Programme
Internet Governance
Privacy, free speech, surveillance, digital identity and cybersecurity. 3,058 items.
6 Feb 2012
Blog post
Digital Futures: Internet Freedom and MillennialsLast year was a turbulent year for freedom of speech and online expression in India. Early in 2011 we saw the introduction of an Intermediaries Liability amendment to the existing Information Technologies Law in the country, which allowed …
3 Feb 2012
Blog post
Do we need the Aadhar scheme?"Decentralisation and privacy are preconditions for security. Digital signatures don’t require centralised storage and are much more resilient in terms of security", Sunil Abraham in the Business Standard on 1 February 2012.
31 Jan 2012
Blog post
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
Blog post
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
Blog post
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
Blog post
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
Blog post
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
Blog post
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.
15 Jan 2012
Blog post
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 …
3 Jan 2012
Blog post
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.
31 Dec 2011
Blog post
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
Blog post
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 …
26 Dec 2011
Blog post
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
Blog post
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
Blog post
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 …
23 Dec 2011
Blog post
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
Blog post
Spy in the WebThe government’s proposed pre-censorship rules undermine the intelligence of an online user and endanger democracy.
15 Dec 2011
Blog post
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
Blog post
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
Blog post
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
Blog post
Online Pre-Censorship is Harmful and ImpracticalThe Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Kapil Sibal wants Internet intermediaries to pre-censor content uploaded by their users. Pranesh Prakash takes issue with this and explains why this is a problem, even if …
2 Dec 2011
Blog post
An Interview with Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, CanadaElonnai Hickok interviewed Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, Canada. The full interview is reproduced below.
1 Dec 2011
Blog post
What is Dilligaf?On the web, time moves at the speed of thought: Groups emerge, proliferate and are abandoned as new trends and fads take precedence. Nowhere else is this dramatic flux as apparent as in the language that evolves online. While SMS lingo – …
17 Nov 2011
Blog post
The 2nd IJLT-CIS Lecture Series — A Post-event ReportThe Indian Journal of Law and Technology (IJLT) and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), organised the 2nd IJLT-CIS Lecture Series on the 21st and 22nd of May 2011 at the National Law School of India University, Nagarbhavi, Bangalore. …
13 Nov 2011
Blog post
CIS Comments on Finance Committee Statements to Open Letters on Unique IdentityWe from the Centre for Internet and Society had sent six open letters to the Parliamentary Finance Committee on the UID. The Committee responded through an email on 12 October 2011. Our response to the points raised is reproduced below.
9 Nov 2011
Blog post
TRAI urged to take action against P2P throttling and DNS hijackingOn 4 November 2010, Anand had sent a complaint letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regarding unethical practices adopted by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), particularly Airtel. The letter was sent by post and …
9 Nov 2011
Blog post
Sources of CIS FundingCIS's donors' names and the amount of the grants they've provided are being published in an effort to be absolutely transparent and to make it clear that our donors do not dictate the policy and research positions we espouse.
9 Nov 2011
Blog post
Comments on the National Policy of Information TechnologyThe NPIT 2011 has the laudable goal of making India a ‘knowledge economy with a global role’ by developing and deploying ICT solutions in all sectors to foster development within India and at a global level. The policy identifies several …
4 Nov 2011
Blog post
Once Upon A FlashIt was a dark and stormy evening. A young man in a dark blue Adidas jacket, collar turned up, eyes under green-black shades, hopped off a motorbike, tucked his thumbs into the front pockets of his low-slung retro jeans and surreptitiously …