Mindless Internet Censorship by the Government

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gary4gar

gary4gar

GaurishSharma.com
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

strange bsnl is not there in the list however the blogger does not open in it
 
eagle_y2j

eagle_y2j

Youngling
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

BSNL also started to ban *.blogspot.com!.Tis Govt sucks our right of information.................................................
 
kalpik

kalpik

In Pursuit of "Happyness"
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

Ok.. Even Airtel blocking blogspot now!
 
GNUrag

GNUrag

FooBar Guy
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

This news has been published in all major newspapers today. Seems like the media has taken this issue very seriously.

Maybe sometime today i might be able to get my hands on the list of sites that CERT-IN < *www.cert-in.org.in > has ordered the ministry of IT to block, from a contact who has highly placed contact in a major ISP. I've been told that the list of websites blocked runs into 28 pages..

From the initial guesses it seems that they have setup rules on ISPs routers which block any IP addresses that belong to Blogger, Typepad, Geocities etc..
 
aadipa

aadipa

Padawan
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

It is funny to read what some officials said to Hindustan Times
Officials defended the decision saying, “We would like those people to come forward who access these (the 12) radical websites and please explain to us what are they missing from their lives in the absence of these sites.”
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I

iDope

Right off the assembly line
As repoted by Rediff.com
Rediff.com said:
Are Internet Service Providers blocking blogs?
Shivam Vij
July 17, 2006 19:25 IST

Bloggers in India are getting together to protest against the sudden blocking of popular Google-owned blog-hosting site Blogger by some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Spectranet, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Reliance Powersurfer, Airtel Broadband and Sify.

On July 15, Mridula Dwivedi, a teacher of management studies in Gurgaon first discovered that visiting any blogspot blog -- such as, say Mumbai Help -- returned the message, 'Site Blocked!' Her ISP, Spectranet, confirmed they had blocked some sites based on government directives.

J Grewal, Spectranet's Delhi representative at the National Internet exchange of India, told this reporter that, on July 15, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had sent ISPs a list of sites to be blocked. R H Sharma, senior engineer with MTNL, said the list ran into some 22 pages.

Now, several bloggers have organised themselves into a Bloggers' Collective and are planning to file a Right To Information application to obtain the list.

Anil Saxena of Spectranet confirmed that the list sent by the DoT contained names of particular blogs, but added that Blogspot as a whole had not been blocked. This is contrary to the experience of customers like Dwivedi, who are still unable to view sites hosted on Blogspot, in addition to those on Typepad and Yahoo!'s Geocities. "The list is confidential and I can't make it public," said Saxena.

Under the Information Technology Act, 2000, a body called the Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT-IN, was created along the lines of similar authorities the world over. Although its main task is in the domain of Internet security, it also oversees Internet censorship under a clause that seeks to ensure 'balanced flow of information.' Any government department seeking a block on any web site has to approach CERT-IN, which then instructs the DoT to block the site after confirming the authenticity of the complaint.

Web sites can be blocked if they contain pornography, speeches of hate, contempt, slander or defamation, or if they promote gambling, racism, violence or terrorism.

"Such sites may be blocked within the provisions of the Fundamental Right to free speech and expression, granted in India's Constitution," said cyber-law expert Praveen Dalal, adding, "If, however, the blocking is arbitrary, unreasonable and unfair, it would be in violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India."

The trouble is bloggers don't even know which sites the DoT wants blocked. To make matters worse, ISPs seem to be blocking entire domains on which these blogs are hosted.

In 2003, one of the first things CERT-IN did was to approve the blocking of an obscure mailing list run by a banned militant outfit, the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) of the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya. Ironically, the popularity and visibility of the list went up by leaps and bounds, despite it being blocked by all ISPs. Many could still see the list via email or proxy surfing.

This time, something similar seems to have happened, to not one but three domains. However, CERT-IN's Director, Dr Gulshan Rai, said he was unaware of the problem and would not be able to respond "off-hand". In a telephone interview, he told this reporter, "Somebody must have blocked some sites. What is your problem?"

Bloggers certainly think of it as a problem though, and are all set to react.
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Till now I have accepted a lot of wrongs done by the government, the corruption, inefficiency of government agencies and the general state of affairs in this country. I put up with it till now thinking that it hardly affects me and that its not big deal (plus the general tolerant attitude of "chalta hai" us Indians have).

I always thought Internet will be always safe from the government because of their ignorance of it. Internet was the one place left in this country free from government mishandling. Turns out I was wrong. This is going too far.

