Centre for Internet and Society

selvam-portrait.jpg

radha — 2009-10-20T12:22:11Z

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

Sagie Chetty- Report

radha — 2011-08-23T03:30:41Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/publications/SC%20Study%20Tour%20Report%202009-11-08%20_2_.pdf

Sagie Chetty

radha — 2009-10-16T05:08:08Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Sagie%20Chetty..jpg

Right to read for the print impaired and copyright challenges

radha — 2011-11-08T15:56:43Z

The National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH), Daisy Forum of India (DFI) and Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) together organised an event titled “Right to read for the print impaired and copyright challenges” on behalf of the Visually Impaired (VIP) community of India in New Delhi on 11th November.

The "Right to read for the print impaired and copyright challenges" event was held in honour of the visit of the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to India. The main agenda of the meeting was to draw attention to the pressing problems faced by the print impaired community in developing countries such as India.

The meeting began with a welcome address and background to the meeting given by Nirmita. This was followed by two presentations by Dr.Sam Taraporewala from XRCVC and Ms.Shalini Khanna representing NAB India. The focus of these presentations was to brief the guests from the WIPO as well as the representatives from different stakeholder groups in the audience about the present position in India with regard to the availability of books in accessible formats for the visually impaired and the severe barrier posed by the Indian Copyright Act 1957 which impacted the lives of millions of print impaired persons on an everyday basis. These presentations highlighted the fact that barely half a percent of books were made available in different accessible formats in India and that these were mostly study materials for school children. Most of these were also conversions obtained without the permission of copyright holders and organisations in India were stressed in terms of finances and infrastructural support to cater to the needs of a large number of blind persons in India. As a result of this, blind persons have limited or no access to information and cultural content in accessible formats and even the few materials which are available on the internet are not necessarily to persons using screen readers. Consequently persons with print impairments are excluded from participating in the cultural, social and economic life of the country and from becoming creative and productive members of society.

Print Access - Presentation

This was followed by two presentations from members of the publishers’ community, namely Mr.Vivek Mehra, MD and CEO of Sage India and Mr.Manish Arora, Chairman of the Copyright Committee of the Federation of Publishers and Booksellers Association Of India. Both the speakers expressed their willingness to provide books to persons with print impairments, provided that their concerns of leakage and piracy could be adequately addressed. Earlier in a smaller meeting before the event, Mr.Manas Saikia, MD of Cambridge University Press India Pvt Ltd, had made a similar statement and had also announced that CUP India had finally worked out a format for a contract which would be mutually acceptable to both publishers as well as the community and that CUP would be using this contract globally in all countries. He suggested that this contract could be used as a basis by all publishing houses to enter into agreements with the community to facilitate equitable access to blind persons in India.

After this, Dr.Francis Gurry (DG) briefed the audience about the Treaty for the Blind, visually impaired and other reading disabled which is presently tabled before the WIPO by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay and the establishment of a stake holders platform as a parallel process to provide a speedy and feasible solution to both the blindness and publisher communities, until such a time that a consensus was reached and an internationally binding agreement in the form of a treaty was arrived at. He expressed a desire to know about the problems being faced by the VIP community in India and to offer assistance from WIPO in any manner which may help to tackle the problems in an interim manner. Some of the ways in which help was solicited was in the manner of financial aid to fund capacity building and other projects and a recommendation was made that WIPO should consider India as a possible location for the pilot project of trusted intermediary soon to be undertaken. It was stressed by the community that India was home to nearly 70 million print impaired persons, had the institutional infrastructure to carry such a project through and could act as a resource to other developing countries.

The community also appraised the DG of an attempt to create a stake holders platform at a national level, which complemented the efforts being undertaken at the international level and asked that India should be kept informed of all developments which took place on this issue in WIPO. The DG in his opening remarks observed that India seemed to be a country which was extremely good at making “frugal innovations” and cited the Nano car as one of many examples. He expressed his belief that India could go a long way in creating cost effective and workable technology solutions for publishers and that it would certainly be worth exploring for WIPO to fund such projects in India.

The VIP community in India had prepared a submission document to the WIPO on the concerns and needs of India in this matter, which was handed over to the DG by Mr.Dipendra Manocha.

The meeting concluded with a Q&A session facilitated by Ambassador Swashpawan Singh (Special advisor to the DG on the VIP issue) and a vote of Thanks by Ms.Anuradha Mohit.

Background to the event

The Right to read is a fundamental human right for all persons in the Information age.

The ability to seek, receive and impart information and ideas is vital to ensuring that all persons are able to participate productively in the cultural, scientific and economic life of the society.

However, despite the undisputed recognition of the importance of this right by countries across the globe, persons who are unable to access printed materials, whether due to a visual, physical or cognitive disability, continue to be starved of knowledge and information which is available to the general public.

For persons who cannot read print, information has to be converted into formats such as Braille, large print, audio, electronic and other formats which they can access using assistive technologies. The World Blind Union estimates that barely 5% of books which get published in developed countries get converted into accessible formats. In developing countries such as India this estimate gets reduced even further to a bare 0.5%. This results in reduced educational and employment opportunities for the nearly 70 million print impaired persons in India, since the lack of information and public communication material severely restricts their socio-cultural involvement. To add to this, materials which are available in electronic formats on web sites are also very often inaccessible due to the failure of web designers and developers to adhere to principles of universal access while creating web sites and content on web sites.

The Copyright laws of countries are responsible for determining whether such conversions for the benefit of visually impaired persons are possible without seeking permissions from copyright holders. Under the Indian Copyright Act 1957, there is no provision under the fair dealing clause which expressly permits conversions into accessible formats for persons who cannot read print. Consequently it is illegal for these persons to scan a book into a computer and read it using a screen reader and to share the same with other blind persons. In effect, this is a curtailment of their fundamental right to read, since they cannot read books in their original printed form and have to necessarily convert them into other formats. While there are nearly 124 countries which have restrictive copyright laws like India which do not make provisions for conversion by the blind, there are about 54 countries including both developed and developing countries which have enabled the necessary legal framework for persons with print impairments to convert and read books. Blind persons in these countries, in addition to converting books for their own use within their country, can also share books with each other. Hence libraries for the blind in these countries constantly circulate materials in accessible formats amongst themselves. Blind persons living in countries like India on the other hand, are unable to undertake conversion or take advantage of already available accessible materials in other countries.

Recognising that this problem needs to be addressed urgently once and for all and that such a solution should come at an international level, the World Blind Union in November 2008, proposed a Treaty before the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) titled “the Treaty for the Blind, visually impaired and other reading disabled persons”, which sought to harmonise exceptions and limitations for the visually impaired in the copyright laws of countries across the world so that there could be a free and unimpeded exchange of knowledge across borders. This Treaty is currently proposed by three Latin American Countries- Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay and is to be discussed at the next meeting of the SCCR in December. At the same time, stakeholders in the treaty (disability organizations and publisher groups) are also trying to address this issue through a stakeholders platform constituted especially for this purpose.

In the light of the ever growing magnitude of this problem in India and the implications that such an international Treaty could have for a country like India, urgent action is required at two levels:

We need to amend the Indian Copyright Act 1957 and incorporate the necessary flexibilities required for print impaired persons to undertake and share accessible books- this will serve to bring the Act in line with the provisions of the Indian Constitution and the UNCRPD (United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities) to which we are a signatory;

India should support the Treaty efforts at the WIPO to harmonise copyright laws at a global level.

The Visually Impaired Community (VIP Community) of India has been fighting this battle for many years and yet blind children are being deprived everyday of vital information which would enable them to pursue education and employment. The community has recently launched a nation wide Right to Read (R2R) Campaign to raise awareness on this issue amongst the public and policy makers.

The Present Event:

The Director General of the WIPO Mr.Francis Gurry, visited India between 11th-13th November , and kindly consented to attend a special event titled, The Right to Read for persons with print impairment and Copyright Challenges” being organized by the VIP community in India in his honour. This meeting intended to serve as a platform for the community to express its views on the Treaty negotiations at the WIPO and to brief the Director General about the efforts being undertaken at the national level to tackle this problem. Attendees were members from different stakeholder communities such as disability organizations, publishers and the government and they all had an opportunity to present their points of view.

