Blog posts
3,108 items.
31 Jan 2012
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Sense and CensorshipThe Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills, at the US House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, appear to enforce property rights, but are, in fact, trade bills. This article by Sunil Abraham was …
29 Jan 2012
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Technology for Accessibility in Higher EducationEducation for students with disabilities has long been a serious cause of concern in India, as also in other countries around the world. A person with a disability studying in mainstream educational institutions in India experiences many …
29 Jan 2012
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Our Internet and the LawNishant Shah was interviewed by the BBC Channel 5 (Radio) for its Outriders section. Jamillah Knowles reports this through this blog post published by BBC Radio on 24 January 2012.
28 Jan 2012
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Privacy Matters — Analyzing the Right to "Privacy Bill"On January 21, 2012 a public conference “Privacy Matters” was held at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. It was the sixth conference organised in the series of regional consultations held as “Privacy Matters”. The present …
26 Jan 2012
25 Jan 2012
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How India Makes E-books Easier to Ban than Books (And How We Can Change That)Without getting into questions of what should and should not be unlawful speech, Pranesh Prakash chooses to take a look at how Indian law promotes arbitrary removal and blocking of websites, website content, and online services, and how it …
23 Jan 2012
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The Quixotic Fight to Clean up the WebThe ongoing attempt to pre-screen online content won’t change anything. It will only drive netizens into the arms of criminals, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published in Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 04, Dated 28 Jan 2012.
16 Jan 2012
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Keeping it PrivateAs we disclose more information online, we must ask who might access it and why. This article by Nishant Shah was published in the Indian Express on Sunday, 15 January 2012.
16 Jan 2012
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Design!PubliC — Innovation and the Public InterestOn the 14th of October, 2011, the Center for Knowledge Societies organized the second edition of the Design Public Conclave, a conversation on how innovation can serve the Public Interest. The conclave was held at the lovely premises of the …
15 Jan 2012
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Future of Integrated Science Education in Higher Education in IndiaThe Higher Education Innovation and Research Application (HEIRA) at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS) and the Centre for Contemporary Studies (CCS) at the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) hosted a two day workshop on …
10 Jan 2012
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Mobile technologies and enlightened service packages help persons with disabilities connect to new opportunitiesInnovative approaches from mobile hardware and applications developers as well as operators are helping connect the estimated 15% of the global population that lives with some form of disability to the power of information and communication …
9 Jan 2012
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Reversing India's Downward TrajectoryThe country can regain growth momentum with rate cuts and telecom reforms, writes Shyam Ponappa in this column published in the Business Standard on 5 January 2012.
8 Jan 2012
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Report on the 'Open Access to Academic Knowledge' workshopOn Wednesday the 2nd of November, during Open Access Week, the Indian Institute of Science in conjunction with the Centre for Internet and Society held a workshop on Open Access at the National Centre for Science Information, in Bangalore.
3 Jan 2012
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Click to ChangeFrom organising political protests and flash mobs to uploading their versions of Kolaveri Di, people brought about change with the help of the internet, writes Nishant Shah in this article published in the Indian Express on 1 January 2012.
2 Jan 2012
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Inputs for NTP 2011The Centre for Internet and Society wishes to commend the DoT on the draft of the New Telecom Policy and offers its suggestions to improve the draft with specific changes.
31 Dec 2011
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The Historian Wins Over the BiographerIn Walter Isaacson's eponymous biography of Steve Jobs, the multibillion dollar man who is credited with single handedly changing the face of computing and the digital media industry, we face the dilemma of a biographer: how do you make …
28 Dec 2011
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Of Surrogate Futures and Scattered TemporalitiesThere can be no refuting Michael Edwards’ claim that the world we live in is not only thick with problems, but that the problems that we are collectively trying to address are ‘thick...complex, politicized and unpredictable...complicated …
27 Dec 2011
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Universal Service for Persons with Disabilities: A Global Survey of Policy Interventions and Good PracticesThe Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies and the Centre for Internet and Societies in cooperation with the Hans Foundation have published the Universal Service for Persons with Disabilities: A Global …
26 Dec 2011
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US Clampdown Worse than the Great FirewallIf you thought China’s Internet censorship was evil, think again. American moves to clean up the Web could hurt global surfers, writes Sunil Abraham in this article published in Tehelka, Volume 8, Issue 50, 17 December 2011.
26 Dec 2011
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Exposing Data: Art Slash ActivismTactical Tech and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) organised a public discussion on the intersection of Art and Activism at the CIS office in Bangalore on 28 November 2011. Videos of the event are now online. Ward Smith (Lecturer, …
24 Dec 2011
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Now Streaming on Your Nearest ScreenDigital cinema, especially the kinds produced using mobile devices and travelling on Internet social networking systems like YouTube and MySpace, are often dismissed as apolitical and ‘merely’ a fad. Moreover, content in the non-English …
24 Dec 2011
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Accessibility in the New Telecom Policy 2011Responding to the call for comments on NTP 2011, 27 organisations sent a joint letter requesting that accessibility for persons with disabilities be included specifically within the goals and objectives of the policy. The submission is …
23 Dec 2011
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The Digital Classroom: Social Justice and PedagogyWhat happens when we look at the classroom as a space of social justice? What are the ways in which students can be engaged in learning beyond rote memorisation? What innovative methods can be evolved to make students stakeholders in their …
23 Dec 2011
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Internet and Society in Asia: Challenges and Next StepsThe ubiquitous presence of internet technologies, in our age of digital revolution, has demanded the attention of various disciplines of study and movements for change around the globe. As more of our environment gets connected to the …
22 Dec 2011
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Spy in the WebThe government’s proposed pre-censorship rules undermine the intelligence of an online user and endanger democracy.
15 Dec 2011
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The Digital OtherBased on my research on young people in the Global South, I want to explore new ways of thinking about the Digital Native. One of the binaries posited as the Digital ‘Other’ -- ie, a non-Digital Native -- is that of a Digital Immigrant or …
15 Dec 2011
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Invisible Censorship: How the Government Censors Without Being SeenThe Indian government wants to censor the Internet without being seen to be censoring the Internet. This article by Pranesh Prakash shows how the government has been able to achieve this through the Information Technology Act and the …
12 Dec 2011
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That’s the unkindest cut, Mr SibalThere’s Kolaveri-di on the Internet over Kapil Sibal’s diktat to social media sites to prescreen users’ posts. That diktat goes far beyond the restrictions placed on our freedom of expression by the IT Act. But, says Sunil Abraham of the …
8 Dec 2011
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Press Coverage of Online Censorship RowWe are maintaining a rolling blog with press references to the row created by the proposal by the Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology to pre-screen user-generated Internet content.
7 Dec 2011
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The Business Case for Web AccessibilityNASSCOM Foundation has published a handbook on web accessibility titled "Understanding WebAccessibility — A Guide to create Accessible Work Environments". Nirmita Narasimhan authored a chapter "The Business Case for Web Accessibility".