Keep Android Open

@Derpitron Probably HSBC, but probably not bring-your-own-key.

I think just sending a mail to CCI is too meek of action from our side. Developers can resist verification, but we lose out on users.

At least for users there is nothing much to do, I proposed we do a boycott google's android campaign instead.

custom rom plus microg as a middle ground, though ideal would be mobian or postmarketos

custom rom plus android should cover banking apps I guess

we can have levels like 1. custom rom + microg - banking apps 2. custom rom, no gapps 3. droidian / furios 4. mobian / postmarketos + waydroid 5. mobian / postmarketos, no waydroid

Please comment here if you'd like such a campaign.

@Pirate Praveen I am in agreement except for the word "instead". We can do both. (But I think writing to the CCI is already done anyway, so this is a moot point.)

A "Boycott Google's Android" campaign is in line with FSCI's philosophy as Google's Android is not fully Free Software—in fact it is AOSP with proprietary parts added on top. The issue is that Google is the main force behind AOSP as well: we can think of it like "open core" except that the core is increasingly shrinking.

So, the ideal case is to remove dependency on AOSP completely, but since that is not practical for everyone we can instead have different levels which people can get to based on what is comfortable/achievable for them.

To start with, maybe we can make a website with information about these levels? Similar to keepandroidopen.org. It could be just a single page to start with, with links to information. Or we can start a wiki page first to add the content quickly, and then convert to a website later for better presentation. In any case I think the wiki would be useful as we can point to information about making UPI payments, etc.

From a pragmatic point of view I fear an Android boycott is impractical and won't have any

effect at all. Too many people are dependent on Google Android. I believe the only main solution must be active competition regulation by the authority.

@Derpitron we have already done what we can towards pushing for active competition regulation—now we might as well try from the other end as well.

I don't see the Android boycott as a way to make Google change its policies but rather as a way to accelerate what needs to happen anyway: people moving away from Google Android to more open operating systems. If it also makes Google change its ways, that is a happy side effect.

@Badri Sunderarajan From what I'm reading, the CCI expects very specific formatted filing/inquiry, though any consumer can file it. I am guessing this is what we missed out on, since the CCI did not respond to this with action.
https://cci.gov.in/filing/atd
https://www.cci.gov.in/uploads/filemanager/catalog/HowToFileInformation.pdf

Further, they had sent a response to my email, 2 weeks after I sent the original complaint mail:

This might be too radical to suggest. But I think this is a cause we should seriously invest our time, research, (and maybe money) into. It might need actual legal advice to do it properly. (I read Praveen's email draft, to me it seemed too informal and I felt that was why the CCI did not take the complaint seriously; not enough evidence or objective facts for them to understand and make a case). I.e, we need actual legalese, almost a full exhaustive case report.

If people will help me I will dedicate time to this, an avenue to get to the regulator of the country is the most powerful opportunity. (I think, from their email response, the CCI was not flat-out disinterested in this cause, they just need solid evidence. If they were totally disinterested in this, they would not have even bothered responding to me.)

@Derpitron didn't know about this form. If nobody has filed it, it has to be done.

@Akshay I am not well versed in law, so I don't know exactly what I should send to them or how. I am sure the formatting in all of this is meant to be done best by an experienced lawyer, but I don't have nearly enough money to actually hire or consult one on this.

I say all this to say I don't know how to fill the form. (But that's not a reason to give up on anything). Do you know anyone who could help me? Or could you help me?

@Derpitron it looks only slightly more complicated than an RTI. But it is about ₹6,000 from my reading of section 50 of 2024 rules at https://cci.gov.in/legal-framwork/regulations/68/0

Most of the questions are not applicable because we don't need interlocutory, etc.

Section 4 of the act about abuse of dominant position is what Google is violating. Exactly what/how, yes, we will have to either refer to old cases of CCI ourselves or get a lawyer to do so. IFF is one option. Arul George Scaria maybe an option. SFLC can be an option. In any case, doing most of the work ourselves will be the best chance to get this done.

Most of these legal activism is about finding someone with enough interest in that particular case to get it done end to end. Is it you, praveen, badri, etc is to be seen. My participation will be limited because I'm conserving my energy for public health related activism in actionforequity.in

@Pirate Praveen @Badri Sunderarajan are you guys willing to go for this avenue? If one of you could help me, we could put our all into it, then maybe think about a Lawyer/IFF/SFLC's advice or support for it. (As the CCI seems to have responded to my complaint asking us to file a formal request, while judging by his lack of having posted it here, they may not have responded to Praveen, so he may not have known there was another step we could take)

If we have to contact the IFF/SFLC/Arul George Scaria to get advice or support, I currently don't know the best way to do that.

I know of a Law student, Prithvi Raj Kunappareddi, who was active in the FOSS United forum and seemed to be interested in this matter, when I brought it up there in a virtual discussion. However, he may be busy and not available to help us full-time as this may require.