Internet shutdowns in India: Why it is bad for Modi’s Digital India

Internet shutdowns in India have serious consequences, and it's not just about freedom of speech.

The view on Internet shutdowns in India often gets boxed between voices around free speech vs those around law and order and how every right comes with reasonable restrictions. But with Prime Minister Modi’s grand plans of Digital India, and massive push on the idea of a cashless economy, a kill switch on the internet has some real consequences.

Brookings Institute estimates India lost over $968 million between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 thanks to internet shutdowns alone. In total, the world lost around $2.4 billion due to to internet shutdowns by governments, but if you go by the Brookings paper, India was on top of the list.

Internetshutdowns.in is one such website by the Software Freedom Law Centre, India (SFLC.in), which is keeping a track of the issue in India. In the first three months of 2017 alone, India has had over seven Internet shutdowns already. One of the instances is Nagaland, where the internet and mobile services were down for nearly a month from January 30 to February 20. The website crowdsources this information and relies on media reports to put together this data. It also has people on the ground, volunteers who are keeping a track of the issue.

As SFLC India’s President and Legal Director Mishi Choudhary explains in an interaction with IndianExpress.com over Skype, internet shutdowns in India are a problem, and it is not simply about free speech. “People keep telling us about total blackout of mobile internet in some places. We knew that on Independence day in Jammu and Kashmir, there is no mobile internet. There was a UN resolution in July 2016, where the Human Rights Council condemned Internet shutdowns by government. In India, the reaction is that free speech should have reasonable restrictions,” Choudhary told us.

“When the Patidar movement was happening in Gujarat, the internet services were shut down. The idea is we don’t want people to talk with one another on WhatsApp, and plans rallies. But for the police, if you know the dates in advance, etc, since people have to take permission for protests, then how is shutting down the Internet valid. People have a right to protest and assemble peacefully,” she added.

According to Internetshutdowns.in, India has had over 66 shutdowns since 2012, and the target is inevitably the mobile internet services. Also 23 of the 62 Internet shutdowns since 2012 lasted 24 hours or less, 12 lasted for 73 hours or more. In Jammu and Kashmir, the clampdown on the internet lasted for months with services remaining down from July to November 2016.

On the Nagaland internet shutdown, Choudhary gives an example of the real world impact. One of the surgeons who contacted the group told them, she had great difficulties in procuring patient information thanks to the internet shutdown in the state.

“See the assumption is that only totalitarian regimes do it like a Turkey does it or Russia, etc. Or it is done because there can be a riot. But we’ve seen this happen in Gujarat in September 2015 as well over Ganesh Visarajan, when they were worried about derogatory messages around Islam being shared over WhatsApp,” points out Choudhary.

The IT Act’s Section 69 A has a clause, which does give the government the right to block access to some Internet URLs in a situation where violence is feared, or there’s a threat to national security. Part of Section 69A reads as follows,

“Power to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource. (1) Where the Central Government or any of its officer specially authorised by it in this behalf is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above, it may subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct any agency of the Government or intermediary to block for access by the public or cause to be blocked for access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource.

But as Choudhary points out, there are rules in process for this internet shutdown as well, and in most cases they are never followed.

“I’m not in favour of Section 69A rules; but having said that… and because India has a history of riots. There are rules under 69A, there has to be a petition to the nodal officer, then the joint secretaries of home, law and I&B are involved, they sit together and somebody from CERT-in (the computer emergency response team) has to be there. Then they issue an order, which has to be reviewed again. So there is a checks and balances system in place, but what happens is different. It is the State govt, which is doing it with Section 144,” says Choudhary.

Section 144 gives a magistrate the power to prohibit an assembly of more than four people in an area in an emergency situation. But In some states, these orders can in some cases also include a clamp down on mobile internet, because it is seen as the primary means by which people come together in today’s age.

But with Digital India and demonetisation, Choudhary points out there are serious issues with a total clampdown on the internet. “How do you do Digital India, when do you a blanket shutdown? The problem now happening is that with Digital India and demonetisation all of us do our banking online, order food online, etc; and then you just decide to pull the plug on the Internet, then you’ve brought the entire economy on its knees,” she argues.

Also a clampdown on just mobile internet would create an unequal system; while those who might have a fixed line or broadband at home won’t be affected, many of the lower-income people are dependent solely on mobile internet are suddenly cut-off.