Agenda of the seminar on Right to Read and copy right challenges

Date: 11th November
Time: 5:00 P.M.
Duration: One Hour
Venue: Sheraton New Delhi Hotel, District Centre, Saket, New Delhi 110017

Welcome and background of the meeting by Ms.Nirmita Narasimhan (Programme Manager, Centre for Internet and Society)

Challenges in reading books for persons with blindness or low vision by Mr. K. Ramakrishna (General Secretary, National Association for the Blind)
Brief about the copyright challenges to the print impaired community in India By Dr. Sam Taraporevala – Chairman Copy Right and Publisher Relationship Committee, DAISY Forum of India
Publisher’s perspective by Mr. Vivek Mehra (MD/CEO, Sage India)
Presentation from the Federation of Publishers’ & Booksellers’ Associations in India (Chair Legal Committee, FPBAI)
Address by the Director General- WIPO
Introduction to and presentation of the submission document to the DG by Mr.Dipendra Manocha
Questions and Comments from the Deligates- facilitated byAmbassador Swashpawan Singh
Vote of Thanks by Ms. Anuradha Mohit (Director, National Institute for Visually Handicapped, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India)
Informal Interaction over tea/coffee.

Video

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-for-the-print-impaired-and-copyright-challenges

Right to Read Campaign, Chennai

radha — 2013-02-04T06:19:31Z

A report on the first road show of the nationwide Right to Read Campaign which was launched at Loyola college, Chennai, on 26th September, 2009.

Right to Read Campaign - An Overview

Fast Facts

At least three hundred million people around the world with sight problems and dyslexia cannot read standard print. India may be home to at least 70 million of these persons.

Globally, a massive 96 percent of books are never made available in formats that persons with print disability can enjoy and in India almost 99% books are unavailable in accessible formats.

Every day millions of adults and children are denied vital information for education, work, daily life as well as being denied the joy of reading a world of books.

The Indian Copyright Act 1957 does not permit conversion and distribution of books in accessible formats to persons with print disabilities.

Problem at hand

Millions of Indians are unable to read printed material due to disabilities. There are technologies available which can help them read print if the material is converted into an alternate format such as large print, audio, Braille or any electronic format. While the Indian constitution guarantees the “right to read” as a fundamental right, the Copyright Act of 1957 does not permit the conversion of books into accessible formats for the benefit of persons with print impairment, as a result of which a “book famine” is created. International conventions that India is a party to specifically require it to amend its copyright laws for the benefit of persons with disabilities and to make available information and material to them on an equal basis as others. Publishers also do not make books available in accessible formats as a result of which less than 0.5% of them are available. As a result, persons with print impairments get excluded from the education system and it impacts their career choices. In addition to this, there are no national policies or action plan to ensure that publications in accessible formats in all Indian languages are available to persons with print disabilities all over the country.

Current situation in India

The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 does not make any provision for the conversion and distribution of books in accessible formats for print impaired persons. Hence organizations serving them have to get permission from copyright holders for conversion. Because of this, other countries do not lend books in accessible formats to print impaired persons in our country.

In the case of books published in India, there are no accessible copies readily available in the market and while many publishers in principle are not averse to giving permission, the unwanted fear of piracy and lack of awareness prevents them from allowing organizations to undertake conversions. Consequently print impaired persons are denied the freedom to choose and read any book which is freely available to the public.

Solution

The Government of India must immediately modify the Indian Copyright Act 1957 to permit conversion and distribution of books in accessible formats to persons with print disabilities.

India should support the Treaty on Copyright and the Reading Disabled being tabled at WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights by the Governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay based on a text originally drafted by a global expert committee under the auspices of the World Blind Union, which is aimed at harmonization of copyright laws at an international level.

Objectives of the Right to Read Campaign

To accelerate change in copyright law

To raise public awareness on the issue

To gather Indian support for the Treaty on Copyright and the Reading Disabled being tabled at WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights by the Governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay based on a text originally drafted by a global expert committee under the auspices of the World Blind Union.

Campaign Managers

Centre for Internet and Society (www.cis-india.org): The Centre for Internet and Society critically engages with concerns of digital pluralism, public accountability and pedagogic practices in the field of Internet and Society, with particular emphasis on South-South dialogues and exchange. In association with the Daisy Forum of India and Bookbole, the CIS is engaged in conducting the Right to Read Campaign supporting the acceleration of amendments in Copyright Law, creating public awareness and by gathering Indian support for the Treaty for the Blind proposed by the World Blind Union at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

DAISY Forum of India (www.daisyindia.org): DFI is a forum of 75 Not for Profit organizations from India who are involved in production of books and reading materials in accessible formats for persons who cannot read normal print. The DAISY Consortium envisions a world where people with print disabilities have equal access to information and knowledge without delay or additional expense. The DAISY Forum of India endorses this vision and is working towards its realization in India.

Bookbole (www.bookbole.com): Bookbole is a library of books in multiple formats which can be accessed by persons using screen readers. Bookbole allows users to find, share, and manage personal libraries in a very easy fashion. This website has been developed by Inclusive Planet, a social venture involved in creating web based products and services for the differently-abled.

Loyola College (Chennai) (www.loyolacollege.edu/index.html): Loyola College has played an important role in the history of education in India. Founded in 1925 by Rev. Fr. Bertram, S.J., who himself was twice the acting Vice- Chancellor of the Madras University, Loyola College has emerged in the last seventy-five years as a premier educational Institution in the country and it is striving to break new paths in education. One of the major breakthroughs in its history is the autonomous status it received in the year 1978. Situated in the heart of Chennai, and having a large campus of about 98 acres, this institution provides an ideal environment for both teachers and students to enrich themselves intellectually, emotionally and physically by actively participating in the academic and co-curricular activities. Loyola has started several Centres of Excellence such as LIFE, (Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy) Entomology Research Institute, ACE, (Academy for Cumulative Excellence) Culture and Communication, LIVE (Loyola Institute of Vocational Education) and LISOR (Loyola Institute of Industrial and Social Science Research).

Campaign activities

The nationwide Right to Read Campaign seeks to achieve the objective through a series of events like,

Nationwide road-shows
Public rallies
Televised debates
Online petitions
Signature campaigns
Audio-video clips
Stalls where accessibility tools are demonstrated
Submission of a legal paper to the government on international scenario and constitutional compulsions for the amendment of the copyright law.

Social Networks

The Right to read campaign has been active on various social networks like blogs, Twitter and Facebook. The campaign has been well received by the users and is succeeding in raising awareness on the issue.

Media Coverage

Even before its first event, the R2R campaign attracted significant press coverage in both Bangalore and Chennai. For details of the articles on the campaign in various newspapers both before and after the campaign please refer to Annexure A.

Website: www.righttoread.in

This website, dedicated for the Right to Read campaign has details about the issue faced with regard to the copyright law and the objective of the campaign. It has a provision for signing the online petition and declaration forms. It has regular updates on the events being conducted and provides an opportunity to exploit ones creativity by blogging, shooting videos, clicking photos and writing slogans about the campaign. Its major objective is to spread awareness about the campaign.

Launch of Right to Read Campaign

The first roadshow of the R2R campaign was launched at Chennai.

Venue: Loyola College

Date: 26^th September, 2009

Time: 9:30 AM

Topic: Amend copyright law to grant access to reading materials for the print impaired

Agenda

Launch of the campaign

This was the first major event with respect to the Right to Read campaign. A wide range of dignitaries were invited for the launch. The audience included students, social activists and visually challenged people. About 4oo students from 100 colleges around Chennai and 150 NSS volunteers attended from outside and an almost equal number of students participated from within Loyola College to make this a very large gathering of almost 800-1000 persons. The event was organized by the students of Department of Sociology at Loyola College, Chennai in collaboration with the campaign managers.

The Chief Guest of the event was Mr. Shri Kumar Verma, a well known writer, social activist and a professor of creative English and English literature. He spoke about the issue faced by print impaired persons and how apprehensive people are about sharing books in accessible formats as it is a legal infringement. He appreciated the fact that people have recognized the need for attention to this issue. He observed that Loyola College was the most appropriate venue for this event since students are proactively engaged with social issues. He promised to take initiatives and spread awareness about the campaign and expected the same from others.

Other dignitaries who honored the event were Dr. N. Raja Hussain, Program coordinator, NSS, University of Madras; Mr. Dipendra Manocha, Member, Executive Council, World Blind Union and President, Daisy Forum of India; Mr. Chandrasekar, Treasurer, National Association for the Blind; Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, CIS and Mr. Rahul Cherian, Policy Head, Inclusive Planet.

They spoke about the need for the amendment and importance of spreading awareness about this burning issue. In her introduction to the campaign, Nirmita explained that it was not a question of just making the books available in particular formats. If people can read books, it will help literacy, education, employment and promote independent living. A majority of the visually impaired population don't pursue courses because they don't have study materials in accessible formats. This is substantiated by looking at the statistics of Delhi University - they have about 1,500 seats reserved for the handicapped. Despite that, in 2008, only 270 students applied and in 2009, only 350 applied. This just goes to show that in addition to making reservations, it is also necessary to provide an enabling reading framework to persons with disabilities by providing materials in accessible formats and a good support system. This statistics served as an eye opener to the audience.

