Internet Freedom Fortnight Celebrations

The recent revelations of Edward Snowden have brought to fore the unprecedented massive surveillance that the NSA under the aegis of USA has been carrying out on world countries. This naturally raises serious questions on the future of internet and democracy. If the Section 66(A) of the IT Act in India acts as a deterrent to freedom of speech and expression that the citizens are constitutionally entitled to, surveillance leads to loss of individual privacy and our national sovereignty. These acts remind us of the infamous days of colonial rule, to come out of which took us hundreds of years. Today, we are heading back to the same days- our domestic policies, space research, military strategies etc., are monitored by the USA through the various surveillance mechanisms. It is time we stand up and join the movement for internet and digital freedom!

In this direction, Swecha, part of FSMI, has given a call for students to develop hardened anti-surveillance distros. Responding to the call, hundreds of students from across the state have developed three distros. The distros, currently being tested, would be released on the 2nd of October, the concluding day of Internet Freedom Fortnight Celebrations.
The events planned for 2nd October are:
1. Jan Vaad: Mock Parliament where the present day students show the way the institution is supposed to function. They discuss and deliberate on key policy issues and come up with solutions that would help our people.
2. Coding Contest: Coding involves logic and fun. This contest is a place where fun meets logic.
3. LAN Gaming: Free Software is not just for geeks. Gamers could use Free Sofware too!
4. Workshop: Hands on workshop on 'How to make your own distro.'
5. Release Party: The OS distros made by the students would be released

Swecha invites all students, netizens, democratic and progressive citizens to participate and make this event a huge success.