on the net selling price of a device for one technology or one set of technologies is thus more like a referral scheme and less like actual compensation for the value added. Accordingly, royalties must be charged on the SSPPC principle.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> f) Whether total payment of royalty in case of various SEPs used in one product should be capped? If so, then should this limit be fixed by Government of India or some other statutory body or left to be decided among the parties? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.1. </strong> CIS has proposed a compulsory licensing fee of five per cent on a patent pool of critical mobile technologies. The rationale for this figure is the royalty cap imposed by India in the early 1990s.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.2.</strong> As part of regulating foreign technology agreements, the (former) Department of Industrial Development (later merged with the DIPP) capped royalty rates in the early 1990s. Payment of royalties was capped at either a lump sum payment of $2 million, or, 5 percent on the royalty rates charged for domestic sale, and, 8 percent for export of goods pertaining to "high priority industries". <a name="_ftnref38"></a> Royalties higher than 5 percent or 8 percent, as the case may be, required securing approval from the government.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.3.</strong> While the early 1990s (specifically, 1991) was too early for the mobile device manufacturing industry to be listed among high priority industries, the public announcement by the government covered computer software, consumer electronics, and electrical and electronic appliances for home use. The cap on royalty rates was lifted by the DIPP in 2009. <a name="_ftnref39"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.4.</strong> It is submitted in the case of mobile device technology, we are witnessing a situation similar to that of the 1990s. In this sphere, most of the patent holders are multinational corporations which results in large royalty amounts leaving India. At the same time, in our opinion, litigation over patent infringement in India has limited the manufacture and sale of mobile devices of homegrown brands.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.5.</strong> We believe that the aforementioned developments are detrimental to the Make in India and Digital India initiatives of the Government of India, and, the government's aim of encouraging local manufacturing, facilitating indigenous innovation, as well as strengthening India's intellectual property regime. It is our submission, therefore, that the payment of royalties on SEPs be capped.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.6.</strong> We submit that such a measure is particularly important, given the nature of SEP litigation in India. While SEP litigation in India is indeed comparable to international SEP litigation on broader issues raised, specifically competition law concerns, but differs crucially where the parties are concerned. International SEP litigation is largely between multinational corporations with substantial patent portfolios, capable of engaging in long drawn out litigations, or engaging in other strategies including setting off against each other's patent portfolios. Dynamics in the Indian market differ - with a larger SEP holder litigating against smaller manufacturers, many of whom are indigenous, home-grown. <a name="_ftnref40"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.7.</strong> In June, 2013, we had recommended to the erstwhile Hon'ble Minister for Human Resource Development <a name="_ftnref41"></a> that a patent pool of essential technologies be established, with the compulsory licensing mechanism. Subsequently, in February, 2015, we reiterated this request to the Hon'ble Prime Minister.<a name="_ftnref42"></a> We propose that the Government of India initiate the formation of a patent pool of critical mobile technologies and mandate a five percent compulsory license. <a name="_ftnref43"></a> As we have stated in our request to the Hon'ble Prime Minister, we believe that such a pool would "possibly avert patent disputes by ensuring that the owners' rights are not infringed on, that budget manufacturers are not put out of business owing to patent feuds, and that consumers continue to get access to inexpensive mobile devices. Several countries including the United States issue compulsory licenses on patents in the pharmaceutical, medical, defence, software, and engineering domains for reasons of public policy, or to thwart or correct anti-competitive practices." <a name="_ftnref44"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>F.8.</strong> We believe that such a measure is not in breach of our international obligations under the TRIPS Agreement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong><i>g) Whether the practice of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) leads to misuse of dominant position and is against the FRAND terms?</i></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>G.1.</strong> The issue of Non Disclosure Agreements ("<strong>NDAs</strong>") in SEP/FRAND litigation is a contentious one. Patent holders argue that they are essential to the license negotiation process to protect confidential information, whereas potential licensees submit that NDAs result in the imposition of onerous conditions.<a name="_ftnref45"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>G.2.</strong> In India's SEP litigation, the use of NDAs has been raised as an issue in at least two cases - separately by Intex<a name="_ftnref46"></a> and by iBall <a name="_ftnref47"></a>, in their cases against Ericsson. Intex and iBall have both claimed that the NDAs that Ericsson asked them to sign were onerous, and favoured Ericsson.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>G.3.</strong> According to Intex, the NDA in question would result in high legal costs for Intex, and, would render it unable to disclose crucial information to its vendors (who had agreed to supply to Intex on the condition that Intex was not infringing on any patents). <a name="_ftnref48"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>G.4.</strong> According to iBall, the parties had agreed to enter a global patent license agreement ("<strong>GPLA</strong>") but Ericsson insisted on an NDA. Upon receiving the terms of the NDA, iBall claimed before the CCI that Ericsson's refusal to identify the allegedly infringed SEPs; the threat of patent infringement proceedings; the attempt to coax iBall to enter into a "one-sided and onerous NDA"; the tying and bundling patents irrelevant to iBall's products by way of a GPLA; demanding unreasonably high royalties by way of a certain percentage value of handset as opposed to the cost of actual patented technology used all constituted abuse of Ericsson's dominant position under Section 4 of the Competition Act. <a name="_ftnref49"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>G.5.</strong> In India, the law on misuse (abuse) of dominant position by an 'enterprise' is found primarily in Section 4 of the Competition Act (read with Section 2(h) of the Competition Act, which defines 'enterprise'). In its recent decision in the Ericsson-CCI case <a name="_ftnref50"></a>, the Delhi High Court has found Ericsson to be an 'enterprise' for the purposes of the Competition Act, and hence subject to an inquiry under Section 4 of the same legislation. In the same decision, the court has also recognised the jurisdiction of the CCI to examine Ericsson's conduct for abuse of behaviour, based on complaints by Micromax and Intex. The use of NDAs is one of the grounds on which the parties have complained to the CCI.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>G.6.</strong> Pending a final determination by the CCI (and subsequent appeals), it would be premature to make an absolute claim on whether the use of NDAs results in an abuse of dominant position in <i>all</i> instances. However, the following submissions are made: <i>First, </i>the determination of misuse/abuse of dominant position is influenced by a number of factors <a name="_ftnref51"></a>, i.e., such a determination should be made on a case to case basis. <i>Second, </i>the market regulator, the CCI, is best situated to determine (a) abuse of dominance, and (b) whether the use of NDAs by an enterprise constitutes an abuse of its dominance. <i>Third, </i>the question of whether the use of NDAs constitutes misuse of dominance needs to be addressed in two parts - (a) whether the use of the NDA <i>itself </i>is abusive, irrespective of its terms and, (b) whether the use of certain specific terms renders the NDA abusive. <i>Fourth, </i>NDAs could potentially lead to the patent owner abusing its dominant position in the market, as well as result in an invalidation of FRAND commitments and terms. NDAs make it impossible to determine if a patent holder is engaging in discriminatory licensing practices. <i>Fifth, </i>NDAs are especially harmful in the case of NPEs-- companies that hold patents and monetise them but don't build or manufacture the components or devices that implement the technology associated with the patents.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> h) What should be the appropriate mode and remedy for settlement of disputes in matters related to SEPs, especially while deciding FRAND terms? Whether Injunctions are a suitable remedy in cases pertaining to SEPs and their availability on FRAND terms? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>H.1.</strong> The licensing of SEPs on FRAND terms requires the parties to negotiate "reasonable" royalty rates in good faith, and apply the terms uniformly to all willing licensees. It is our submission that if the parties cannot agree to FRAND terms, they may enter into binding arbitration. Further, if all efforts fail, there exist remedies under the Patents Act and the Competition Act, 2002 to address the issues.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>H.2.</strong> Section 115 of the Patents Act empowers the court to appoint an independent scientific adviser " <i> to assist the court or to inquire and report upon any such question of fact or of opinion (not involving a question of interpretation of law) as it may formulate for the purpose. </i> "<a name="_ftnref52"></a> Such an independent adviser may inform the court on the technical nuances of the matter.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>H.3. </strong> Further<strong>, </strong>under the Patents Act, pending the decision of infringement proceedings the Court may provide interim relief, if the plaintiff proves <i>first, </i>a prima facie case of infringement; <i>second, </i>that the balance of convenience tilts in plaintiff's favour; and, <i>third, </i>that if an injunction is not granted the plaintiff shall suffer irreparable damage. <strong>H.4. </strong>However, it is our suggestion that courts adopt a more cautious stance towards granting injunctions in the field of SEP litigation. <i>First, </i>in our opinion, injunctions may prove to be a deterrent to arrive at a FRAND commitment, in particular, egregiously harming the willing licensee. <i>Second, </i>especially in the Indian scenario, where litigating parties operate in vastly different price segments (thereby targeting consumers with different purchasing power), it is difficult to establish that "irreparable damage" has been caused to the patent owner on account of infringement. <i>Third, </i>we note the approach of the European Court of Justice, which prohibited the patent holder from enforcing an injunction provided a willing licensee makes an offer for the price it wishes to pay to use a patent under the condition that it deposited an amount in the bank as a security for the patent holder. <a name="_ftnref53"></a> <i>Fourth, </i>we also note the approach of the Federal Trade Commission in the USA, which only authorizes patent holders to seek injunctive relief against potential licensees who have either stated that they will not license a patent on any terms, or refuse to enter into a license agreement on terms that have been set in the final ruling of a court or arbitrator. <a name="_ftnref54"></a> Further, as Contreras (2015)<a name="_ftnref55"></a> observes, that the precise boundaries of what constitutes as an unwilling licensee remains to be seen. We observe a similar ambiguity in Indian jurisprudence, and accordingly submit that courts should carefully examine the conduct of the licensee to injunct them from the alleged infringement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong><i>i) What steps can be taken to make the practice of Cross-Licensing transparent so that royalty rates are fair & reasonable?</i></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>I.1.</strong> The Patents Act requires patentees and licensees to submit a statement on commercial working of the invention to the Controller every year. <a name="_ftnref56"></a> Form 27 under section 146(2) of the Act lists the details necessary to be disclosed for compliance of the requirement of "working". A jurisprudential analysis reveals the rationale and objective behind this mandatory requirement. Undeniably, the scheme of the Indian patent regime makes it amply clear that "working" is a very important requirement, and the public as well as competitors have a right to access this information in a timely manner, without undue hurdles. <a name="_ftnref57"></a> Indeed, as the decision in <i>Natco Pharma</i> v. <i>Bayer Corporation</i> <a name="_ftnref58"></a> reveals, the disclosures in Form 27 were crucial to determining the imposition of a compulsory license on the patentee. Thus, broadly, Form 27 disclosures can critically enable willing licensees to access patent "working" information in a timely manner.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>I.2.</strong> However, there has been little compliance of this requirement by the patentees, despite the IPO reiterating the importance of compliance through the issuance of multiple public notices <a name="_ftnref59"></a> (suo motu and in response to a public interest litigation filed in 2011 <a name="_ftnref60"></a>), and, reminding the patentees that non-compliance is punishable with a heavy fine. <a name="_ftnref61"></a> Findings of research submitted by one of the parties<a name="_ftnref62"></a> in the writ of the<a></a><a></a><a>2011</a><a name="_msoanchor_1"></a><a name="_msoanchor_2"></a><a name="_msoanchor_3"></a> public interest litigation<i>Shamnad Basheer </i>v. <i>Union of India and others</i><a name="_ftnref63"></a> reveal as follows. <i>First, </i>a large number of Form 27s are unavailable for download from the website of the IPO. This possibly indicates that the forms have either not been filed by the patentees with the IPO, or have not been uploaded (yet) by the IPO. <i>Second, </i>a large number of filings in the telecom sector remain incomplete.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>I.3. </strong> In 2015, CIS queried the IPO website for Form 27s of nearly 4,400 patents. CIS' preliminary research (ongoing and unpublished) echoes findings <a name="_ftnref64"></a> similar to the ones disclosed in the case discussed in paragraph <strong>I.2.</strong> of this submission (above).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>I.4.</strong> In view of the submissions above, CIS makes the following recommendations to make the practice of cross-licensing transparent so that royalty rates are fair & reasonable: <i>first, </i>that there be a strict enforcement of the submission of Form 27s on a regular and timely basis by the patentees; and, <i>second, </i>that guidelines may be drawn up on whether it was discriminatory to charge no royalties (whether on the SSPPU or on the whole device) for a patent holder in a cross-licensing arrangement with another, when it charges royalty on the selling price of the device from a non-cross-licensor.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong><i>j) What steps can be taken to make the practice of Patent Pooling transparent so that royalty rates are fair & reasonable?</i></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>J.1.</strong> Patent pools can be understood as an agreement between two or more patent owners to license one or more of their patents to one another or to third parties.<a name="_ftnref65"></a> Thus, the creation of a patent pool makes use of the legal instrument of licensing, similar to the practice of cross-licensing. Insofar, we reiterate our recommendations made in paragraph <strong>I.3. </strong>of this submission (above), which apply to the answer to the instant question.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>J.2.</strong> In furtherance of the recommendation above, we also propose the alteration of the Form 27 template <a name="_ftnref66"></a> to include more disclosures. Presently, patentees are required to to declare number of licensees and sub-licensees. We specifically propose that the format of Form 27 filings be modified to include patent pool licenses, with an explicit declaration of the names of the licensees and not just the number.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>J.3. </strong> It is also our submission that patent pools be required to offer FRAND licenses on the same terms to both members and non-members of the pool.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> k) How should it be determined whether a patent declared as SEP is actually an Essential Patent, particularly when bouquets of patents are used in one device? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>K.1.</strong> We submit that several studies on the essentiality of SEPs indicate that only a small percentage of SEPs are actually essential. A study conducted by<i>Goodman </i>and <i>Myers </i>(2004) showed that only 21% of SEPs pertaining to the 3G standard in the US were deemed to be actually essential. <a name="_ftnref67"></a> Another study conducted by the same authors in 2009 for WCDMA patents showed that 28% SEPs were essential. <a name="_ftnref68"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>K.2.</strong> In our opinion, <i>first, </i>the methodology adopted by <i>Goodman </i>and <i>Myers</i> <a name="_ftnref69"></a><i> </i>could be replicated to determine the "essential" nature of an SEP. <i>Second, </i>while adopting their methodology, it would be useful to address some of the issues over which these studies were critiqued. <a name="_ftnref70"></a> Accordingly, we suggest that (a) laboratory tests may be conducted by an outside expert or by a commercial testing laboratory, and not at an in-house facility owned by either parties, so as to eliminate in the lab results; and, (b) expert opinions may be considered in order to determine essentiality.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> l) Whether there is a need of setting up of an independent expert body to determine FRAND terms for SEPs and devising methodology for such purpose? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>L.1.</strong> In our opinion, there is no need for an independent expert body to determine FRAND terms for SEPs and devising the methodology for such a purpose. The existing legal and regulatory framework is reasonably equipped to determine FRAND terms. A more detailed submission on the existing framework and suggested changes has been made in our answer to question 'a' of the discussion paper (above).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>L.2.</strong> However, we observe that Indian courts, tribunals and the CCI are yet to endorse a methodology for making FRAND determinations. The judgments of the Delhi High Court do not provide a conclusive rationale or methodology for the imposition of royalty rates in the respective matters. <a name="_ftnref71"></a> <strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>L.3. </strong> We submit that<strong> </strong>in the absence of definitive Indian jurisprudence for determination of FRAND terms, American jurisprudence provides certain guidance. Contreras<a name="_ftnref72"></a> (2015) informs us about the various case law American courts and regulators have developed and adhered to whilst making such determinations.The dominant analytical framework for determining "reasonable royalty" patent damages in the United States today was set out in 1970 by the District Court for the Southern District of New York in <i>Georgia-Pacific Corp. </i>v. <i> U.S. Plywood Corp <a name="_ftnref73"></a> </i> . While this may be used as a guiding framework, the question of methodology remains far from settled.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong> <i> m) If certain Standards can be met without infringing any particular SEP, for instance by use of some alternative technology or because the patent is no longer in force, what should be the process to declassify such a SEP? </i> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>M.1. </strong> In our opinion, if a standard can be met without infringing a patent declared to be "essential" to it, then the patent is not actually "essential". In this instance, the methods suggested in response to question 'k' of the discussion paper (above) could be used to declassify the SEP.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>M.2. </strong> We further submit that if a patent is no longer in force, that is, if it has expired, then it ceases to be patent, and therefore an SEP. The process to declassify such an SEP could be simply to declare it an expired patent.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>M.3. </strong> In addition, if it is possible to implement a certain standard by using an alternative technology, then the SEP for such a standard is not actually an SEP. However, the scale of operations and that of mass manufacturing and compatibility requirements in devices and infrastructure mean that it is unlikely to have different methods of implementing the same standard.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>M.4.</strong> In general, it is our submission that an Indian SSO could maintain a publicly accessible database of SEPs found to be invalid or non-essential in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>7. </strong> We reiterate our gratitude to the DIPP for the opportunity to make these submissions. In addition to our comments above, we have shared some of our research on this issue, in the 'Annexures', below.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>8. </strong> It would be our pleasure and privilege to discuss these comments with the DIPP; and, supplement these with further submissions if necessary. We also offer our assistance on other matters aimed at developing a suitable policy framework for SEPs and FRAND in India, and, working towards the sustained innovation, manufacture and availability of mobile technologies in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>On behalf of the Centre for Internet and Society, 22 April, 2016</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Anubha Sinha - <a>anubha@cis-india.org</a> | Nehaa Chaudhari - <a>nehaa@cis-india.org</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Rohini Lakshané - <a>rohini@cis-india.org</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>___________________________________________________________________________</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">___________________________________________________________________________</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>ANNEXURES</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>___________________________________________________________________________</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Anubha Sinha, Fuelling the Affordable Smartphone Revolution in India, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digital-asia-hub-the-good-life-in-asias-21-st-century-anubha-sinha-fueling-the-affordable-smartphone-revolution-in-india"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digital-asia-hub-the-good-life-in-asias-21-st-century-anubha-sinha-fueling-the-affordable-smartphone-revolution-in-india </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Nehaa Chaudhari, Standard Essential Patents on Low-Cost Mobile Phones in India: A Case to Strengthen Competition Regulation?, available at <a href="http://www.manupatra.co.in/newsline/articles/Upload/08483340-C1B9-4BA4-B6A9-D6B6494391B8.pdf"> http://www.manupatra.co.in/newsline/articles/Upload/08483340-C1B9-4BA4-B6A9-D6B6494391B8.pdf </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Nehaa Chaudhari, Pervasive Technologies:Patent Pools, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-pools">http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-pools</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Nehaa Chaudhari, The Curious Case of the CCI:Competition Law and SEP Regulation in India, presented at the 4th Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, <span>available </span>at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-curious-case-of-the-cci-competition-law-and-sep-regulation-in-india"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-curious-case-of-the-cci-competition-law-and-sep-regulation-in-indi </a> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-curious-case-of-the-cci-competition-law-and-sep-regulation-in-india">a</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Nehaa Chaudhari, Letter for Establishment of Patent Pool for Low Cost Access Devices through Compulsory Licences, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-for-establishment-of-patent-pool-for-low-cost-access-devices"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-for-establishment-of-patent-pool-for-low-cost-access-devices </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Prof Jorge L. Contreras and Rohini Lakshané, Patents and Mobile Devices in India: An Empirical Survey, available at <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2756486">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2756486</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Rohini Lakshané, CIS, List of technical standards and IP types (Working document), available at <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SgjShAjhbtaml5eW50bS01d2s/view?usp=sharing"> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SgjShAjhbtaml5eW50bS01d2s/view?usp=sharing </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Rohini Lakshané, Open Letter to Prime Minister Modi, February 2015, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi">http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Rohini Lakshané, FAQ: CIS' proposal to form a patent pool of critical mobile technology, September 2015, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/faq-cis-proposal-for-compulsory-licensing-of-critical-mobile-technologies"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/faq-cis-proposal-for-compulsory-licensing-of-critical-mobile-technologies </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Rohini Lakshané, Joining the dots in India's big-ticket mobile phone patent litigation, May 2015, last updated October 2015, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/joining-the-dots-in-indias-big-ticket-mobile-phone-patent-litigation"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/joining-the-dots-in-indias-big-ticket-mobile-phone-patent-litigation </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Rohini Lakshané, Compilation of Mobile Phone Patent Litigation Cases in India, March 2015, last updated April 2016, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/compilation-of-mobile-phone-patent-litigation-cases-in-india"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/compilation-of-mobile-phone-patent-litigation-cases-in-india </a> , (last accessed April 22, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Rohini Lakshané, Patent landscaping in the Indian Mobile Device Marketplace, presented at the 4th Global Congress on Intellectual Property and Public Interest, December 2015, available at <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8SgjShAjhbtME45N245SmowOGs">https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8SgjShAjhbtME45N245SmowOGs</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">● Vikrant Narayan Vasudeva, Patent Valuation and Licence Fee Determination in the Context of Patent Pools, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-valuation-and-license-fee-determination-in-context-of-patent-pools"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-valuation-and-license-fee-determination-in-context-of-patent-pools </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
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<p><a name="_ftn1"></a> This submission has been authored by (alphabetically) Anubha Sinha, Nehaa Chaudhari and Rohini Lakshané, on behalf of the Centre for Internet and Society, India.</p>
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<p><a name="_ftn2"></a> See The Centre for Internet and Society, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/">http://cis-india.org</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016) for details of the organization, and, our work.</p>
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<p><a name="_ftn3"></a> Make in India, available at <a href="http://www.makeinindia.com/home">http://www.makeinindia.com/home</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<p><a name="_ftn4"></a> Digital India, available at <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/">http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<p><a name="_ftn5"></a> See Nehaa Chaudhari, The Curious Case of the CCI:Competition Law and SEP Regulation in India, presented at the 4th Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-curious-case-of-the-cci-competition-law-and-sep-regulation-in-india"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-curious-case-of-the-cci-competition-law-and-sep-regulation-in-india </a> (last accessed 21 April, 2016) for further details on relevant provisions.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<p><a name="_ftn6"></a> In the High Court of Delhi, W.P.(C) 464/2014 & CM Nos. 911/2014 & 915/2014, judgment delivered on 30 March, 2016. Hereafter referred to as the Ericsson-CCI judgment.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn7">
<p><a name="_ftn7"></a> Id.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn8">
<p><a name="_ftn8"></a> Id.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn9">
<p><a name="_ftn9"></a> Under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, and, under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, for the High Courts and the Supreme Court, respectively.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn10">
<p><a name="_ftn10"></a> Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, available at <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/t_agm0_e.htm">https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/t_agm0_e.htm</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn11">
<p><a name="_ftn11"></a> KEI Staff, 2015 October 15 version: RCEP IP Chapter, available at <a href="http://keionline.org/node/2472">http://keionline.org/node/2472</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn12">
<p><a name="_ftn12"></a> BIS Act, 2016, available at <a href="http://www.bis.org.in/bs/bsindex.asp">http://www.bis.org.in/bs/bsindex.asp</a> (last accessed 21 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn13">
<p><a name="_ftn13"></a> TSDSI, Intellectual Property Rights Policy, available at <a href="http://www.tsdsi.org/media/Help/2014-12-17/TSDSI-PLD-40-V1.0.0-20141217.pdf"> http://www.tsdsi.org/media/Help/2014-12-17/TSDSI-PLD-40-V1.0.0-20141217.pdf </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn14">
<p><a name="_ftn14"></a> Id at Clause 3.1.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn15">
<p><a name="_ftn15"></a> Id at Clause 5.1.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn16">
<p><a name="_ftn16"></a> Id at Clause 5.2.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn17">
<p><a name="_ftn17"></a> Id at Clause 5.5.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn18">
<p><a name="_ftn18"></a> Id at Clauses 7.1. and 7.2.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn19">
<p><a name="_ftn19"></a> Id at Clause 7.2.1.a (iii).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn20">
<p><a name="_ftn20"></a> Id at Clause 7.2.1.b(iii).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn21">
<p><a name="_ftn21"></a> Id at Clause 7.3.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn22">
<p><a name="_ftn22"></a> GISFI, Intellectual Property Rights Policy, available at <a href="http://www.gisfi.org/ipr_policy/gisfi_intellectual_property_righ.htm"> http://www.gisfi.org/ipr_policy/gisfi_intellectual_property_righ.htm </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn23">
<p><a name="_ftn23"></a> Id at Clauses 6.2.1.a(iii) and 6.2.1.b(iii).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn24">
<p><a name="_ftn24"></a> See W3C, Patent Policy, available at <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016) for more details on their royalty-free licences.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn25">
<p><a name="_ftn25"></a> See OMA, Use Agreement, available at <a href="http://openmobilealliance.org/about-oma/policies-and-terms-of-use/use-agreement/"> http://openmobilealliance.org/about-oma/policies-and-terms-of-use/use-agreement/ </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016) for more details on their royalty-free licences.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn26">
<p><a name="_ftn26"></a> See Rohini Lakshané, Open Letter to PM Modi, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi">http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-letter-to-prime-minister-modi</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016) for further details of CIS' proposal.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn27">