Signature Campaign

The launch was followed by a signature campaign where a huge banner supporting the campaign was signed by the dignitaries and other participants of the event. In addition to this, volunteers were committed to the task of carrying out a signature campaign on paper. Supporters of the campaign were invited to sign on the declaration and to put down their names to volunteer for the campaign or to help out the print impaired in a sustained fashion by specifying the manner in which they would like to contribute.

Rally

The students had organized a rally supporting the need for amendment of the copyright law and to spread awareness about the campaign. 200 students walked around the 97 acre campus with 100 banners carrying slogans like- “Support the Right to Read”, “Change Copyright Law,- free a world of knowledge”, “One Alphabet- several words; one book- several formats “, “Different states, different languages, different cultures- why not different formats? And so on.

Declaration forms

Interested people signed the declaration forms to endorse the campaign by voluntarily engaging themselves in any of the activities like creating awareness among public, gathering public support for The Treaty for the Blind at WIPO, online petitions and promoting the campaign online.
Declaration

Panel Discussion - ‘We the people’

The panel discussion kicked off at 1130 hrs with the Master of the Ceremony introducing the panelists; Mr. Dipendra Manocha, President, The Daisy Forum of India (DFI); Prof. Sivaraman, Professor of English, Presidency College, Chennai and Mr. Vijaykumar, Advocate. Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) and Mr. Rahul Cherian, Co-founder and Policy Head, Inclusive Planet, were the moderators of the discussion. A salient point to be noted here was that all the panelists present were totally/partially visually challenged.

The discussion started off with Prof. Sivaraman citing his experiences with access to literature other than printed format since 2004. He shared information on the technology that he had been using to ‘read’ books that were prescribed for the students. These were text books or reference material that had been used over a period of time. However, he also threw light on the shortcomings – that newly published text books or literature were not readily available in accessible formats. It usually takes him a considerable amount of time and effort to get materials in Braille or audio formats and hence it is impossible for him to keep abreast of contemporary literature.

An equally important concern that was raised was that only new books with clear print and paper could be accurately scanned electronically owing to quality of the printed characters as well as deterioration of paper quality over time. Any pictorial representation including figures, charts or graphs and even italicized words present problems during scanning. Thus,

What is most urgently required to solve this problem is a digital library as in the case of USA, where the publishers deposit the electronic files of the books. These can be picked up and converted into any accessible format required for a print impaired person without wasting much time, effort and resources. Taking it a step further, he also put forth his views on the unauthorized access and ill-use that electronic books or e-books are put to. Persons who are not visually challenged can also access such books that are present online without any restrictions. Websites that are designed to be used by the visually challenged specifically state in their Terms of Use that accessing/reading of downloading of e-books are strictly meant for persons with partial/total sight impairment, persons with other forms of disabilities that would prevent them from reading printed material or for persons/aides assisting the above mentioned and that any download made by people other than those mentioned would be treated as infringement of the law. But not many people take these terms seriously and still would download such books that are meant for the visually challenged. Right now, there are no technological/legal measures in place to check this infringement owing to the inability to track the perpetrators identity/location. Since it is almost impossible to restrict the access to e-books to only the visually impaired, this acts as a serious set-back in persuading the government to amend the Copyright Act.

Mr. Vijaykumar continued the discussion, citing Article 14 of the Constitution of India which mandates Equality before law and equal protection for everybody, saying that the fundamental right of Indian citizens – the right to read for everybody has not been upheld in India owing to the restrictions imposed by the Copyright Act of 1957 and that the Copyright Act, by not including any exceptions or provisions, has failed to protect the interests of persons with visual impairment.

Mr. Dipendra Manocha, President, Daisy Forum of India, gave the international and technological perspective to the panel discussion. He explained about the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System format) format which acts as a standard format to make 1 source document. This can then be used to convert into other accessible formats. He enlightened the crowd about the three factors that would help in solving the problems currently faced by persons with print impairment in India: First, technology such as Laptops or DAISY players and other handheld devices/readers that would assist in translating/reading out aloud e-books. Secondly, creation of e-books in accessible formats, the current high cost-of-conversion of which can be brought down by volunteering and thirdly by bringing in a change in the government policy on Copyright law. Mr. Manocha also informed the audience of how the US Government had amended their copyright law to include provisions for the visually challenged. This has brought down the cost of conversion of printed material into accessible formats to Rs. 2,000 from a whooping Rs. 20,000. He also highlighted the fact that in a developing country like India, it is not feasible to spend Rs. 20,000 for conversion of just one copy.

Answering the question as to what steps the Daisy Forum of India is taking with respect to making accessible formats available to the print-impaired, Mr. Manocha responded by saying that the DFI has been negotiating a deal with Adobe Systems Inc. USA, provider of the .pdf format of e-books, to include an option to Save As Daisy format. Also, providing books in accessible formats at the same cost as that of its printed counterpart was one of the visions of DFI.
When asked by a member of audience if we can take the law in our hands and start uploading/using e-books from the internet, Mr. Manocha again pointed out that it is the duty and responsibility of the Indian govt. to provide equal opportunities to everybody. In case the government fails to do that, citizens can take measures that would help alleviate the pains caused. But such measures should be taken keeping in mind all the stakeholders involved. Large-scale usage of electronic forms of literature would affect the business of authors/publishers. Hurting publishers is never the intention of this campaign. Mr. Manocha, Mr. Vijaykumar and Prof. Sivaraman made it clear that a coordinated effort was required on the part of all the stake-holders viz. the government, the copyright owners (authors, publishers etc.), the persons with print impairment and the organizations representing them, as well as the general public. The amendments to the Copyright Act should take into consideration the interests of all stake holders.

When the floor was opened to questions, the participation from audience was overwhelming. Many of the questions were from print impaired persons in the audience who were students in colleges or represented a disability organization like the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) and so on. Due to paucity of time, the interactive question and answer session was restricted to half an hour post the panel discussion but the audience were invited to discuss further questions with the panelists after the session.

Musical Extravaganza

After some serious food-for-thought, the silence of the convention hall was broken by a musical performance rendered by a Music Band from NFB Chennai. The performance began by two singers rendering a song in praise of the Gods and then went on to lighter numbers like Jai Ho, from the movie Slumdog Millionaire and songs from some Tamil movies, which left the audience speechless.

Vote of Thanks

The volunteers from Loyola College presented the Vote of thanks to all the dignitaries and panelists on stage and also to the audience present in the function after which the National Anthem was played. Later, the guests and the audience proceeded for lunch.

Acknowledgements

We would to like to take this opportunity to specially thank
Rev. Fr. K. Amal SJ (Rector, Loyola College);
Rev. Fr. Albert Muthumalai SJ (Principal, Loyola College);
Dr. S. Alphonse Raj (Vice- Principal & Faculty of Sociology Department, Loyola College);

Prof S. Iyyappan (Co-coordinator, Extension service Department (NSS), Loyola College)
Prof J. Jerald Inico, Faculty Incharge, Resource Center for Differently abled (RCDA);

Prof. Robert Bellarmine (Head, Department of Sociology);
Department of Sociology; students from RCDA; NSS; Students Union;
the teaching and non-teaching staff of Loyola College, who helped in organizing the campaign and without whom the first road show of the nationwide campaign would not have been a grand success that it has been.
We look forward to their continued support in the campaign.

We would also like to thank all the students and guests who came from different parts of the city and participated in the campaign.

Videos

Annexure A

Media Coverage

Details of the articles on the campaign in various newspapers both before and after the campaign are given below:

DNA – Bangalore, 24^th September, 2009

CIS campaign to alter copyright law to favour visually impaired - An article by N T Balanarayan, DNA Bangalore - 24th September, 2009
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_cis-campaign-to-alter-copyright-law-to-favour-visually-imapired_1292662

As Indians we enjoy our right to education and to read, but should learning be restricted to books provided in school? What if, some wish to broaden their horizon and learn more, only to realize there are no books available?
That's the situation the visually impaired in India face now. But Bangalore-based Centre for Information and Society (CIS) is out to change it. They're starting a new campaign-- Right to Read--demanding changes in the copyright law so that books can be converted into a medium with which the visually impaired will feel more comfortable.
According to the group, only 0.5% of the books available in India can be accessed in Braille or audio format. Further, the World Blind Union estimates that only five per cent of the total books that get published in developed countries are converted into accessible formats.
According to Nirmita Narasimhan who works with CIS, it's not a question of just making the books available in particular formats. "If people can read books, it will help literacy, education, employment and promote independent living. A majority of the visually impaired population don't pursue courses because they don't have study materials in accessible formats. This is substantiated by looking at the statistics of Delhi University -- they have about 1,500 seats reserved for the handicapped. Despite that, in 2008, only 270 students applied and in 2009, only 350 came forward. This just goes to show that in addition to making reservations, it is also necessary to provide an enabling reading framework to persons with disabilities by providing materials in accessible formats and a good support system," she says.
"Further, it is not necessarily any particular format--with technologies and the prolific use of computers; accessible electronic formats (not being jpeg images which screen readers can't make sense of) are most appreciated. One will find that blind persons are always reaching out to each other for study materials in accessible formats--this varies from materials for board exams to text for competitive exams," she adds.
Through the campaign, a road show scheduled to start on September 26 at Loyola College, Chennai, the group wants changes to be made in the copyright law. The roadshow will be organized in three other metros as well.
The event will comprise presentations, debates and demonstrations along with book reading sessions and stalls where various accessibility tools will be demonstrated.

