[Fsf-friends] Re: BSNL should find a place in "Hall of Shame"

V. Sasi Kumar sasi.fsf@[EMAIL-PROTECTED]
Fri Mar 9 13:14:47 IST 2007


Great work, Raju! Let us hope this helps to bring about the desired
change.

Regards
V. Sasi Kumar

On Fri, 2007-03-09 at 12:44 +0530, CK Raju, Thrissur wrote:
> Dear Sir,
> I had been monitoring the changeover plans of sancharnet email services to
> bsnl.in ever since it was announced publicly by your MD. From this request,
> it appears that your department is not fully aware of the implications for
> national security that such a migration poses. I had an initial debate when
> I had announced on the FSF-Friends mailing lists that bsnl.in mail server is
> on Microsoft platform with some learned professors arguing that my
> methodology to arrive at the conclusion were not technically correct. It was
> then I got a copy of your presentation, which clarified the issues to
> members in the Free Software Foundation's mailing list.
> 
> I hope you would appreciate that the President of India had earlier said
> that "Its unfortunate that we Indians believe in proprietary solutions. A
> small shift in business solutions to proprietary can have devastating
> effects on our society.." A large number of newspapers had carried the
> story. One such article is here
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=47799819
> 
> If you watch carefully, the article continues  "..He said that during a
> discussion with Microsoft CEO Bill Gates at the Rashtrapati Bhavan a few
> months ago, he had discussed the issue of software security and the need to
> look for open source codes. 'Our discussions became difficult since our
> views were different,' Kalam said. ..".
> 
> This is precisely our sore point - that a public sector undertaking has been
> given a different view about "security" by Microsoft and that you are
> (innocently, I should now say) executing the project, which goes against
> "national security" - going by President's own words. A service is never
> secure, unless the freedom to *examine* or *amend* the code is with us (in
> this case, with BSNL). You would also appreciate that as per IT Act 2000,
> there cannot be public systems that have malignant code inside - which means
> every public system will qualify only if this certification is there. IT Act
> says that such systems should not cause leakage of sensitive information
> relating to "privileges of parliament, trade, or other sensitive
> information" - which can only be ensured if public systems are *only* on
> Free Software. By taking what is legally now considered as a retrograde
> step, BSNL is now qualifying to be prosecuted under the aforementioned act.
> 
> Its my sincere hope that you would do your best to redo the damage that will
> be caused to the nation by
> (1) taking its premier email services away from Microsoft and have it
> commissioned on Free Software platforms,
> (2) initiating an audit in every operational department under your control
> to ensure that proprietary solutions are phased out, and
> (3) thus, showing the world that BSNL cares for the concerns of the
> citizens.
> 
> 
> Should you have any difficulty in technical aspects, we have a great bunch
> of techies here who would be at your call to render service which are
> ethical and just.
> 
> Regards and best wishes,
> CK Raju
> On 3/9/07, G Srinivas <gsrinivas at bsnl.co.in> wrote:
> >
> >  Dear Raju,
> >
> > Can u please throw more light on your statement.
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > G. SRINIVAS
> >
> > DGM(Dotsoft&Comp)
> >
> > HYDERABAD, BSNL
> >
> > 040 -23236153(O)
> >   ------------------------------
> >
> > *From:* anilankv at gmail.com [mailto:anilankv at gmail.com] *On Behalf Of *Anilkumar
> > K V
> > *Sent:* 06 March 2007 17:49
> > *To:* gsrinivas at bsnl.co.in
> > *Subject:* BSNL should find a place in "Hall of Shame"
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: *CK Raju, Thrissur* <ck.thrissur at gmail.com>
> >
> > Friends,
> >
> > The mail server at http://mail.bsnl.in has now been confirmed to be on M$
> > platform. Here's the link.
> >
> > http://egovstandards.gov.in/states_repositories/andhra-pradesh/brainstroming_sessions/andhra-pradesh/network-information-security-standards/egsworkshopfile.2006-12-13.1596939909/at_download/file
> >
> > BSNL should find a prominent place now in our "Hall of Shame".
> >
> > And the person associate with this *project* is
> > G Srinivas ITS, DGM(Dotsoft & Computers), BSNL AP
> > Email : gsrinivas at bsnl.co.in
> >
> > What a terrible shame ???
> >
> > CK Raju
> >
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-- 
V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf at gmail.com>
Free Software Foundation of India




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