<p><a name="_ftn27"></a> Rohini Lakshané, CIS, List of Technical Standards and IP Types (Working document), available at <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SgjShAjhbtaml5eW50bS01d2s/view?usp=sharing"> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8SgjShAjhbtaml5eW50bS01d2s/view?usp=sharing </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn28">
<p><a name="_ftn28"></a> Mark Lemley and Carl Shapiro, Patent Holdup and Royalty Stacking,<i> 85 Tex. L. Rev. at 2015</i>; See also, for e.g., RPX Corporation, Amendment No. 3 to Form S-l, 11 Apr. 2011, at 59, available at <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1509432/000119312511101007/ds1a.htm"> http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1509432/000119312511101007/ds1a.htm </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016), quoting - <i>"Based on our research, we believe there are more than 250,000 active patents relevant to today's smartphones…"</i>.; See further Steve Lohr, Apple- Samsung Case Shows Smartphone as Legal Magnet,<i> </i>New York Times, 25 Aug. 2012, available at <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/technology/apple-samsung-case-shows-smartphone-as-lawsuit-magnet.html"> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/technology/apple-samsung-case-shows-smartphone-as-lawsuit-magnet.html </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn29">
<p><a name="_ftn29"></a> Jorge L. Contreras and Rohini Lakshané, Patents and Mobile Devices in India: An Empirical Survey, available at <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2756486">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2756486</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn30">
<p><a name="_ftn30"></a> Ann Armstrong, Joseph J. Mueller and Timothy D. Syrett, The Smartphone- Royalty Stack:Surveying Royalty Demands for the Components Within Modern Smartphones, available at <a href="https://www.wilmerhale.com/uploadedFiles/Shared_Content/Editorial/Publications/Documents/The-Smartphone-Royalty-Stack-Armstrong-Mueller-Syrett.pdf"> https://www.wilmerhale.com/uploadedFiles/Shared_Content/Editorial/Publications/Documents/The-Smartphone-Royalty-Stack-Armstrong-Mueller-Syrett.pdf </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn31">
<p><a name="_ftn31"></a> Florian Mueller,<i> </i>Ericsson Explained Publicly why it Collects Patent Royalties from Device (Not Chipset) Makers, available at <a href="http://www.fosspatents.com/2014/01/ericsson-explained-publicly-why-its.html"> http://www.fosspatents.com/2014/01/ericsson-explained-publicly-why-its.html </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn32">
<p><a name="_ftn32"></a> Romit Guha and Anandita Singh Masinkotia, PM Modi's Digital India Project:Government to Ensure that Every Indian has a Smartphone by 2019, available at <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-25/news/53205445_1_digital-india-india-today-financial-services"> http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-25/news/53205445_1_digital-india-india-today-financial-services </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn33">
<p><a name="_ftn33"></a> Nehaa Chaudhari,<i> </i>Standard Essential Patents on Low-Cost Mobile Phones in India: A Case to Strengthen Competition Regulation?, available at <a href="http://www.manupatra.co.in/newsline/articles/Upload/08483340-C1B9-4BA4-B6A9-D6B6494391B8.pdf"> http://www.manupatra.co.in/newsline/articles/Upload/08483340-C1B9-4BA4-B6A9-D6B6494391B8.pdf </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn34">
<p><a name="_ftn34"></a> See part 10.2.2. of the Discussion Paper, at page 25.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn35">
<p><a name="_ftn35"></a> J.Gregory Sidak, FRAND in India:The Delhi High Court's Emerging Jurisprudence on Royalties for Standard-Essential Patents, available at <a href="http://jiplp.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/06/11/jiplp.jpv096.full"> http://jiplp.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/06/11/jiplp.jpv096.full </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn36">
<p><a name="_ftn36"></a> Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in No. 6:11-cv-00343-LED, decided on 03 December, 2015, available at. <a href="http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/15-1066.Opinion.12-1-2015.1.PDF"> http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/15-1066.Opinion.12-1-2015.1.PDF </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn37">
<p><a name="_ftn37"></a> Id.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn38">
<p><a name="_ftn38"></a> Kumkum Sen, News on Royalty Payments Brings Cheer in New Year, available at <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/news-on-royalty-payment-brings-cheer-in-new-year-110010400044_1.html"> http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/news-on-royalty-payment-brings-cheer-in-new-year-110010400044_1.html </a> (last accessed 21 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn39">
<p><a name="_ftn39"></a> See Sanjana Govil, Putting a Lid on Royalty Outflows- How the RBI Can Help Reduce India's IP Costs<i>, </i>available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/lid-on-royalty-outflows">http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/lid-on-royalty-outflows</a> (last accessed 21 April, 2016), for a discussion on the introduction of royalty caps in the early 1990s, and its success in reducing the flow of money out of India.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn40">
<p><a name="_ftn40"></a> Supra note 33.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn41">
<p><a name="_ftn41"></a> Nehaa Chaudhari, Letter for Establishment of Patent Pool for Low-cost Access Devices through Compulsory Licenses, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-for-establishment-of-patent-pool-for-low-cost-access-devices"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-for-establishment-of-patent-pool-for-low-cost-access-devices </a> <span> </span> (last accessed 21 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn42">
<p><a name="_ftn42"></a> Supra note 26.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn43">
<p><a name="_ftn43"></a> Rohini Lakshané, FAQ: CIS' proposal to form a patent pool of critical mobile technology, September 2015, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/faq-cis-proposal-for-compulsory-licensing-of-critical-mobile-technologies"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/faq-cis-proposal-for-compulsory-licensing-of-critical-mobile-technologies </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn44">
<p><a name="_ftn44"></a> Id.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn45">
<p><a name="_ftn45"></a> See the Ericsson-CCI case, supra note 6, for Intex's submissions as discussed by Justice Bakhru.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn46">
<p><a name="_ftn46"></a> Id.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn47">
<p><a name="_ftn47"></a> Rohini Lakshané, Compilation of Mobile Phone Patent Litigation Cases in India, available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/compilation-of-mobile-phone-patent-litigation-cases-in-india"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/compilation-of-mobile-phone-patent-litigation-cases-in-india </a> (last accessed 21 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn48">
<p><a name="_ftn48"></a> See the Ericsson-CCI case, supra note 6, at paragraph 19.2.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn49">
<p><a name="_ftn49"></a> Supra note 47.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn50">
<p><a name="_ftn50"></a> See the Ericsson-CCI judgment, supra note 6, at paragraphs 88-105.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn51">
<p><a name="_ftn51"></a> Section 19(4) of the Competition Act. See also <i>Competition Commission of India</i> v. <i>Steel Authority of India and Another</i>, (2010) 10 SCC 744.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn52">
<p><a name="_ftn52"></a> Section 115 of the Patents Act, 1970.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn53">
<p><a name="_ftn53"></a> <i>Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd </i> v.<i> ZTE Corp. and ZTE Deutschland</i>, Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 16 July 2015 in GmbH C-170/13.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn54">
<p><a name="_ftn54"></a> Third Party United States Fed. Trade Commission's Statement on the Public Interest, <i>In re Certain Wireless Communication Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, Computers and Components Thereof</i>, U.S. Int'l Trade Comm'n, Inv. No. 337-TA-745 (Jun. 6, 2012).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn55">
<p><a name="_ftn55"></a> Jorge L. Contreras, A Brief History of FRAND: Analyzing Current Debates in Standard Setting and Antitrust Through a Historical Lens<i>,</i> 80 Antitrust Law Journal 39 (2015), available at <span>h</span><a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2374983">ttp://ssrn.com/abstract=2374983</a><span> or</span> <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2374983">http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2374983</a><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2374983"> </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn56">
<p><a name="_ftn56"></a> Section 146(2) of the Patents Act, 1970..</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn57">
<p><a name="_ftn57"></a> Sai Vinod, Patent Office Finally Takes Form 27s Seriously, available at <a href="http://spicyip.com/2013/02/patent-office-finally-takes-form-27s.html"> http://spicyip.com/2013/02/patent-office-finally-takes-form-27s.html </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn58">
<p><a name="_ftn58"></a> Order No. 45/2013 (Intellectual Property Appellate Board, Chennai), available at <a href="http://www.ipab.tn.nic.in/045-2013.htm">http://www.ipab.tn.nic.in/045-2013.htm</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn59">
<p><a name="_ftn59"></a> Intellectual Property India, Public Notice, available at <a href="http://www.ipindia.nic.in/iponew/publicNotice_Form27_12Feb2013.pdf">http://www.ipindia.nic.in/iponew/publicNotice_Form27_12Feb2013.pdf</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016) <i>and</i> Intellectual Property India, Public Notice, available at <a href="http://ipindia.nic.in/iponew/publicNotice_24December2009.pdf">http://ipindia.nic.in/iponew/publicNotice_24December2009.pdf</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn60">
<p><a name="_ftn60"></a> Supra note 57.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn61">
<p><a name="_ftn61"></a> Id.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn62">
<p><a name="_ftn62"></a> See research findings available at <a href="http://spicyip.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/FORM-27-WP-1R-copy.pdf"> http://spicyip.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/FORM-27-WP-1R-copy.pdf </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn63">
<p><a name="_ftn63"></a> In the High Court of Delhi, W.P.(C) 5590/2015. This litigation is currently ongoing. See, illustratively, Mathews P. George, <i>Patent Working in India: Delhi HC issues notice in Shamnad Basheer </i>v<i>. Union of India & Ors. - I</i>, available at <a href="http://spicyip.com/2015/09/patent-working-in-india-delhi-hc-issues-notice-in-shamnad-basheer-v-union-of-india-ors-i.html"> http://spicyip.com/2015/09/patent-working-in-india-delhi-hc-issues-notice-in-shamnad-basheer-v-union-of-india-ors-i.html </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn64">
<p><a name="_ftn64"></a> In response to an RTI request made to the IPO in Mumbai for forms unavailable on the website, CIS received a reply stating, "As thousand [sic] of Form -27 are filed in this office, it is very difficult to segregate Form-27 for the patent numbers enlisted in your RTI application as it needs diversion of huge official staff/ manpower and it will affect day to day [sic] work of this office." This research is ongoing and unpublished. Please contact us for a copy of the RTI application and the response received.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn65">
<p><a name="_ftn65"></a> WIPO Secretariat<i>, </i>Patent Pools and Antitrust - A Comparative Analysis, available at <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wipo.int%2Fexport%2Fsites%2Fwww%2Fip-competition%2Fen%2Fstudies%2Fpatent_pools_report.pdf"> https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wipo.int%2Fexport%2Fsites%2Fwww%2Fip-competition%2Fen%2Fstudies%2Fpatent_pools_report.pdf </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn66">
<p><a name="_ftn66"></a> Form 27, The Patents Act, available at <a href="http://ipindia.nic.in/ipr/patent/manual/HTML%20AND%20PDF/Manual%20of%20Patent%20Office%20Practice%20and%20Procedure%20-%20html/Forms/Form-27.pdf"> http://ipindia.nic.in/ipr/patent/manual/HTML%20AND%20PDF/Manual%20of%20Patent%20Office%20Practice%20and%20Procedure%20-%20html/Forms/Form-27.pdf </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn67">
<p><a name="_ftn67"></a> David J. Goodman and Robert A. Myers, 3G Cellular Standards and Patents, available at <a href="http://patentlyo.com/media/docs/2009/03/wirelesscom2005.pdf">http://patentlyo.com/media/docs/2009/03/wirelesscom2005.pdf</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn68">
<p><a name="_ftn68"></a> Darien CT, Review of Patents Declared as Essential to WCDMA through December, 2008, available at <a href="http://www.frlicense.com/wcdma1.pdf">http://www.frlicense.com/wcdma1.pdf</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn69">
<p><a name="_ftn69"></a> Supra note 67.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn70">
<p><a name="_ftn70"></a> Donald L. Martin and Carl De Meyer, Patent Counting, a Misleading Index of Patent Value: A Critique of Goodman & Myers and its Uses, available at <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=949439">http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=949439</a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016).</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn71">
<h5><a name="h.b6s0l5evilsq"></a> <a name="_ftn71"></a> Rohini Lakshané, Joining the Dots in India's Big-Ticket Mobile Phone Patent Litigation<i>,</i> available at <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/joining-the-dots-in-indias-big-ticket-mobile-phone-patent-litigation"> http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/joining-the-dots-in-indias-big-ticket-mobile-phone-patent-litigation </a> (last accessed 22 April, 2016). See also supra note 47 for more details.</h5>
</div>
<div id="ftn72">
<p><a name="_ftn72"></a> Supra note 55.</p>
</div>
<div id="ftn73">
<p><a name="_ftn73"></a> 318 F. Supp. 1116, 1120 (S.D.N.Y. 1970), modified and aff'd, 446 F. 2d 295 (2d Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 870 (1971).</p>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<hr size="1" width="33%" align="left" />
<div>
<div id="_com_1"><a name="_msocom_1"></a>
<p>2015</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="_com_2"><a name="_msocom_2"></a>
<p>They filed it in 2011</p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="_com_3"><a name="_msocom_3"></a>
<p>The 2011 filing only includes pharma, BTW: http://spicyip.com/docs/Form%2027s.pdf. Also, this writ is from May 2015: http://spicyip.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/FORM-27-WP-1R-copy.pdf Anyway, I'll leave it as it is.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/comments-on-department-of-industrial-policy-and-promotion-discussion-paper-on-standard-essential-patents-and-their-availability-on-frand-terms'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/comments-on-department-of-industrial-policy-and-promotion-discussion-paper-on-standard-essential-patents-and-their-availability-on-frand-terms</a>
</p>
No publisherAnubha Sinha, Nehaa Chaudhari and Rohini LakshaneAccess to KnowledgePervasive TechnologiesCompetitionFeaturedPatents2016-05-03T02:30:15ZBlog EntryComments on the Report of the Committee on Digital Payments (December 2016)
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-report-of-the-committee-on-digital-payments-dec-2016
<b>The Committee on Digital Payments constituted by the Ministry of Finance and chaired by Ratan P. Watal, Principal Advisor, NITI Aayog, submitted its report on the "Medium Term Recommendations to Strengthen Digital Payments Ecosystem" on December 09, 2016. The report was made public on December 27, and comments were sought from the general public. Here are the comments submitted by the Centre for Internet and Society.</b>
<p> </p>
<h3><strong>1. Preliminary</strong></h3>
<p><strong>1.1.</strong> This submission presents comments by the Centre for Internet and Society (“CIS”) <strong>[1]</strong> in response to the report of the Committee on Digital Payments, chaired by Mr. Ratan P. Watal, Principal Advisor, NITI Aayog, and constituted by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India (“the report”) <strong>[2]</strong>.</p>
<h3><strong>2. The Centre for Internet and Society</strong></h3>
<p><strong>2.1.</strong> The Centre for Internet and Society, CIS, is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with diverse abilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, and open access), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security.</p>
<p><strong>2.2.</strong> CIS is not an expert organisation in the domain of banking in general and payments in particular. Our expertise is in matters of internet and communication governance, data privacy and security, and technology regulation. We deeply appreciate and are most inspired by the Ministry of Finance’s decision to invite entities from both the sectors of finance and information technology. This submission is consistent with CIS’ commitment to safeguarding general public interest, and the interests and rights of various stakeholders involved, especially the citizens and the users. CIS is thankful to the Ministry of Finance for this opportunity to provide a general response on the report.</p>
<h3><strong>3. Comments</strong></h3>
<p><strong>3.1.</strong> CIS observes that the decision by the Government of India to withdraw the legal tender character of the old high denomination banknotes (that is, Rs. 500 Rs. 1,000 notes), declared on November 08, 2016 <strong>[3]</strong>, have generated <strong>unprecedented data about the user base and transaction patterns of digital payments systems in India, when pushed to its extreme use due to the circumstances</strong>. The majority of this data is available with the National Payments Corporation of India and the Reserve Bank of India. CIS requests the authorities concerned to consider <strong>opening up this data for analysis and discussion by public at large and experts in particular, before any specific policy and regulatory decisions are taken</strong> towards advancing digital payments proliferation in India. This is a crucial opportunity for the Ministry of Finance to embrace (open) data-driven regulation and policy-making.</p>
<p><strong>3.2.</strong> While the report makes a reference to the European General Data Protection Directive, it does not make a reference to any substantive provisions in the Directive which may be relevant to digital payments. Aside from the recommendation that privacy protections around the purpose limitation principle be relaxed to ensure that payment service providers be allowed to process data to improve fraud monitoring and anti-money laundering services, the report is silent on significant privacy and data protection concerns posed by digital payments services. <strong>CIS strongly warns that the existing data protection and security regulations under Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information), Rules are woefully inadequate in their scope and application to effectively deal with potential privacy concerns posed by digital payments applications and services.</strong> Some key privacy issues that must be addressed either under a comprehensive data protection legislation or a sector specific financial regulation are listed below. The process of obtaining consent must be specific, informed and unambiguous and through a clear affirmative action by the data subject based upon a genuine choice provided along with an option to opt out at any stage. The data subjects should have clear and easily enforceable right to access and correct their data. Further, data subjects should have the right to restrict the usage of their data in circumstances such as inaccuracy of data, unlawful purpose and data no longer required in order to fulfill the original purpose.</p>
<p><strong>3.3.</strong> The initial recommendation of the report is to “[m]ake regulation of payments independent from the function of central banking” (page 22). This involves a fundamental transformation of the payment and settlement system in India and its regulation. <strong>We submit that a decision regarding transformation of such scale and implications is taken after a more comprehensive policy discussion, especially involving a wider range of stakeholders</strong>. The report itself notes that “[d]igital payments also have the potential of becoming a gateway to other financial services such as credit facilities for small businesses and low-income households” (page 32). Thus, a clear functional, and hence regulatory, separation between the (digital) payments industry and the lending/borrowing industry may be either effective or desirable. Global experience tells us that digital transactions data, along with other alternative data, are fast becoming the basis of provision of financial and other services, by both banking and non-banking (payments) companies. We appeal to the Ministry of Finance to adopt a comprehensive and concerted approach to regulating, enabling competition, and upholding consumers’ rights in the banking sector at large.</p>
<p><strong>3.4.</strong> The report recognises “banking as an activity is separate from payments, which is more of a technology business” (page 154). Contemporary banking and payment businesses are both are primarily technology businesses where information technology particularly is deployed intimately to extract, process, and drive asset management decisions using financial transaction data. Further, with payment businesses (such as, pre-paid instruments) offering return on deposited money via other means (such as, cashbacks), and potentially competing and/or collaborating with established banks to use financial transaction data to drive lending decisions, including but not limited to micro-loans, it appears unproductive to create a separation between banking as an activity and payments as an activity merely in terms of the respective technology intensity of these sectors. <strong>CIS firmly recommends that regulation of these financial services and activities be undertaken in a technology-agnostic manner, and similar regulatory regimes be deployed on those entities offering similar services irrespective of their technology intensity or choice</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>3.5.</strong> The report highlights two major shortcomings of the current regulatory regime for payments. Firstly “the law does not impose any obligation on the regulator to promote competition and innovation in the payments market” (page 153). It appears to us that the regulator’s role should not be to promote market expansion and innovation but to ensure and oversee competition. <strong>We believe that the current regulator should focus on regulating the existing market, and the work of the expansion of the digital payments market in particular and the digital financial services market in general be carried out by another government agency, as it creates conflict of interest for the regulator otherwise.</strong> Secondly, the report mentions that Payment and Settlement Systems Act does not “focus the regulatory attention on the need for consumer protection in digital payments” and then it notes that a “provision was inserted to protect funds collected from customers” in 2015 (page 153). <strong>This indicates that the regulator already has the responsibility to ensure consumer protection in digital payments. The purview and modalities of how this function of course needs discussion and changes with the growth in digital payments</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>3.6.</strong> The report identifies the high cost of cash as a key reason for the government’s policy push towards digital payments. Further, it mentions that a “sample survey conducted in 2014 across urban and rural neighbourhoods in Delhi and Meerut, shows that despite being keenly aware of the costs associated with transacting in cash, most consumers see three main benefits of cash, viz. freedom of negotiations, faster settlements, and ensuring exact payments” (page 30). It further notes that “[d]igital payments have significant dependencies upon power and telecommunications infrastructure. Therefore, the roll out of robust and user friendly digital payments solutions to unelectrified areas/areas without telecommunications network coverage, remains a challenge.” <strong>CIS much appreciates the discussion of the barriers to universal adoption and rollout of digital payments in the report, and appeals to the Ministry of Finance to undertake a more comprehensive study of the key investments required by the Government of India to ensure that digital payments become ubiquitously viable as well as satisfy the demands of a vast range of consumers that India has</strong>. The estimates about investment required to create a robust digital payment infrastructure, cited in the report, provide a great basis for undertaking studies such as these.</p>
<p><strong>3.7.</strong> CIS is very encouraged to see the report highlighting that “[w]ith the rising number of users of digital payment services, it is absolutely necessary to develop consumer confidence on digital payments. Therefore, it is essential to have legislative safeguards to protect such consumers in-built into the primary law.” <strong>We second this recommendation and would like to add further that financial transaction data is governed under a common data protection and privacy regime, without making any differences between data collected by banking and non-banking entities</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>3.8.</strong> We are, however, very discouraged to see the overtly incorrect use of the word “Open Access” in this report in the context of a payment system disallowing service when the client wants to transact money with a specific entity <strong>[4]</strong>. This is not an uncommon anti-competitive measure adopted by various platform players and services providers so as to disallow users from using competing products (such as, not allowing competing apps in the app store controlled by one software company). <strong>The term “Open Access” is not only the appropriate word to describe the negation of such anti-competitive behaviour, its usage in this context undermines its accepted meaning and creates confusion regarding the recommendation being proposed by the report.</strong> The closest analogy to the recommendation of the report would perhaps be with the principle of “network neutrality” that stands for the network provider not discriminating between data packets being processed by them, either in terms of price or speed.</p>
<p><strong>3.9.</strong> A major recommendation by the report involves creation of “a fund from savings generated from cash-less transactions … by the Central Government,” which will use “the trinity of JAM (Jan Dhan, Adhaar, Mobile) [to] link financial inclusion with social protection, contributing to improved Social and Financial Security and Inclusion of vulnerable groups/ communities” (page 160-161). <strong>This amounts to making Aadhaar a mandatory ID for financial inclusion of citizens, especially the marginal and vulnerable ones, and is in direct contradiction to the government’s statements regarding the optional nature of the Aadhaar ID, as well as the orders by the Supreme Court on this topic</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>3.10.</strong> The report recommends that “Aadhaar should be made the primary identification for KYC with the option of using other IDs for people who have not yet obtained Aadhaar” (page 163) and further that “Aadhaar eKYC and eSign should be a replacement for paper based, costly, and shared central KYC registries” (page 162). <strong>Not only these measures would imply making Aadhaar a mandatory ID for undertaking any legal activity in the country, they assume that the UIDAI has verified and audited the personal documents submitted by Aadhaar number holders during enrollment.</strong> A mandate for <em>replacement</em> of the paper-based central KYC agencies will only remove a much needed redundancy in the the identity verification infrastructure of the government.</p>
<p><strong>3.11.</strong> The report suggests that “[t]ransactions which are permitted in cash without KYC should also be permitted on prepaid wallets without KYC” (page 164-165). This seems to negate the reality that physical verification of a person remains one of the most authoritative identity verification process for a natural person, apart from DNA testing perhaps. <strong>Thus, establishing full equivalency of procedure between a presence-less transaction and one involving a physically present person making the payment will only amount to removal of relatively greater security precautions for the former, and will lead to possibilities of fraud</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>3.12.</strong> In continuation with the previous point, the report recommends promotion of “Aadhaar based KYC where PAN has not been obtained” and making of “quoting Aadhaar compulsory in income tax return for natural persons” (page 163). Both these measures imply a replacement of the PAN by Aadhaar in the long term, and a sharp reduction in growth of new PAN holders in the short term. <strong>We appeal for this recommendation to be reconsidered as integration of all functionally separate national critical information infrastructures (such as PAN and Aadhaar) into a single unified and centralised system (such as Aadhaar) engenders massive national and personal security threats</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>3.13.</strong> The report suggest the establishment of “a ranking and reward framework” to recognise and encourage for the best performing state/district/agency in the proliferation of digital payments. <strong>It appears to us that creation of such a framework will only lead to making of an environment of competition among these entities concerned, which apart from its benefits may also have its costs. For example, the incentivisation of quick rollout of digital payment avenues by state government and various government agencies may lead to implementation without sufficient planning, coordination with stakeholders, and precautions regarding data security and privacy</strong>. The provision of central support for digital payments should be carried out in an environment of cooperation and not competition.</p>
<p><strong>3.14.</strong> CIS welcomes the recommendation by the report to generate greater awareness about cost of cash, including by ensuring that “large merchants including government agencies should account and disclose the cost of cash collection and cash payments incurred by them periodically” (page 164). It, however, is not clear to whom such periodic disclosures should be made. <strong>We would like to add here that the awareness building must simultaneously focus on making public how different entities shoulder these costs. Further, for reasons of comparison and evidence-driven policy making, it is necessary that data for equivalent variables are also made open for digital payments - the total and disaggregate cost, and what proportion of these costs are shouldered by which entities</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>3.15.</strong> The report acknowledges that “[t]oday, most merchants do not accept digital payments” and it goes on to recommend “that the Government should seize the initiative and require all government agencies and merchants where contracts are awarded by the government to provide at-least one suitable digital payment option to its consumers and vendors” (page 165). This requirement for offering digital payment option will only introduce an additional economic barrier for merchants bidding for government contracts. <strong>We appeal to the Ministry of Finance to reconsider this approach of raising the costs of non-digital payments to incentivise proliferation of digital payments, and instead lower the existing economic and other barriers to digital payments that keep the merchants away</strong>. The adoption of digital payments must not lead to increasing costs for merchants and end-users, but must decrease the same instead.</p>
<p><strong>3.16.</strong> As the report was submitted on December 09, 2016, and was made public only on December 27, 2016, <strong>it would have been much appreciated if at least a month-long window was provided to study and comment on the report, instead of fifteen days</strong>. This is especially crucial as the recently implemented demonetisation and the subsequent banking and fiscal policy decisions taken by the government have rapidly transformed the state and dynamics of the payments system landscape in India in general, and digital payments in particular.</p>
<h3><strong>Endnotes</strong></h3>
