FoE: 2011 to 2012 and whats happening in India, April ‘12

Its been a little more than a year since the seeds of democracy began pushing out of the dirt and protests bloomed across the world, in what we called the Arab Spring. The Protestor was the Person of the Year, in 2011. The internet established itself as a force to be reckoned with.

It is more than a coincidence then, that 2012 is rapidly snowballing into the year of Containment. ACTA, SOPA, PIPA, CISPA are working over-time to draw in the nets of freedom of expression (FoE). Governments everywhere, seem to be responding to 2011’s vocalization of dissent, with a gag order on free expression. Look how far we have come from last year's clenched fists to this years cowering.

By April, we have already seen Wikipedia register its protest with a blackout of its English services. Apart from the drop in academic productivity on that day, Wikipedia's symbolism was deep- can we imagine a world without free information. Would we like to?

In India

India saw a peculiar protest in 2011. Anna Hazare’s fast to protest corruption, was powered by web 2.0 but employed 1947 tactics. And it worked. By 2012, the Indian government is hitting back, much like its contemporaries around the world. The new rules they are pushing are not very dissimilar in intention from its global relatives. They introduced the Information Technology Rules 2011.

A few years ago, several things flew under the radar, but come 26/11 and India stepped up its surveillance in many ways. The internet’s formlessness began to be institutionalized. Cartoons Against Corruption whose head rolled as a result, is one such example. The website was suspended. This kind of banning can happen as easily as ordering a burger and fries if the IT Rules come to pass.

On April 11, 2011, the Government notified the new Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 prescribing various guiding principles to be observed by all internet related companies. Government has enacted laws that gives it a free pass to censor our Facebook posts, listen to every Skype conversation we have, monitor our tweets or blogs or access private photographs and documents we store online, or track our location using our mobile phones or survey all of your online activity. [Friends Of Internet]

There are a range of reasons why the IT Rules are extremely problematic. Anyone can file a complaint with an intermediary, such as Facebook, Google or Yahoo!, about content they find, among other things “disparaging”, “grossly harmful”, “hateful” or “ethnically, racially objectionable”. The company has to act on the complaint within 36 hours. The initial poster of the content need not be informed about the complaint or the fact that his or her content has been taken down. And an appeals procedure is not provided. Why is all of this problematic? For one thing, terms such as “disparaging”, “grossly harmful”, “hateful” or “ethnically, racially objectionable” are extremely vague and in many cases not part of Indian jurisprudence. It’s thus difficult to decide when they apply to a particular tweet, YouTube video or Facebook status update. It could also well be argued that these terms entail restrictions on freedom of expression that go well beyond what the Indian constitution allows for. In that sense, they have the potential to significantly harm the right to freedom of expression of India’s one billion plus citizens. Moreover, when a complaint is filed on the above grounds, it is not the Indian courts who will decide whether or not the complaint is legitimate: it is private companies such as Facebook, Google and Yahoo! who have to do so. And their first interest is not your right to free speech, but their profits. As a consequence, when these private actors need to take decisions such as these, it is likely that they will err on the side of caution, thus further aggravating the chilling effect on free speech these rules will have. Yet when someone believes their content has been taken down for the wrong reasons, the rules do not provide a mechanism for them to argue their case. The only recourse they have will be to go to court – a process that takes money, time and other resources, and thus for many people is an intimidating prospect. [Internet Democracy]

Its all going down this April
Parliament Session
The annulment motion is going to be discussed in Parliament on April 24, 2012. Before this happens, there are a few events happening around the country, aiming to get more information out, register dissent and pressure MPs.
Bangalore
The Centre for Internet and Society and the Foundation for Media Professionals is having a discussion on 'Resisting Internet Censorship: Strategies for Furthering Freedom of Expression in India,' today, April 21, 2012, 2pm to 6pm at the Bangalore International Centre, TERI Complex, Domlur Stage II.
Friends of the Internet is holding a protest at Town Hall today, from 5pm onwards.
Delhi
Delhi is protesting tomorrow, with 'Freedom in the Cage' at Jantar Mantar.
May 13, 2012 will see a rally at India Gate in Delhi, called the 'Disability Parade: ' लंगड़ा मार्च' (A March Against Web Censorship).'
Both the Delhi events are being organised by Aseem Trivedi, whose 'Cartoons Against Corruption' was taken down last year, and 'Save Your Voice.'
Hyderabad
Details awaited

Blocked

Blacked.