Times of India, 26^th September, 2009

Tara Textreader, a boon for the visually-challenged – by M Ramya

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/5058157.cms
CHENNAI: Mahendran loses track of time as he listens to portions from Romeo and Juliet through Tara. The final year B A (Tamil) student of Loyola College is pleased with the Rs 1.35-lakh Tara Textreader that allows him to access printed material without help and convey information without a scribe. "The Sangeetha software has an Indian accent. So I have no problem accessing material in English," says Mahendran, who has visual disabilities.
Earlier, students like him could not access printed material that hadn't been digitized. Their computer systems could not read material that wasn't pre-recorded. Professor Jerald Inico, a lecturer in the computer science department and faculty in charge of the college's Resource Centre for Differently Abled, says the Textreader need not even be connected to a computer.
He says: "We were trying to come up with a formula to evaluate students with visual disabilities because we felt that when scribes write down the answers for the students some of the content would be lost in translation. The equipment can scan the question paper and read it out and will also allow the student to answer verbally and store it as an audio clip. For students who become blind later in life and have not learnt Braille this is a big help."
Tara, purchased from funds provided by the ministry of social justice and empowerment, can only speak English; now through Sangeetha the college is trying to install a Tamil optical character recognition software. While the students use Tara to read books now the equipment will be tested for exam evaluation during the April 2010 semester exams. But Mahendran is a bit wary. "If we can use Tara and still get extra time for the exams it will prove beneficial, but if we are given the same time as the others because we are using the textreader it will take time to comprehend what is being read to us and give the appropriate answers."
The college is also supporting a nationwide Right to Read' campaign for persons with print impairments to be launched in Chennai on Saturday. Nirmita Narasimhan, programme manager at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) which is one of the organisers of the campaign, says: "Two years ago when we proposed a change in the Copyright Act a clause was incoporated that said that books can be reproduced in formats exclusively for the use of the blind. This limits the reproduction to one or two options and newer technologies cannot be used. It also leaves out people with other disabilities like the dyslexic who also have print impairments. Technology is enabling, but law is disabling. We want to create awareness of the issue through the campaign."
Registration for the campaign begins at 8 am at the college. The CIS, DAISY Forum of India and Bookbole will take the campaign to other cities in the country.

The Hindu – 29^th September, 2009

‘Right to read’ campaign launched
http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/29/stories/2009092957440200.htm
CHENNAI: About 100 National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers from various colleges in the State kick-started a ‘right to read’ campaign at Loyola College recently. The aim of the campaign is to make books accessible to persons with disabilities.
The speakers, who included the visually challenged, persons with low vision and dyslexia, said the Copyright Act did not allow persons with print impairments to convert reading matter using assistive technologies to accessible formats. Dipendra Manocha, executive committee member of World Blind Union, said: “We need organisations, individuals and volunteers to contribute and create accessible books.”
Nirmitha Narasimhan, programme manager of the Centre for Internet and Society felt access to information would ensure a better contribution by the visually challenged to society. “It is not that weare insensitive. The suggestion for amendments to the Copyright Act has not yet been incorporated,” she said.
Writer Sreekumar Varma, who inaugurated the campaign, recalled his experience as a scribe during his days as a lecturer. C.P. Chandrasekar, treasurer, National Association for the Blind, and Loyola College Principal Albert Muthumalai spoke.

Deccan Herald – 29^th September, 2009

‘Right to Read’ campaign launched - Fighting against copyright regulations – an article by L Subramani.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/27678/right-read-campaign-launched.html

To highlight the issues faced by persons with print disability – those deprived of Indian books due to unfriendly copyright regulations – a group of organisations launched the Right To Read (R2R) campaign on September 26.
The campaign, jointly launched by the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Daisy Forum of India (DFI), bookbole.com and Inclusive Planet, kickstarted at Loyola College in Chennai on Saturday.
“This campaign was part of the World Blind Union’s (WBU) global campaign,” said Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, CIS. “We are asking all the organisations to lend their support to our initiative.”
The campaign comes at a time when the Indian government is preparing to consider changes to the copyright law, which it failed to implement two years ago after disability rights campaigners objected to the proposal to make books and other print materials be made in an “exclusive” format.
Nirmita said that this would also be an occasion for activists to urge Government of India to throw its weight behind a WBU treaty tabled at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) asking for a global copyright regulation that takes into account the needs of persons with print disabilities.
“The treaty is coming up for discussion at Geneva (WIPO's head quarters) in December,” Nirmita said and added: “Right now only three Latin American nations are supporting it. Since India has the largest number of persons with print disability, which includes the visually challenged, persons with autism and children with learning difficulties, our support would likely tilt the balance in favour of the treaty.” Now, the campaign will be gradually taken to other parts of the country, said Rahul Cherian from Inclusive Planet. A signature campaign and distribution of a declaration supporting accommodation of persons with print disability in copyright laws will also be held as part of the campaign.

NDTV – Hindu

The first event was covered by NDTV Hindu and an interview with Rahul Cherian and Nirmita Narasimhan was also telecast on 26^th September. A brief excerpt from the interview can be viewed at:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/user/ndtvhindu#play/uploads/16/o4sQ-ycaoBw

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/user/ndtvhindu#play/uploads/15/Q5HCm2evUYE

Deccan Chronicle – 27^th September, 2009

Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, CIS, speaks at the launch of ‘Right to Read’ campaign. Loyola College in the city on Saturday launched the campaignto amend the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, and give visually challenged and dyslexic people better access to printed books in the form of Braille copy and big prints.

Tamil Murasu

Coverage in the October Issue of: CBR Forum - E- News Bulletin

Report Prepared by

Centre for Internet and Society

www.cis-india.org

29^th September, 2009

Videos

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign-chennai

Right to Read Campaign - Kolkata

radha — 2011-11-08T15:39:13Z

A report on the nationwide Right to Read campaign which had its second road show at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata on 7th November, 2009 from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.

The Problem

Millions of Indians are unable to read printed material due to disabilities. Technologies are in place which can help them read printed matter if the material gets converted into alternate formats such as large print, audio, Braille or other electronic formats. Whereas the Constitution of India declares “right to read” a fundamental right, the provisions of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 does not permit conversion of books into accessible formats for the benefit of persons with print impairment, as a result of which a “book famine” is created. International conventions to which India is a signatory to specifically requires it to amend its copyright laws for the benefit of persons with disabilities and make available information and materials to persons with disabilities on an equal basis as others.

Publishers too do not make books available in accessible formats as a result of which less than 0.5 per cent of books are available in accessible formats in India. As a result, persons with print impairments get excluded from the education system and this has a big impact on their career choices.

The Campaign

To solve this problem, the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 should be amended to permit the conversion and distribution of materials in all formats for making it accessible for persons with print impairment. Hence, the Daisy Forum of India, The Centre for Internet & Society and Bookbole have taken the initiative to be part of the global “Right to Read” campaign launched by the World Blind Union.

The ‘Right to Read’ campaign seeks to:

Accelerate change in the copyright law;
Raise public awareness on the issue of access to reading for the print-impaired; and
Gather Indian support for the Treaty for the Blind proposed by the World Blind Union at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

In West Bengal, this campaign was initiated by Campaigners for Inclusion (a volunteer initiative by CRY and Sruti Disability Rights Centre) and hosted by the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS).

The Programme

A meeting was held at the National University of Juridical Sciences on 7th November from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. The Chief Guest of the meeting was Dr. Suranjan Das, Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. Other dignitaries present at the meeting were Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, The Centre for Internet & Society and Rahul Cherian, Co-Founder, Inclusive Planet and Book Bole.

A lively panel discussion followed. The speakers included Ms. Chandrima Bhattacharya, Senior Assistant Editor, The Telegraph, Mr. S.B. Pattnayak, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission, Narendrapur, Dr. S.S. Roy, Chairman, National Children’s Computer Society and Dr. Rukmini Sen, Assistant Professor, (Social Sciences), WBNUJS.

A skit on this issue was presented by the Campaigners for Inclusion and a musical programme by Sayoni Palit, a visually impaired student of the Bachelor of Music, enthralled the audience.