<p><strong>[1]</strong> See: <a href="http://cis-india.org/">http://cis-india.org/</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[2]</strong> See: <a href="http://finmin.nic.in/reports/Note-watal-report.pdf">http://finmin.nic.in/reports/Note-watal-report.pdf</a> and <a href="http://finmin.nic.in/reports/watal_report271216.pdf">http://finmin.nic.in/reports/watal_report271216.pdf</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[3]</strong> See: <a href="http://finmin.nic.in/cancellation_high_denomination_notes.pdf">http://finmin.nic.in/cancellation_high_denomination_notes.pdf</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[4]</strong> Open Access refers to “free and unrestricted online availability” of scientific and non-scientific literature. See: <a href="http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read">http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-report-of-the-committee-on-digital-payments-dec-2016'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-on-the-report-of-the-committee-on-digital-payments-dec-2016</a>
</p>
No publisherSumandro Chattapadhyay and Amber SinhaUIDDigital IDBig DataDigital EconomyDigital AccessPrivacyDigital SecurityData RevolutionDigital PaymentInternet GovernanceDigital IndiaData ProtectionDemonetisationHomepageFeaturedAadhaar2017-01-12T12:32:22ZBlog EntryComments by the Centre for Internet and Society on the Report of the Committee on Medium Term Path on Financial Inclusion
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-by-the-centre-for-internet-and-society-on-the-report-of-the-committee-on-medium-term-path-on-financial-inclusion
<b>Apart from item-specific suggestions, CIS would like to make one broad comment with regard to the suggestions dealing with linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts. Aadhaar is increasingly being used by the government in various departments as a means to prevent fraud, however there is a serious dearth of evidence to suggest that Aadhaar linkage actually prevents leakages in government schemes. The same argument would be applicable when Aadhaar numbers are sought to be utilized to prevent leakages in the banking sector.</b>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-governmental organization which undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In the course of its work CIS has also extensively researched and witten about the Aadhaar Scheme of the Government of India, specially from a privacy and technical point of view. CIS was part of the Group of Experts on Privacy constituted by the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah Committee and was instrumental in drafting a major part of the report of the Group. In this background CIS would like to mention that it is neither an expert on banking policy in general nor wishes to comment upon the purely banking related recommendations of the Committee. We would like to limit our recommendations to the areas in which we have some expertise and would therefore be commenting only on certain Recommendations of the Committee.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Before giving our individual comments on the relevant recommendations, CIS would like to make one broad comment with regard to the suggestions dealing with linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts. Aadhaar is increasingly being used by the government in various departments as a means to prevent fraud, however there is a serious dearth of evidence to suggest that Aadhaar linkage actually prevents leakages in government schemes. The same argument would be applicable when Aadhaar numbers are sought to be utilized to prevent leakages in the banking sector.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Another problem with linking bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers, even if it is not mandatory, is that when the RBI issues an advisory to (optionally) link Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts, a number of banks may implement the advisory too strictly and refuse service to customers (especially marginal customers) whose bank accounts are not linked to their Aadhaar numbers, perhaps due to technical problems in the registration procedure, thereby denying those individuals access to the banking sector, which is contrary to the aims and objectives of the Committee and the stated policy of the RBI to improve access to banking.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Individual Comments</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 1.4 - Given the predominance of individual account holdings, the Committee recommends that a unique biometric identifier such as Aadhaar should be linked to each individual credit account and the information shared with credit information companies. This will not only be useful in identifying multiple accounts, but will also help in mitigating the overall indebtedness of individuals who are often lured into multiple borrowings without being aware of its consequences.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comment</strong>: The discussion of the committee before making this recommendation revolves around the total incidence of indebtedness in rural areas and their Debt-to-Asset ratio representing payment capacity. However, the committee has not discussed any evidence which indicates that borrowing from multiple banks leads to greater indebtedness for individual account holders in the rural sector. Without identifying the problem through evidence the Committee has suggested linking bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers as a solution.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 2.2 - On the basis of cross-country evidence and our own experience, the Committee is of the view that to translate financial access into enhanced convenience and usage, there is a need for better utilization of the mobile banking facility and the maximum possible G2P payments, which would necessitate greater engagement by the government in the financial inclusion drive.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comment</strong>: The drafting of the recommendation suggests that RBI is batting for the DBT rather than the subsidy model. However an examination of the discussion in the report suggests that all that the Committee has not discussed or examined the subsidy model vis-à-vis the direct benefit transfer (DBT) model here (though it does recommend DBT in the chapter on G-2-P payments), but only is trying to say is that where government to people money transfer has to take place, it should take place using mobile banking, payment wallets or other such technologies, which have been known to be successful in various countries across the world.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 3.1 - The Committee recommends that in order to increase formal credit supply to all agrarian segments, the digitization of land records should be taken up by the states on a priority basis.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 3.2 - In order to ensure actual credit supply to the agricultural sector, the Committee recommends the introduction of Aadhaar-linked mechanism for Credit Eligibility Certificates. For example, in Andhra Pradesh, the revenue authorities issue Credit Eligibility Certificates to Tenant Farmers (under ‘Andhra Pradesh Land Licensed Cultivators Act No 18 of 2011'). Such tenancy /lease certificates, while protecting the owner’s rights, would enable landless cultivators to obtain loans. The Reserve Bank may accordingly modify its regulatory guidelines to banks to directly lend to tenants / lessees against such credit eligibility certificates.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comment</strong>: The Committee in its discussion before the recommendation 3.2 has discussed the problems faced by landless farmers, however there is no discussion or evidence which suggests that an Aadhaar linked Credit Eligibility Certificate is the best solution, or even a solution to the problem. The concern being expressed here is not with the system of a Credit Eligibility Certificate, but with the insistence on linking it to an Aadhaar number, and whether the system can be put in place without linking the same to an Aadhaar number.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 6.11 - Keeping in view the indebtedness and rising delinquency, the Committee is of the view that the credit history of all SHG members would need to be created, linking it to individual Aadhaar numbers. This will ensure credit discipline and will also provide comfort to banks.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comment</strong>: There is no discussion in the Report on the reasons for increase in indebtedness of SHGs. While the recommendation of creating credit histories for SHGs is laudable and very welcome, however there is no logical reason that has been brought out in the Report as to why the same needs to be linked to individual Aadhaar numbers and how such linkage will solve any problems.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 6.13 - The Committee recommends that bank credit to MFIs should be encouraged. The MFIs must provide credit information on their borrowers to credit bureaus through Aadhaar-linked unique identification of individual borrowers.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comment</strong>: Since the discussion before this recommendation clearly indicates multiple lending practices as one of the problems in the Microfinance sector and also suggests better credit information of borrowers as a possible solution, therefore this recommendation per se, seems sound. However, we would still like to point out that the RBI may think of alternative means to get borrower credit history rather than relying upon just the Aadhaar numbers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 7.3 - Considering the widespread availability of mobile phones across the country, the Committee recommends the use of application-based mobiles as PoS for creating necessary infrastructure to support the large number of new accounts and cards issued under the PMJDY. Initially, the FIF can be used to subsidize the associated costs. This will also help to address the issue of low availability of PoS compared to the number of merchant outlets in the country. Banks should encourage merchants across geographies to adopt such applicationbased mobile as a PoS through some focused education and PoS deployment drives.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 7.5 - The Committee recommends that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) should ensure faster development of a multi-lingual mobile application for customers who use non-smart phones, especially for users of NUUP; this will address the issue of linguistic diversity and thereby promote its popularization and quick adoption.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 7.8 - The Committee recommends that pre-paid payment instrument (PPI) interoperability may be allowed for non-banks to facilitate ease of access to customers and promote wider spread of PPIs across the country. It should however require non-bank PPI operators to enhance their customer grievance redressal mechanism to deal with any issues thereof.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 7.9 - The Committee is of the view that for non-bank PPIs, a small-value cashout may be permitted to incentivize usage with the necessary safeguards including adequate KYC and velocity checks.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comments</strong>: While CIS supports the effort to use technology and mobile phones to increase banking penetration and improve access to the formal financial sector for rural and semi-rural areas, sufficient security mechanisms should be put in place while rolling out these services keeping in mind the low levels of education and technical sophistication that are prevalent in rural and semi-rural areas.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 8.1 - The Committee recommends that the deposit accounts of beneficiaries of government social payments, preferably all deposits accounts across banks, including the ‘inprinciple’ licensed payments banks and small finance banks, be seeded with Aadhaar in a timebound manner so as to create the necessary eco-system for cash transfer. This could be complemented with the necessary changes in the business correspondent (BC) system (see Chapter 6 for details) and increased adoption of mobile wallets to bridge the ‘last mile’ of service delivery in a cost-efficient manner at the convenience of the common person. This would also result in significant cost reductions for the government besides promoting financial inclusion.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comment</strong>: While the report of the Committee has already given several examples of how cash transfer directly into the bank accounts (rather than requiring the beneficiaries to be at a particular place at a particular time) could be more efficient as well as economical, the Committee is making the same point again here under the chapter that deals specifically with government to person payments. However even before this recommendation, there has been no discussion as to the need for linking or “seeding” the deposit accounts of the beneficiaries with Aadhaar numbers, let alone a discussion of how it would solve any problems.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Recommendation 10.6 - Given the focus on technology and the increasing number of customer complaints relating to debit/credit cards, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) may be invited to SLBC meetings. They may particularly take up issues of Aadhaar-linkage in bank and payment accounts.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>CIS Comment</strong>: There is no discussion on why this recommendation has been made, more particularly; there is no discussion at all on why issues of Aadhaar linkage in bank and payment accounts need to be taken up at all.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-by-the-centre-for-internet-and-society-on-the-report-of-the-committee-on-medium-term-path-on-financial-inclusion'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-by-the-centre-for-internet-and-society-on-the-report-of-the-committee-on-medium-term-path-on-financial-inclusion</a>
</p>
No publishervipulPrivacyInternet GovernanceFeaturedFinancial InclusionAadhaarHomepage2016-03-01T13:53:38ZBlog EntryClarification on the Information Security Practices of Aadhaar Report
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/clarification-on-the-information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-report
<b>We are issuing a second clarificatory statement on our report titled “Information Security Practices of Aadhaar (or lack thereof): A documentation of public availability of Aadhaar numbers with sensitive personal financial information” published on May 1, 2017. </b>
<p> </p>
<h4>The report concerned can be accessed <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-or-lack-thereof-a-documentation-of-public-availability-of-aadhaar-numbers-with-sensitive-personal-financial-information-1">here</a>, and the first clarificatory statement (dated May 16, 2017) can be accessed <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/clarification-on-information-security-practices-of-the-aadhaar-report/">here</a>.</h4>
<hr />
<p>This clarificatory statement is being issued in response to reports that misrepresent our research. In light of repeated questions we have received, which seem to emanate from a misunderstanding of our report, we would like to make the following clarifications.</p>
<ol>
<li>Our research involved documentation and taking illustrative screenshots (included in our report) of public webpages on the four government websites listed in our report. These screenshots were taken to demonstrate that the vulnerability existed.<br /><br /></li>
<li>The figure of 130-135 million Aadhaar Numbers quoted in our Report are, as clearly stated, derived directly by adding the aggregate numbers (of beneficiaries/individuals whose data were listed in the three government websites concerned) and published by the portals themselves in the MIS reports publicly available on the portals. The numbers are as follows:<br /><br />
<ul>
<li>10,97,60,343 from NREGA,<br /><br /></li>
<li>63,95,317 from NSAP, and<br /><br /></li>
<li>2,05,60,896 from Chandranna Bima (screenshots included in the report).<br /><br /></li></ul>
<strong>We did not arrive at this number by downloading data ourselves but by adding the figures on the government websites. To our knowledge, no harm, financial or otherwise has been caused to anyone due to the public availability. Further, it must be noted that we published the report only after ascertaining that the websites in questions had masked or removed the data. Therefore our report only points to the possibility that there could be harm caused by malicious actors before the data was taken down. However, we are not aware of any such cases of exploitation, nor do we suggest so anywhere in our report.</strong></li></ol>
<p>We sincerely hope that this clarification helps with a clearer comprehension of the argument and implications of the said report. We urge those who are using our report in their research to reach out to us to prevent the future misinterpretation of the report.</p>
<p><em>— Amber Sinha and Srinivas Kodali</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/clarification-on-the-information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-report'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/clarification-on-the-information-security-practices-of-aadhaar-report</a>
</p>
No publisherAmber Sinha and Srinivas KodaliFeaturedHomepageAadhaar2018-11-05T12:08:06ZBlog EntryCivil Society Organisations and Internet Governance in Asia and India – Section Outlines
https://cis-india.org/raw/civil-society-organisations-and-internet-governance-in-asia-and-india-outlines
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society has been invited to contribute two sections to the Asia Internet History - Third Decade (2001-2010) book edited by Dr. Kilnam Chon. The sections will discuss the activities and experiences of civil society organisations in Asia and India, respectively, in national, regional, and global Internet governance processes. The draft outlines of the sections are shared here. Comments and suggestions are invited.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>In the (draft) Foreword to the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/internethistoryasia/book3" target="_blank">Asia Internet History – Third Decade (2001-2010)</a>, Prof. David J. Farber <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/annex3asia/home/foreword14629.docx?attredirects=0&d=1" target="_blank">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the early attempts to extend the reach of the Internet to Asia was via the “Johnny Appleseed” approach. That is a set of people responded to queries by people in Asian countries asking how they could connect with the growing Internet by offering to supply tapes to key people in the requesting countries, often by physically going with the tapes, as well as providing access points to the USA Internet. The people that we, I was one of the seeders, worked, with became the leaders in their nation and founded the initial national networks that blossomed with time and often formed the basis of commercial Internets. The traditions that these network frontier pioneers established lead to the eventual spread of the benefits of Internet access to not only their nations but became models for the spread to the rest of Asia…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am honoured to contribute to the pioneering series titled <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/internethistoryasia/home" target="_blank">Asia Internet History</a>, edited by Dr. Kilnam Chon, by foregrounding a range of other individuals and organisations that often worked outside but in engagement with the national governments, and technical and academic institutions that govern <em>the connecting tapes</em> of the Internet, to ensure mass access to and effective usages of Internet in Asia.</p>
<p>The two sections, to be authored me, provides an overview of ‘civil society organisations’ working across Asian countries that have played a critical role in the shaping of policy-making and discourse around Internet governance during 2000-2010, and then undertakes a closer look at the organisations working in India and their interventions at national, regional, and global levels.</p>
<p>Please read the draft outlines of the <a href="https://github.com/ajantriks/writings/blob/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_overview_outline.md" target="_blank">overview section</a> and the <a href="https://github.com/ajantriks/writings/blob/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_india_outline.md" target="_blank">section on Indian organisations</a>, and share your comments. The comments can be posted on the GitHub page where the outlines are hosted, on this page, or over email: sumandro[at]cis-india[dot]org.</p>
<p>The outlines can also be directly downloaded as markdown files: the <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ajantriks/writings/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_overview_outline.md" target="_blank">overview</a> and the <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ajantriks/writings/master/sumandro_asia_internet_history_civil_society_india_outline.md" target="_blank">India</a> section.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Asian Civil Society Organisations and Internet Governance</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>Here is a tentative list of key civil society organisations from Asia that have participated and intervened in Internet governance processes during 2001-2010. Please suggest organisations missing from the list.</p>
<p> </p>
<strong>Bangladesh</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://bfes.net/" target="_blank">Bangladesh Friendship Education Society (BFES)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bnnrc.net/" target="_blank">Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)</a></li><li>
<a href="http://www.bytesforall.net/" target="_blank">Bytes for All, Bangladesh</a></li><li>
<a href="http://www.isoc.org.bd/dhaka/" target="_blank">Dnet</a></li><li>
<a href="http://www.isoc.org.bd/dhaka/" target="_blank">Internet Society Dhaka Chapter</a></li><li><a href="http://www.voicebd.org/" target="_blank">VOICE</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Cambodia<br /><br /></strong>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ccimcambodia.org/" target="_blank">Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.open.org.kh/en" target="_blank">Open Institute</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>China</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://english.cast.org.cn/" target="_blank">China Association for Science and Technology (CAST)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.hk/" target="_blank">Internet Society Hong Kong</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isc.org.cn/english/" target="_blank">Internet Society of China</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.org.tw/" target="_blank">Internet Society Taiwan Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.org.tw/" target="_blank"></a><br /></li>
<li><a href="http://knowledgedialogues.com/" target="_blank">Knowledge Dialogues, Hong Kong</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Indonesia</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.engagemedia.org/" target="_blank">EngageMedia, Australia and Indonesia</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ilab.or.id/" target="_blank">ICT Laboratory for Social Change (iLab)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://id-config.org/" target="_blank">Indonesian CSOs Network for Internet Governance</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ictwatch.id/" target="_blank">Indonesian ICT Partnership Association (ICT Watch)</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.or.id/" target="_blank">Internet Society Indonesia Chapter</a> [website is under construction]</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>India</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://censorship.wikia.com/wiki/Bloggers_Collective_group" target="_blank">Bloggers Collective</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/" target="_blank">Centre for Internet and Society (CIS)</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.csdms.in/" target="_blank">Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://defindia.org/" target="_blank">Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fsf.org.in/" target="_blank">Free Software Foundation India (FSFI)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://fsmi.in/" target="_blank">Free Software Movement of India (FSMI)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://internetdemocracy.in/" target="_blank">Internet Democracy Project</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isocbangalore.org/" target="_blank">Internet Society Bangalore Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://isocindiachennai.org/" target="_blank">Internet Society Chennai Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isocdelhi.in/" target="_blank">Internet Society Delhi Chapter</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isocindiakolkata.in/" target="_blank">Internet Society Kolkata Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.itforchange.net/" target="_blank">IT for Change</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.itu-apt.org/" target="_blank">ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI)</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.orfonline.org/" target="_blank">Observer Research Foundation (ORF)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.knowledgecommons.in/" target="_blank">Society for Knowledge Commons (Knowledge Commons)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://sflc.in/" target="_blank">Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Iran</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ictgroup.org/" target="_blank">Iranian Civil Society Organizations Training and Research Centre (ICTRC)</a> [URL is not working]</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Japan</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.glocom.ac.jp/e/" target="_blank">Centre for Global Communications (GLOCOM)</a> [Academia?]</li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoc.jp/" target="_blank">Internet Society Japan Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.jcafe.net/" target="_blank">Japan Computer Access for Empowerment (JCAFE)</a> [URL is not working]</li>
<li><a href="http://www.jca.apc.org/" target="_blank">Japan Computer Access Network (JCA-NET)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Kuwait</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ijma3.org/" target="_blank">iJMA3 - Kuwait Information Technology Society (KITS)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Lebanon</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.lccelebanon.org/" target="_blank">Lebanese Center for Civic Education (LCCE)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Malaysia</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.isoc.my/" target="_blank">Internet Society Malaysia Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Myanmar</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://myanmarido.org/en" target="_blank">Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO)</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Nepal</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.internetsociety.org.np/" target="_blank">Internet Society Nepal Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Pakistan</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="https://content.bytesforall.pk/" target="_blank">Bytes for All, Pakistan</a></li>
<li><a href="http://isocibd.org.pk/" target="_blank">Internet Society Islamabad Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Philippines</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://democracy.net.ph/" target="_blank">Democracy.Net.PH</a> <br /></li>
<li><a href="http://www.fma.ph/" target="_blank">Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA)</a> [URL not working</li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/isoc.ph" target="_blank">Internet Society Philippines Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Regional</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.forum-asia.org/" target="_blank">Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://discfoundation.com/" target="_blank">Developing Internet Safe Community (DISC) Foundation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lirneasia.net/" target="_blank">LIRNEasia</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Singapore</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://isoc.sg/" target="_blank">Internet Society Singapore Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>South Korea</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.jinbo.net/" target="_blank">Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet</a></li>
<li><a href="http://opennet.or.kr/" target="_blank">OpenNet</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Sri Lanka</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://isoc.lk/?lang=en" target="_blank">Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<strong>Thailand</strong>
<p> </p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.isoc-th.org/" target="_blank">Internet Society Thailand Chapter</a> <br /></li><li><a href="https://thainetizen.org/" target="_blank">Thai Netizen Network</a></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/raw/civil-society-organisations-and-internet-governance-in-asia-and-india-outlines'>https://cis-india.org/raw/civil-society-organisations-and-internet-governance-in-asia-and-india-outlines</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroInternet StudiesResearchFeaturedInternet HistoriesResearchers at Work2015-11-13T05:40:49ZBlog EntryCitizen Activism the Past Decade
https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/citizen-activism-the-past-decade
<b>Call for Contributions to the ‘Digital Natives with a Cause?’ newsletter, ‘Citizen Activism the Past Decade’. Deadline: August 15, 2012.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The past decade (2001 – 2011) has been marked by unprecedented democratic protests across the globe. Not only have citizens risen against autocratic regimes or systemic corruption, which is not unprecedented in itself, but also, a spark in one region inflamed solidarity among neighbouring nations to pick up the placards and march for change. Plenty has been written about the strategic deployment of social media, Web 2.0 platforms and Smart-gadgets by the digital natives (the youth and the old alike) to rewrite the rules of citizen activism.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In this issue of the newsletter, we explore the mechanics of activism aided by media: web, social, digital, and traditional. What do we understand by a cause and how does it find resonance at the local and global platforms? Is the digital native a community player or a global citizen? How do digital natives connect, collaborate, mobilize and bring about their visions of change? The aim is to not establish or reinforce these dichotomies, if indeed they exist, but to understand the dimensions of the stage the digital natives operate on <em>and if that stage is a synecdoche for global youth-led civic action.</em> A case in point: <strong>‘Slut Walk’ </strong>moved from being a one-off march in Toronto to becoming a global movement and came full circle when small towns and cities across the world organized protest marches with a local ‘twist’.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Topics that contributors can explore:</h3>
<ol></ol>
<ul>
<li>What do we understand by citizen activism? How has citizen activism changed over the last 10 years with the advent of new media tools?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Youth as 'change agents'. Are protest movements youth oriented today? How are civil rights movements of the past decade different from the wave of movements that marked the 60s? (women's lib, LGBT rights, civil rights, disability rights). Explore the mechanics of organizing, mobilizing and measuring the success of a campaign in both the cases.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Participatory Politics and Web 2.0 | Value and power of the Network in effecting change | Mobilizing support and consensus within the network |studies on politically active youth using social media | digital natives as apathetic citizens | Is Slacktivism still a misunderstood term?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Kony 2012 video campaign | interviews | what went wrong and what did they do right? | Rise of DIY activism | mechanics of digital activism | resources, tools and strategies</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Rise of the ‘Glocal’ (global with local resonance) cause | Slut Walk and Co – global protests inspiring local campaigns | Children of globalization with global stakes supporting local causes – how does this work?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Role of new media as a vehicle for civic engagement | Are new media and traditional media mutually exclusive in influencing citizen action? | How are new media strategies deployed by citizens in comparison with traditional media engagement?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Learning from past campaigns: citizen activism initiates and strategies in history that inspire modern campaigns (The ‘Walk to Work’ protest in Uganda protesting against fuel price hike and removal of subsidies is similar to Mahatma Gandhi’s <em>Dandi</em> <em>March</em> in pre-independence India to protest against Salt Tax).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Finding commonalities in citizen activism across Asia, Africa and Middle East | Explore the citizen action campaigns that have shaped political discourse in the past decade | Explore some of the most successful youth action campaigns of the past decade </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">How do we measure value, quality and success of campaigns? When does a protest officially end? Studies that explore the life-cycle of a protest or movement </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The future of activism: new technologies, new demography, new forms of engagement | art and activism | Gamification </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Role of non-governmental organizations and civil society networks in fostering political change | collaboration between NGOs and social media activists / independent protesters</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">State and the empowered citizen | State response to protest | surveillance and censorship</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Technologies of protest</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Studying citizen activism | digital native research methodology to study citizen activism</li></ul>