I am a webmaster and Internet is where I earn my living, get news and information, find entertainment, and even do shopping. I don't want mindless stupid government censorship to destroy the Internet for Indians. This isn't China. Such actions by the government cannot be tolerated. Remember, if you don't do anything now they WILL get bolder and start assuming more control. They can not and should not attempt this as:

1) They do not understand what Internet is and how it works, and will end up messing it up (this incident is an example).
2) Internet should be free of ALL censorship. That's how the Internet works.
3) Internet is bringing in huge amount of revenue (foreign exchange) for Indians and its the best and biggest source of information. More and more people like myself are able to work from home and able to employ themselves and even others. We don't need government interference in it, we are doing well without it.

*What I propose is a Lawsuit against Govt. of India and/or CERT-IN*
First I suggest a RTI application be filed. This will surely help us with the case. Are there any lawyers on here who would like to help? I am ready contribute my time and even some money towards this cause. Those who are interested please post in this thread.

Don't let the government get away with anything. If we don't take an action against this who will? I, for one, cannot continue being a sheep.

"Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master"

See BloggersCollective
 
techno_funky

techno_funky

da' Ťurntable ruleth
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

cant open any blogs but the blogger.com page can be accessed
MTNLTriband,Mumbai here
 
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GNUrag

GNUrag

FooBar Guy
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

techno, because blogger.com's ip is 66.102.15.100
and individual blog pages on blogger have an ip 66.102.15.101

they must have enabled IP level blocking.

btw, Coral Cache technique works

*gnurag.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8080

just add a .nyud.net:8080 to any blocked site you want to access.
 
aadipa

aadipa

Padawan
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

anarchist said:
blogspot and geocities (never tried typepad) are not openeing directly. anyway we can use proxies to open these like:

*www.thewebtunnel.com/
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This is not about how we can access these sites, there are n-number of ways to bypass such blocks, but the important question is why these sites are blocked.
 
GNUrag

GNUrag

FooBar Guy
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

The internet is extremely powerful. It will always route around these kinds of blocks. But i really wonder how clueless these government officials can be. I bet they might have thought blogger.com was just another smalltime site, and that this block will get un-noticed.
 
Raaabo

Raaabo

The Dark Lord
Staff member
Admin
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

Personally I hate blogs, tried it once, it felt like a diary, and I felt like Betty from Archie comics:

"Dear Diary,

My life sucks; the world has gone crazy; wars everywhere; bomb blasts; floods; bird fl; etc. ad infinitum, ad nauseum -- yet I somehow feel that people will be interested in reading about my little life and perhaps think that I write well because I use Microsoft Word's thesaurus better than most other people... I want to show off to my friends, I hope they like how I write... Perhaps I can take a news article and add my own 2 cents worth and people will link to me and raise my google rankings...

Oh dear diary, woe is me!!!"
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Oh well, no big loss... though blocking sites is stupid, teach the cops computers and how to form a search query in google rather than exhibit paranoia and block everything.

I'll only miss a few technology blogs though, everything else is expendible! :)

Raaabo
 
I

iDope

Right off the assembly line
Re: Indian ISPs blocking *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com blogs

Raaabo said:
Personally I hate blogs, tried it once, it felt like a diary, and I felt like Betty from Archie comics:

Oh well, no big loss... though blocking sites is stupid, teach the cops computers and how to form a search query in google rather than exhibit paranoia and block everything.

I'll only miss a few technology blogs though, everything else is expendible! :)

Raaabo
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I understand you are joking. But I hope you understand this isn't about just blocking some blogs. Nobody should be able to tell us what we can or cannot read. Just read my post earlier in this thread.

And for the record: I am not even a blogger and I hardly read any blogs, but I do feel concerned.
 
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Vyasram

Vyasram

The pWnster
i wanna sue the govt or whatever the sh** responsible for bringing down ad revenues on my blog. Is it possible

Btw, are those guyz gonna ban emails,forums and sms' as one can send porn/terrorist activities/hatred over them

I always liked being an Indian, But slowly i'm losing my love for this country bcoz of the govt. Our govt , which consists mainly of 70 yr olds , do what the 70 year olds want and not what the majority of the population wants.
 
iMav

iMav

The Devil's Advocate
Re: I have won nearly 750000000 dollars in british and american lottery

so y the hell are u spamming here
 
S

shoaibjameel123

Broken In
Re: I have won nearly 750000000 dollars in british and american lottery

I've received hundred of those. if it's true I "am the richest man on earth".
Don't believe in such mails.
They are SPAMS
 
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