The meeting was attended by 120 people including members of Blind Persons Association, National Association for Blind, Welfare Society for the Blind, Behala Blind School, Lighthouse for the Blind, Society for Visually Handicapped, National Institute for the Blind, Louis Braille Memorial School, Noble Mission of Calcutta and Mentaid along with several college students and teachers.

A signature campaign on the petition to amend the Copyright Act started in Kolkata on that day. Sruti Disability Rights Centre has taken the initiative to organize more awareness meetings, particularly in different colleges as well as at the Kolkata Book Fair in the coming months.

Media Coverage

Radio channels like Gyan Bharati organized a talk show on this issue besides announcing about the programme on its channel for one week. Red FM was the official radio partner and gave ample coverage to this event. One English newspaper and one Urdu newspaper covered this news.

Times of India - 7th Nov 2009

KOLKATA: For the 12 lakh-odd visually-challenged and dyslexic persons in the state, access to good Indian literature in Braille or audio format is a challenge. Obtaining copyright to convert books into special format is the biggest hindrance, say activists working for disability rights.

"Even the National Library does not have any Braille or audio books. Authorities argue that the number of such special books is too less to create full-fledged sections," said Shampa Sengupta of Sruti. When it comes to audio-version, the scenario is worse, says Lina Bardhan from Noble Mission that works with the mentally challenged.

City Braille publishers say legal formalities prove to be an obstacle."We believe that as a humanitarian gesture, the Copyright Act of 1957 should be relaxed for books meant for the differently-abled," said Amiyo Biswas of Blind Persons' Association, one of the three Braille publishers in the city.

In April 2008, UK-based Sight Savers International urged the UN to sign a treaty so that persons with disabilities can access books and documents easily.

Now, Center for Internet Society (CIS) has carried out campaigns in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. On Saturday, a seminar will be held in Kolkata. "We want to organize a pan-India movement and amend the Copyright Act to establish the right to read," said CIS programme manager Nirmita Narasimhan.

Click here for the original article

Coverage in the November Issue of: CBR Forum - E- News Bulletin

Photos

VIDOES

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign-kolkata

Right to Read Campaign - Kolkata

radha — 2009-10-22T09:48:40Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-kolkata

Right to Read Campaign - Kolkata

radha — 2013-02-04T06:47:59Z

The nationwide Right to Read campaign which began with its first road show at Loyola College, Chennai is now having its second road show at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. There will be half day events with publicity. Events shall comprise presentations, debates and demonstrations, book reading sessions and stalls where various accessibility tools will be demonstrated.

Problem Statement

Millions of Indians are unable to read printed material due to disabilities. There are technologies available which can help them read print if the material is converted into an alternate format such as large print, audio, Braille or any electronic format. While the Indian constitution guarantees the “right to read” as a fundamental right, the copyright regime does not permit the conversion of books into accessible formats for the benefit of persons with print impairment, as a result of which a “book famine” is created. International conventions that India is a party to specifically require India to amend its copyright laws for the benefit of persons with disabilities and to make available information and material to persons with disabilities on an equal basis as others. Publishers also do not make books available in accessible formats as a result of which less than 0.5% of books are available in accessible formats in India. As a result persons with print impairments get excluded from the education system and it impacts their career choices.
In addition to this, there are no national Policies or action plan to ensure that publications in accessible formats in all Indian languages are available to persons with print disabilities all over the country.

Objectives of the Right to Read Campaign

To accelerate change in copyright law
To raise public awareness on the issue
To gather Indian support for the Treaty for the Blind proposed by the World Blind Union at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Your Support:

No campaign is complete without the endorsement of leaders in the field. We invite you to lend your name and support to this campaign in large numbers and help us make this campaign a success. If you wish to do so, please e-mail Nirmita Narasimhan: nirmita@cis-india.org.

Agenda

Declaration on the Right to Read

Cookie Jar - Glass Jar full of cookies. The jar is locked by chains and a lock. Caption below in large letters saying "Open the cookie jar for 70 million people". Right to Read logo. Wording below: The right to read campaign seeks to accelerate change in copyright law, raise public awareness on issues of access to reading for the print impaired. Support the campaign by turning up for the event at Kolkata. Venue, date and time given. To know more about the campaign and to join us in our endeavor visit our website. www.righttoread.in

Daffodils - Poem Daffodils by Wordsworth. Black strips across many of the lines of the poem as a result only some scattered words of the poem can be seen. Caption below in large letters saying "Not Quite Right? 70 million people agree". Right to Read logo. Wording below: The right to read campaign seeks to accelerate change in copyright law, raise public awareness on issues of access to reading for the print impaired. Support the campaign by turning up for the event at Kolkata. Venue, date and time given. To know more about the campaign and to join us in our endeavor visit our website. www.righttoread.in

Videos
iframe>

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/right-to-read-campaign-kolkata

Right to Read campaign - Chennai (NDTV, Hindu)

radha — 2011-04-02T14:50:32Z

The first event was covered by NDTV Hindu and an interview with Rahul Cherian and Nirmita Narasimhan was telecast on 26th September.

Excerpts from the interview are available on the given links

Part 1

Part 2

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/right-to-read-campaign-chennai-ndtv-hindu

Right to Read Campaign - Chennai

radha — 2009-09-29T05:35:53Z

Photos

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai

Right to Read

radha — 2009-09-18T09:51:47Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/right%20to%20read%20artwork.jpg

Response to TRAI Consultation paper No. 6/2009

radha — 2011-08-24T08:06:46Z

CIS Distinguished Fellow, Shyam Ponappa, provides a detailed response to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's Consultation paper No. 6/2009 "Overall Spectrum Management and review of license terms and conditions". Shyam Ponappa is suggesting that, the TRAI approach the telecom policy in a manner which will facilitate greater user access and, more generally, be designed to serve the public interest in the long-term.

Shyam Ponappa November 12, 2009
Distinguished Fellow
Centre for Internet & Society
Bangalore/New Delhi
cis-india.org

shyamponappa@gmail.com

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Attn: Sh. Sudhir Gupta, Advisor (MN)
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan
Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, New Delhi-110 002
Tel. No.011-23220018 , Fax No.011-23212014

E-mail : advmn@trai.gov.in

TRAI Consultation paper No. 6/2009- October 16, 2009

"Overall Spectrum Management and review of license terms and conditions"

Sir,

It would help to have a logical framework that defines overall objectives, prioritizes issues, and structures and organizes issues and questions. This would facilitate analysis and response, as we have attempted below.

We begin by responding to Question 57 as a preamble to all the questions:

57. What in your opinion is the desired structure for efficient management of spectrum?
[This question addresses only one of two essential criteria, efficiency. The other criterion is effectiveness; both need equal emphasis.]

Please see separate attachment for answers to Questions 1-56.

Status

Currently, communications services in India comprising Internet, voice and SMS have the following attributes:

Low broadband usage, with relatively high prices: eg, direct satellite TV subscriptions at Rs. 200/month, compared with 512 kbps Internet at Rs. 1,000/month.
Fragmented spectrum allocation for exclusive use by each operator in a service area.
Very high intensity of spectrum use by operators compared with international norms because of constrained availability.
Too many operators per service area (11-14 or more [15-16 with all potential operators with GSM and CDMA counted separately], versus the global average of 4-5).

[For details on (2), (3) and (4), please see: 'An assessment of spectrum management policy in India', David Lewin, Val Jervis, Chris Davis, Ken Pearson, Plum Consulting, December 2008
http://www.plumconsulting.co.uk/pdfs/GSMA%20spectrum%20management%20policy%20in%20India.pdf]

Needs

Our needs are:

good services for Internet, voice and SMS,
at reasonable prices, eg, comparable pricing for TV and broadband,
accessible from/to most households across the country.

The need is especially great in rural areas, as broadband can be the medium for delivery of essential services like education (from basic to advanced to vocational training and Continuing Education at all levels, including high-level professional CE), health (again, from basic diagnostics and monitoring at home, to advanced care at adequately equipped centres), and security and law-and-order services at significantly higher levels than is possible without excellent communications infrastructure.

In view of the above, we suggest that the Government of India consider adopting the following policy goals in the public interest ( and therefore, that where appropriate, the TRAI set these objectives/make appropriate recommendations to the GOI).

Suggested Policy Goals/Objectives [based on needs]

Adopt the criteria of long-term net benefits in the public interest for decisions, eschewing short-term cash collections from auctions and fees.
An approach to policies for telecommunications services (not for broadcasting) that limits the number of operators per service area in line with international experience, because of the economics of networks.
[This implies an explicit reversal of prior policies to maximize competition, and requires allowing for consolidation through mergers and acquisitions.]
Access to broadband (to be defined as at least 512 kbps in keeping with international norms) at all feasible locations in the country for all users.
Develop incentives and penalties favouring good rural service provision, with the emphasis on broadband: an Administered Incentive Pricing mechanism.
Explore ways to structure policies to reduce costs/maximize utility through facilities and resource sharing, so that prices can be reduced while maintaining good scope for investment from growth and profits.

