Five years is a long time in the Internet space. The last five years, certainly, has been. And so has it been for the Centre for Internet and Society that completes five years here.
When a group of concerned citizens got together to come under a platform called CIS five years ago, they had wanted to work on policy issues about the Internet that had a bearing on society. They, in fact, still too; except that the new media space itself has undergone a metamorphosis. Five years ago social media was just starting off, few people had smartphones, and online speech was not a burning issue.
Sunil Abraham, Executive Director of city-based CIS, affirms this, and goes on to assert, “Five years ago privacy was not a mainstream concern. Today, many different actors and stakeholders are interested in the configuration of the draft Privacy Bill. We first warned the public about the draconian measures in the IT Act during the 2008 amendment. Four years later many more people are familiar with problematic sections and are adopting various strategies to amend the Act and it's associated rules.”
Likewise, five years ago people dismissed “shared spectrum” as a pipe dream; today “shared spectrum” is mentioned in the National Telecom Policy. CIS usually thinks ahead, and works on a range of issues.
One thing that hasn’t happened in the interregnum is the hoped-for penetration of the Internet. Abraham says, “For Internet adoption in India to grow dramatically from the dismal statistics today, we need to ensure continued access to cheap devices and affordable and ubiquitous broadband.
“With Ericsson suing Micromax for Rs 100 crore, the mobile wars have come to India. If we have to protect innovation in sub-100 dollar devices, we need to configure our patent and copyright policy carefully. Thanks to our enlightened IPR policies of the 1970s, we have become the pharmacy of the world. If we fix our IPR policies again today, we will become the electronics store of the world.”
Then there is the issue of broadband itself. Continues Abraham, “For ubiquitous broadband, we need to more away from the current 'command and control' model of the Internet. We need to stop thinking of spectrum as means of raising revenues for balancing the nation's deficit budget. Shared spectrum and licensed spectrum should be encouraged to reduce the costs of broadband. This is another area of policy that need urgent attention.”
But since CIS works primarily on policy issues, shouldn’t it have been based in Delhi rather than in Bangalore? Abraham offers the explanation, “We do have a small office in Delhi. But we are headquartered in Bangalore because we need to keep learning from technologists and the technical community. It is not possible to design regulation of technology if you don't have a deep understanding of technology.” CIS, in fact, allows many technical communities to use its office for their meetings. It also has a lab in its premises where hackers and techies congregate and collaborate. This is how CIS keeps on top of the latest developments in technology.
When an organisation calling itself the Centre for Internet and Society (www.cis-india.org) observes its fifth anniversary, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that many of the activities related to the anniversary celebrations (May 20-23) have precious little to do with the Internet, and is more about society itself. And yes, an entire evening is devoted to Kannada. There’s a talk by Chandrashekhara Kambara on ‘Kannada in the modern era,’ and another by UB Pavanaja titled ‘From Palm Leaf to Tablet – Journey of Kannada:’.
The events that have been slated are quite wide-ranging, and not quite restricted to the Internet. So, what was the thought process that went into planning these events? Abraham elaborates, “We are looking at the complete eco-system. For instance, during the digitisation of TV in India what will happen to the Internet? Do TV promoting policies undermine the growth of broadband? Interestingly, on the second day we look at the connection between another older technology - cinema and the Internet.”