<ol></ol>
<p style="text-align: justify;">To know more about the topics you can write about, please write to: <a class="external-link" href="http://mailtonilofar.ansh@gmail.com">nilofar.ansh@gmail.com</a> (Nilofar Ansher, Community Manager). Contributions can be in the form of essays, notes, commentaries, reviews (book or paper), dialogues and chat transcript, poems, sketches / graphics. Essay word count between 800-1,600 words. Send your entries along with a brief bio and a profile picture by August 15, 2012.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">View previous issues of the 'Digital Natives with a Cause?' newsletter here: <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/newsletter" class="external-link">http://cis-india.org/digital-natives/newsletter</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/citizen-activism-the-past-decade'>https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/citizen-activism-the-past-decade</a>
</p>
No publisherNilofar AnsherFeaturedResearchers at WorkDigital Natives2015-04-24T11:52:44ZBlog EntryCIS-A2K: Work Accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/work-accomplished-konkani-wikipedia
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society’s Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K team) is pleased to share with you the key accomplishments about the work it accomplished on Konkani Wikipedia from September to December 2013 in this report. In accordance with the Centre for Internet and Society’s Access to Knowledge Program’s (CIS-A2K) Konkani Work Plan 2013-14 the program has invested time and effort to build Konkani Wikimedia community and projects.</b>
<h2>Highlights</h2>
<h3>Increased editing activity on Konkani Wikipedia</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K has been organising different programs and workshops. The idea is to bring in as many volunteers as possible who can contribute to Konkani Wikipedia for years to come. We have organised these outreach sessions mainly in Devanagari, Romi and Kannada scripts. As a result of these programs we have been able to significantly increase no. of editors, consistently have minimum of 5-6 active editors per month and build a community of volunteers. You can also view level of editing activity on Konkani Wikipedia for the past few months in the chart below:</p>
<table class="invisible">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/EditsonKonkaniWikipedia.png" alt="Edits on Konkani Wikipedia" class="image-inline" title="Edits on Konkani Wikipedia" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i>Above: Edits Per Month on Konkani Wikipedia (Mar-13 to Dec-13) (by Nitika Tandon, CC-BY-SA 3.0) </i><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Increased number of articles on Konkani Wikipedia</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Total number of articles increased from 150 in Sep 2013 to 315 in Nov 2013. The number of articles have doubled over a period of 3 months. We should keep in mind that out of those who edited in Devanagari; 95% of them were completely new to the input method and had to spend considerable time learning and practicing it.</p>
<table class="invisible">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/ArticlesonKonkaniWikipedia.png" alt="Articles on Konkani Wikipedia" class="image-inline" title="Articles on Konkani Wikipedia" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i>Above: No. of articles on Konkani Wikipedia (by Nitika Tandon, CC-BY-SA 3.0)</i></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Translated Media Wiki messages</h3>
<p>CIS-A2K organised translation sprint to help translate Media Wiki interface messages. We achieved translating <a class="text external" href="http://translatewiki.net/w/i.php?title=Special:Translate&language=gom-deva&group=core-0-mostused&filter=&action=translate" rel="nofollow">79% of these messages in Konkani Devanagari</a> while all <a class="text external" href="http://translatewiki.net/w/i.php?title=Special:Translate&language=gom-latn&group=core-0-mostused&filter=&action=translate" rel="nofollow">100% messages have already been translated in Romi script</a></p>
<h3>Re-release of Konkani Vishwaksh under Creative Commons License</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Upon CIS-A2K‘s explicit request, Goa University has approved the re-release of Vishwakosh under Creative Commons License (CC-BY-SA 3.0) to make it freely available to public, giving them the right to share, use and even build upon the work that has already been done. This is a huge step to help preserve Konkani language and culture in the digital era. Konkani Vishwakosh is a four-volume hard copy encyclopedia (3632 pages) published by Goa University; a work that took over 14 years to develop. It encompasses the world’s information in a nutshell with special emphasis and detailed information on Goa, Konkani, Goan culture, folklore, history, geography etc. To know more about click <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Events/Konkani_Vishwakosh_CC" title="India Access To Knowledge/Events/Konkani Vishwakosh CC">here</a> and <a class="text external" href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/11/26/konkani-vishkawosh-free-license/">here</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Initiated & Completed 30% of Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization Project</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Goa University in collaboration with the CIS-A2K is digitizing Konkani Vishwakosh. 37 participants are enrolled in this project who are working to digitize the encyclopedia in a time bound manner. All 3632 pages of Konkani Vishwakosh will be digitized. The program started on 19th October and in just about 2 months 30% of the encyclopedia had already been digitized. You can monitor the progress of this project on Wikisource. Here are the links for <a class="text external" href="https://wikisource.org/wiki/Index:Konkani_Viswakosh_Vol1.pdf">Volume 1</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://wikisource.org/wiki/Index:Konkani_Viswakosh_Vol2.pdf">Volume 2</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://wikisource.org/wiki/Index:Konkani_Viswakosh_Vol3.pdf">Volume 3</a> and <a class="text external" href="https://wikisource.org/wiki/Index:Konkani_Vishwakosh_-_Volume_4_Released.pdf">Volume 4</a>. Please note that some of the participants firstly digitize the encylopedia either in their Sandbox or offline and then move it to Wikisource. To know more about the project click <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Events/Konkani_Vishwakosh_Digitization" title="India Access To Knowledge/Events/Konkani Vishwakosh Digitization">here</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Signed an MoU with Goa University</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Goa University entered into a three year MoU with CIS for building Konkani Wikipedia. As part of this partnership, Goa University and CIS-A2K will work together to help build Konkani Wikipedia and community.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">White paper by a Linguist</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a class="text external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratap_Naik">Fr. Pratap Naik</a>, S.J. B.Sc., B.Ed. M.A. (Linguistics), M.Phil. (Linguistics), Ph.D. (Linguistics) has written a white paper discussing issues faced by Konkani language and his views on how it should be dealt on Wikimedia projects. We'll soon upload the white paper on Wikimedia Commons and make the link available.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">14 Outreach session, over 450 participants, in 3 months</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K organised about 14 outreach sessions and reached out to over 450 people to create awareness about Konkani Wikipedia and the community between Sep-Dec 2013. Details of these sessions can be found <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Konkani_Wikipedia_@Goa_University/Events" title="India Access To Knowledge/Konkani Wikipedia @Goa University/Events">here</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Got consensus from field experts</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Over the past few months CIS-A2K has spoken with Konkani Wikipedians (such as <a class="text external" href="https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fredericknoronha">Frederick Noronha</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Deepak_D%27Souza">Deepak D'Souza</a>, Seby Fernandes) Konkani linguists (such as Fr. Pratap), professors from Konkani Department at Goa University (<a class="text external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhavi_Sardesai">Dr. Madhavi Sardesai</a> and <a class="text external" href="http://www.unigoa.ac.in/academic_staff.php?staffid=40&adepid=7&mdepid=1" rel="nofollow">Dr. Priyadarshini Tadkodkar</a>), cultural experts (such as Prof. Alito Siqueira and <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Outofindia" title="User:Outofindia">Harriet Vidyasagar</a>) and other experts to propose a solution for Konkani Wikipedia that faces a problem of usage of multiple scripts. To a great extent we have got consensus from different field experts that we should strive to create separate Wikis for each script, at least those which prove to be active.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedians Speak</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One of the ongoing projects of CIS-A2K is 'Wikipedians Speak' which are small videos of Wikipedians that captures their expereinces, learnings and challenges. As a part of this project CIS-A2K published several videos of Konkani Wikipedians.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nitika.t/Draft2">Link to the post published on Wikipedia</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/work-accomplished-konkani-wikipedia'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/work-accomplished-konkani-wikipedia</a>
</p>
No publishernitikaAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaFeaturedKonkani WikipediaOpennessHomepage2013-12-31T11:48:02ZBlog EntryCIS-A2K Narrative Report (September 2012 – June 2013)
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/cis-access-to-knowledge-narrative-report-september-2012-june-2013
<b>This narrative report captures the work done by the Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team in the first ten months of the grant. The report also throws some light on the CIS-A2K program strategy in the next one year.</b>
<hr />
<p>This narrative report was originally published on the Wikipedia page. <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Reports/CIS-A2K_Narrative_Report:_%28September_2012_%E2%80%93_June_2013%29">Access it here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: left; ">Background to the Access to Knowledge Programme</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation">Wikimedia Foundation</a> approved a <a href="https://cis-india.org/about/news/wikimedia-foundation-awards-grant-to-cis">grant</a> to support the growth of Indian language Wikimedia communities to the <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k">Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) </a>to expand their <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_to_Knowledge">Access to Knowledge program (A2K)</a> in India. The grant enabled CIS to work with the Wikimedia community of volunteers in India to expand upon Wikimedia’s Indic language free knowledge projects, including Wikipedia in Indic languages. Further, the grant aims to generate improvements in India-relevant free knowledge in Wikimedia’s English projects and wider distribution of Wikimedia’s free knowledge within India.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Section A: Introduction</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Objective of the Narrative Report</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This narrative report captures the work done by the A2K program during the period of September 2012 to June 2013. It examines projects and activities and its impact and outcomes over a period of the initial Ten months of the Grant. This report will also inform CIS-A2K program’s strategy for the next one year to achieve the goals set out by its donor, Wikimedia Foundation, and <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Programme_Plan">goals</a> listed in our <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014">Work Plans</a> (which were developed in consultation with the Wikimedia community in India). Importantly, this Narrative Report is critical for the Wikimedia community in India, Global Wikimedia community and the Wikimedia Foundation to get a comprehensive overview of A2K’s work and to critically assess the A2K program’s eligibility for further support.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Context</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Though the mandate of the CIS-A2K program was clearly articulated before the commencement of the program, it should be noted, that the context in which the program had to undertake its work was very disturbed. Majority of the Wikimedia community in India saw CIS-A2K as an extension of the India Program as the entire team of the India Program moved into the CIS’s A2K program, except for the Director. Thus the CIS-A2K program inherited the not so conducive image of the India Program that was operational until August 2012. It should be noted that by August 2012, the Wikimedia community in India was extremely critical of the India Program’s work and achievement.<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Further, the community explicitly expressed lack of faith and Trust in the India Program’s method of work.<a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2]</a> Thus, it is important to note that the CIS-A2K program did not start with a clean slate but had to first address multiple challenges, before it could take on active implementation of various programmatic activities. These challenges include:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>building trust with the Wikimedia community in India;</li>
<li>building a collaborative relationship with Wikimedia India Chapter;</li>
<li>finding a new leadership to anchor the program that was left vacant in August 2012.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">A2K Program Achievements (September 2012 to June 2013)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS Access to Knowledge (A2K) team started working on facilitating the improvement of Indian language Wikimedia projects with special focus on Indic Wikipedias in September 2012. Some key activities during the period of September 2012 to June 2013 are:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Number of newsletters published: 10</li>
<li> Number of events conducted: 49</li>
<li> Number of Wikipedia Education Programs conducted: 5</li>
<li> Number of people reached: about 1314</li>
<li> Number of women participants: approximately 406 (30.9%)</li>
<li> Number of community meet-ups & IRCs: 13</li>
<li> Number of sites across India where Wikimedia events were conducted: 18</li>
<li> Number of valid usernames: 582</li>
<li> Number of blogs posted: 58</li>
<li> Number of Print and Electronic Media mentions: 28</li>
<li> Number of Hackathons supported: 2</li>
<li> Number of community celebration events: 7</li>
<li> Number of Institutional partnerships: 13</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS hired A2K Programme Director, <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Visdaviva">T. Vishnu Vardhan</a>, through an open and multi-stakeholder process of selection.<a href="#fn3" name="fr3">[3] </a>Representatives from Wikimedia India Chapter, Wikimedia community in India and Wikimedia Foundation were actively part of the selection process. This process was extremely critical and ensured participation of the Wikimedia community in India and the WMIN Chapter in deciding the leadership of the program.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Noted academician Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana was hired as Adviser to A2K.<a href="#fn4" name="fr4">[4]</a> This was done upon the request of the selection committee that was constituted for the selection of the program Director and in consultation with the WMF.</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A2K proactively interacted with the WMIN Chapter Executive Committee and built collaborative working relationship.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Most of the A2K programs executed in collaboration with WMIN Chapter and community.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Began a new project on <a href="http://geohacker.github.io/indicwiki">visualisation of the growth of Indic Wikipedias </a><a href="#fn5" name="fr5">[5]</a> <a href="#fn6" name="fr6">[6]</a> Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro are working on this. Two blog posts have been published so far. This was appreciated by the Wikimedia community in India and the WMF. Further, the WMF has expressed interest in extending these visualizations at a global level.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A2K has successfully reached out to the Wikipedians across Indian Language communities through conducting outreach programs, resolving technical bugs, supporting with required logistics, merchandise and media publicity, building public relations and communications.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014" title="India Access To Knowledge/Work plan April 2013 - June 2014">Work-plans</a> for the growth of Indic Wikipedias<a href="#fn7" name="fr7">[7]</a> were developed in a participatory manner with active collaboration from Wikimedia community in India and Wikimedia India Chapter Executive Committee.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Proactive open disclosure of <a class="text external" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMF-A2K_Grant_Budget_and_Utilization_Sept12_-Feb13.pdf">A2K budget</a>. and proposed revisions to the budget seeking feedback from the Wikimedia community in India towards building transparency.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K gave significant media visibility to Indian Language Wikipedias both in print and electronic media.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Section B: A2K Programme Impact</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In discussing the A2K program’s impact we have presented below both the tangible and intangible aspects of our work.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Intangible Impact</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The A2K team has left no stone unturned since the commencement of the program in September 2012 to work in a transparent manner. We have taken the following measures in being transparent:</p>
<ul>
<li> Periodic publication of A2K work and outcomes through monthly newsletters.</li>
<li> Circulation of A2K monthly newsletters and notifications on various India related Wikimedia mailing lists.</li>
<li> Real-time listing and communication of activities on A2K Meta page.</li>
<li> Active documentation of all events and activities, which were published as blogs on CIS.</li>
<li> Prior announcements of all the events organized or supported by A2K.</li>
<li> Open and collaborative process of hiring Program Director.</li>
<li> Keeping the Wikimedia India Chapter EC in the loop on all programmatic developments since March 2013.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> Proactive disclosure of A2K program budget and proposed revised budget to the Indian Wikimedia community.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In addition to this A2K has explored various possibilities of collaboration with the Indian Wikimedia community and Chapter alike. The biggest instance is the A2K Wok Planning exercise for 2013-14, where multiple stakeholders were consulted. These include</p>
<ul>
<li>Some English-language Wikimedia community members from India;</li>
<li>Wikimedia India chapter Executive Committee;</li>
<li>Indian language Wikimedians and</li>
<li>A few of the Wikimedia Foundation staff.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some of the collaborative and community building efforts of A2K were:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Support to community-led activities and facilitating community participation and ownership (e.g. <a href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/04/24/indian-wikiwomen-celebrate-womens-history-month/">Wiki Women’s Month</a>).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Mobilization of the Indian Wikimedia community in organizing mega community events like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు_వికీపీడియా_మహోత్సవం_2013">Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Engagement with WMI Chapter EC and built a collaborative relationship.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia Education programs in 4 Indian languages done in collaboration with the local Wikimedia community.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Supporting Wikimedians in conducting outreach events.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Almost all the A2K events since February were done in collaboration with WMI Chapter and the Wikimedia community in India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A2K team actively participated in various community meet-ups.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A2K has provided significant media visibility to Indian Language Wikipedias, especially in mainstream English press. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These transparency and collaboration efforts resulted in building trust among the Wikimedia India communities, where in they have begun to constructively engage with the A2K program’s work. This is a significant achievement since the closure of India program in August 2012. However, there are still some Wikimedians who prefer to ignore the A2K program, which indicates that the A2K program still needs to prove its worth. Thus it could be said that the A2K program has been partly successful in winning the faith of the Indian Wikimedia communities and still needs to put in more effort in this direction. The A2K team is committed to achieve this by demonstrating success through its work during the next phase of this program.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Tangible Impact</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is difficult for the CIS-A2K program to either take direct credit for the growth or direct blame for the lack of it in the Indian language Wikimedia projects. However, we believe that we have been one of the factors — and sometimes a key factor — in impacting the growth of the Wikimedia projects and communities in India since the commencement of the project.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Though the A2K program has done some amount of work with almost all Indian language Wikipedias, the A2K team has had relatively more involvement in 10 Indic languages - Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi and Telugu - during September 2012 to June 2013.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In addition to this based on the various outreach work done by A2K we have attempted to present an analysis of direct new Wikipedia users that have emerged in languages impacted by the A2K program, keeping in mind that community mobilization will always be an autonomous activity to some extent.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Article1.png" alt="article 1" class="image-inline" title="article 1" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Graph 1</b>: Growth of Articles in Indian Language Wikipedias from September 2012 to June 2013</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>The growth momentum in Indian languages over the eight month period of September 2012 to June 2013 looks healthy.</li>
<li> Some language Wikipedias have been growing at a phenomenal rate than others in terms of percentage change since September 2012.</li>
<li> Punjabi, Assamese and Odia Wikipedias have a growth rate of 82%, 59%, and 37% respectively and are the top 3 Indian language Wikipedia projects during the ten month period.</li>
<li> In terms of absolute number of articles, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi and Hindi Wikipedias have grown by about 5,812; 5,008; 3050; and 2,734 articles respectively.</li>
<li> However, given the small size of the Wikipedia communities in Punjabi, Nepali, Kannada, Odia and Sanskrit the growth achieved by them is much commendable and all efforts have to be put to ensure that this momentum continues by strengthening these communities and also expanding them.</li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Article2.png" alt="article 2" class="image-inline" title="article 2" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Graph 2</b>: Active Editors in Indian Language Wikipedias from September 2012 to June 2013</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">There is a fluctuation in the number of active editors in all Indian language Wikipedias.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The active editors on Assamese, Marathi and Gujarati Wikipedias have been consistently coming down, which is a cause of concern.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It is important to note that Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Nepali Wikipedias where the number of Active Editors were declining earlier have shown a remarkable turnaround. The efforts of the A2K program, especially in Telugu and Kannada, over the last 4 months could have resulted in this positive change.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">It seems the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Nepal/Wiki_Wikipedia_Education_Program_Nepal">Wikipedia Education Program, Nepal</a> has been instrumental in bringing <a href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/09/18/nepal-wikipedia-education-program-pilot/">significant number of new active editors</a> on Nepali Wikipedia.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Overall the active editors on Malayalam Wikipedia have crossed the 100 mark numerous times, making it the first Indian language Wikipedia to reach this benchmark. However, in month of May and June 2013 this dropped to a 2 digit figure again.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Looking at the trends Tamil Wikipedia may soon reach the 100 active editor mark.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Even Bengali community could cross 100 active editors if concerted efforts are put in.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Assamese Wikipedia, which received support from A2K program until January 2013, had a consistent active editor population which was around 20 people. However, once the support from the A2K dwindled since February a declining trend can be noticed. One could deduce that the A2K program has had critical relevance in the growth of Assamese Wikipedia. The decline over the last 5 months also alerts us to the possibility of building dependencies on the A2K program, which is a concern that we need to address going forward. </li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Article3.png" alt="article 3" class="image-inline" title="article 3" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Graph 3: Monthly growth of New Editors on Indian Language Wikipedias from September 2012 to June 2013</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>On an average 94 new editors have joined Indian language Wikipedias every month.</li>
<li> Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil Wikipedias have consistently seen more than 10 new editors joining almost every month since Jan 2013.</li>
<li> Hindi, Marathi and Telugu have many new editors joining per month.</li>
<li> Total of 849 new people have become editors for Indian language Wikipedia since Sep 2012.</li>
<li> However, the conversion rate of new editors into active editors is still a challenge across all Indian language Wikipedias.</li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Article4.png" alt="article 4" class="image-inline" title="article 4" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Graph 4: Snapshot of “Page Views” of Indian Language Wikipedias in September 2012 & June 2013</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Overall the “Page View” trends of Indian Language Wikipedias until April 2013 look positive. but since the last two months the trend is in the decline. However, it should be noted that the month on month “Page View” trends keep fluctuating.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Punjabi Wikipedias have shown highest percentage growth in page views since September 2012.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> In absolute numbers Bengali Wikipedia has seen a spectacular growth of 3,000,000 page-views, Tamil and Malayalam Wikipedias witnessed a growth of about 927,150 and 365,913 a page-views respectively.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> Based on the the absolute numbers of “Page Views” for Indian Wikipedias it could be speculated that there is a significant increase in demand for knowledge and information in Indian languages on the internet.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the below given Graph 5, we have also looked at the direct impact the A2K programme had in cultivating new editors on Indian language Wikipedias through various outreach programs that conducted during September 2012 to June 2013.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Article5.png" alt="article 5" class="image-inline" title="article 5" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Graph 5: New Editors from CIS-A2K Outreach September 2012-June 2013</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It should be noted that during the 10 month period CIS-A2K reached out to a total of 1,314 participants. This is approximate 130 people per month. However, the username data for more than 700 participants could not be ascertained, due to incorrect inefficient data collection and input. This includes participants giving wrong usernames, trouble with the handwriting of some of the participants, etc. We have already taken note of this issue and have put in measures to efficiently capture the new user data. Hence, we have only presented an analysis of 582 participants, whose usernames are valid.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The analysis of this data reveals that more than 120 users have done more than 5 edits, which is about 21 per cent of the participants with valid usernames. Further, 25 participants have done more than 100 edits on English and various Indian language Wikipedias, which constitutes 4 per cent of the total participants that the A2K programme has reached out to. Further 11 users have become very active editors on Indian language Wikipedias with more than 1000 edits to their credit.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Section C: Learning and Challenges</h2>