Travailing on Public Transport #2

Travailing on Public Transport #2

The Collected Harrowing Experiences of a F Passenger on Public Transport

I took a bus this evening, to get from the heart of the city to my home. I was thankful I got a seat- earlier today there were two men sitting in what seemed to be the ladies seat. I saw this woman get in and look at the men, and then look at the space above the windows where a sticker saying "Ladies seat" is usually put or painted, but there was none. And so she looked at the men again and resigned to standing. I had already done the same exercise before she got in. I even tried to see if there was a faded "Ladies seat" sign that I could perhaps trace with my finger and show the men, and tell them, "Please Sir, but I must sit."

As the bus began to fill up and people began to jostle me, my mind went to the last time I was doing the same trip- from the heart of the city to my home- and I wondered what I would do if the same thing happened again. Make a scene? I guess if it happened to me I would. If it happened to the person sitting close to me, like last time? Then I guess I probably won't. I mean.. its her issue. If she doesn’t want to make a scene, then I shouldn't do it for her.

A few weeks back I was sitting in the last seat on the left side of the bus, that is reserved for women. Its just before the middle door of the bus.

A whole bunch of men were foot-boarding. Their feet were on the door marked above, and a lot of their hands were grasping the window ledge of my seat. A Muslim lady was sitting next to me, by the window and I had the aisle seat. She wore a red jacket, complete with head scarf and full sleeves. One of the men who was foot boarding, had his face nearly in ours. I think he was a little drunk. He was talking loudly, shouting, obviously very excited at the prospect of breaking his skull. He addressed us and said, "Should I leave my hands?! Should I?" I looked at him and considered speaking to him, and then I did. "Aap gir saktha hai," I said. What an idiot, what a blooming idiot. Why would I say such a thing to him? Does he not know that? Doesn't everyone know that? Why would I give the impression that I really care?! Like "care" about him. But for that moment, I thought I had transgressed some class divide and broken some stereotype about grinning roadside-romeos and I sat happy. "Stupid idiots," said the lady sitting next to me. She was right- he began to ask me the same question over and over, "Should I leave my hands?" Then I ignored him.

A few stops down the road, he hopped off. He pinched her and disappeared. "Eyyy," she exclaimed and then said "Stupid idiot fool!" She shut the window. #WinningIdea.

She got off soon enough and another guy who was foot boarding slid the window open from the outside and then wedged his fingers in to open it further. I shut it definitively. For a moment I worried I had jammed his fingers.

Muslim Lady 2 then took the seat that Muslim Lady 1 had vacated. This lady was fully covered, no reds and lipsticks even, unlike #1. She wore a black burka and a full headscarf. I thought she looked familiar but she didn't seem to think the same about me. She opened the window. I wondered if I should tell her to close it.

But then I'd have to explain the whole story and I may not be able to. Besides, you and I both know that shutting windows is not really a "Winning Idea." So I let it be.

When she motioned for me to move so she could leave, I realised why she looked familiar. There is a lady I cross nearly every morning when I am rushing to catch the bus. She is a sweeper in my building and I think once someone told me she also cooks and I had considered trying her out. Our lines were crossed closer than she knew.

And then I was flooded with questions- Shouldn't I have told her to close the window? She is a sweeper in my building- I kind of know her… As if it changes anything.

*************

So this evening, as I wondered what I would do if a repeat incident occurs, I suddenly stopped my thoughts and told myself, "Stop being silly, can’t think like this all the time."

Then I began to eat my packet of chips and concentrate on other more important things- This flavour used to be called "Caribbean sweet something" and now its called "West Indies sweet something." Why did they change the name? To identify with the cricket fans or what?

Someone was playing Kolaveri Di on his mobile phone (It was coming from the depths of the sweaty masses of men). I wondered what it would be like if I began to sing Kolaveri Di.. "Wouldn't everyone smile? What if everyone began to sing it.. Like a flash mob! What a Pepsi/ Coke-ad moment! "What a transgression of cultural divides." This Kolaveri Di is really such an social equaliser… Hmm.. Should I blog about this song?"

