Mindless Internet Censorship by the Government

[gary4gar]

Also the news is in times of india new delhi edition

 

[blueshift]

I can access blogspot, typepad and geocities sites now, finally!

 

[True Geek]

Well using proxies would be rather better .

And what if they starts to block proxy sites too

 

[nix]

This sux.... I had started a blog just a day before the ban and had made two posts. Indian youth have to fight for it. we have to bunk college or school and let the govt know that we are angry....we should make protests. but instead i see noone wants to do so..thats y govt takes us for ride and we do nothin'

 

[thunderbird.117]

Man, India is starting to suck.

There is no liberal party in the entire ****ing country

I say that 10+ times in a day. The government sucks not India.

 

[mediator]

I think this is a government technique to kill the freedom of speech. The revolt we students massed was because of these blog sites, groups , E-polls etc. Now they want to destroy our weapon so we are rendered defenceless.

 

[Ajatshatru]

THis govermant is even worse than nazi goverment in germany

 

[thunderbird.117]

I think this is a government technique to kill the freedom of speech. The revolt we students massed was because of these blog sites, groups , E-polls etc. Now they want to destroy our weapon so we are rendered defenceless.

They want indians to be illererate. The government are illererate people who is working there. So they wanted up to be illererate.

Let us start a war with Indian Government.

 

[Yamaraj]

Indian Government doesn't represent the citizens of this country any more.
They're slowly turning this country into a dystopian society. And this cannot
be stopped unless we, the citizens, rise against the opression by our very own
said representatives.

The clowns must be dragged down from their thrones and punished in the
most severe manner possible. None of the political parties of India are concerned
about well-being of the citizens.

Rise now before it's too late.
V for violence against the Government.
V for Victory!

- Yamaraj

 

[gary4gar]

here is what i got from rediff

Blog blockade will be lifted in 48 hours
The blocking of blogs hosted by sites such as Blogspot, Typepad and Yahoo! Geocities by Internet Service Providers is likely to be lifted within 48 hours.

At least that is what Amitabh Singhal, a spokesperson of the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) told this correspondent on Wednesday.

Singhal said representatives of various ISPs met on Wednesday to discuss the issue after the media took it up earlier this week. He acknowledged that some ISPs -- he insisted it wasn't all -- mistook the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) notice and blocked entire blog domains, adding that it was technically feasible to block a sub-domain and leave others still accessible.

Are Internet Service Providers blocking blogs?

If, for instance, DoT wanted a certain blog -- say shivam.blogspot.com --blocked, it was feasible to just block that URL, without restricting access to other blogs with the blogspot.com extension.

"An advisory is being sent from ISPAI to member ISPs saying they should configure their Domain Name Servers (DNS) in such a way that they block only the sub-domains DoT wants blocked," said Singhal, adding, "It would help if, in future, DoT could also mention the mechanism by which sites should be blocked."

The advisory is a result of a meeting held on Wednesday between executive members of ISPAI, representatives of DoT and the Department of Information Technology. "We expect the problem to be resolved within 48 hours," said Singhal.

As news of the blockade spread to the national and international media, Indian bloggers -- organised under the Bloggers Against Censorship banner -- continued to devise a strategy to counter it. Some have filed Right to Information applications, while others are considering a Public Interest Litigation. They say they are against any kind of censorship, even that of non-blog Web sites such as HinduUnity.org

Interestingly, the Indian consulate in New York has also sought to explain the ban. According to e-mail sent by A R Ghanashyam, deputy consul general, to a representative of the South Asian Journalists Association, a write up containing derogatory references to Islam and had the potential to inflame religious sensitivities, had appeared on a blog.

DoT took up the matter but, because of a technological error, ISPs went beyond what was expected of them, resulting in 'the unfortunate blocking of all blogs.'

HinduUnity.org and HinduHumanRights.org are among 17 sites sought to be blocked, on the grounds that they are spreading Hindu nationalist propaganda. Accessed through an anonymizer, HinduUnity.org was found to have articles against Congress party President Sonia Gandhi and Indian Muslims. It also had a 'hit list' of people it considered anti-Hindu.

Another site on the list is Rahulyadav.com, set up by a US-based person who calls himself a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Dalitstan.org, on the other hand, calls itself a 'human rights organisation working for the upliftment of Dalits.'

None of the sites seem to possess any direct security threat to India, or have any connection with the recent Mumbai blasts. Even more bizarre are the blogs sought to be blocked. 'Princess Kimberley' is a defunct blog with just two postings in 2004 about an American teenager's depressing life. 'Commonfolk Commonsense' is a Chinese language blog, while 'Exposing the Left' is written by someone in Southern Illinois!

DoT has not explained why these sites need to be restricted from viewing by Indians. Amitabh Singhal said the ISPs were not in favour of Internet censorship, but were bound by terms and conditions of the license granted to them by the government.

LIST OF BLOCKED SITES

1. www .hinduunity.org
2. mypetjawa.mu.nu
3. pajamaeditors.blogspot.com
4. exposingtheleft.blogspot.com
5. thepiratescove.us
6. commonfolkcommonsense.blogspo t.com
7. bamapachyderm.com
8. princesskimberley.blogspot.com
9. merrimusings.typepad.com
10. mackers-world.com
11. www.dalistan.org
12. www .hinduhumanrights.org/hindufocus.html
13. www .nndh.com
14. bloodroyaltriped.com
15. imagesearchyahoo.com
16. www .imamali8.com
17. www .rahulyadav.com

*www.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/19blogs.htm

 

[techno_funky]

its strange how come google or blogger itself is numb about this

 

[~Phenom~]

Dataone has now lifted the ban. Anyway, the government didnt ask the ISPs to block the entire domain. They had provided them a list of specific sites they want blocked.
However, I think thats fruiteless too, as its extremely easy to acces those sites using proxies.

I still cant access my blog *rahulsparadise.blogspot.com/ , I am using Dataone.

 

[led_shankar]

I say that 10+ times in a day. The government sucks not India.

Maybe, but the government in India does mnot change, no matter who wins the election.

 

[RCuber]

I still cant access my blog *rahulsparadise.blogspot.com/ , I am using Dataone.

Its opening now , i can use my blog as well as i can see yours .(me on dataone)

 

[VD17]

yup.. dataone lifted the ban..

 

[nishant_nms]

DOT has resend it's order now to ISPs and this time it is much clear and they have asked only to ban specific sites not the complete parent site.

 

[mediator]

WOW so many HINDU SITES BLOCKED??? This Govt as I thought is Anti-Hindu !!

 

[theexister]

Im on dataone from hyderabad & still cant view any on blogspot.

 

[~Phenom~]

hurray ban lifted , I can access my blog on Dataone.

 

[nach p]

still cant acess blog from sify