<h3>Outreach</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One of the biggest constraints with the existing outreach efforts across India including that of CIS-A2K's is that they are all based on light-touch model. We have learned that a light touch outreach with no follow up, no hand-holding, no support system will not be able to yield desired results. We need to have a thoroughly thought out well-designed outreach programs where there should be continuous interaction with the participants for a minimum of 2-3 months. CIS-A2K approach to outreach should be different from usual Wikipedia editing training. Further, any outreach with an educational institution on the lines of a "Wikipedia Education Program" requires at least 3-4 months commitment from everyone concerned (i.e. student, institution, community and CISA2K).</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This in no way means diminish the importance of the light-touch model of 1/2 or 1 day Wikipedia editing training workshops, as seldom you get institutions/groups who are willing to commit to a long-term engagement. Thus a mixed approach is more pragmatic, while more energies need to put in long-term engagements.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There is a strand of criticism about effectiveness of physical outreach in general. However physical outreach for Indian languages is extremely essential as this is the lead exercise by which language communities have strengthened themselves over the years, though this has been very slow. The need to involve human element, face-to-face interaction and two-way communication is an extremely important factor of for growth of Indian language communities.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The need for each language community is different with respect to outreach. There are some communities that are more comfortable with conducting physical outreach while other communities are more efficient with outreach on social networking sites. For instance the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/or:ପ୍ରଧାନ_ପୃଷ୍ଠା">Odia Wikipedia</a> community where the average age of the active members is less than 25 is more active on Social Media and extensively uses it to network among themselves and to also discuss about the Wikipedia, whereas the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:మొదటి_పేజీ">Telugu Wikipedia</a> is more comfortable with physical meetings and primarily uses Village Pump for all community discussions.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Based on the interaction with most of the Indian language Wikimedia communities, CIS-A2K noticed that except for some communities like Malayalam, an institutional partnership is something that might not be easily taken up by community members. This is so because it requires high level of effort, time and strong network, amongst several other things. CIS-A2K has been focusing to address this need in general and in the five focus language areas in particular.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>Work Plan Development and Community Communications</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Even after sending multiple invitations, it took a lot of effort by CIS-A2K to encourage the larger community to engage and participate actively in the development of language focused work plan. CIS-A2K put its best efforts in inviting the community members through meta pages, village pumps, language and city-wide mailing lists, Indian mailing list, India English mailing list, meet-ups, IRCs, social-media channels to give their valuable suggestions and feedback. However, very few community members showed interest and helped in refining the plans. Better feedback could be gathered during physical and informal meetings with the community members.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Less than 10% active volunteers across all Indian language communities are active on Meta and even less on Indian mailing lists. During some informal conversations some community members expressed that it is too much of an additional burden to also visit Meta and engage. Taking into consideration that most of the language communities have less than 20 active volunteers, pragmatically speaking it is a huge ask to expect them to actively participate on Meta or mailing lists. Thus one cannot have a uniform standard and uniform mode of communication with different language communities. Thus CIS-A2K needs to explore various means of engaging with the Wikimedia community in India and should adopt a mixed channel approach of gauging community feedback. Though this is requires additional efforts on the team.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The mediums listed show a significant effort was made to solicit feedback and participation. It's okay and understandable that strategic planning is not for everyone, that volunteers economize their time devoted to the movement. So CIS-A2K does not necessarily see it as a failure that participation was low. What CIS-A2K aimed to do was to make sure participation was solicited, encouraged, and made possible. Of course ideally we would want higher participation, but CIS-A2K is careful not to confuse and turn <b>higher participation in strategizing into a goal in itself</b>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In spite of this CIS-A2K took the risk and went ahead with a <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Learning_and_Evaluation">participatory and continuous mode of evaluation</a>. We foresee a challenge in actively involving the community in quarterly evaluation cycles as this would require them also to introspect. In the five focus language communities such an introspection exercise was not done systematically before and a mandatory imposition may not be productive either for the Community or for CIS-A2K. The challenge would be that in the first 2 quarterly cycles CIS-A2K could miss meeting its own evaluation criteria. However, the opportunity here is to train the community to systematically introspect, which will go a long way in strengthening the Indian language Wikipedias and the associated communities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Some programs, especially institutional partnerships, have a higher risk of failure than others. Though CIS-A2K committed to a very granular break-down of outcomes, it may require significant revisions. Hence it is extremely important for CIS-A2K to review and revise the plans and goals every 3-4 months.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Community Engagement/Development</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Indian language communities are able to grow and cultivate new editors who come from similar background as their’s. For example, we find that the Telugu community comprises primarily in the age group of 30-50 years, while on the other hand, the Odia community consists of relatively younger editors between the age group of 20-30 years. Hence, it is essential that the community building programs take this aspect into consideration and work to diversify the community mix by engaging with people belonging to varied backgrounds.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Transparency and accountability are essential to build community trust. CIS-A2K has already taken various measures in this direction. However, there are occasions when more demands are placed on CIS-A2K, which consumes a lot of CIS-A2K's time and effort. The challenge is to struck a balance between the demands of transparency and accountability and the actual work they describe.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Meetups, one-on-one meetings/talk with community members are an essential ingredient to build long-term relationship. This is especially very important for nascent language communities with few editors. These kind of personal interactions help community members to know and connect with other Wikipedians. It also helps build trust and working relationship between community members and the A2K team.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K recognizes the potential role of Wikimedia India Chapter in growing the Wikimedia movement in India. Though CIS-A2K's work doesn't depend on the India Chapter, there is a huge potential for collaboration between the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India">Wikimedia India Chapter</a> and CIS-A2K. CIS-A2K has put in its best efforts to build a cordial working relationship with the India Chapter. However, the extent of the collaboration would depend on the India Chapter's capacity and interest.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Section D: Progress Report</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A detailed progress report of the A2K program activities has been presented on a monthly basis below. Most of the activities have been documented as blog posts or news-items on the CIS website. All of the A2K events, blog-posts and news-items can be seen <a href="https://cis-india.org/@@search?Subject%3Alist=Wikipedia">here.</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Outreach Sessions in September 2012</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>Note: Although most of these workshops were conducted prior to the grant period, the reports for all of these were written during September 2012</i>:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/first-punjabi-wikipedia-workshop">The First Punjabi Wikipedia Workshop</a> (by Shiju Alex and Subhashish Panigrahi, September 27, 2012). A total of 25 participants came for this workshop. There were 15 new editors (of which 13 were female).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/punjabi-wikipedia-workshop-at-punjabi-university-patiala">Punjabi Wikipedia Workshop at Punjabi University, Patiala</a> (by Shiju Alex and Subhashish Panigrahi, September 28, 2012). About 30 participants including students and teachers attended the workshop.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/punjabi-wikipedia-workshop-at-amritsar">Punjabi Wikipedia Workshop at Amritsar</a> (by Shiju Alex and Subhashish Panigrahi, September 30, 2012). Nearly 50 participants including students and teachers from eight different schools apart from the students and teachers of Spring Dale School attended the workshop.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/report-of-the-wikipedia-workshop-in-british-library">Wikipedia Workshop in British Library, Chandigarh</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, September 27, 2012). About 32 participants attended the session on Day 1 and 10 participants attended the session on Day 2.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/kannada-wiki-workshop-tumkur-university">Kannada Wiki Workshop at Tumkur University</a> (Tumkur, Karnataka, September 15, 2012). About 30 participants including students and teachers participated in this workshop.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-hyderabad-report">Wikipedia comes to Hyderabad!</a> (By Noopur Raval, September 30, 2012). There was coverage in the Hindu on September 28, 2012. About 60 students participated in the event.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Outreach Sessions in October 2012</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/bengaluru-a-hub-for-kannada-and-sanskrit-wikipedia">Bengaluru: A Hub for Kannada and Sanskrit Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects!</a> (October 7, 2012, Bangalore). Nitika Tandon, Subhashish Panigrahi and Jessie Wild led the session. Seven Kannada wikipedians participated in the event. </span> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-workshop-ghaziabad">Wikipedia workshop @ Inmantec College, Ghaziabad</a> (by Nitika Tandon, October 19, 2012). The Access to Knowledge team was approached by Gaurav Prashar, Assistant Dean at Inmantec College, Ghaziabad to organize the workshop. Over 120 participants attended the workshop including MCA, BCA, BBA students and faculty members. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wiki-women-day-2012-pune">Bridging Gender Gap in Pune: WikiWomenDay 2012 Celebrated with Success!</a> (organised by Wikipedia Club Pune at PAI International Learning Solutions, Azam Campus, Pune, October 28, 2012). Subhashish Panigrahi shares the experience in a blog post. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/first-pune-odia-wikipedia-organized">First Pune Odia Wikipedia Workshop Organized!</a> (Co-organised by CIS and Pune Odia Wikipedia community, Pune, October 27, 2012). The Access to Knowledge team showed the participants the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/or:ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:ଚାଟସଭା/ପ୍ରଶ୍ନ">Chatasabha</a>, a friendly desk on Odia Wikipedia and demonstrated how they can ask questions and see the answered questions. New wikipedians were connected to <a href="http://facebook.com/groups/OdiaWiki">Facebook</a> </li>
</ol> <ol> </ol>
<h3>Outreach Sessions in November 2012</h3>
<p> </p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wiki-workshop-at-aml">Odia Wikipedia Workshop at AML</a> (Academy of Media Learning, Bhubaneswar, November 10, 2012). Odia Wikipedians like <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ansumang">Ansuman Giri</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/or:User:ManXiii">Manoranjan Behera</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/or:User:Guguly18">Diptiman Panigrahi</a> participated in this event. </span> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/follow-up-to-wikipedia-introductory-session-at-bharati%20vidyapeeth">Follow up to Wikipedia Introductory Session</a> (Bharati Vidyapeeth, Delhi, November 19, 2012). A Wikipedia introductory session was organised at Bharati Vidyapeeth Engineering College in Delhi early this year and a follow up session was organised by CIS on November 19, 2012. About 15 participants attended the follow up session. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-workshop-organized-in-kmbb-college-bhubaneswar">An Odia Wikipedia Workshop at KMBB</a> (co-organized with CIS and with Odia Wikipedians, KMBB College, Bhubaneswar November 18, 2012). The agenda for the two-and-a-half hour session was to educate students about open source movement, journey of Wikipedia and how to contribute to Odia Wikipedia and how it would help them. Nine active Odia Wikipedians joined to support this event. </li>
</ol>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Outreach Sessions in December 2012</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/marathi-wiki-workshop-at-tiss">Marathi Wiki Workshop at TISS</a> (co-organised with the Wikimedia India Chapter, Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai, December 8, 2012). There were about 25 participants (MA and PhD level) and 5 conductors - Yogesh, Nikita, Moksh, Kartik and Nitika.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-workshop-at-nmait">Wikipedia Workshop at NMAIT</a> (NMAIT, Karkala Taluk, Karnataka December 21, 2012, co-organised in association with Metawings Institute). Subhashish Panigrahi led the session. About 170 engineering students took part in this event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-workshop-at-srm-chennai">Wikipedia Workshop at SRM</a> (SRM University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, December 17, 2012, co-organised in association with Metawings Institute). Noopur Raval participated in the event. About 40 students from different engineering colleges in Chennai participated in the workshop. <br /><br />(<i>Note: The following events were also conducted in December 2012. However, reports for these events were published later in January.</i>)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/two-day-wiki-workshop-in-goa-university">Two-day Wiki Workshop in Goa University: An Introduction</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 15, 2013). The workshop was conducted on December 12 and 13, 2012 along with the Wikipedia community members for M.A. and Ph.D. students at the Goa University. Over 35 participants attended the two-day workshop.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-in-st-xaviers-college-goa">Wikipedia in St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 19, 2013). The workshop was conducted on December 14, 2012. Over 30 participants attended the session.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/promoting-glam-in-goa">Promoting GLAM in Goa</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 24, 2013). The Access to Knowledge team organised an introductory Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums (GLAM) session at Goa State Central Library on December 13, 2012. About 45 people from over 10 different GLAM institutes in Goa participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/konkani-in-wikipedia-incubator">Konkani in Wikipedia Incubator — Taking it to the Next Level</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 25, 2013). An introductory session on Konkani in Wikipedia was conducted at the Konkani Department in Goa University on December 12, 2012. About 30 participants took part in the event.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Outreach Session in January 2013</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/wikipedia-workshop-at-rkgit-ghaziabad" class="external text" rel="nofollow">A Wiki Workshop at Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Ghaziabad</a> (RKGIT, Ghaziabad, January 17, 2013). Around 65 mechanical engineering students from second and third year participated in this workshop.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Outreach Session in February 2013</h3>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/digital-literacy-workshop" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Digital Literacy Workshop at Department of Arts, Delhi University</a> (University of Delhi, February 5, 2013). A digital literacy workshop was organised at the Department of Arts, Delhi University for students pursuing their masters in Modern Indian Languages and Literary Studies on February 5, 2013. About 30 students and 4 faculty members attended the workshop.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Outreach Sessions in March 2013</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-session-at-bits-goa" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Introductory Wikipedia session at BITS Goa</a> (organised by CIS, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Goa, March 7, 2013). The Access to Knowledge team was invited by Nikhil Dixit, Public Relations Officer at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani – Goa (BITS Goa) to organise Wikipedia session on March 7, 2013. About 30 people participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%95%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%AA%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%A1%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%AF%E0%B0%BE:%E0%B0%B8%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B5%E0%B1%87%E0%B0%B6%E0%B0%82/%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%9A%E0%B0%BF_8,_2013_%E0%B0%B8%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B5%E0%B1%87%E0%B0%B6%E0%B0%82" title="w:te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/మార్చి 8, 2013 సమావేశం">Telugu Wikipedia Training Workshop on Women's Day</a> (organised by CIS, Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, March 8, 2013). Telugu Wikipedians Dr. Rajasekhar and Rahmanuddin alongwith T. Vishnu Vardhan led this event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/wikipedia-workshop-for-kannada-science-writers" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia Workshop for Kannada Science Writers</a> (organised by Wikimedia India Chapter, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath and CIS, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath Conference Hall, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore, March 17, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/kannada-wikipedia-workshop" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop</a> (organised by CIS, Institution of Engineers, JLB Road, Mysore, March 24, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led this workshop.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia Indian Languages Workshop at IIT, Bombay (organised by CIS, IIT Mumbai, March 28, 2013). Noopur Raval led the event.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Outreach Sessions in April 2013</h3>
<p> </p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు_వికీపీడియా_మహోత్సవం_2013#.E0.B0.B5.E0.B0.BF.E0.B0.95.E0.B1.80.E0.B0.AA.E0.B1.80.E0.B0.A1.E0.B0.BF.E0.B0.AF.E0.B0.BE_.E0.B0.A4.E0.B1.86.E0.B0.B2.E0.B1.81.E0.B0.97.E0.B1.81_.E0.B0.AE.E0.B0.B9.E0.B1.8B.E0.B0.A4.E0.B1.8D.E0.B0.B8.E0.B0.B5.E0.B0.82.2C_.E0.B0.AE.E0.B1.81.E0.B0.82.E0.B0.A6.E0.B0.B8.E0.B1.8D.E0.B0.A4.E0.B1.81_.E0.B0.B5.E0.B0.BF.E0.B0.95.E0.B1.80_.E0.B0.85.E0.B0.95.E0.B0.BE.E0.B0.A1.E0.B1.86.E0.B0.AE.E0.B1.80">Telugu Wikipedia Workshop</a> (April 9, 2013 at the Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad). Telugu Wikipedians Arjunarao, Rahmanuddin and Pavithran along with T. Vishnu Vardhan led this half-day workshop. This was organized as a pre-event to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు_వికీపీడియా_మహోత్సవం_2013">Telugu Wiki-Mahotsavam</a>. </span> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు_వికీపీడియా_మహోత్సవం_2013#.E0.B0.AA.E0.B1.8D.E0.B0.B0.E0.B0.BE.E0.B0.A5.E0.B0.AE.E0.B0.BF.E0.B0.95_.E0.B0.B5.E0.B0.BF.E0.B0.95.E0.B1.80_.E0.B0.85.E0.B0.95.E0.B0.BE.E0.B0.A1.E0.B0.AE.E0.B1.80">Telugu Wikipedia Workshop</a> (April 11, 2013 at the Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad). Telugu Wikipedians Radhkrishna and Rajachandra led this half-day workshop. This was organized as part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు_వికీపీడియా_మహోత్సవం_2013">Telugu Wiki-Mahotsavam</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు_వికీపీడియా_మహోత్సవం_2013#.E0.B0.AA.E0.B1.8D.E0.B0.B0.E0.B0.BE.E0.B0.A5.E0.B0.AE.E0.B0.BF.E0.B0.95_.E0.B0.B5.E0.B0.BF.E0.B0.95.E0.B1.80_.E0.B0.85.E0.B0.95.E0.B0.BE.E0.B0.A1.E0.B0.AE.E0.B1.80">Telugu Wikipedia Advance level Workshop</a> (April 11, 2013 at the Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad). Telugu Wikipedians Arjunarao and Rahmanuddin led this demonstration. This was organized as part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు_వికీపీడియా_మహోత్సవం_2013">Telugu Wiki-Mahotsavam</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-udupi-april-29-2013">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop</a> (April 29, 2013, Govinda Pai Research Centre, MGM College Udupi). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the workshop and gave a talk on Kannada Wikipedia. </li>
</ol>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Outreach Sessions in May 2013</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia workshop (May 8, 2013, TISS, Mumbai). T. Vishnu Vardhan conducted the workshop to the students of Post Graduate Diploma in Community Media. A total of 14 students and 1 teacher attended this multi-lingual Wikipedia training workshop.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Outreach Sessions in June 2013</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (June 4, 2013, Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Hassan). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the workshop and gave a talk on Kannada Wikipedia.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia workshop (June 10, 2013, Internet Institute, Palm Grove, Bangalore). T. Vishnu Vardhan conducted the workshop. This orientation workshop on Wikipedia was attended by representatives from about 25 Civil Society organizations across India. This was followed up by a hands-on Wikipedia training workshop.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Kannada Wikipedia workshop for bloggers (June 24, 2013, Suchitra, Bangalore). Dr U.B. Pavanaja conducted the workshop and gave a presentation on Kannada Wikipedia.</li>
</ol>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Education Programme Updates</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/launch-of-assamese-wikipedia-education-program">Launch of Assamese Wikipedia Education program</a> at Guwahati University (by Nitika Tandon, October 22, 2012). The program was launched on October 14, 2012 with 15 post-graduate students (90 per cent of these are women students) under the guidance of Prof. Dulumoni Goswami, Head of the Department of Education, Guwahati University.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/malayalam-wikipedia-education-program-august-october-update">Malayalam Wikipedia Education Program: August to October Updates</a> (by Shiju Alex, October 29, 2012). This program is the first of its kind in an Indic language, and Malayalam community is doing the program in collaboration with the IT@School, a project of the Department of General Education, # <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/gujarati-wikipedia-article-competition">Government of Kerala, setup in 2001, to foster the IT education in schools. Gujarati Wikipedia Article Competition</a> – 10 schools, 200 students, 20 articles on Gujarati Wikipedia (by Noopur Raval, October 31, 2012). This was a competition to raise Wikipedia awareness and help students discover the joy of writing articles in their native language and an attempt to connect producers having knowledge in Gujarati to a wide audience of more than 4,00,000 readers.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/gujarati-wikipedia-education-program-rajkot">Gujarat Wikipedia Education program:Rajkot</a> (by Noopur Raval, October 31, 2012). This report analyses a series of meetings and workshops held in Rajkot, a city in Gujarat, India during the month of October 2012 including students from the Galaxy Education System, Christ College students and members from the Wikipedia community.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/first-odia-wikipedia-education-program-to-be-rolled-out-at-iimc-dhenkanal">First Odia Wikipedia Education Program to be Rolled Out</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 30, 2012). Odia wikipedians launched this program at the Indian Institute of Mass Communications, Dhenkanal on November 8, 2012 to bring students to edit articles on Odia wikipedia through a series of assessments by professors.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/odia-education-program-at-iimc-dhenkanal">Odia Education Program</a> (Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Orissa, January 26, 2013). This is the first Odia Education Program which ran for three months and 16 students took active part in contributing on various articles on Odia Wikipedia.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-education-program-iimc-dhenkanal">Odia Wikipedia Community Brings Wikipedia Education Program to IIMC, Dhenkanal</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, February 28, 2013). Sixteen student wikipedians signed up and took part in editing more than a dozen articles on Odia Wikipedia.</li>
</ol>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Hackathons</h3>
<ol>
<li><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/wikipedia-hackathon-bits-hyderabad">Wikipedia Hackathon at BITS Hyderabad</a> (organized by CIS - A2K team and BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad, October 26 – 27, 2012). </span> </li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/mini-hackathon-delhi">A Wikipedia Mini-hackathon in Delhi</a> (CIS, New Delhi, November 11, 2012) </li>
</ol>
<h3>Meetups</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/kolkata-tasting-the-sweetness-of-wikipedia">Kolkata: Tasting the Sweetness of Wikipedia!</a> (Kolkata, November 3, 2012). The journeys of three Wikipedians — Jayanta Nath, Deepon Saha and Ashwin Baindur are examined. Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the meeting.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://wiki.wikimedia.in/WikiMeetups/Bangalore/Bangalore51">Wikivoyage, November 18, 2012</a>: Ravikiran presented the Wikivoyage project and discussions on Wiki Project Karnataka. A total of 13 participants attended this meeting.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://wiki.wikimedia.in/WikiMeetups/Bangalore/Bangalore52">Wikidata, December 2, 2012</a>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:LydiaPintscher">Lydia Pintscher</a> presented the Wikidata project. The talk covered history of Wikidata project, state of the project and Wikidata India opportunities. About 13 people attended this event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2013-February/009453.html">Wikimedia Meet-up, Hyderabad</a> (7 Hyderabad based Wikimedians attended this meet-up. Abhijith Jayanthi - SIG Hyderabad, Rahimanuddin Shaik - SIG Telugu, Dr. Rajasekhar; Veera Venkata Chowdary, Tausif, Sai Anudeep, and Akhila Thumma came together for a discussion meeting with the CIS-A2K Program Director T. Vishnu Vardhan.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wiki-meet-up-kolkata">Kolkata Wiki Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Kolkata Wiki Community, March 14, 2013). Four Wikipedians from Kolkata, Wikimedia Foundation's mobile Developer Yuvaraj Pandian and OPW intern Sucheta Ghoshal joined T. Vishnu Vardhan and Subhashish Panigrahi for this event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-cuttack-community-meetup-march-16-2013">Odia Wikipedia - Cuttack Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Odia Wiki Community, Cuttack, March 16, 2013). T. Vishnu Vardhan and Subhashish Panigrahi met Odia Wikipedians in Cuttack to discuss about the current state of Odia Wikipedia and understand the community building strategies.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-meet-up-bhubaneswar-march-17-2013">Odia Wikipedia – Bhubaneswar Community Meetup</a> (organised by CIS and Odia Wiki Community, Bhubaneswar, March 17, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/telegu-wiki-meet-up-at-cis-june-2-2013">First Telugu Wiki Meetup @ CIS, Bangalore</a> (co-organised by Telugu Wikipedia community and CIS-A2K on June 2, 2013). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/te:వాడుకరి:Veera.sj">S.J. Veera</a> conducted the meet-up.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Celebration and Events</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/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). The event attracted good coverage in the local media:</span></li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li><span><span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">ଓଡ଼ିଶାନ୍</a></span></span></span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">: </a></span><span><span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ନବମ ଜନ୍ମତିଥି ଅବସରରେ କର୍ମଶାଳା</a></span></span></span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">: </a></span><span><span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">ଇମିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରୟୋଗ</a></span></span></span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">, </a></span><span><span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">ସମ୍ବାଦ</a></span></span></span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">: </a></span><span><span><span><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">ଲିପି ବ୍ୟାକରଣ ଓ ମାନକ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରୟୋଗ ଜରୁରୀ</a></span></span></span><span>,</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.eindiadiary.com/content/odisha-workshop-organized-9th-anniversary-odia-language-application-odia-language-e-media">eindiadiary.com</a>: Odisha: Workshop organized on 9th Anniversary of Odia language: Application of Odia language in e-media,</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://news.fullorissa.com/odia-wikipedias-9th-anniversary">Fullorissa.com: Odia Wikipedia’s 9th anniversary</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Orissa/Shownews.asp?newsid=19485">Indiaeducationdiary.in: Odisha: Workshop organized on 9th Anniversary of Odia language: Application of Odia language in e-media</a></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">Odishaviews.com:Odia language workshop organized on 9th Anniversary of Odia Wikipedia: Application of Odia language in e-media</a> </li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-womens-workshop-in-mumbai" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia Women's Workshop in Mumbai</a> (by Noopur Raval, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, Wadala, Mumbai, November 4, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">
<p><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wiki-womens-day-in-goa">Wiki Women's Day in Goa</a> (organised by the Wikimedia India Chapter and CIS, Nirmala Institute of Education, Panaji, Goa, March 8, 2013). The workshop was organised on International Women's Day. Rohini Lakshane and Nitika Tandon led the workshop. </span></p>
</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/telegu-wiki-mahotsavam-2013">Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013</a> (organised by Telugu Wikipedia Community and CIS, Hyderabad, April 9 – 11, 2013). T. Vishnu Vardhan was one of the trainers at the Wikipedia Academy at Centre for Good Governance on April 9, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan spoke about the Access to Knowledge work in one of the sessions of Wikimedia. Meeting with Media Heads on April 10, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan gave a talk on A2K’s plans for the growth of Telegu Wikipedia in 2013-14 at the Telegu Wikipedia general meeting on April 11, 2013. Vishnu Vardhan also gave a talk about Access to Knowledge in the digital era at the Wiki Chaitanya Vedika on April 11, 2013. </span> </li>
</ul>
<h3><span>Events Participated In</span></h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/celebrating-the-success-of-wikipedia-in-wikipedia-summit-pune-2013">Celebrating the success of Wikipedia in Wikipedia Summit Pune 2013</a> (organized by Wikipedia Club, Pune, January 12 – 13, 2013).</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/foss-wikimedia-under-one-roof-gnunify">GNUnify 2013</a> (organized by Pune Linux/Unix User Group and Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies & Research, Pune, February 15 – 17, 2013). Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/creative-commons-comes-to-india">Creative Commons comes to India</a> (co-organized by Pune Linux/Unix User Group and Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies & Research in Pune, February 15, 2013, and CIS the Wikimedia India Chapter, Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore, February 25, 2013).The Access to Knowledge team participated in the CC meetings organized in Bangalore.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/fifty-fourth-bangalore-wikimedia-meetup">Fifty-fourth Bangalore Wikimedia Meet-up at IIM, Bangalore</a> (organized by Radhakrishna Arvapally, SIG (Special Interest Group) Chair, Bangalore (a part of the Wikimedia India Chapter) with support from Solutions IQ, Wikimedia India Chapter and CIS, Indian Institute of Management, February 25, 2013). Sudhwana Jogalekar (President, Wikimedia India) spoke on Wikimedia Projects. T. Vishnu Vardhan (program Director, A2K, CIS) gave a talk on 'Accessibility to Knowledge'. Joe Justice (Founder WikiSpeed) and Vibhu Srinivasan gave a presentation of WikiSpeed Car project. Chief Guest K.S. Viswanath (Vice President, Industry Initiatives, NASSCOM) gave the welcome address. Noopur Raval participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/knowledge-sharing-through-glam">Knowledge Sharing through GLAM at Bangalore</a> (organized by Wikimedia India and Creative Commons, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad, Kumara Krupa Road, Bangalore, February 25, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja, Nitika Tandon and Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event. CIS supported the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/wikipedia-workshop-for-kannada-science-writers">Wikipedia Workshop for Kannada Science Writers</a> (organised by Wikimedia Chapter India, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath and CIS, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath Conference Hall, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore, March 17, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-womens-workshop-bangalore-2013">Wikipedia Women's Workshop Bangalore 2013</a> (organised by Wikimedia India, Servelots Infotech, Jayanagar, Bangalore, March 8, 2013). The event was covered by Kannada Prabha on March 9, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-at-avenir">Wikipedia at Avenir</a> (organised by the Wikipedia community, Netaji Subhash Engineering College, Kolkata, West Bengal, March 11, 2013). CIS supported the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia Community members helped the Higher Education Innovation and Research Applications program (HEIRA) of CSCS Bangalore organizes a day-long workshop on ‘Digital Literacy’ at Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar, Maharasthra on January 17, 2013. Tanveer Hasan of HEIRA shares with us the developments in <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/ahmednagar-marathi-wikipedia-workshop-report">this report</a>. During this period, CIS established partnerships with the Goa University, Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai, Regional Research Centre, Udupi, etc. </li>