And then it happened. I noticed some rapid movement in the seat across from me.

It was the last seat on the left side of the bus, that is reserved for women.

A girl in a blue sweater was sitting in the aisle seat, where I had been sitting a few weeks back. She was speaking to the girl next to her and had her arm around her. I couldn't see the other girl's face but her head was bent down. Blue Sweater told the Conductor, "You should have closed the door. Why do you leave the door open?" I tried to figure out what was going on and then I tapped her on the shoulder. "Some guy touched her. He was holding on to the window," she said. "Is she crying?" I actioned. "Yea," she mouthed. "Same thing happened to me few weeks back," I told her.

"That's why I was telling Conductor he should keep the door shut," she told me.

*************

Earlier this evening, I was at a book store. My friend stepped out for a minute and came back in to report, "This auto guy asked me if I want a chick." Apparently the pimp asked my friend first if he wanted an auto and then if he wanted "Ladies, Drinks or Disco."

How is the stereotype Men? How is it?

How does it work for you Men? You pinch a woman's shoulder or lean into her and that gives you a kick huh? "Kissed the girls and made them cry" huh George? Foot boarding and feeling up women, is all the same thrill for you?

Would you climax if we did this?

*************

Sometimes when I'm stuck in traffic, auto guys who are ahead of me will turn back and stare. Ok, let me contextualise this. If a man looks, its ok, its nothing bad. So if we were both stuck in traffic but going in opposite directions, and our eyes met, even lingered, its ok. But when we are both facing the ass of some truck in front of his, but he inconveniences his neck to look at me, and stare, that is not ok. So I feel like I should stare back, I can do this. But I can't and he wins. Sometimes I feel like I should probably give them the finger. But he is probably the kind of guy who won't know what it means. Or if he did, he would say, "Come on baby, how is the location?"

*************

Tomorrow when you meet me, you may feel like you need to talk about this and maybe other stories of your own. But don't because I will be like, "Whatever." I mean, a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

When Blue Sweater left, she turned back and said, "Take care." So I did. I clenched my fists… and put my knees together. Then I drew my bag closer to me and adjusted my dupatta.

I have walked home on that road a thousand times. I love it in the day time- These trees are majestic. But in the night, these same familiar and awe inspiring trees, appear wizened and dangerous. I don't plug in my ear phones to play music because it doesn't seem like a good idea. Not today.

Tradable Commodities

Yesterday a man gave a lecture and said, "I have a new idea. I will be excited for you to join. Its in the field of education. Education industry and the health industry, will never take a hit from the recession. Now is the time."

Commodity 1- Social Services

This morning, a friend sent me an article about "screaming fans" being "bought/ paid" to cheer for Tom Cruise in India.

Commodity 2- Ego Massages

Today I found a website that sells street-stuff like bags and scarves, but marked up about eight times. I could be wrong, but I daresay it is for the artists who make them, claimed by the website to be "tribal artists" but in all likelihood for the middlemen, cashing in on e-commerce.

Commodity 3- Gullible Artisans

A month and a day ago, I found a website that was selling exotic animals. It was very fishy but it was apparently also very possible.

Commodity 4- Anything

Bag of Problems

I have been taking a cloth bag for my grocery shopping, for so long now...

There is this supposedly green option...

... that I have no more plastic bags to throw my garbage in!

This one is not an option- garbage has to be tied securely in plastic

Now the next time I go shopping, I will have to pick up plastic bags in a hurry. I will bag fewer things in single packets, just so I can stock up on packets at home.

I never wanted to admit this.

But the way we live, city folk just cannot solve the climate crisis.

"I am not a Plastic Bag"- denial much?

Link Ups- The Process of Mental Tagging

What do Kushal’s girl friend and Mayur’s girl friend have in common? They are remembered for their one time boyfriend, and they can’t stop it. They can’t create an alternate identity. Whenever they are remembered, it will be by their association with something else, and usually only one of it. Its not so bad if you are an athlete or a dancer, because then of course you should be remembered primarily for your art if that is what you set out to do. Unless your Tiger Woods.... But the case is much the same with one-hit-wonders or journalists who get stuck in a particular beat- they can't shake it off.