This implies two areas of exploration:
a) Shared use of facilities and equipment/networks;
b) Shared use of spectrum.

(i) This is best done by collaborative consultations between experts (from the GOI, private sector and academia), operators, equipment providers, and government. Without the requisite interdisciplinary skills combined with operating expertise and investment capability, the effort is too complex for an iterative, serial consultation process.
(ii) Even within the GOI, this requires interdisciplinary and cross-jurisdictional convergence, both to develop solutions as well as to implement them.
(iii) This also needs GOI initiatives to invite companies like Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Qualcomm as well as Google and Intel, possibly cable companies like Liberty Global, and electricity companies that deliver Internet through their networks.
(iv) The GOI also needs to depute experienced representatives from various ministries and departments including the WPC, the Defence Services, and specialist agencies such as the DRDO/NTRO.
[Please see ‘Managing Spectrum’ in the Business Standard November 5, 2009, and related references: http://organizing-india.blogspot.com/2009/11/managing-spectrum.html]
Monitor operations online and intervene actively where revenues (the totality of rates/tariffs) are far above total costs, i.e., profits are unreasonable. This is a necessary adjunct to accepting a monopolistic/oligopolistic market structures.

Suggested Approach

The use of a decision tree as in the ‘Issue Map for Spectrum & Broadband’ below (please see Exhibit) facilitates a logical sequence and prioritization in exploring alternatives. (Please note that this is for broadband, voice and SMS, and not for broadcasting.) A similar exploration process for networks and facilities (sharing versus exclusive use for delivery) could follow. However, stakeholders should be free to use any analytical process to improve on this in the common interest.

Once decisions are taken on these two issues (spectrum and network/ facilities sharing), other issues like pricing and consolidation can be logically addressed based on these decisions, probably within the scope of existing laws and regulations.

New regulations or laws should be considered only after comprehensive analysis on the lines of Project LARGE (Legal Adjustments and Reforms for Globalising the Economy by Sh. Bibek Debroy).

Exhibit: Issue Map on Spectrum & Broadband

Shyam Ponappa
Centre for Internet & Society
cis-india.org

Attachment – Question 1-57

TRAI Consultation paper No. 6/2009 – October 16, 2009

Overall Spectrum Management and review of license terms and conditions

Chapter 1
Spectrum requirement and availability

Do you agree with the subscriber base projections? If not, please provide the reasons for disagreement and your projection estimates along with their basis?
Do not disagree.
Do you agree with the spectrum requirement projected in ¶ 1.7 to ¶1.12? Please give your assessment (service-area wise).
Agree if exclusive bands of spectrum are used by different operators, and the spectrum requirement is linked to subscribers. Disagree if common use of spectrum is adopted. Please see preamble (reply to Question 57) for details of shared/pooled spectrum approach.
How can the spectrum required for Telecommunication purposes and currently available with the Government agencies be re-farmed?
(a) By rationalizing usage, as advocated in the preamble for commercial operators, by pooling spectrum for common use where possible.
(b) By inducting equipment that allows more efficient usage and usage of other bands.
In view of the policy of technology and service neutrality licences, should any restriction be placed on these bands (800,900 and 1800 MHz) for providing a specific service and secondly, after the expiry of present licences, how will the spectrum in the 800/900 MHz band be assigned to the operators?
(a) Please see suggestions on shared/pooled spectrum as above.
(b) In the event that common use of spectrum is infeasible/not accepted by the Government of India, and exclusive bands of spectrum are assigned to operators as is the practice now, work out ways to consolidate fragmented bands (other than through M&A) for operators, to enable operators to hold contiguous bands for greater efficiency, and explore shared use of pooled spectrum.
How and when should spectrum in 700 MHz band be allocated between competitive services?
Preferred method: for common use (can be pooled or shared even if assigned for exclusive use, immediately).
What is the impact of digital dividend on 3G and BWA?
Should extend its reach and access because of lower costs.

Chapter 2
Licensing Issues
Should the spectrum be delinked from the UAS Licence? Please provide the reasons for your response.
If spectrum is treated as a common resource, the logical requirement is for a linkage that is not dependent on ownership, but to access for service delivery, i.e., common access.
In case it is decided not to delink spectrum from UAS license, then should there be a limit on minimum and maximum number of access service providers in a service area? If yes, what should be the number of operators?
Follow global practice: do not exceed five operators in any service area unless there are compelling reasons to do so.
What should be the considerations to determine maximum spectrum per entity?
Minimum contiguous band for effective rollout and efficient delivery, i.e., inexpensive capital outlay for equipment and towers/network while maintaining Quality of Service.
Is there a need to put a limit on the maximum spectrum one licensee can hold? If yes, then what should be the limit? Should operators having more than the maximum limit, if determined, be assigned any more spectrum?
This depends on the overall approach to spectrum management, i.e., common use, or exclusive use. The logic for a limit is effective delivery capability at ‘normal’ cost. There is no logic for assigning more than this. However, if spectrum is for common/shared use, the only criterion is throughput/capacity.
If an existing licensee has more spectrum than the specified limit, then how should this spectrum be treated? Should such spectrum be taken back or should it be subjected to higher charging regime?
As in No. 10. If common/shared spectrum use is adopted, there needs to be a transition worked out, as in the transition to revenue sharing.
In the event fresh licences are to be granted, what should be the Entry fee for the license?
The principles followed should be:
(a) Low license fees to minimize access costs.
(b) Provided licenses are delinked from spectrum and few in number, there need to be strict rollout requirements.
(c) Incentives for broadband and rural coverage in the form of a structured Administrative Incentive Pricing mechanism.
(d) Penalties for failure.
In case it is decided that the spectrum is to be delinked from the license then what should be the entry fee for such a Licence and should there be any roll out condition?
As in No. 12.
Is there a need to do spectrum audit? If it is found in the audit that an operator is not using the spectrum efficiently what is the suggested course of action? Can penalties be imposed?
(a) Operating attributes should be monitored online on a continuous basis.
(b) Spectrum use probably needs to be monitored as an operating attribute.
(c) Penalties and incentives are needed, including forfeiture for continued transgression.
Can spectrum be assigned based on metro, urban and rural areas separately? If yes, what issues do you foresee in this method?
This needs to be considered only if common/pooled usage is decided against. With common use or sufficiently large blocks/bands of spectrum, no problems are likely to arise.
Since the amount of spectrum and the investment required for its utilisation in metro and large cities is higher than in rural areas, can asymmetric pricing of telecom services be a feasible proposition?
Yes.

M&A issues
If the common/shared use approach is adopted, M&A can be under existing laws and regulations.
Whether the existing licence conditions and guidelines related to M&A restrict consolidation in the telecom sector? If yes, what should be the alternative framework for M&A in the telecom sector?
Whether lock-in clause in UASL agreement is a barrier to consolidation in telecom sector? If yes, what modifications may be considered in the clause to facilitate consolidation?
Whether market share in terms of subscriber base/AGR should continue to regulate M&A activity in addition to the restriction on spectrum holding?
Whether there should be a transfer charge on spectrum upon merger and acquisition? If yes, whether such charges should be same in case of M&A/transfer/sharing of spectrum?
Whether the transfer charges should be one-time only for first such M&A or should they be levied each time an M&A takes place?
Whether transfer charges should be levied on the lesser or higher of the 2G spectrum holdings of the merging entities?
Whether the spectrum held consequent upon M&A be subjected to a maximum limit?

Spectrum Trading
Is spectrum trading required to encourage spectrum consolidation and improve spectrum utilization efficiency?

At present, trading is required to allow consolidation. However, if a comprehensive approach is taken to spectrum use, and especially if common use through common access is established, this set of problems will no longer exist after a transition period. Nor will there be any shortage of spectrum.
Who all should be permitted to trade the spectrum ?
As in No. 24.
Should the original allottee who has failed to fulfill “Roll out obligations” be allowed to do spectrum trading?
There should be penalties and forfeiture for failure to meet rollout obligations, and clawbacks as an interim measure during the transition.
Should transfer charges be levied in case of spectrum trading?
What should be the parameters and methodology to determine first time spectrum transfer charges payable to Government for trading of the spectrum? How should these charges be determined year after year?
Should such capping be limited to 2G spectrum only or consider other bands of spectrum also? Give your suggestions with justification.

This question assumes there is a difference in “2G spectrum” and other spectrum, which is incorrect. The difference is in equipment that has evolved in different phases along different bands. Spectrum should be treated as technology-neutral for the purposes of service delivery. Any service should be deliverable on any band, subject to interference limitations.
Should size of minimum tradable block of spectrum be defined or left to the market forces?
Should the cost of spectrum trading be more than the spectrum assignment cost?