</ol>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Section E: Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project</h3>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/IndicWikipedia.png" alt="Indic Wikipedia" class="image-inline" title="Indic Wikipedia" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Given above is a chart depicting the visualization of Indic Wikipedia project</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>CIS hired <a href="http://www.ajantriks.net/">Sumandro Chattapadhyay</a> and <a href="http://sajjad.in/">Sajjad Anwar</a> to work on visualisation of the growth of Indic Wikipedia. Their project takes basic parameters, like page views, total articles and total editors, and compares them over time and across projects: </span></p>
<ul>
<li>They have looked into the different aspects of the past and present activities of Indic Wikipedias, and divided the visualisation into three different focus areas: <br /> <ol>
<li><span>Basic parameters </span> </li>
<li>Geographic patterns of edits </li>
<li>Exploring topics that receive greatest number of edits. You can read more about <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-basic-parameters">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #1: Visualising Basic Parameters</a></li>
</ol></li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>They also worked on visualisation of the page views statistics and the project specific pages. The page views indicate the number of unique visits Wikipedia project concerned has received in one month. You can read more about <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-page-views-and-project-pages">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #2: Visualising Page Views and Project Pages</a> </span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span><a href="http://geohacker.github.io/indicwiki/readership">Readership Dashboard</a>: The Readership Dashboard combines a line graph showing the movement of page view for a project across the years and bar graphs showing a separate variable for the same project.</span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://geohacker.github.io/indicwiki/motion_chart">Motion Charts</a>: The motion charts help compare Indic Wikipedia Projects across Languages on various parameters such as new editors, new articles, active editors, total editors etc.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://geohacker.github.io/indicwiki/page-views">Calendar Charts</a>: The calendar charts limits each chart section to 12 months allowing the user to focus on more granular movements of the variable concerned, say the number of new editors per month or page views per month, etc.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Section F: The Access to Knowledge Work Plan (2013 – 2014)</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Access to Knowledge team assessed 12 of the active Indic-language communities based on the community dynamics, growth patterns in readership, and community and edit contribution for drafting this work plan. In putting together this work plan the Access to Knowledge team has extensively engaged with various stakeholders. These include: a) some Wikimedia community in India members across various Indian-language Wikimedia projects; b) some English-language Wikimedia community members from India; c) Wikimedia India chapter executive committee; d) some potential institutional partners; e) a few like-minded advocates of free knowledge; f) Access to Knowledge program Adviser Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana; and g) a few of the Wikimedia Foundation staff. Five languages were selected as core language areas. These include: Bengali, Kannada, Konkani, Odia and Telegu. Some key factors that determined the selection of languages areas included:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Access to Knowledge team's existing ties with knowledge institutions, groups and individuals.</li>
<li>Willingness of language community to interact and engage with the Access to Knowledge team.</li>
<li>Considering Wikimedia India Chapter EC's suggestion that Access to Knowledge team should work on at least one incubation project.</li>
<li>Access to Knowledge team's familiarity with the languages.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, choosing these five languages do not necessarily mean that the A2K program would not focus on the other languages rather there would be more programmatic support and organizational ties to be built.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Language Area Work Plans</h3>
<p>The language area work plans are linked to the individual meta-pages:</p>
<ul>
<li><span><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Telugu">Telugu</a> </span> </li>
<li><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Odia">Odia</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Kannada">Kannada</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Konkani">Konkani (GOM)</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Bengali">Bengali</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Overall_Support_Across_Indian_language_Communities">Overall Support Across Indian language Communities</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Pilot_Project_–_Performing_Arts_in_India">Pilot Project – Performing Arts in India</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Learning_and_Evaluation">Learning and Evaluation</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The expected and dream targets for the languages are shown below:</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th colspan="10">Expected and dream targets for languages</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Parameters</td>
<td colspan="2">Telugu</td>
<td colspan="2">Odia</td>
<td colspan="2">Kannada</td>
<td colspan="2">Bengali</td>
<td>Konkani</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>Expected target</td>
<td>Dream target</td>
<td>Expected target</td>
<td>Dream target</td>
<td>Expected target</td>
<td>Dream target</td>
<td>Expected target</td>
<td>Dream target</td>
<td>Target</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">No. of Editors</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">755</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">905</td>
<td>120</td>
<td>350</td>
<td>600</td>
<td>1000</td>
<td>930</td>
<td>1200</td>
<td>NA</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">No. of New editors <br /></td>
<td>200</td>
<td>350</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>300</td>
<td>700</td>
<td>30</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">No. of Acitve editors</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>40</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>40</td>
<td>50</td>
<td>70</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>150</td>
<td>NA</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">No. of Aritcles</td>
<td>54000</td>
<td>55000</td>
<td>5000</td>
<td>6000</td>
<td>25000</td>
<td>30000</td>
<td>27000</td>
<td>28000</td>
<td>500</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">No. of Outreach Events <br /></td>
<td>29</td>
<td>34</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>15</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>15</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The detailed plan with projection of outcomes and expected impact of the A2K program activities could be accessed <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014">here.</a></span></p>
<h3>Overall Community Support</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Besides the specific programs mentioned under individual language area plans, A2K team will provide overall support to all Indian-language Wikipedia communities. This includes but is not limited to:</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Creating awareness through online editing videos, editing guides and digital coverage all in local Indian languages.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Supporting outreach activities</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Capacity building to multiply outreach efforts. This would include training sessions to improve presentation skills, audience engagement skills with mock presentations and video recording for feedback. The first Train-the-Trainer program is being planned in June.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Facilitate more qualitative interactions amongst community members with an aim to foster creation of new project ideas in the form of physical meet-ups, hangouts/Skype calls, and small/large scale conferences.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Organize language specific IRCs where community members from that specific language could discuss their plans, issues, concerns, and anything at all.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Encourage community members to share feedback, suggestions or details of any kind of support on A2K's <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Requests">Meta help page</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Supporting communities for bug reporting and following up for resolution. A detailed overall community support page can be found <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Work_plan_April_2013_-_June_2014/Overall_Support_Across_Indian_language_Communities">here</a>. </li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Section G: Team Orientation and Development</h2>
<h3>Team’s Professional Development</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A one-day orientation was organized in CIS where Wikimedia board members Bishakha Datta and Achal Prabhala helped the Access to Knowledge team members to develop an agenda for a period of 6-7 months. They helped team members to find overlaps, prioritise and recognize possibilities to make best use of available resources. The board members also shared learnings, principles and concepts from other movements that could be applied to the Access to Knowledge program.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A one-day orientation program was organized with Wikimedia India Chapter Executive Committee Members to find common minimum program on which both the Chapter and the Access to Knowledge team could work together to achieve common objectives. The orientation also helped define overlapping areas and how the two oragnisations will handle them.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">A one-day orientation program was organised with Wikimedia community in India Members such as Tinu Cherian who gave a talk on how to leverage mainstream and social media; Gautam John who organized a workshop on organisational procedures for greater transparency and accountability, and Arun Ramarathnam who spoke about best practices for working with Wikipedia community. This orientation was organized as a part of training and skill development for the Access to Knowledge team members.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Since March 2013 CIS-A2K started having weekly Team Learning Sessions on every Wednesday. However, given the hectic schedules of the Team these could not be organized in a regular manner.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Exits and New Hires</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS has an office in New Delhi with a five-member team for the Access to Knowledge program. The team is currently headed by <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Visdaviva">T. Vishnu Vardhan</a>, Program Director (Access to Knowledge). Other team members include Tejaswini Niranjana (Distinguished Fellow), <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pavanaja">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</a> (Program Officer, Indian Language Initiatives), <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nitika.t">Nitika Tandon</a> (Program Manager) and <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Psubhashish">Subhashish Panigrahi</a> (Program Officer).</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/vishnu.png" alt="Vishnu" class="image-inline" title="Vishnu" /></th>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team">T. Vishnu Vardhan</a>: Vishnu Vardhan was hired as the new program Director-Access to Knowledge at CIS. Vishnu Vardhan has over the last 11 years worked in various capacities as researcher, grant manager, teacher, project consultant, information architect and translator. Vishnu Vardhan managed the Art, Crafts and Culture portfolio of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and also worked as Research Coordinator at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society in Bangalore.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy3_of_Pavanaja.png" alt="Pavanaja" class="image-inline" title="Pavanaja" /></td>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/our-team">Dr. U.B. Pavanaja</a> joined the team as program Officer, India Language Initiatives on March 4, 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.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/Tejaswini.png" alt="Tejaswini" class="image-inline" title="Tejaswini" /></td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/people/distinguished-fellows">Tejaswini Niranjana</a> is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS), Bangalore, and Visiting Professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai joined A2K as an Adviser. She guides the Access to Knowledge team in expanding the Indian language Wikipedias and helps in increasing the number of active editors through strategic partnerships with Higher Education institutions across India.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The following staff left the organisation:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Shijualex">Shiju Alex</a>, Program Manager, Access to Knowledge left the organization on November 16, 2012.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Noopur28">Noopur Raval</a>, Program Officer, Access to Knowledge left the organization on April 24, 2013. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Section H: Additional Links and Data</h2>
<h3>Blog Entries</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/indic-language-wikipedias-statistical-report-jan-june-2012">Indic Language Wikipedias – Statistical Report: January – June 2012</a> (by Shiju Alex, September 25, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/kannada-wiki-workshop-tumkur-university">Kannada Wiki Workshop at Tumkur University</a> (by Shiju Alex, September 25, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/first-punjabi-wikipedia-workshop">The First Punjabi Wikipedia Workshop</a> (by Shiju Alex and Subhashish Panigrahi, September 27, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/report-of-the-wikipedia-workshop-in-british-library">Wikipedia Workshop in British Library, Chandigarh</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, September 27, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/punjabi-wikipedia-workshop-at-punjabi-university-patiala">Punjabi Wikipedia Workshop at Punjabi University, Patiala</a> (by Shiju Alex and Subhashish Panigrahi, September 28, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/editor-growth-and-contribution-on-telegu-wikipedia">Editor Growth & Contribution Program on Telugu Wikipedia</a> (by Nitika Tandon, September 29, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/punjabi-wikipedia-workshop-at-amritsar">Punjabi Wikipedia Workshop at Amritsar</a> (by Shiju Alex, September 30, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-hyderabad-report">Wikipedia comes to Hyderabad!</a> (by Noopur Raval, September 30, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/bengaluru-a-hub-for-kannada-and-sanskrit-wikipedia">Bengaluru: A Hub for Kannada and Sanskrit Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects!</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, October 16, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-workshop-ghaziabad">Wikipedia workshop @ Inmantec College, Ghaziabad</a> (by Nitika Tandon, October 19, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/launch-of-assamese-wikipedia-education-program">Launch of Assamese Wikipedia Education Program at Guwahati University</a> (by Nitika Tandon, October 22, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/malayalam-wikipedia-education-program-august-october-update">Malayalam Wikipedia Education Program: August to October Updates</a> (by Shiju Alex, October 29, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wiki-women-day-2012-pune">Bridging Gender Gap in Pune: WikiWomenDay 2012 Celebrated with Success!</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, October 29, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/gujarati-wikipedia-education-program-rajkot">Gujarat Wikipedia Education Program: Rajkot</a> (by Noopur Raval, October 31, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/gujarati-wikipedia-article-competition">Gujarati Wikipedia Article Competition – 10 schools, 200 students, 20 articles on Gujarati Wikipedia</a> (by Noopur Raval, October 31, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/first-pune-odia-wikipedia-organized">First Pune Odia Wikipedia Workshop Organized!</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, October 31, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wiki-workshop-at-aml">An Odia Wikipedia Workshop at Academy of Media Learning</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 10, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/mini-hackathon-delhi">A Wikipedia Mini-hackathon in Delhi</a> (a guest blog post by Yuvraj Pandian, November 11, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-hackathon-hyderabad">Report on Wikipedia Hackathon held in Hyderabad</a> (a guest blog post by Yuvi Panda, November 19, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-workshop-organized-in-kmbb-college-bhubaneswar">An Odia Wikipedia Workshop at KMBB College, Bhubaneswar</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 19, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/follow-up-to-wikipedia-introductory-session-at-bharati-vidyapeeth">Follow up to Wikipedia Introductory Session at Bharati Vidyapeeth — More Interested and More Involved Participants</a> (by Nitika Tandon, November 19, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/typing-in-indic-languages-from-mobiles">Typing in Indic Languages from Mobiles made Easy!</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 19, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-womens-workshop-in-mumbai">Wikipedia Women's Workshop in Mumbai</a> (by Noopur Raval, November 21, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/first-odia-wikipedia-education-program-to-be-rolled-out-at-iimc-dhenkanal">First Odia Wikipedia Education Program to be Rolled Out</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 30, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/kolkata-tasting-the-sweetness-of-wikipedia">Kolkata: Tasting the Sweetness of Wikipedia!</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 30, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/marathi-wiki-workshop-at-tiss">Marathi Wiki Workshop at Tata Institute of Social Sciences</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, December 8, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/non-unicode-iscii-text-can-be-converted-to-unicode">Non Unicode ISCII Text Can be Converted to Unicode Now!</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, December 19, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-workshop-at-srm-chennai">A Wikipedia Workshop at SRM University, Chennai</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, December 27, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/new-avenues">New Avenues: Media Wiki Groups</a> (by Noopur Raval, December 27, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-workshop-at-nmait">A Wikipedia Workshop at NMAIT</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, December 30, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/two-day-wiki-workshop-in-goa-university">Two-day Wiki Workshop in Goa University: An Introduction</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, December 30, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/two-day-wiki-workshop-in-goa-university">Two-day Wiki Workshop in Goa University: An Introduction</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 14, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-in-st-xaviers-college-goa">Wikipedia in St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 19, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/celebrating-the-success-of-wikipedia-in-wikipedia-summit-pune-2013">Celebrating the success of Wikipedia in Wikipedia Summit Pune 2013</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, January 21, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-workshop-at-rkgit-ghaziabad">A Wiki Workshop at Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Ghaziabad</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, January 22, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/bringing-konkani-encyclopedia-in-public-domain">Bringing Konkani Encyclopedia in Public Domain</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 22, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/promoting-glam-in-goa">Promoting GLAM in Goa</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 24, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/konkani-in-wikipedia-incubator">Konkani in Wikipedia Incubator — Taking it to the Next Level</a> (by Nitika Tandon, January 25, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/digital-literacy-workshop">Digital Literacy Workshop at Department of Arts, Delhi University</a> (by Nitika Tandon, February 5, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/celebrating-odia-wikipedias-ninth-anniversary">Celebrating Odia Wikipedia's Ninth Anniversary</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, February 19, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/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-old/wikipedia-session-at-bits-goa">Introductory Wikipedia session at BITS Goa</a> (by Nitika Tandon, March 19, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/ahmednagar-marathi-wikipedia-workshop-report">Ahmednagar — Marathi Wikipedia Workshop</a> (by Tanveer Hasan, March 18, 2013). This is a report contributed by the Centre for Study of Culture and Society.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wiki-womens-day-in-goa">Wiki Women's Day in Goa</a> (by Nitika Tandon, March 19, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-basic-parameters">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #1: Visualising Basic Parameters</a> (by Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro Chattapadhyay, March 26, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-cuttack-community-meetup-march-16-2013">Odia Wikipedia - Cuttack Community Meetup</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, April 3, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-meet-up-bhubaneswar-march-17-2013">Odia Wikipedia - Bhubaneswar Community Meetup</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, April 4, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-page-views-and-project-pages">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #2: Visualising Page Views and Project Pages</a> (by Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro Chattapadhyay, April 22, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indian-wiki-women-history-month">Indian WikiWomen celebrate Women’s History Month</a> (by Netha Hussain, April 29, 2013). This is a guest blog post by Netha Hussain.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-needs-assessment">Odia Wikipedia: Needs Assessment</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, May 11, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/access-to-knowledge-work-plan-synopsis-of-feedback-by-wikipedians">Access to Knowledge Work Plan: Synopsis of Feedback by Wikipedians</a> (by Nitika Tandon, May 20, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-introductory-session">Wikipedia Introductory Session organized for Data and India portal consultants</a> (by Subhashish Panigrahi, May 30, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/cis-tiss-mou">CIS Signs MOU with TISS, Mumbai</a> (May 31, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/telugu-wiki-meet-up-at-cis-june-2-2013">A Telugu Wiki Meetup @ CIS, Bangalore (April 2013 - June 2014)</a> (a guest blog post by S J Veera, June 2, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/resources/access-to-knowledge-work-plan">Access To Knowledge Work Plan (April 2013 - June 2014)</a> (by T Vishnu Vardhan, June 10, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/my-first-wikipedia-training-workshop">My First Wikipedia Training Workshop – Theatre Outreach Unit, University of Hyderabad</a> (by T Vishnu Vardhan, June 19, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/visual-editor.pdf">Wikipedia Visual Editor</a> (by Nitika Tandon, June 27, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-bloggers">A 'Kannada' Wikipedia Workshop for Bloggers</a> (by U B Pavanaja, June 28, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Press Coverage</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowEvents.asp?id=37463">Odisha: Odia Wikipedia workshop organized in Pune to promote Odia language</a> (OdishaDiary.com, October 31, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/bangalore-mirror-article-kalyan-subramani-nov-15-2012-some-indian-laws-could-be-challenging">‘Some Indian laws could be challenging’</a> (by Kalyan Subramani, Bangalore Mirror, November 15, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/report-of-odia-wikipedia-workshop-in-sambad">A Report of the Odia Wikipedia Workshop held in KMBB College of Engineering, Bhubaneswar</a> (Sambad, November 19, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/orissa-diary-november-23-2012-pravuprasad-routray">OdishaDiary conferred prestigious Odisha Youth Inspiration Award 2012 to Odia Wikipedia team</a> (by Pravuprasad Routray, Orissa Diary, November 23, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/report-of-odia-wikipedia-workshop-in-iit-kharagpur">A Report of Odia Wikipedia Workshop at IIT, Kharagpur</a> (Samaja, Odia daily, Kolkata edition, December 3, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/article-in-cybersafar">વિકિપીડિયા ગુજરાતી માં પણ છે</a> (by Harsh Kothari, Cybersafar, November 28, 2012).A Report of Odia Wikipedia Workshop at IIT, Kharagpur (Samaja, Odia daily, Kolkata edition, December 3, 2012).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/orissa-diary-january-27-2013-first-odia-wikipedia-education-program-concludes-at-iimc">First Odia Wikipedia Education Program concludes at IIMC, Dhenkanal</a> (OdishaDiary Bureau, January 27, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/sambad-e-paper-january-30-2013-odia-wikipedia-workshop-coverage">Odia Wikipedia's 9th Anniversary and Workshop on Application of Odia in Media</a> (Sambad, January 30, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ନବମ ଜନ୍ମତିଥି ଅବସରରେ କର୍ମଶାଳା</a><a href="http://odishan.com/?p=2534">: ଇମିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରୟୋଗ</a> (Odishan.com, February 4, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://sambadepaper.com/Details.aspx?id=36615&boxid=23625437">ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ନବମ ଜନ୍ମତିଥି ଅବସରରେ କର୍ମଶାଳା</a><a href="http://sambadepaper.com/Details.aspx?id=36615&boxid=23625437">: ଇମିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରୟୋଗ</a> (Sambad, February 4, 2013).</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).</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> (Odishaviews.com, March 2, 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).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-report-in-prajavani">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop, Mysore — Coverage in Prajavani</a> (Prajavani, March 25, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/prajavani-may-24-2013-report-on-cis-celebrates-5-years">CIS Celebrates 5 Years: A Report in Prajavani</a> (Prajavani, May 24, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/udayavani-may-25-2013-cis-celebrates-5-years">CIS Celebrates 5 Years: A Report in Udayavani</a> (Prajavani, May 24, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/hmtv-may-30-2013-wikipedia-and-telugu-wikipedians">A Feature on Wikipedia and Telugu Wikipedians on HMTV</a> (Prajavani, May 30-31, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/wikipedia-live-phone-in-programme">Wikipedia Live Phone-in Programme on HMTV</a> (Prajavani, June 1, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/prajavani-june-5-2013-kannada-wikipedia-workshop-coverage">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Hasan</a> (Prajavani, June 5, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/samyukta-karnataka-june-5-2013-kannada-wikipedia-workshop-coverage">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Hasan</a> (Samyukta Karnataka, June 5, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/vijaya-karnataka-june-5-2013-report-of-kannada-wikipedia-workshop-in-hasan">Kannada Wikipedia Workshop at Hasan</a> (Vijaya Karnataka, June 5, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/news/suvarna-news-june-13-2013-wiki-rahasya-panel-discussion">Wiki Rahasya: Panel Discussion on Suvarna News</a> (Suvarna News 24x7, June 13, 2013).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://www.timeoutbengaluru.net/bangalore-beat/features/wiki-donors">Wiki donors</a> (TimeOut Bengaluru, June 21, 2013).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Newsletters</h3>
<p>The following newsletters have been published:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-september-2012-bulletin">September 2012 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-october-2012-bulletin">October 2012 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-november-2012">November 2012 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-december-2012">December 2012 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-january-2013">January 2013 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-february-2013">February 2013 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-march-2013">March 2013 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-april-2013">April 2013 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-may-2013">May 2013 Bulletin</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-june-july-2013">June and July 2013 Bulletin</a> (During this month the CIS-A2K Newsletter was redesigned based on feedback from the community and thus the June Newsletter was clubbed with July 2013).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Talk @ CIS</h3>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span><a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/events/wikipedia-state-of-tech-talk-by-erik-moeller">Wikipedia: State of Tech — A Talk by Erik Moeller</a> (CIS, Bangalore, November 12, 2012). Erik Moeller, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development at the Wikimedia Foundation gave a talk on Wikipedia. </span></li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Section I: Budget Utilization</h2>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th> Currency in INR</th><th>2012-13<br />(Per month)</th><th>1st Year<br />(10 months)</th><th>Budget Utilization<br />(Sept. 2012 to June 2013)</th>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: left; ">
<td><b>People</b></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Prg. Manager</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">1,17,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">1,170,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">1,170,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Prg. Officer</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">58,800</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">5,88,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">580,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Prg. Officer</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">1,44,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">14,40,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">1,008,000</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Communications role</td>