We are currently in a public process of linking up and hand cuffing and indeed it is getting a little violent. This is a mass project of ‘tagging’ people. Arvind Kejriwal’s Wiki page could have been tagged under ‘RTI,’ but due to his association with the Lokpal, he will now always be tagged under ‘anna’ as well if not more often and only.

Prashant Bhushan got beaten up yesterday. It was to do with his remarks on Kashmir.

The men who beat him up, are members of Hindu extremist groups and are now targeting Bhushan’s colleague as well- Anna Hazare. The two were spotted together on several occasions, earlier this year.

But Hazare gained recent prominence due to his views on corruption... not Kasmir..

The guys who beat up Bhushan dont really care about that detail. For them, by the tagging system, Bhushan=Hazare, and now Bhushan/Hazare said something about Kashmir, so if A=B and B=C then A=C!

So they want Hazare to make clear his colleague's remarks on Kashmir and comments going around are hoping for Hazare to give some indication of his own view on the issue as well.

This is a dangerous line for Hazare to walk. Soon, all kinds of people are going to ask him all kinds of questions and their support for the anti-corruption movement will take a back seat to their communal agendas- Just like the Egyptian blogger Mikael Nabil Sanad, on a hunger strike (coincidence!) for being censored. Support for him has broken down after he made public his views on Israel. Hazare should have anticipated that his opinion is going to be sought on everything now that he has propped himself as the moral guardian of the nation. Since he cares for India so much, the hope is that he will always have an opinion, or better still, can pull a ‘fast-one.’

To add, Hazare recently released a video asking people not to vote for the UPA. This, along with his previous comments on Modi and link ups with the BJP, Ramdev and Agnivesh, got him tagged with the ‘Hindu right’ and he was alleged to be a tool by the ‘Opposition’ against the Congress.

News reports however say that the Hazare’s supporters who were beaten up, were shouting anti-BJP AND anti-Congress slogans yesterday.

Then this beat-up happened... True that no one beat up Hazare, but associations are going to be made by the press and the public, and Hazare is soon going to be untagged from ‘BJP’ because BHUSHAN was beaten up.

So now suddenly, Hazare’s political stance is back at being apolitical and/or neutral, and we can once again re-tag him under ‘civil society’ by his own creation of the politician-civil society binary.

In one of the more unlikely link ups, Bhushan’s remarks on Kashmir, have provided fodder for small talk between Arundhati Roy and himself, should they ever meet! She said similar things about Kashmir, only then there was this big furore about sedition.. Bhushan hasnt met that response. I dont know, but I’m guessing its the Anna aura/ tag that helped.

Except that this link up is quite fragile- they both differ terribly in their views on Hazare. Some tags are just bigger than others. This couple wont last and this link up wont go very far.

Apples and Oranges

I’m waiting for the article that decries Jobs as a working class hero.. a middleclass megastar who did nothing for most people but cause excessive drooling.

Yea… waiting for that one.

Well here it is.

I woke up to #SteveJobsLegacy and was stunned- there’s just been too many deaths this year of prominent people with whom I have some connection- Maathai, Tiger, and now "the death of Jobs".. as if we weren't already hearing that one on a daily basis.

Why is Jobs a working class hero?

Its because he gave the middle class an ambition. Apart from being a techie, he was also a keen businessman, and this multifaceted role he played seems to give everyone an aspiration- if you can't invent, then market. If you can’t market, then own the company. And if neither of these high heeled things are possible, then at least own an iPod. Owning an iPod is a huge middleclass ambition, the kind that many people work hard and save up for. This is an ambition worth its weight in part. But whether the Apple itself is really worth its weight in comparison to other open source ideas, is another discussion and quite debatable. The rationalization is that people with money are allowed to aspire to waste it, #LaTomatina style.

So how many people will flock to Gates' death and how many to Jobs'?

Well, as many as there are dollars in their bank accounts. Ironically, their funerals will be captured and shared on the very legacies that these men have left us, and they will live forever.

