Heard lots of news of Government of India planning to "regulate" blogs and user generated content. http://www.medianama.com/2011/02/223-indias-draft-blogger-guidelines/
It will interesting to read this in the light of Wikipedia also works on user generated content. "Objectionable content" ? Anything like PoK, Indian maps, Indo-Pak wars should easily fall into this for the government.
Thoughts?
Regards Tinu Cherian
On 8 March 2011 15:15, CherianTinu Abraham tinucherian@gmail.com wrote:
"Objectionable content" ? Anything like PoK, Indian maps, Indo-Pak wars should easily fall into this for the government.
It's something that I worry about Tinu - it's incredibly broad.
Pranesh's comments are well worth reading.
http://www.cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/intermediary-due-diligence
Best,
Gautam
A few additional data points:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/bloggers-call-content-regu...
And CIS's RTI on the ban last week: http://www.cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/rtis-on-website-blocking
A question: Should/could we as a community have an opinion on this?
Thank you.
Best,
Gautam ________ http://social.prathambooks.org/
I view any attempts at this kind of action by government in the name of regulation as an attack on democracy and vote to fight it.
Let us not assume the Government is free from defects - far from it, in recent times they seem to be the ones riddled with the most. I would advise that the community take an absolutely clear stand that they oppose it in this matter. I do not think this matter is something where neutrality is an option - it would be akin to being neutral about pollution.
Let us remember that regulation in the name of patriotism / nanny-like defending of the population is exactly what successive repressive regimes in human history started out with. The path to hell is paved with good intentions. Let us not make the fatal mistake of blindly trusting any authority or assuming any hubris that India is not susceptible to falling to tyranny. And it's not like we'd be alone in taking a stand against government policy - we will have the company of each and every human rights organization and NGO and the press and every concerned netizen in the country, not to mention all of the same from all around the world. There really is nothing to fear here but fear itself.
Wikipedia's existence in itself is a proof that it pays to not give in to any authority. It has actually helped bring about social change at many places, please watch this TED Talk for the corelation: http://www.ted.com/talks/wael_ghonim_inside_the_egyptian_revolution.html
Cheers, Nikhil Sheth +91-966-583-1250 Pune, India Teach For India http://www.teachforindia.org/ Fellow, 2011-13 www.nikhilsheth.tk Find me on: Twitter http://twitter.com/nikhiljs | Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/nikjs| LinkedIn http://in.linkedin.com/in/nikhiljs | Google http://www.google.com/profiles/nikhil.js| RangDehttp://www.rangde.org/investor/nikhilsheth Join me on: Pune Documentary Clubhttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=138497769525636| Let's Do it Pune http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-do-it-Pune/103857326346659 | Toastmasters in Punehttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Toastmasters-in-Pune/148767611833746| Wikipedia For Schools projecthttp://education.wikia.com/wiki/Wikipedia_For_Schools_Offline_Edition
On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 12:50 PM, Gautam John gautam@prathambooks.orgwrote:
A few additional data points:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/bloggers-call-content-regu...
And CIS's RTI on the ban last week: http://www.cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/rtis-on-website-blocking
A question: Should/could we as a community have an opinion on this?
Thank you.
Best,
Gautam ________ http://social.prathambooks.org/
Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Thank you, Nikhil.
Maybe we could all individually send our comments?
Sadly, the date is past but no harm done trying. http://www.mit.gov.in/content/cyber-laws
Best,
Gautam ________ http://social.prathambooks.org/
On 11 March 2011 07:50, Nikhil Sheth nikhil.js@gmail.com wrote:
I view any attempts at this kind of action by government in the name of regulation as an attack on democracy and vote to fight it.
Let us not assume the Government is free from defects - far from it, in recent times they seem to be the ones riddled with the most. I would advise that the community take an absolutely clear stand that they oppose it in this matter. I do not think this matter is something where neutrality is an option - it would be akin to being neutral about pollution.
Let us remember that regulation in the name of patriotism / nanny-like defending of the population is exactly what successive repressive regimes in human history started out with. The path to hell is paved with good intentions. Let us not make the fatal mistake of blindly trusting any authority or assuming any hubris that India is not susceptible to falling to tyranny. And it's not like we'd be alone in taking a stand against government policy - we will have the company of each and every human rights organization and NGO and the press and every concerned netizen in the country, not to mention all of the same from all around the world. There really is nothing to fear here but fear itself.
Wikipedia's existence in itself is a proof that it pays to not give in to any authority. It has actually helped bring about social change at many places, please watch this TED Talk for the corelation: http://www.ted.com/talks/wael_ghonim_inside_the_egyptian_revolution.html
Cheers, Nikhil Sheth +91-966-583-1250 Pune, India Teach For India Fellow, 2011-13 www.nikhilsheth.tk Find me on: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google | RangDe Join me on: Pune Documentary Club | Let's Do it Pune | Toastmasters in Pune | Wikipedia For Schools project
On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 12:50 PM, Gautam John gautam@prathambooks.org wrote:
A few additional data points:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/bloggers-call-content-regu...
And CIS's RTI on the ban last week: http://www.cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/rtis-on-website-blocking
A question: Should/could we as a community have an opinion on this?
Thank you.
Best,
Gautam ________ http://social.prathambooks.org/
Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
This is such a shame. And once again, the government's favorite line makes an appearance in the draft:
*3.2 (j) threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or or public order or causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any other nation. * * * I was left wondering what happens if the passing of this bill causes large scale public unrest leading to people comitting cognisable offenses?* *
@Arun, in that case the Indian Government itself will be guilty of threatening the unity, integrity, etc etc of the nation by terrorizing its citizens! Let's remember that a Government is not a Nation, we must take care to see where our ultimate loyalties lie and not confuse the two.
By the way, modern globalized trade esp the global stock markets and fuel prices seems to threaten all these factors on a daily basis, wonder if they'd dare to face the traders' lobby over it ;)
I've seen a very interesting documentary on the subject of modern communication technology making the old ways of government and top-down control irrelevant , recommend to everyone interested in this subject and its potential to change our lives, to watch this documentary (also released under creative commons) : Us Now, http://www.usnowfilm.com/
Cheers Nikhil
On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 3:17 PM, Arun Ganesh arun.planemad@gmail.comwrote:
This is such a shame. And once again, the government's favorite line makes an appearance in the draft:
*3.2 (j) threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or or public order or causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any other nation.
I was left wondering what happens if the passing of this bill causes large scale public unrest leading to people comitting cognisable offenses?*
-- j.mp/ArunGanesh
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