Spectrum sharing

These questions are addressed in the preamble in the cover note.
Should Spectrum sharing be allowed? If yes, what should be the regulatory framework for allowing spectrum sharing among the service providers?
What should be criteria to permit spectrum sharing?
Should spectrum sharing charges be regulated? If yes then what parameters should be considered to derive spectrum sharing charges? Should such charges be prescribed per MHz or for total allocated spectrum to the entity in LSA?
Should there be any preconditions that rollout obligation be fulfilled by one or both service provider before allowing the sharing of spectrum?
In case of spectrum sharing, who will have the rollout obligations? Giver or receiver?

Perpetuity of licences
Should there be a time limit on licence or should it be perpetual?
What should be the validity period of assigned spectrum in case it is delinked from the licence? 20 years, as it exists, or any other period
What should be the validity period of spectrum if spectrum is allocated for a different technology under the same license midway during the life of the license?
If the spectrum assignment is for a defined period, then for what period and at what price should the extension of assigned spectrum be done?
If the spectrum assignment is for a defined period, then after the expiry of the period should the same holder/licensee be given the first priority?

Uniform License Fee
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a uniform license fee?
Whether there should be a uniform License Fee across all telecom licenses and service areas including services covered under registrations?
If introduced, what should be the rate of uniform License Fee?

License fees should be treated as part of the overall scheme of Administered Incentive Pricing.

Chapter 3
Spectrum assignment
If the initial spectrum is de-linked from the licence, then what should be the method for subsequent assignment?
Please see comments on common/shared use in the preamble in the cover note.
If the initial spectrum continues to be linked with licence then is there any need to change from SLC based assignment?
The SLC basis for spectrum assignment gives rise to many distortions and is not in line with international practices.
In case a two-tier mechanism is adopted, then what should be the alternate method and the threshold beyond which it will be implemented?
Should the spectrum be assigned in tranches of 1 MHz for GSM technology? What is the optimum tranche for assignment?
In case a market based mechanism (i.e. auction) is decided to be adopted, would there be the issue of level playing field amongst licensees who have different amount of spectrum holding? How should this be addressed?
In case continuation of SLC criteria is considered appropriate then, what should be the subscriber numbers for assignment of additional spectrum?
In your opinion, what should be the method of assigning spectrum in bands other than 800, 900 and 1800 MHz for use other than commercial?

Spectrum pricing
Should the service providers having spectrum above the committed threshold be charged a one time charge for the additional spectrum?
In case it is decided to levy one time charge beyond a certain amount then what in your opinion should be the date from which the charge should be calculated and why?
On what basis, this upfront charge be decided? Should it be benchmarked to the auction price of 3G spectrum or some other benchmark?
Should the annual spectrum charges be uniform irrespective of quantum of spectrum and technology?
Should there be regular review of spectrum charges? If so, at what interval and what should be the methodology?

Structure for spectrum management
What in your opinion is the desired structure for efficient management of spectrum?

Please see the preamble in the cover note.

Shyam Ponappa
Centre for Internet & Society
cis-india.org

November 12, 2009

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/response-to-trai-consultation-paper

Reading options for persons with print disabilities

radha — 2011-08-02T01:35:28Z

An article by Mr.Dipendra Manocha (Regional co-ordinator for developing countries of the Daisy Consortium and president DFI) on the reading options which are available for the blind.

Most of the publications reach us in form of printed books. There are many people who cannot read these due to various reasons such as: persons with blindness or low vision, persons with dyslexia, Persons who cannot use both their hands to hold the book, People who cannot read due to illiteracy, etc. The printed text need to be converted into different format to enable such persons to acquire the knowledge hidden in these books. These formats are:

Braille: A tactile script used world over by persons with blindness.
Talking Books: Books recorded in Human Voice or computer voice distributed on Audio Cassettes or CDs.
e-text books which are in form of computer document which can be read on a computer or on special portable players
Large print books which are useful for persons with low vision.

The digital technology provide multiple ways of producing or reading books in the above mentioned formats. This creates confusion in the minds of end users and leaders of organizations serving persons with blindness or low vision. Below are some options which will try to provide some clarity in these matters.

In the digital world, it is possible that when you get a book in one format, you could convert it into another format. For example, we could get a talking book on a CD. This talking book could also be downloaded from the internet. How ever, it would take a long time to download this book in the audio recorded format. The alternative is that the same book could be downloaded in the e-text format and the reading device would convert text into audio at the time of reading the book itself. Thus, for a user it would make no difference between an audio book recorded in computer voice or a book which is being read by the device from the e-text version of the book. Difference between the time required to download the audio recorded book and the e-text book which is read by the special e-text reading device would be a lot. To provide clarity in the confusing world of Digital information systems, DAISY is trying to bring in some clarity. DAISY means Digital Accessible Information system. It deals with all the formats of accessible books including Braille, Talking Book, E-text books and large print books. There are various organizations which provide books to read in accessible format. Below are some such services. Which services would be useful to you will depend on what kind of reading device do you have with you. Thus, I am going to classify these services and reading options on some devices. Categories of reading devices are:

Computer
Mobile phone
DAISY Book Reader with TTS
DAISY Book Reader without TTS
CD player
Audio Cassette player
nothing

1. Reading Options for People who have computer with screen reading software:

Scan your book: Attach a scanner to your computer and you can start reading any printed book in English medium. This option is not available in any Indian language.
The Bookshare India Project: Bookshare.org is a online library for persons with print disabilities. Members of this library can download a book and read them on the computer. A special software is provided to all members of the library for reading their books. The books are in DAISY Text only format and provide navigation facility while reading the book. Current collection is in English but soon Indian language books are going to be introduced in this library. There is a collection of about 7000 books in this library and the collection is growing extremely fast here. Persons with print disability can become members of this library by paying annual membership fee of Rs. 400.
Web sites with e-text book collections: There are several web sites from where text of the books can be downloaded. You can read these books using the screen reading software. There are several web sites such as the web site of Project Gutenburg, Universal Digital Library etc. which provide thousands of books which can be downloaded. Most of these books are those which are out of copy right restrictions. How ever, online books resources such as Readable.in does provide copy righted books free of cost to persons with print disabilities. There are some subscription based databases of books and research articles. Universities provide access to such collections free of cost to their students and faculty members free of cost. J-Store and Ebrary are two such examples. There are no such online resources for books in Indian languages which are accessible to a screen reader user. National Institute for Visually Handicapped is planning to change this by introducing an online Braille library for Indian language books required by University Students.
Talking Book and Braille Book Libraries part of DAISY Forum of India: This is one resource which would provide books in Indian languages. 72 organisations from all round the country are part of DAISY Forum of India. These organizations provide talking books, Braille books or e-text books to persons with blindness or low vision. Any user can become a member of one of these 72 organisations and get access to all the books produced by any of the 72 organisations. One user need to become member of only one organization in this network. Your library can get a book for you from any other library of DAISY Forum of India.
The RSS Feed: This is an excellent way of reading news papers, magazines and text which is provided from time to time. A RSS Feed software provides an extremely convenient way of displaying list of articles from a news paper or a magazine such as frontline etc. If you have a screen reader in Indian language, you can read Indian language materials using this system.
Text packages for encyclopedia, dictionary telephone directories etc: There are several software packages sold on a CD which have collection of content. All these CD packages are not readable with screen reading software due to bad design of their user interface. How ever, lot of these are accessible and provide an excellent resource of reading materials.
Braille Books: All books that are described above can be read in Braille if a refreshable Braille display is attached to a computer. If you do not have access to this expensive device, then also you can get the computer text printed into Braille using computerized Braille embossers and many organisations provide such Braille printing facilities.

2. Mobile Phones
There is a category of mobile phones on which screen reading software and the DAISY player can be installed. These mobile phones are capable of not just a medium of audio and text communication, but also are personal organizers. Adding Screen reading software to them into book reader and these phones provide access to internet and e-mails. The DAISY Book Reader software of the phone turns this phone into a Audio and Text book reader. This phone is a mini computer and is extremely portable. All the materials that are available on the computer using any of the above mentioned resources can be transferred on to the mobile phone as text files or in form of DAISY digital talking books for reading.