Jobs' funeral is a simple one to attend. Owners of Apple products can easily drive down/ fly down/ stream it online. Gates' funeral is more tricky- there will be those in corners of Africa and Asia who don't have the money for an air ticket, but who do have a life now, a real living breathing one, not a virtual one, thanks to 'Bill and Melinda'. These survivors, as well as thousands of NGOs and individuals who have received grants from the B&M Foundation, will want to attend it in person, and not just over Facebook- because Gates actually gave. Healthcare, education, poverty alleviation, research and disaster relief, have been some of the things that the Foundation has worked on. In contrast, when Jobs resumed control over Apple in 1997, he cut off all of their philanthropic ventures. He dabbled with a foundation that was to work on food sustainability, something vague like that, but shut it down after a year.

Will we mourn the death of Gates as much as Jobs?

Probably not. I blame Microsoft's marketing- MS has made itself so commonplace that no one regards it with awe anymore. It is easy to download, patch and use. Not that we have too many alternative operating systems going around to choose from- its MS for the non geek, most of us, or Apple if you can afford it, or open source if you have a good geek friend to guide you. But in the case of Apple, we actually do have a number of alternatives. They are not the only ones with mp3s- remember, the iPod is still an mp3, it only provides you with a snazzy interface. And I hear the most wonderful things about the Android from Android users. So instead, note how Apple's work ethics are monopolistic. Most of their products are stubbornly incompatible with other technologies, and this is in an effort to ensure that they remain exclusive, unique… and soon, alone. Which will mean cutting off access to millions. This may be acceptable in today's business practise, but should not be acceptable by consumers, for whom choice should be king. Choicelessness is not a working class dream. So before you eulogize how this man's ideas 'changed the world,' consider HOW he changed it.

What Jobs did right, was innovation in design, or rather innovation by design. White was a hard colour to sell, but they did it and it made them stand out, even in the dark. The slow ebbing glow of the bitten apple on the screen of the Macbook has grown to be as comforting as fairy lights in December. Jobs is more charming than Gates. He's younger, and he created a technology that just looks and feels so good, its almost Megan Fox. Besides, having a life threatening illness makes the wiring in humanity's heart melt (I remember how people waited with bated breath when Jade Goody was going to have her very public death).

Yet Apple's strength lies in their cunning success at creating needs in us and making themselves the sole satisfier. Why, even the musicians who are bitter about not making all the money they could have, because of illegal downloading, because mp3s made it so easy to carry around a 1000 songs… also love their iPods! I won’t be surprised if Gates agrees to let iPhone and Macbook into MS Word’s spell check (‘iPod’ is already in, so I see as I write this).

People are spinning philosophies around Jobs that don't really exist. The only one that can truly be credited to him is the old cliché, "Work hard and achieve success" and "Rags to riches is possible."

What is happening instead, is that people have actually had the audacity (and here I get really upset) to compare the death of Jobs with the death of Lennon. The lady I am referring to said that she felt emptiness and a sensation of loss similar to when Lennon died. Another lady said she lost a "magic sparkle," and "Someone (who) filed me with so much awesomeness! <3" "He helped us realise that less is truly more," says yet another Tweeter. You mean in terms of the minimalistic design? Or you mean the money you spent on the product? "He brought together heart of tech, people, community in ways we didn't know we needed, but couldn't live without," says another person. Dear friend, the internet is bringing people together, Apple is no prerequisite for this, and you can just as well "Come Together" with another brand. Others are charting their lives around their Apples. "I can remember stages of my life based on the different Macs and Apple products I've had since my first Apple. That's #stevejobslegacy" says one. Another mom, serial posting on Jobs said, "I can remember my kids excitement w/each hand me down iPod, iPhone they got as we spoiled ourselves w/new one!" Hurrah for you… lucky you.. Teach your kids to want expensive things, and teach them that only expensive things are good things. And finally, one lady said, "I live for my iPhone and Mac Book…".. At which point I have to end.

When Jobs' supporters talk about changing the world, I believe they are referring to "How touch is better than push" as one person said online, claiming this to be the #SteveJobsLegacy. It’s a very different type of "change" that I usually associate with "the world". The Jobs-change and the Gates-change, are as different as apples from oranges, and I'm inclined to the latter. How did you guess. Here's hoping you remember to shed an extra tear next time.

PS- Just a little note on Lennon, if you didn’t notice I am going to direct you to it- Read the embedded links on ‘Working Class Hero’ and ‘Come Together’, all right?