<td>60,000</td>
<td>6,00,000</td>
<td>2,20,000</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">New Prg. Director</td>
<td>2,00,000</td>
<td>2,000,000</td>
<td>1,000,000</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Consultant</td>
<td>34,500</td>
<td>3,45,000</td>
<td>2,76,000</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Benefits – All</td>
<td>6,250</td>
<td>62,500</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; "><b>Staff costs</b></td>
<td><b>6,20,550</b></td>
<td><b>6,205,500</b></td>
<td><b>4,262,000</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Rent</td>
<td>47,300</td>
<td>4,73,000</td>
<td>5,70,000</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Janitorial</td>
<td>2,750</td>
<td>27,500</td>
<td>48,634</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Utilities</td>
<td>7,500</td>
<td>75,000</td>
<td>61,836</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Telephone</td>
<td>4,000</td>
<td>40,000</td>
<td>47,819</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Office pantry</td>
<td>5,000</td>
<td>50,000</td>
<td>38,765</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; "><b>Office space</b></td>
<td><b>66,550</b></td>
<td><b>6,65,500</b></td>
<td><b>7,67,054</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Travel</b></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">SF travel</td>
<td>77,726</td>
<td>7,77,257</td>
<td>1,81,887</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Wikimania travel</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Domestic travel</td>
<td>1,10,000</td>
<td>1,100,000</td>
<td>1,373,469</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; "><b>Travel</b></td>
<td><b>1,87,726</b></td>
<td><b>1,877,257</b></td>
<td><b>1,555,356</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Printed materials</td>
<td>50,000</td>
<td>5,00,000</td>
<td>38,800</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Design, Creative</td>
<td>55,000</td>
<td>5,50,000</td>
<td>1,25,400</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td>Volunteer development</td>
<td>50,000</td>
<td>500,000</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Postage & Mailing</td>
<td>2,500</td>
<td>25,000</td>
<td>5,800</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; ">Office supplies</td>
<td>7,500</td>
<td>75,000</td>
<td>50,192</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; "><b>General expenses</b></td>
<td>1,65,000</td>
<td>1,650,000</td>
<td><b>2,20,192</b></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; "><b>Total before fees</b></td>
<td><b>1,039,826</b></td>
<td><b>10,398,257</b></td>
<td><b>6,804,602</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Admin fee</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">51,991</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">5,19,913</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">5,19,913</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Program fee</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">51,991</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">5,19,913</td>
<td style="text-align: right; ">5,19,913</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right; ">
<td style="text-align: left; "><b>Total</b></td>
<td><b>1,143,808</b></td>
<td><b>11,438,082</b></td>
<td><b>7,844,428</b></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ol> </ol>
<div id="_mcePaste"></div>
<p>Notes:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The above table gives a picture of the A2K program budget utilization (un-audited) for the period Sept. 2012 to June 2013. Thus it is important that these figures be read as provisional figures, which could change post the statutory audit as per the Indian laws binding a Registered Society.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Approximately there is a 31% underspending of the Budget during the ten month period. This is mainly because of the transition of the program to CIS took sometime along with delays in the recruitment of the New Program Director. CIS-A2K has requested the WMF for a reallocation of the Budget since then.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr1" name="fn1">1</a>]. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:India_Education_Program/Analysis/Independent_Report_from_Tory_Read">Independent Report from Tory Read</a> on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Education_Program">India Education Program</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr2" name="fn2">2</a>]. <a href="http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-November/004958.html">Death and Post-mortem of Indian Education Program pilot</a>. Wikimedia-India Mail archive</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr3" name="fn3">3</a>]. <a href="http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2012-December/008929.html">Most recent updates on the hiring of the Programme Director for the A2K programme</a>. Wikimedia-India mail archive</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr4" name="fn4">4</a>]. <a href="http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2013-February/009418.html">The Access to Knowledge - Bulletin - January '13</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr5" name="fn5">5</a>]. <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-basic-parameters">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #1: Visualising Basic Parameters</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr6" name="fn6">6</a>]. <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-page-views-and-project-pages">Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #2: Visualising Page Views and Project Pages</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr7" name="fn7">7</a>]. <a href="http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2013-April/009867.html">CIS-A2K Work Plan (Draft)</a>. Wikimedia-India mail archive</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr8" name="fn8">8</a>]. <a href="http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2013-May/009900.html">CIS-A2K Budget, Utilization Report and proposed revision</a>. Wikimedia-India mail archive</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/cis-access-to-knowledge-narrative-report-september-2012-june-2013'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/cis-access-to-knowledge-narrative-report-september-2012-june-2013</a>
</p>
No publisherVishnu Vardhan, Nitika Tandon and Subhashish PanigrahiAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaFeaturedOpennessHomepage2013-11-30T11:18:56ZBlog EntryCIS's Position on Net Neutrality
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-position-on-net-neutrality
<b>As researchers committed to the principle of pluralism we rarely produce institutional positions. This is also because we tend to update our positions based on research outputs. But the lack of clarity around our position on network neutrality has led some stakeholders to believe that we are advocating for forbearance. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Please see below for the current articulation of our common institutional position.</b>
<p> </p>
<ol style="text-align: justify;">
<li>Net Neutrality violations can potentially have multiple categories of harms —<strong> competition harms, free speech harms, privacy harms, innovation and ‘generativity’ harms, harms to consumer choice and user freedoms, and diversity harms</strong> thanks to unjust discrimination and gatekeeping by Internet service providers.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Net Neutrality violations (including some those forms of zero-rating that violate net neutrality) can also have different kinds benefits — enabling the <strong>right to freedom of expression</strong>, and the <strong>freedom of association</strong>, especially when access to communication and publishing technologies is increased; <strong>increased competition</strong> [by enabling product differentiation, can potentially allow small ISPs compete against market incumbents]; <strong>increased access</strong> [usually to a subset of the Internet] by those without any access because they cannot afford it, increased access [usually to a subset of the Internet] by those who don't see any value in the Internet, <strong>reduced payments</strong> by those who already have access to the Internet especially if their usage is dominated by certain services and destinations.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Given the magnitude and variety of potential harms, <strong>complete forbearance from all regulation is not an option</strong> for regulators nor is self-regulation sufficient to address all the harms emerging from Net Neutrality violations, since incumbent telecom companies cannot be trusted to effectively self-regulate. Therefore, <strong>CIS calls for the immediate formulation of Net Neutrality regulation</strong> by the telecom regulator [TRAI] and the notification thereof by the government [Department of Telecom of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology]. CIS also calls for the eventual enactment of statutory law on Net Neutrality. All such policy must be developed in a transparent fashion after proper consultation with all relevant stakeholders, and after giving citizens an opportunity to comment on draft regulations.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Even though some of these harms may be large, CIS believes that a government cannot apply the precautionary principle in the case of Net Neutrality violations. <strong>Banning technical innovations and business model innovations is not an appropriate policy option. </strong>The regulation must toe a careful line <strong>to solve the optimization problem: </strong>refraining from over-regulation of ISPs and harming innovation at the carrier level (and benefits of net neutrality violations mentioned above) while preventing ISPs from harming innovation and user choice. ISPs must be regulated to limit harms from unjust discrimination towards consumers as well as to limit harms from unjust discrimination towards the services they carry on their networks.<br /><br /></li>
<li>Based on regulatory theory, we believe that a regulatory framework that is technologically neutral, that factors in differences in technological context, as well as market realities and existing regulation, and which is able to respond to new evidence is what is ideal.<br /><br />This means that we need a framework that has some bright-line rules based, but which allows for flexibility in determining the scope of exceptions and in the application of the rules. Candidate principles to be embodied in the regulation include: <strong>transparency, non-exclusivity, limiting unjust discrimination</strong>.<br /><br /></li>
<li>The <strong>harms emerging from walled gardens can be mitigated in a number of ways</strong>. <strong>On zero-rating the form of regulation must depend on the specific model and the potential harms that result from that model. </strong>Zero-rating can be: paid for by the end consumer or subsidized by ISPs or subsidized by content providers or subsidized by government or a combination of these; deal-based or criteria-based or government-imposed; ISP-imposed or offered by the ISP and chosen by consumers; Transparent and understood by consumers vs. non-transparent; based on content-type or agnostic to content-type; service-specific or service-class/protocol-specific or service-agnostic; available on one ISP or on all ISPs. Zero-rating by a small ISP with 2% penetration will not have the same harms as zero-rating by the largest incumbent ISP. For service-agnostic / content-type agnostic zero-rating, which Mozilla terms ‘<strong>equal rating</strong>’, CIS advocates for<strong> no regulation.</strong><br /><br /></li>
<li>CIS believes that <strong>Net Neutrality regulation for mobile and fixed-line access must be different</strong> recognizing the fundamental differences in technologies.<br /><br /></li>
<li><strong>On specialized services CIS believes that there should be logical separation</strong> and that all details of such specialized services and their impact on the Internet must be made transparent to consumers both individual and institutional, the general public and to the regulator. Further, such services should be available to the user only upon request, and not without their active choice, with the requirement that the service cannot be reasonably provided with ‘best efforts’ delivery guarantee that is available over the Internet, and hence requires discriminatory treatment, or that the discriminatory treatment does not unduly harm the provision of the rest of the Internet to other customers.<br /><br /></li>
<li>On incentives for telecom operators, CIS believes that the government should consider different models such as waiving contribution to the Universal Service Obligation Fund for prepaid consumers, and freeing up additional spectrum for telecom use without royalty using a shared spectrum paradigm, as well as freeing up more spectrum for use without a licence.<br /><br /></li>
<li>On reasonable network management CIS still does not have a common institutional position.<br /><br /></li></ol>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-position-on-net-neutrality'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-position-on-net-neutrality</a>
</p>
No publishersunilFeaturedHomepageNet NeutralityInternet Governance2015-12-09T13:06:06ZBlog EntryCIS's Closing Statement at Marrakesh on the Treaty for the Blind
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-closing-statement-marrakesh-treaty-for-the-blind
<b>Pranesh Prakash read out an abridged version of this statement as his closing remarks in Marrakesh, where the WIPO Treaty for the Blind (the "Marrakesh Treaty") has been successfully concluded. The Marrakesh Treaty aims to facilitate access to published works by blind persons, persons with visual impairment, and other print disabled persons, by requiring mandatory exceptions in copyright law to enable conversions of books into accessible formats, and by enabling cross-border transfer of accessible format books.</b>
<p>Thank you, Mr. President.</p>
<p>I am truly humbled to be here today representing the Centre for Internet and Society, an Indian civil society organization. If I may assume the privilege of speaking on behalf of my blind colleagues at CIS who led much of our work on this treaty, and the many blindness organizations we have been working with over the past five years who haven't the means of being here today, I would like to thank you and all the delegates here for this important achievement. And especially, I would like to thank the World Blind Union and Knowledge Ecology International who renewed focus on this issue more than 2 decades after WIPO and UNESCO first called attention to this problem and created a "Working Group on Access by the Visually and Auditory Handicapped to Material Reproducing Works Produced by Copyright".</p>
<p>While doing so, I would like to remember my friend Rahul Cherian — a young, physically impaired lawyer from India — who co-founded Inclusive Planet, was a fellow with the Centre for Internet and Society, and was a legal adviser to the World Blind Union. He worked hard on this treaty for many years, but very unfortunately did not live long enough to see it becoming a reality. His presence here is missed, but I would like to think that by concluding this treaty, all the distinguished delegations here managed to honour his memory and work.</p>
<p>I am grateful to all the distinguished delegations here for successfully concluding a reasonably workable treaty, but especially those — such as Brazil, India, Ecuador, Nigeria, Uruguay, Egypt, South Africa, Switzerland, and numerous others — who realized they were negotiating with blind people's lives, and regarded this treaty as a means of ensuring basic human rights and dignity of the visually impaired and the print disabled, instead of regarding it merely as "copyright flexibility" to be first denied and then grudgingly conceded. The current imbalance in terms of global royalty flows and in terms of the bargaining strength of richer countries within WIPO — many of who strongly opposed the access this treaty seeks to facilitate right till the very end — is for me a stark reminder of colonialism, and I see the conclusion of this treaty as a tiny victory against it.</p>
<p>It is historic that today WIPO and its members have collectively recognized in a treaty that copyright isn't just an "engine of free expression" but can pose a significant barrier to access to knowledge. Today we recognize that blind writers are currently curtailed more by copyright law than protected by it. Today we recognize that copyright not only <em>may</em> be curtailed in some circumstances, but that it <em>must</em> be curtailed in some circumstances, even beyond the few that have been listed in the Berne Convention. One of the original framers of the Berne Convention, Swiss jurist and president, Numa Droz, recognized this in 1884 when he emphasized that "limits to absolute protection are rightly set by the public interest". And as Debabrata Saha, India's delegate to WIPO during the adoption of the WIPO Development Agenda noted, "intellectual property rights have to be viewed not as a self contained and distinct domain, but rather as an effective policy instrument for wide ranging socio-economic and technological development. The primary objective of this instrument is to maximize public welfare."</p>
<p>When copyright doesn't serve public welfare, states must intervene, and the law must change to promote human rights, the freedom of expression and to receive and impart information, and to protect authors and consumers. Importantly, markets alone cannot be relied upon to achieve a just allocation of informational resources, as we have seen clearly from the book famine that the blind are experiencing. Marrakesh was the city in which, as Debabrata Saha noted, "the damage [of] TRIPS [was] wrought on developing countries". Now it has redeemed itself through this treaty.</p>
<p>This treaty is an important step in recognizing that exceptions and limitations are as important a part of the international copyright acquis as the granting of rights to copyright holders. This is an important step towards fulfilling the WIPO Development Agenda. This is an important step towards fulfilling the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is an important step towards fulfilling Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and Article 30 of the UN Convention on Persons with Disabilities, all of which affirm the right of everyone — including the differently-abled — to take part in cultural life of the community.</p>
<p>While this treaty is an important part of overcoming the book famine that the blind have faced, the fact remains that there is far more that needs to be done to bridge the access gap faced by persons with disabilities, including the print disabled.</p>
<p>We need to ensure that globally we tackle societal and economic discrimination against the print disabled, as does the important issue of their education. This treaty is a small but important cog in a much larger wheel through which we hope to achieve justice and equity. And finally, blind people can stop being forced to wear an eye-patch and being pirates to get access to the right to read.</p>
<p>I also thank the WIPO Secretariat, Director General Francis Gurry, Ambassador Trevor Clark, Michelle Woods, and the WIPO staff for pushing transparency and inclusiveness of civil society organizations in these deliberations, in stark contrast to the way many bilateral and plurilateral treaties such as Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement have been, and are being, conducted. I hope we see even more transparency, and especially non-governmental participation in this area in the future.</p>
<p>I call upon all countries, and especially book-exporting countries like the USA, UK, France, Portugal, and Spain to ratify this treaty immediately, and would encourage various rightholders organizations, and the MPAA who have in the past campaigned against this treaty and now welcome this treaty, to show their support for it by publicly working to get all countries to ratify this treaty and letting us all know about it.</p>
<p>I congratulate you all for the "Miracle of Marrakesh", which shows, as my late colleague Rahul Cherian said, "when people are demanding their basic rights, no power in the world is strong enough to stop them getting what they want".</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-closing-statement-marrakesh-treaty-for-the-blind'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-closing-statement-marrakesh-treaty-for-the-blind</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshAccess to KnowledgeCopyrightIntellectual Property RightsFeaturedWIPO2013-07-03T12:01:25ZBlog EntryCIS Welcomes Standing Committee Report on IT Rules
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-welcomes-standing-committee-report-on-it-rules
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society welcomes the report by the Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation, in which it has lambasted the government and has recommended that the government amend the Rules it passed in April 2011 under section 79 of the Information Technology Act.</b>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/IT%20Rules/IT%20Rules%20Subordinate%20committee%20Report.pdf">Click to read</a> the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on the IT Rules. A modified version was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ciol.com/ciol/news/185991/cis-welcomes-panels-anti-govt-stand-it-rules">published in CiOL</a> on March 27, 2013.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These rules have been noted by many, including CIS, Software Freedom Law Centre, and Society for Knowledge Commons, and many eminent lawyers, as being unconstitutional. The Standing Committee, noting this, has asked the government to make changes to the Rules to ensure that the fundamental rights to freedom of speech and privacy are safeguarded, and that the principles of natural justice are respected when a person’s freedom of speech or privacy are curtailed.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Ambiguous and Over-reaching Language</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Standing Committee has noted the inherent ambiguity of words like "blasphemy", "disparaging", etc., which are used in the Intermediary Guidelines Rules, and has pointed out that unclear language can lead to harassment of people as has happened with Section 66A of the IT Act, and can lead to legitimate speech being removed. Importantly, the Standing Committee recognizes that many categories of speech prohibited by the Intermediary Guidelines Rules are not prohibited by any statute, and hence cannot be prohibited by the government through these Rules. Accordingly, the Standing Committee has asked the government to ensure "no new category of crimes or offences is created" by these Rules.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Government Confused Whether Rules Are Mandatory or Advisory</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Standing Committee further notes that there is a discrepancy in the government’s stand that the Intermediary Guidelines Rules are not mandatory, and are only "of advisory nature and self-regulation", and that "it is not mandatory for the Intermediary to disable the information, the rule does not lead to any kind of censorship". The Standing Committee points out the flaw in this, and notes that the language used in the rules is mandatory language (“shall act” within 36 hours). Thus, it rightly notes that there is a "need for clarity on the aforesaid contradiction". Further, it also notes that there is "there should be safeguards to protect against any abuse", since this is a form of private censorship by intermediaries."</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Evidence Needed Against Foreign Websites</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The government has told the Standing Committee that "foreign websites repeatedly refused to honour our laws", however, it has not provided any proof for this assertion. The government should make public all evidence that foreign web services are refusing to honour Indian laws, and should encourage a public debate on how we should tackle this problem in light of the global nature of the Internet.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Cyber Cafes Rules Violate Citizens’ Privacy</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Standing Committee also pointed out that the Cyber Cafe Rules violated citizens’ right to privacy in requiring that "screens of the computers installed other than in partitions and cubicles should face open space of the cyber café". Unfortunately, the Standing Committee did not consider the privacy argument against retention of extensive and intrusive logs. Under the Cyber Cafe Rules, cyber cafes are required to retain (for a minimum of one year) extensive logs, including that of "history of websites accessed using computer resource at cyber café" in such a manner that each website accessed can be linked to a person. The Committee only considered the argument that this would impose financial burdens on small cybercafes, and rejected that argument. CIS wishes the Committee had examined the provision on log maintenance on grounds of privacy as well."</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Government’s Half-Truths</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In one response, the government notes that "rules under Section 79 in particular have undergone scrutiny by High Courts in the country. Based on the Rules, the courts have given reliefs to a number of individuals and organizations in the country. No provision of the Rules notified under Sections 43A and 79 of the IT Act, 2000 have been held <i>ultra vires</i>."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What the government says is a half-truth. So far, courts have not struck down any of the IT Rules. But that is because none of the High Court cases in which the vires of the Rules have been challenged has concluded. So it is disingenuous of the government to claim that the Rule have "undergone scrutiny by High Courts". And in those cases where relief has been granted under the Intermediary Guidelines, the cases have been ex-parte or have been cases where the vires of the Rules have not been challenged. The government, if it wants to defend the Rules, should point out to any case in which the vires of the Rules have been upheld. Not a single court till date has declared the Rules to be constitutional when that question was before it.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Lack of Representation of Stakeholders in Policy Formulation</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Lastly, the Standing Committee noted that it is not clear whether the Cyber Regulatory Advisory Committee (CRAC), which is responsible for policy guidance on the IT Act, has "members representing the interests of principally affected or having special knowledge of the subject matter as expressly stipulated in Section 88(2) of the IT Act". This is a problem that we at CIS also noted in November 2012, when the CRAC was reconstituted after having been defunct for more than a decade.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS hopes that the government finally takes note of the view of legal experts, the Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation, the Parliamentary motion against the Rules, and numerous articles and editorials in the press, and withdraws the Intermediary Guidelines Rules and the Cyber Cafe Rules, and instead replaces them with rules that do not infringe our constitutional rights.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i>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, and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities. It was among the organizations that submitted evidence to the Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation on the IT Rules</i>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-welcomes-standing-committee-report-on-it-rules'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-welcomes-standing-committee-report-on-it-rules</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshIT ActPrivacyFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernanceFeaturedCensorshipHomepage2013-04-03T10:54:52ZBlog EntryCIS Submission to TRAI Consultation on Free Data
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-submission-trai-consultation-free-data
<b>The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) held a consultation on Free Data, for which CIS sent in the following comments.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) asked for <a href="http://trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/ConsultationPaper/Document/CP_07_free_data_consultation.pdf">public comments on free data</a>. Below are the comments that CIS submitted to the four questions that it posed.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2 id="question-1">Question 1
<p><em>Is there a need to have TSP agnostic platform to provide free data or suitable reimbursement to users, without violating the principles of Differential Pricing for Data laid down in TRAI Regulation? Please suggest the most suitable model to achieve the objective.</em></p>
</h2>
<h3 id="is-there-a-need-for-free-data">Is There a Need for Free Data?</h3>
<p>No, there is no <em>need</em> for free data, just as there is no <em>need</em> for telephony or Internet. However, making provisions for free data would increase the amount of innovation in the Internet and telecom sector, and there is a good probability that it would lead to faster adoption of the Internet, and thus be beneficial in terms of commerce, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and many other ways.</p>
<p>Thus the question that a telecom regulator should ask is not whether there is a <em>need</em> for TSP agnostic platforms, but whether such platforms are harmful for competition, for consumers, and for innovation. The telecom regulator ought not undertake regulation unless there is evidence to show that harm has been caused or that harm is likely to be caused. In short, TRAI should not follow the precautionary principle, since the telecom and Internet sectors are greatly divergent from environmental protection: the burden of proof for showing that something ought to be prohibited ought to be on those calling for prohibition.</p>
<h3 id="goal-regulating-gatekeeping">Goal: Regulating Gatekeeping</h3>
<p>TRAI wouldn’t need to regulate price discrimination or Net neutrality if ISPs were not “gatekeepers” for last-mile access. “Gatekeeping” occurs when a single entity establishes itself as an exclusive route to reach a large number of people and businesses or, in network terms, nodes. It is not possible for Internet services to reach their end customers without passing through ISPs (generally telecom networks). The situation is very different in the middle-mile and for backhaul. Even though anti-competitive terms may exist in the middle-mile, especially given the opacity of terms in “transit agreements”, a packet is usually able to travel through multiple routes if one route is too expensive (even if that is not the shortest network path, and is thus inefficient in a way). However, this multiplicity of routes is generally not possible in the last mile.<a id="fnref1" class="footnoteRef" href="#fn1"><sup>1</sup></a> This leaves last mile telecom operators (ISPs) in a position to unfairly discriminate between different Internet services or destinations or applications, while harming consumer choice.</p>
<p>However, the aim of regulation by TRAI cannot be to prevent gatekeeping, since that is not possible as long as there are a limited number of ISPs. For instance, even by the very act of charging money for access to the Internet, ISPs are guilty of “gatekeeping” since they are controlling who can and cannot access an Internet service that way. Instead, the aim of regulation by TRAI should be to “regulate gatekeepers to ensure they do not use their gatekeeping power to unjustly discriminate between similarly situated persons, content or traffic”, as we proposed in our submission to TRAI (on OTTs) last year.</p>
<h3 id="models-for-free-data">Models for Free Data</h3>
<p>There are multiple models possible for free data, none of which TRAI should prohibit unless it would enable OTTs to abuse their gatekeeping powers.</p>
<h4 id="government-incentives-for-non-differentiated-free-data">Government Incentives For Non-Differentiated Free Data</h4>
<p>The government may opt to require all ISPs to provide free Internet to all at a minimum QoS in exchange for exemption from paying part of their USO contributions, or the government may pay ISPs for such access using their USO contributions.</p>
<p>TRAI should recommend to DoT that it set up a committee to study the feasibility of this model.</p>
<h4 id="isp-subsidies">ISP subsidies</h4>
<p>ISP subsidies of Internet access only make economic sense for the ISP under the following ‘Goldilocks’ condition is met: the experience with the subsidised service is ‘good enough’ for the consumers to want to continue to use such services, but ‘bad enough’ for a large number of them to want to move to unsubsidised, paid access.</p>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal;">
<li>Providing free Internet to all at a low speed.