Choudhary admits there are no easy answers in cases where say internet is used to mobilise groups for riots. But she points out that blanket shutdowns need to end, and at least the process laid out in the Act should be followed. “There is a committee, a process in the act. Stick with that for now. Then, at least, they will have to review an internet shutdown. The case isn’t just about free speech. You can’t even run your business in case of an internet shutdown,” she argues.

According to Choudhary, policy makers will need wider consultations around the issue involving perhaps more of the younger generation, start-ups, VC to figure out this problem. “If you shut off internet in one part, what’s the guarantee you won’t do it in Delhi,” she asks.

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Uber set to pull out of Denmark

Cab hire firm Uber will withdraw from Denmark in April because of new taxi laws that require drivers to have fare meters and seat sensors.

Local taxi driver unions and politicians have complained that Uber poses unfair competition by not meeting legal standards required for established taxi firms.

According to Uber, 300,000 riders use its app in Denmark and it has around 2,000 drivers.

The service will shut down on 18 April.

In a statement the firm said: "For us to operate in Denmark again the proposed regulations need to change. We will continue to work with the government in the hope that they will update their proposed regulations and enable Danes to enjoy the benefits of modern technologies like Uber."

Uber has been operating in Denmark for less than three years.

The firm said it would "allocate resources" to help Uber drivers during the shutdown process. It will maintain its software division in Aarhus in northern Denmark where it employs 40 people.

The firm has faced opposition from traditional taxi drivers in cities around the world. In the UK, a 2015 High Court challenge arguing that Uber should be regulated in the same way as other London taxi businesses was dismissed by a judge.

But in 2016, Uber drivers won the right to be classed as workers rather than as self-employed.

Earlier this month, it suspended its self-driving cars after an accident in Arizona when one of the autonomous vehicles - a Volvo SUV - ended up on its side.

It has also faced negative stories about its workplace practices and a number of executives have quit, including the president Jeff Jones.

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These Are the 5 Best Cities for Women in Tech

What do Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Mo., Baltimore, Indianapolis, and New Orleans have in common? According to a recent report, they're the best places to be if you're a woman in tech.

To conduct its annual Best Cities for Women in Tech report, Smart Asset, a New York-based financial technology company, analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, taking 59 of the largest U.S. cities in which the tech workforce is big enough to provide reliable data. Specifically, the study looked at the tech industry gender pay gap, income after housing costs, tech jobs filled by women, and four-year employment growth to rank each of the cities.

For the third year in a row, Washington, D.C., came out on top—proving to have one of the smallest gender pay gaps in the country. The capitol city also has a relatively large percentage of female employees in tech, at about 41%.

Though the study didn't delve into the reasons that D.C. and the other top cities scored so well on these four metrics, "it really shows there's something happening there," AJ Smith, vice president of content at Smart Asset, tellsFortune.

According to Smart Asset, Kansas City, which came in at No. 2, has no tech industry gender pay gap. In fact, women in the city who work in technology typically earn more than their male counterparts. On average, women who have computer and mathematical jobs in Kansas City make $69,770—roughly $2,300 more than men with comparable jobs. Yet, the study found that the city is lacking when it comes to filling its growing number of tech jobs with women. In 2016, women made up about 30% of the workers in computer and mathematical roles, compared to 34% in 2014.

Baltimore is ranked No. 3, according to the study—mostly because of the increase in its tech workforce in recent years. For example, of the 12,400 computer and mathematical jobs added between 2012 and 2015, women made up 32.5%—up from 28.5% in 2016, notes the study.

Indianapolis and New Orleans rounded out the top five, at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Like Kansas City, Indianapolis has no tech gender pay gap. New Orleans, meanwhile, is notable for it's job growth: the number of tech jobs in New Orleans grew by 32 percentage points between 2012 and 2015—representing the biggest four-year change in tech employment growth in the study.

Although these cities may grace the top five, it's worth noting how their income after housing rates compare with those in the Bay Area, which is usually the go-to region for tech jobs. Some California cities—like Fremont, a city north of Silicon Valley, for example—boast a post-housing cost income of $68,180, nearly $12,000 more than that of D.C. But Fremont and many other other Northern California cities were dinged for their percentage of women in tech jobs. While women account for 41% of tech workers in the nation's capitol, they are only 26.6% of Fremont's technology workforce.