3. DAISY Book reader with TTS
These are devices designed specially for persons with blindness or low vision. These are capable of playing audio books and also read computer files using text to speech software. These are very easy to use. All books available on the computers or from the talking book and e-text libraries can be transferred on this device for reading. These devices are very portable and can fit in the pocket.
4. DAISY Players without TTS
These are similar to the DAISY Players with TTS but do not capability to read text files in computer voice. All digital talking books available from talking book libraries can be transferred on these devices for reading. Text files can be converted into digital talking books using computer voice before transferring them to these players. In this way even the text files gathered on computer using any of off line and online resources can be read on these players also.
5. CD Players:
CD players are available at a very low cost. These CD players can provide access to Digital talking books recorded as DAISY Books or as MP3 talking books. These players are designed for listening to music. There fore these players lack some of the features required for reading books such as navigating to pages or next or previous sentences etc. In these players even the DAISY Books are played as MP3 books. You will not be able to resume the book from where you last left reading it.
6. Audio Cassette Player
This would give access only to talking books available from talking book libraries on audio cassettes. Text files and computer voice recorded books produced as talking books from text files cannot be copied on audio cassettes. Thus, only those books which have been produced on audio cassettes only can be made available in this format. These cannot be transformed into any other format such as Braille etc. These cannot be transferred to other reading devices also.
7. Nothing:
Braille books printed on hard copy paper do not need any device. How ever, printing of Braille books is very expensive and heavy subsidy is required to produce Braille books. There fore, nothing beyond basic text books are being produced in Braille book format.

Conclusion:
By far, computer is the most versatile reading device as it provides access to content which is produced for every one and content need not be converted into a specialized format to read it. Besides being a reading device, computer is also a writing device which is a huge advantage over any other reading options. Computers themselves are becoming portable. How ever, a combination of a portable device such as a Mobile phone or a DAISY Book reader along with a computer provides best reading options. Refreshable Braille devices can be provided at the institutional level and text books could also be provided in paper Braille format. There cannot be any comparison between the amount of books that can be made available on computers or mobile phones or the DAISY reading devices than on special format such as Braille. Millions of books and publications become accessible to persons with blindness if hey have access to a computer. Where as, on an average only about 5 to 10 braille books can be made available to a person with blindness or low vision.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/reading-options-for-persons-with-print-disabilities

Reading For All

radha — 2011-04-02T14:26:41Z

Right To Read campaign has begun in India to voice the needs of the disabled to gain access to books - an article by Lubna Salim in Kolkata Mirror - Saturday, November 14, 2009

This year marks the beginning of the countrywide Right to Read campaign. As part of this campaign there will be road shows in the four metros and then these will be held in the different cities. Actors Nandita Das and Amir Khan and veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai are supporting the campaign.

The events of the campaign will include presentations, debates as well as demonstrations. There will be book reading sessions along with stalls whereby different accessibility tools shall be demonstrated. After the success of the first road show of this campaign in Loyola College, Chennai, the second one road was held in Kolkata. The venue for the Kolkata chapter of the Right To Read campaign was NUJS.

“As a visually impaired person I can identify with the goals of the campaign. I have suffered a lot having no access to books and other reading materials. Lack of access tends to make you so dependent on others,” says Moiz Tundawala, 5th year law student, NUJS.

Innumerable Indians are not able to read various printed materials due to their disabilities. Today there are technologies which can help such people to read print, once the materials are converted into alternate formats. These formats could be big print, audio and Braille or any sort of electronic format.

“Just try imagining life without books, without anything to read! Making reading materials available in accessible formats may go a long way in improving the life conditions of the print disabled and also help to make our society more accommodative, more inclusive. It is unfair to deprive some people of such a basic entitlement for no fault of theirs,” adds Moiz.

Our Indian Constitution guarantees its citizens “Right to read” as one fundamental right. But the copyright system does not allow us to convert books into accessible formats for the advantage of people who have print impairment. This leads to the creation of a “book famine”.

The international conventions to which India happens to be a party require it to revise its copyright laws. This will enable persons with the disabilities to avail of information plus material on the same basis as they are available to the others.

Moiz says, “People must endorse this campaign because it will give some people who have to struggle everyday for print access some hope that there are others who understand their concerns and think the same way as they do.”

Link to the original article

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/reading-for-all

Reading a closed book

radha — 2011-04-02T14:50:00Z

With the right combination of privacy tweaks and a little prudence, you can maintain privacy online - an article in Livemint by Krish Raghav (29th September, 2009)

Perhaps, no other word has undergone as much shape-shifting in the last few years as “privacy”. The concept, especially with the mainstreaming of social networking sites such as Facebook and Orkut, has metamorphosed into a fuzzy mess, with borders increasingly blurry and confines increasingly limited.

The story of Anoushka Shankar’s Facebook stalker may make the Internet look like a dangerous place for the unprepared, but with the right amount of prudence, you can maintain your privacy without having to give up on your online vices. While Facebook has faced enormous criticism for its lax privacy policies in the past, it’s wisened up now and features a detailed master control panel of privacy features, and the right combination of toggles and switches can help you put the personal back in your personal life. Here are five simple ways to help you define privacy online:

Learn the Privacy Settings

Privacy Settings is the second menu option under “Settings” in the big blue bar on top of every Facebook page. An important first step is defining who gets to see your contact information. Not all “friends” on Facebook need to be privy to your telephone number, for example. Proceed to the “Info” tab on your profile and click “Edit” under Contact information. Each item in that list can be customized to be viewable only to specific people.

It’s also best to be careful with what you put up in this section. “Don’t upload material that contains hints to your passwords,” says Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bangalore-based non-profit civil society group, The Centre for Internet and Society. “Often, the answers to the secret question used to remind users of their password on sensitive online services can be determined by examining social networking content.” The name of your pet, birth date and names of schools are the usual secret questions and common information on profiles. “This is increasingly being targeted by hackers who use social engineering as their method of choice,” he says.

Organize your online social life

“Group your friends and fine-tune access-control over your social network content,” says Abraham. “Facebook allows you to granularly control who sees what. Configure this and then test your configuration before uploading sensitive content.”

Click on “Friends” on the top blue bar and select “Create new list” to begin organizing your friends. A useful distinction to start with is “Family” and “Friends”. While the latter might like to see photos of parties you attended last week, the former may not necessarily need to. It’s also important, says Abraham, to test your groupings to see if everything works. “Testing can be done by sitting with close friends who you can shift from group to group,” he says.

Be discreet

“Don’t upload material that might embarrass your future self: Text, images and video content that might be perfectly acceptable to your teen peers may not be acceptable to a future employer,” says Abraham. Rants against bosses or co-workers are highly unadvised and it’s best to stay away from anything inflammatory or potentially damaging. “Social networks have policies regarding data retention that change according to their commercial ambition and performance. Thus, in future, you may find it impossible to delete embarrassing content.”

Hide yourself from Google

To hide your profile from Google searches, go to “Privacy Settings”, click on “Search Privacy Settings” and deselect the box that says “create a public search listing for me and submit it for search engine indexing”. While that will hide your profile from showing up in search engines, the same can’t be said for content that you post there. “Don’t upload material that you would not want featured in mass media: Security compromises in social network services are usually systemic,” says Abraham. “Last year, 17GB of private photos were stolen from MySpace and were publicly available for download through torrent trackers such as Thepiratebay.org.”

Be careful of applications

Sure, Mafia Wars and FarmVille are great fun, but always read the fine print before using an application. Many are harmless, but some ask you for contact information and others that integrate external online services may make private information on these sites accessible. As an example, don’t give away your geographic location, warns Abraham. “If knowledge about your geographic location can be useful to business competitors, please be judicious when integrating services like Dopplr with your social network.” Dopplr is a site that allows travellers to plan itineraries and arrange meetings with people who might be at the same place at the same time.

Link to article in Livemint

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/reading-a-closed-book

Centre for Internet and Society

selvam-portrait.jpg

Sagie Chetty- Report

Sagie Chetty

Right to read for the print impaired and copyright challenges

Background to the event

The Present Event:

Agenda of the seminar on Right to Read and copy right challenges

Video

Right to Read Campaign, Chennai

Right to Read Campaign - An Overview

Fast Facts

Problem at hand

Current situation in India

Solution

Objectives of the Right to Read Campaign

Campaign Managers

Campaign activities

Launch of Right to Read Campaign

Signature Campaign

Rally

Declaration forms

Panel Discussion - ‘We the people’

Musical Extravaganza

Vote of Thanks

Acknowledgements

Videos

Right to Read Campaign - Kolkata

The Problem

The Campaign

The Programme

Media Coverage

Times of India - 7th Nov 2009

Photos

Right to Read Campaign - Kolkata

Right to Read Campaign - Kolkata

Right to Read campaign - Chennai (NDTV, Hindu)

Right to Read Campaign - Chennai

Right to Read

Response to TRAI Consultation paper No. 6/2009

TRAI Consultation paper No. 6/2009- October 16, 2009

"Overall Spectrum Management and review of license terms and conditions"

Status

Needs

Suggested Policy Goals/Objectives [based on needs]

Suggested Approach

Reading options for persons with print disabilities

Reading For All

Reading a closed book