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
<li>This naturally discriminates against services and applications such as video streaming, but does not technically bar access to them.</li></ol>
</li>
<li>Providing free access to the Internet with other restrictions on quality that aren’t discriminatory with respect to content, services, or applications.</li></ol>
<h4 id="rewards-model">Rewards model</h4>
<p>A TSP-agnostic rewards platform will only come within the scope of TRAI regulation if the platform has some form of agreement with the TSPs, even if it is collectively. If the rewards platform doesn’t have any agreement with any TSP, then TRAI does not have the power to regulate it. However, if the rewards platform has an agreement with any TSP, it is unclear whether it would be allowed under the Differential Data Tariff Regulation, since the clause 3(2) read with paragraph 30 of the Explanatory Memorandum might disallow such an agreement.</p>
<p>Assuming for the sake of argument that platforms with such agreements are not disallowed, such platforms can engage in either post-purchase credits or pre-purchase credits, or both. In other words, it could be a situation where a person has to purchase a data pack, engage in some activity relating to the platform (answer surveys, use particular apps, etc.) and thereupon get credit of some form transferred to one’s SIM, or it could be a situation where even without purchasing a data pack, a consumer can earn credits and thereupon use those credits towards data.</p>
<p>The former kind of rewards platform is not as useful when it comes to encouraging people to use the Internet, since only those who already see worth in using in the Internet (and can afford it) will purchase a data pack in the first place. The second form, on the other hand is quite useful, and could be encouraged. However, this second model is not as easily workable, economically, for fixed line connections, since there is a higher initial investment involved.</p>
<h4 id="recharge-api">Recharge API</h4>
<p>A recharge API could be fashioned in one of two ways: (1) via the operating system on the phone, allowing a TSP or third parties (whether OTTs or other intermediaries) to transfer credit to the SIM card on the phone which have been bought wholesale. Another model could be that of all TSPs providing a recharge API for the use of third parties. Only the second model is likely to result in a “toll-free” experience since in the first model, like in the case of a rewards platform that requires up-front purchase of data packs, there has to be a investment made first before that amount is recouped. This is likely to hamper the utility of such a model.</p>
<p>Further, in the first case, TRAI would probably not have the powers to regulate such transactions, as there would be no need for any involvement by the TSP. If anti-competitive agreements or abuse of dominant position seems to be taking place, it would be up to the Competition Commission of India to investigate.</p>
<p>However, the second model would have to be overseen by TRAI to ensure that the recharge APIs don’t impose additional costs on OTTs, or unduly harm competition and innovation. For instance, there ought to be an open specification for such an API, which all the TSPs should use in order to reduce the costs on OTTs. Further, there should be no exclusivity, and no preferential treatment provided for the TSPs sister concerns or partners.</p>
<h4 id="example-sites">“0.example” sites</h4>
<p>Other forms of free data, for instance by TSPs choosing not to charge for low-bandwidth traffic should be allowed, as long as it is not discriminatory, nor does it impose increased barriers to entry for OTTs. For instance, if a website self-certifies that it is low-bandwidth and optimized for Internet-enabled feature phones and uses 0.example.tld to signal this (just as wap.* were used in for WAP sites and m.* are used for mobile-optimized versions of many sites), then there is no reason why TSPs should be prohibited from not charging for the data consumed by such websites, as long as the TSP does so uniformly without discrimination. In such cases, the TSP is not harming competition, harming consumers, nor abusing its gatekeeping powers.</p>
<h4 id="ott-agnostic-free-data">OTT-agnostic free data</h4>
<p>If a TSP decides not to charge for specific forms of traffic (for example, video, or for locally-peered traffic) regardless of the Internet service from which that traffic emanates, as as long as it does so with the end customer’s consent, then there is no question of the TSP harming competition, harming consumers, nor abusing its gatekeeping powers. There is no reason such schemes should be prohibited by TRAI unless they distort markets and harm innovation.</p>
<h4 id="unified-marketplace">Unified marketplace</h4>
<p>One other way to do what is proposed as the “recharge API” model is to create a highly-regulated market where the gatekeeping powers of the ISP are diminished, and the ISP’s ability to leverage its exclusive access over its customers are curtailed. A comparison may be drawn here to the rules that are often set by standard-setting bodies where patents are involved: given that these patents are essential inputs, access to them must be allowed through fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory licences. Access to the Internet and common carriers like telecom networks, being even more important (since alternatives exist to particular standards, but not to the Internet itself), must be placed at an even higher pedestal and thus even stricter regulation to ensure fair competition.</p>
<p>A marketplace of this sort would impose some regulatory burdens on TRAI and place burdens on innovations by the ISPs, but a regulated marketplace harms ISP innovation less than not allowing a market at all.</p>
<p>At a minimum, such a marketplace must ensure non-exclusivity, non-discrimination, and transparency. Thus, at a minimum, a telecom provider cannot discriminate between any OTTs who want similar access to zero-rating. Further, a telecom provider cannot prevent any OTT from zero-rating with any other telecom provider. To ensure that telecom providers are actually following this stipulation, transparency is needed, as a minimum.</p>
<p>Transparency can take one of two forms: transparency to the regulator alone and transparency to the public. Transparency to the regulator alone would enable OTTs and ISPs to keep the terms of their commercial transactions secret from their competitors, but enable the regulator, upon request, to ensure that this doesn’t lead to anti-competitive practices. This model would increase the burden on the regulator, but would be more palatable to OTTs and ISPs, and more comparable to the wholesale data market where the terms of such agreements are strictly-guarded commercial secrets. On the other hand, requiring transparency to the public would reduce the burden on the regulator, despite coming at a cost of secrecy of commercial terms, and is far more preferable.</p>
<p>Beyond transparency, a regulation could take the form of insisting on standard rates and terms for all OTT players, with differential usage tiers if need be, to ensure that access is truly non-discriminatory. This is how the market is structured on the retail side.</p>
<p>Since there are transaction costs in individually approaching each telecom provider for such zero-rating, the market would greatly benefit from a single marketplace where OTTs can come and enter into agreements with multiple telecom providers.</p>
<p>Even in this model, telecom networks will be charging based not only on the fact of the number of customers they have, but on the basis of them having exclusive routing to those customers. Further, even under the standard-rates based single-market model, a particular zero-rated site may be accessible for free from one network, but not across all networks: unlike the situation with a toll-free number in which no such distinction exists.</p>
<p>To resolve this, the regulator may propose that if an OTT wishes to engage in paid zero-rating, it will need to do so across all networks, since if it doesn’t there is risk of providing an unfair advantage to one network over another and increasing the gatekeeper effect rather than decreasing it.</p>
<h2 id="question-2">Question 2</h2>
<p><em>Whether such platforms need to be regulated by the TRAI or market be allowed to develop these platforms?</em></p>
<p>In many cases, TRAI would have no powers over such platforms, so the question of TRAI regulating does not arise. In all other cases, TRAI can allow the market to develop such platforms, and then see if any of them violates the Discriminatory Data Tariffs Regualation. For government-incentivised schemes that are proposed above, TRAI should take proactive measure in getting their feasibility evaluated.</p>
<h2 id="question-3">Question 3</h2>
<p><em>Whether free data or suitable reimbursement to users should be limited to mobile data users only or could it be extended through technical means to subscribers of fixed line broadband or leased line?</em></p>
<p>Spectrum is naturally a scarce resource, though technological advances (as dictated by Cooper’s Law) and more efficient management of spectrum make it less so. However, we have seen that fixed-line broadband has more or less stagnated for the past many years, while mobile access has increased. So the market distortionary power of fixed-line providers is far less than that of mobile providers. However, competition is far less in fixed-line Internet access services, while it is far higher in mobile Internet access. Switching costs in fixed-line Internet access services are also far higher than in mobile services. Given these differences, the regulation with regard to price discrimination might justifiably be different.</p>
<p>All in all, for this particular issue, it is unclear why different rules should apply to mobile users and fixed line users.</p>
<h2 id="question-4">Question 4</h2>
<p><em>Any other issue related to the matter of Consultation.</em></p>
<p>None.</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1">
<p>In India’s mobile telecom sector, according to a Nielsen study, an estimated 15% of mobile users are multi-SIM users, meaning the “gatekeeping” effect is significantly reduced in both directions: Internet services can reach them via multiple ISPs, and conversely they can reach Internet services via multiple ISPs. <em>See</em> Nielsen, ‘Telecom Transitions: Tracking the Multi-SIM Phenomena in India’, http://www.nielsen.com/in/en/insights/reports/2015/telecom-transitions-tracking-the-multi-sim-phenomena-in-india.html<a href="#fnref1">↩</a></p>
</li></ol>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-submission-trai-consultation-free-data'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-submission-trai-consultation-free-data</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshTelecomHomepageTRAINet NeutralityFeaturedInternet GovernanceSubmissions2016-07-01T16:04:27ZBlog EntryCIS Submission to TRAI Consultation Note on Model for Nation-wide Interoperable and Scalable Public Wi-Fi Networks
https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-trai-note-on-interoperable-scalable-public-wifi
<b>This submission presents responses by the CIS on the Consultation Note on Model for Nation-wide Interoperable and Scalable Public Wi-Fi Networks published by the TRAI on November 15, 2016. Our analysis of the solution proposed in the Note, in brief, is that there is no need of a solution for non-existing interoperability problem for authentication and payment services for accessing public Wi-Fi networks. The proposed solution in this Note only adds to over-regulation in this sector, and does not incentivise new investment in the sector, but only establishes UIDAI and NPCI as the monopoly service providers for authentication and payment services.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>The comments were authored by Japreet Grewal, Pranesh Prakash, Sharath Chandra, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Sunil Abraham, and Udbhav Tiwari, with expert comments from Amelia Andersdotter.</p>
<hr />
<h2>1. Preliminary</h2>
<p><strong>1.1.</strong> This submission presents responses by the Centre for Internet and Society (“CIS”) <strong>[1]</strong> on the <em>Consultation Note on Model for Nation-wide Interoperable and Scalable Public Wi-Fi Networks</em> (“the Note”) published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) on November 15, 2016 <strong>[2]</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>1.2.</strong> The CIS welcomes the effort undertaken by TRAI to map regulatory and other barriers to deployment of public Wi-Fi in India. We especially appreciate that TRAI has recognised <strong>[3]</strong> two key barriers to provision of public Wi-Fi networks identified and highlighted in our earlier response to the <em>Consultation Paper on Proliferation of Broadband through Public WiFi</em> <strong>[4]</strong>: 1) over regulation (including, licensing requirements, data retention, and Know Your Customer policy), and 2) paucity of spectrum <strong>[5]</strong>.</p>
<h2>2. General Responses</h2>
<p><strong>2.1.</strong> Before responding to the specific questions posed by the Note, we would like to make the following observations.</p>
<p><strong>2.2.</strong> There is no need of a solution for non-existing interoperability problem for authentication and payment services for accessing public Wi-Fi networks. The proposed solution in this Note only adds to over-regulation in this sector. The proposed solution does not incentivise new investment in the sector, but only establishes UIDAI and NPCI as the monopoly service providers for authentication and payment services.</p>
<p><strong>2.3.</strong> As the TRAI has consulted widely with industry and other stakeholders before it settled on the list of priority issues contained in Section C.6 of the Note, we are surprised to find that this Note aims to address only the problem of lack of “seamless interoperable payment system for Wi-Fi networks” (Section C.6.d. Of the Note), and does not discuss and propose solutions for any other key barriers identified by the Note.</p>
<p><strong>2.4.</strong> The Note fails to clarify the “interoperability” problem in the payment system for usage of public Wi-Fi networks that it is attempting to solve. The Note identifies that lack of “single standard” for “authentication and payment mechanisms” for accessing public Wi-Fi networks as a key impediment to provide scalable and interoperable public Wi-Fi networks across the country <strong>[6]</strong>. By conceptualising the problem in this manner, TRAI has bundled together two completely different concerns - authentication and payment - into one and this is at the root of the problems emanating from the proposed solution in this Note.</p>
<p><strong>2.5.</strong> Lack of standard process for authentication is created by over-regulation via Know Your Customer (“KYC”) policies, and selection of eKYC service provided by UIDAI as the only acceptable authentication mechanism for all users of public Wi-Fi networks across India, creating further economic and legal challenges for smaller would-be providers of public Wi-Fi networks as they assess their liabilities and start-up costs. Additionally, since this would amount to making UID/Aadhaar enrolment mandatory for any user of public wi-fi networks, it seems to create a contradiction with previously communicated policy from the UIDAI and the Government that no such obligation should arise. Supreme Court has also mandated over successive Orders that enrolment for UID/Aadhaar number should remain optional for the citizens and residents.</p>
<p><strong>2.6.</strong> As was observed by the respondents to the TRAI Consultation concluded earlier this year, there is no interoperability problem that needs to be solved regarding payments for accessing public Wi-Fi networks. Payment services continue to be evolved and payment aggregator services provided by existing companies may be expected to resolve many of the outstanding issues of service proliferation in the upcoming years, at least in the absence of additional mandatory technical measures imposed by the government. Bundling of payment with authentication will only undermine the already existing independent market for payment aggregators, and further enforce mandatoriness of UID/Aadhaar number.</p>
<p><strong>2.7.</strong> Further, the payment mechanism proposed would seem to worsen difficulties for tourists and foreigners in accessing public Wi-Fi in India, as well adds an additional layer of authentication in a system already identified (even in the Note itself) to be overburdened by regulations regarding KYC and data retention. Section C.6.b of the Note highlights the problems faced by foreigners and tourists when the authentication mechanism is premised upon use of One Time Password (OTP) that requires a functioning local mobile phone number. It contradicts itself later by proposing an authentication method that requires the user to not only download an application onto their mobile/desktop device, but also to enrol for UID/Aadhaar number and/or to use their existing UID/Aadhaar number. Instead of reducing the existing barriers to provision of and access to public Wi-Fi, which the Note is supposed to achieve, it creates significant new barriers.</p>
<p><strong>2.8.</strong> The technological architecture advanced by the Note upholds support of governance and surveillance projects that, in addition to being costly in their implementation and thereby slowing down the objective of getting India connected, are also of questionable value to the security of the Indian polity. UID, UPI, and related projects risk undermining cyber-security through their reliance on centralised architectures and interfere with healthy competitive market dynamics between commercial and non-commercial actors.</p>
<p><strong>2.9.</strong> The Note continues to only consider and enable commercial models for the provision of public Wi-Fi networks. We have identified this as a problematic assumption in our last submission <strong>[7]</strong>. It is most crucial that TRAI does not ignore and fail to promote and facilitate the possibility of not-for-profit models that involve grassroot communities, academia, and civil society.</p>
<p><strong>2.10.</strong> Last but not the least, the term “Wi-Fi” refers to a particular technology for establishing wireless local area networks. Further, the term is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance <strong>[8]</strong>. It is this not a neutral term, and it must not be used as a general and universal synonym for wireless local area networks. We recommend that TRAI may consider using a technology-neutral term, say “public wireless services” or “public networking services”, to describe the sector. Following the terminology used in the Note, we have decided to continue using the term “Wi-Fi” in this response. This does not reflect our agreement about the appropriateness of this term. Important: The recommendation for technology-neutral regulation also comes with the qualification that safeguards like regulations on Listen Before Talk and Cycle Time are required to prevent technologies like LTE-U from squatting on spectrum and interfering with connections based on other standards.</p>
<h2>3. Specific Responses</h2>
<h4>Q1. Is the architecture suggested in the consultation note for creating unified authentication and payment infrastructure will enable nationwide standard for authentication and payment interoperability?</h4>
<p><strong>3.1.</strong> No. The proposed infrastructure is likely to be costly for a large number of actors to implement and undermine some of the ongoing innovation in the Indian digital payment services industry. Rather than being helpful, it risks introducing additional requirements on an industry that TRAI has already identified as facing a number of large challenges.</p>
<p><strong>3.2.</strong> There is no need for a unified architecture that provides nationwide standard for authentication and payment interoperability. It does not offer any incentive towards provision of public Wi-Fi networks. Neither is there an interoperability problem at the physical or data link layers that has been pointed out, nor is government mandated interoperability required at the payment or ID layer since there are private entities that provide such interoperability (like, payment aggregators). Additionally, we believe it is inappropriate that the TRAI is trying to predict the most suitable business/technological model for digital payments to be used for accessing commercial Wi-Fi networks. India has a booming online payments industry, and it must be allowed to evolve in an enabling regulatory environment that allow for competition and ensures responsible practices.</p>
<p><strong>3.3.</strong> The Note identifies several structural impediments to expansion of public Wi-Fi networks in India, namely paucity of backhaul connectivity infrastructure (Section C.6.a), Inadequate associated infrastructure to offer carrier grade Wi-Fi network (Section C.6.c), dependency of authentication mechanism on pre-existing (Indian) mobile phone connection (Section C.6.b), and limited availability of spectrum to be used for public Wi-Fi networks (Section C.6.e). All these are crucial concerns and none of them have been addressed by the architecture suggested in the Note.</p>
<h4>Q2. Would you like to suggest any alternate model?</h4>
<p><strong>3.4.</strong> Yes. The model proposed in the Note is likely to exclude several types of potential users (say, foreigners and tourists), and impose a single authentication and payment service provider for accessing public Wi-Fi networks, which may undermine both competition and security in the market for these services.</p>
<p><strong>3.5.</strong> Internationally, there are cities and regions (say, the city of Barcelona and the Catalonia region in Spain) where public Wi-Fi networks have been provided in a pervasive and efficient manner by taking a light regulatory approach that enables opportunities for potential providers to set up their own infrastructures and additionally have access to backhaul. Further, reducing legal requirements on authentication should be considered in place of government mandated technical architectures for authentication and payment. In particular, allowing for anonymous access to Public Wi-Fi or wireless connectivity would reduce both the administrative and the technical burden on potential providers at the hyper-local level, especially for providers whose main activity it is not, and cannot be, to provide internet services (say, event venues, malls, and shops).</p>
<p><strong>3.6.</strong> The CIS suggests the following steps towards conceptualising an “alternative model”:</p>
<ol><li>remove existing regulatory disincentives,<br /><br /></li>
<li>urgently explore policies to promote deployment of wired infrastructures in general, and to enable a larger range of actors, including local authorities, to invest in and deploy local infrastructures by reducing licensing requirements in particular,<br /><br /></li>
<li>examine spectrum requirements for provision of public Wi-Fi, and<br /><br /></li>
<li>provide incentives, such as allowing telecom service providers to share backhaul traffic over public Wi-Fi, and ways for telecom service providers to lower their costs if they also make Internet access available for free.</li></ol>
<h4>Q3. Can Public Wi-Fi access providers resell capacity and bandwidth to retail users? Is “light touch regulation” using methods such as “registration” instead of “licensing” preferred for them?</h4>
<p><strong>3.7.</strong> CIS holds that capacity and bandwidth are neither comparable to tangible goods nor to digital currency. They are a utility, and the provider of the utility has to accept that their customers use the utility in the way they see fit, even if that use entails sharing said capacity and bandwidth with downstream private persons or customers. Wi-Fi capabilities are currently a built-in standardised feature of all consumer routers. Any individual, community, or store with access to an internet connection and a consumer router could become a public Wi-Fi access provider at no additional cost to themselves, furthering the goals of the Indian government in its Digital India strategy to ensure public and universal access to the internet.</p>
<p><strong>3.8.</strong> In order to exploit the opportunities awarded by a large amount of entities in the Indian society potentially becoming Public Wi-Fi providers, TRAI should require neither registration nor licensing of these actors. Imposing administrative burdens on potential public Wi-Fi access providers creates legal uncertainty and will cause a lot of actors, who may otherwise contribute to the goals of Digital India, not to do so. This is particularly true for community organisers and citizens, who may not have access to legal assistance and therefore may avoid contributing to the goals of the government.</p>
<p><strong>3.9.</strong> Light touch regulation when it comes to both granting license to public Wi-Fi access providers as well as authentication of retail users, however, are needed not only as an exceptional practice for such instances but as a general practice in case of entities offering public Wi-Fi services, either commercially or otherwise. Further, additional laxity in administrative responsibilities is needed to incentivise provision of free, that is non-commercial, public Wi-Fi networks.</p>
<h4>Q4. What should be the regulatory guidelines on “unbundling” Wi-Fi at access and backhaul level?</h4>
<p><strong>3.10.</strong> The Note refers to unbundling of activities related to provision of Wi-Fi but it does not define the term. It is neither explained which specific activities at access and backhaul levels must be considered for unbundling.</p>
<p><strong>3.11.</strong> While unbundling should clearly be allowed and any regulatory hurdles to unbundling should be removed, any such decision must be taken with a focus on urgently addressing the stagnated growth in landline and backhaul, as identified in Section C.6.a of the Note. Relying only on spectrum intensive infrastructures, such as mobile base stations, for providing connectivity, creates a heavy regulatory burden for the TRAI, while simultaneously not ensuring optimal connectivity for business and private users. The CIS is concerned that the focus of the Note on standardising a government-mediated authentication and payment mechanism detracts attention from this urgent obstacle to the fulfillment of the Digital India plans of accelerated provision of broadband highways, universal access, and public, especially free, access to internet services.</p>
<p><strong>3.12.</strong> From the example of European telecommunications legislations, implementation of policy measures to ensure that vertical integration between infrastructure (say, cables, switches, and hubs) providers and service (say, providing a subscriber with a household modem or a SIM card) providers in the telecommunications sector does not become a barrier to new market entrants has yielded much success in countries that have pursued it, like Sweden and Great Britain.</p>
<p><strong>3.13.</strong> Further, there should be no default assumption of bundling by the TRAI. In particular, the TRAI should consider reviewing all regulations that may cause bundling to occur when this is not necessary, and put in place in a monitoring mechanism for ensuring that bundled practises (especially in electronic networks, base station infrastructures, backhaul and similar) do not cause competitive problems or raise market entry barriers <strong>[9]</strong>. In most EU countries, especially where the corporate structure of incumbent(s) is not highly vertically integrated, interconnection requirements for electronic network providers of wired networks in the backhaul or backbone (effectively price regulated interconnection), and a conscious effort to ensure that new market players can enter the field, have ensured a competitive telecommunications environment. TRAI may consider reviewing the European regulation on local loop unbundling (1999) and discussions on functional separation (especially by the British regulatory authority Ofcom), within an Indian context.</p>
<h4>Q5. Whether reselling of bandwidth should be allowed to venue owners such as shop keepers through Wi-Fi at premise? In such a scenario please suggest the mechanism for security compliance.</h4>
<p><strong>3.14.</strong> Yes. Venue owners should be allowed to provide public Wi-Fi service both on a commercial and non-commercial basis.</p>
<p><strong>3.15.</strong> It is not clear from the Note and the question what type of security concerns the TRAI is seeking to address. In terms of payment security, the payment industry already has a large range of verification and testing mechanisms. The CIS objects to the mandatory introduction of the proposed payment system so as to ensure greater security for Wi-Fi access providers and the users.</p>
<p><strong>3.16.</strong> As far as hardware-related security issues are concerned, it is again unclear why consumer equipment compliant with existing Wi-Fi standards would not be sufficiently secure in the Indian context. Wi-Fi has proven to be a sturdy technical standard, its adoption is high in multiple jurisdictions around the world, and it also enjoys great technical stability. Similar security assessments could easily be made for alternative wireless technologies, such as WiMaX.</p>
<p><strong>3.17.</strong> The CIS foresees problems is in the allocation of risk and liability by law. The already existing legal obligation to verify the identity of each user, for instance, is likely to introduce a large administrative burden on potential Public Wi-Fi providers, which may lead to such potential providers abstaining from entering the market. Should the identification requirement be removed, however, other concerns pertaining to legal obligations may arise. These include liability for user activities on the web or on the internet (cf. copyright infringement, libel, hate speech). We propose a “safe harbour” mechanism in these cases, limiting the liability of the potential public Wi-Fi provider.</p>
<h4>Q6. What should be the guidelines regarding sharing of costs and revenue across all entities in the public Wi-Fi value chain? Is regulatory intervention required or it should be left to forbearance and individual contracting?</h4>
<p><strong>3.18.</strong> The market segments identified by the TRAI in Section F.18 of the Note should normally all be competitive markets themselves, and so do not require regulatory assistance in sharing of costs and revenues. The more elaborate the requirements imposed on each actor of each market segment identified by the TRAI in Section F.18, the more costly the roll-out of public Wi-Fi is going to be for the market actors. Such a cost is not avoided by price regulation.</p>
<p><strong>3.19.</strong> The TRAI may instead consider introducing public funding for backhaul roll-out in remote areas, where the market is unlikely to engage in such roll-out on its own. Presently, some Indian states (such as Karnataka) are committing to public funding for wireless access in remote areas. The Union Government can assist such endeavours.</p>
<h2>Endnotes</h2>
<p><strong>[1]</strong> See: <a href="http://cis-india.org/">http://cis-india.org/</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[2]</strong> See: <a href="http://trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/20801_0.aspx">http://trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/20801_0.aspx</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[3]</strong> See Section C.6 of the Note.</p>
<p><strong>[4]</strong> See: <a href="http://trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/20782_0.aspx">http://trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/20782_0.aspx</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[5]</strong> See: <a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-to-trai-consultation-on-proliferation-of-broadband-through-public-wifi-networks">http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-to-trai-consultation-on-proliferation-of-broadband-through-public-wifi-networks</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[6]</strong> See Section E.11. of the Note.</p>
<p><strong>[7]</strong> See: <a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-to-trai-consultation-on-proliferation-of-broadband-through-public-wifi-networks">http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-to-trai-consultation-on-proliferation-of-broadband-through-public-wifi-networks</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[8]</strong> See: <a href="https://www.wi-fi.org/">https://www.wi-fi.org/</a>.</p>
<p><strong>[9]</strong> See: Monitoring bundled products in the telecommunications sector is also recommended by the OECD: <a href="http://oecdinsights.org/2015/06/22/triple-and-quadruple-play-bundles-of-communication-services-towards-all-in-one-packages/">http://oecdinsights.org/2015/06/22/triple-and-quadruple-play-bundles-of-communication-services-towards-all-in-one-packages/</a>.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-trai-note-on-interoperable-scalable-public-wifi'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/cis-submission-trai-note-on-interoperable-scalable-public-wifi</a>
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No publisherJapreet Grewal, Pranesh Prakash, Sharath Chandra, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Sunil Abraham, and Udbhav Tiwari, with expert comments from Amelia AndersdotterDigital PaymentPublic Wireless NetworkTRAIInternet GovernanceTelecomFeaturedAadhaarHomepageUID2016-12-12T13:59:00ZBlog EntryCIS Statement on Right to Privacy Judgment
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-statement-on-right-to-privacy-judgment
<b>In an emphatic endorsement of the right to privacy, a nine judge constitutional bench unanimously upheld a fundamental right to privacy. The events leading to this bench began during the hearings in the ongoing Aadhaar case, when in August 2015, Mukul Rohatgi, the then Attorney General stated that there is no constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">reliance was on two Supreme Court judgments in MP Sharma v Satish Chandra (1954) and Kharak Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh (1962): both cases, decided by eight- and six-judge benches respectively, denied the existence of a constitutional right to privacy. As the subsequent judgments which upheld the right to privacy were by smaller benches, he claimed that MP Sharma and Kharak Singh still prevailed over them, until they were overruled by a larger bench. This landmark judgment was in response to a referral order to clear the confusion over the status of privacy as a right.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We, at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) welcome this judgement and applaud the depth and scope of the Supreme Court’s reasoning. CIS has been producing research on the different aspects of the right to privacy and its implications for the last seven years and had the privilege of serving on the Justice AP Shah Committee and contributing to the Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy.<a name="fr1" href="#fn1">[1]</a> We are honoured that some of our research has also been cited by the judgment.<a name="fr2" href="#fn2">[2] </a>Such judicial recognition is evidence of the impact sound research can have on policymaking.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="normal">In the course of a 547 page judgment, the bench affirmed the fundamental nature of the right to privacy reading it into the values of dignity and liberty. The judgment is instructive in its reference to scholarly works and jurisprudence not only in India but other legal systems such as USA, South Africa, EU and UK, while recognising a broad right to privacy with various dimensions across spatial, informational and decisional spheres. We note with special appreciation that women’s bodily integrity and citizens’ sexual orientation are among those aspects of privacy that were clearly recognised in the judgment. For researchers studying privacy and its importance, this judgment is of great value as it provides clear reasoning to reject oft-quoted arguments which are used to deny privacy’s significance. The judgement is also cognizant of the implications of the digital age and emphasise the need for a robust data protection framework.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="normal">The right to privacy has been read into into Article 21 (Right to life and liberty), and Part III (Chapter on Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution. This means that any limitation on the right in the form of reasonable restrictions must not only satisfy the tests evolved under Article 21, but where loss of privacy leads to infringement on other rights, such as chilling effects of surveillance on free speech, the tests for constitutionality under those provisions for also be satisfied by the limiting action. This provides a broad protection to citizens’ privacy which may not be easily restricted. We expect that this judgment will have far reaching impacts, not just with respect to the immediate Aadhaar case, but also to in a score of other matters such as protection of sexual choice by decriminalising Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, oversight of statutory search and seizure provisions such as Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, personal data collection and processing practices by both state and private actors and mass surveillance programmes in the interest of national security.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="normal">As this judgment comes in response to a referral order, the judges were not dealing with any questions of fact to ground the legal principles in. Subsequent judgments which deal with privacy will apply these principles and further evolve the contours of this right on a case-by-case basis. For now, we welcome this judgment and look forward to its consistent application in the future.</p>
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<p>[<a name="fn1" href="#fr1">1</a>]. http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_privacy.pdf</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="normal">[<a name="fn2" href="#fr2">2</a>]. CIS was quoted in the judgement on footnote 46, page 33 and 34: <a href="http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/pdf/LU/ALL%20WP(C)%20No.494%20of%202012%20Right%20to%20Privacy.pdf">http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/pdf/LU/ALL%20WP(C)%20No.494%20of%202012%20Right%20to%20Privacy.pdf </a>The quote is " Illustratively, the Centre for Internet and Society has two interesting articles tracing the origin of privacy within Classical Hindu Law and Islamic Law. See Ashna Ashesh and Bhairav Acharya ,“Locating Constructs of Privacy within Classical Hindu Law”, The Centre for Internet and Society, available at <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-">https://cis-india.org/internet-</a>governance/blog/loading-constructs-of-privacy-within-classical-hindu-law. See also Vidushi Marda and Bhairav Acharya, “Identifying Aspects of Privacy in Islamic Law”, The Centre for Internet and Society, available at <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/identifying-aspects-of-privacy-in-islamic-law">https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/identifying-aspects-of-privacy-in-islamic-law</a> " Further, research commissioned by CIS cited in the judgment includes a reference in page 201 footnote 319, "Bhairav Acharya, “The Four Parts of Privacy in India”, Economic & Political Weekly (2015), Vol. 50 Issue 22, at page 32." </p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-statement-on-right-to-privacy-judgment'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-statement-on-right-to-privacy-judgment</a>
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No publisheramberFeaturedInternet GovernancePrivacy2017-08-31T18:13:14ZBlog Entry