"Women don't have to move to Silicon Valley—they can find good paying tech jobs in many areas around the country. Some of these cities should want to do better, or women will take their talents elsewhere," says Smith.

While the study's results are good news for these in the top five cities, women are still in the minority in STEM—comprising only 26% of computer and mathematical jobs nationwide. And female tech workers are still being paid less than their male counterparts across the industry: On average, female-to-male tech earnings ratio in the U.S. is 84.8%—down nearly two percentage points from last year.

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Tech Startups Struggle to Close Deals With IT Buyers

When Haier America’s Deanna Johnston needs to update or fill gaps in the company’s information-technology systems, she looks at products and services offered by startups.

But even after a trial run, she rarely buys them, Ms. Johnston said.

Instead the appliance maker’s chief information officer said she often uses cheaper prices offered by startups as a bargaining chip in price negotiations for similar tools sold by large enterprise IT vendors.

As Haier and other large corporations become increasingly digital, they are spending more time checking out technology offered by small, independent tech firms. Yet startup products and services for enterprises, while more accepted than a few years ago, still face significant resistance on the path toward revenue, CIOs and industry analysts say.

“I won’t take a risk on something that isn’t from a proven enterprise technology company,” especially for key functions, such as sales, human resources, cybersecurity or even office email, said Ms. Johnston. “Some startups are just so cheap or free, you’re nervous to go with it. What if they go out of business?”

Only 23% of 112 large corporations in a recent survey said working with startups was very important, according to MassChallenge, a startup accelerator, and software consulting firm Imaginatik PLC. Respondents included insurers, manufacturers and software firms, among other companies across a range of industries, roughly half of which had at least 10,000 employees and more than $5 billion in annual revenue.

Jonathan Lehr, managing director of Work-Bench Ventures, an accelerator and venture-capital firm for enterprise tech startups, said the problem can be simply “getting in the door and then demonstrating value,” rather than offering lots of free trials that don’t convert into paid licenses.

He said many tech startups, especially those in the software-as-a-service market, can have trouble selling to Fortune 1000 firms if their product doesn’t scale, they don’t have proper security controls in place, or they don’t have a robust sales and support team.

A handful of enterprise IT startups are fetching billion-dollar valuations. In North America, 51 of 94 startups with valuations over $1 billion—known as “unicorns”—sell business technology, according to CB Insights.

Cloud software maker Okta Inc., for instance, raised its valuation over the $1 billion mark in September, following a $75 million funding round with such high-profile investors as Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and Sequoia Capital. In June, Twilio Inc., which enables developers to build applications that can interact with customers, raised $150 million in an initial public offering that valued the company at $1.2 billion.

Twilio this month reported total revenue of $64.5 million for the second quarter, up 70% from a year ago, and 30,780 active customer accounts, up from 21,226. Okta, which doesn’t disclose revenue, said new paying customers this year include Pitney Bowes Inc. andFlextronics International Ltd., among other large firms, according to a spokeswoman.

But early enthusiasm for an IT startup is no guarantee of widespread adoption or revenue growth down the road, according to Ted Schadler, a principal analyst at Forrester who focuses on application development and delivery.

Adding to the risks for corporate IT buyers: valuations for tech startups are falling as investors get picker, he said. There were at least 53 startups that by August last year had raised capital at a valuation of $1 billion or more for the first time, according to VentureSource. So far this year there are only nine, in part reflecting the challenges of turning investor cash into revenue.

“Investors have bet on revenue and profit growth that may well prove unrealistic if not fantastical,” Mr. Schadler said in a recent research note.

Revenue-generating IT startups can become attractive targets for acquisitions, leaving CIOs to speculate about the fate of fledgling products and services once they are swallowed up by larger vendors, said Jim Ferrato, CIO of call center operator IBEX Global Solutions PLC.

“Some of the more interesting startups get acquired and integrated in ways that take their product road maps in a different direction,” he said.

Though Mr. Ferrato isn’t currently using any startup technology, he said startups can offer an opportunity to address a strategic niche, rather than key enterprise functions, such as handling customer payments, logistics or marketing. He said he has had good experiences in the past deploying startup technology in areas such as speech analytics and customer experience management apps.

Haier’s Ms. Johnston said she agrees that startups are best deployed for functions that aren’t essential to core business operations. For instance, the company is currently using a free employee iPad check-in tool developed by a startup, she said.

“If they go out of business, we’ll just switch over to a paid version with little disruption,” she adds.

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