Is India blocking Google's Blogger?
(updated here)
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The Indian bloggers are furious, and are setting up proxy ways to access the blogs. But what isn't clear is whether this comes from order by the Indian ministry of communications, as some people are saying, or whether there is a more benign explanation. Not all ISPs -- including BSNL, which the government owns -- are blocking it. Adding to the consternation is that no one seems to be getting any comment from the government. We find it unlikely the democratic Indian government would make a move similar to China, but something is clearly going on.
We're checking with Google and Six Apart (which owns Typepad) for comment.
(Thanks for the tip, Rajesh).
See our update here.
http://www.siliconbeat.com/cgi-bin/mt331/mt-tb.cgi/1602
Links to blogs that reference this entry:
Blocking
Excerpt: Generally, a program does not block signals indefinitelyit might as well ignore them byTeams use blocking to move a defensive man out...
Tracked: July 30, 2006 8:38 AM
Also see this: http://www.shivamvij.com/2006/07/somebody-must-have-blocked-some-sites-what-is-your-problem.html
Bulleyah on July 17, 2006 8:58 AMComment link
Yahoo! Geocities has also been blocked. In fact, Geocities has been blocked since July 1, 2006.
Samosa on July 17, 2006 9:34 AMComment link
Another post with updates
http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=854
Jai on July 17, 2006 10:49 AMComment link
Hi! I am a user from India and use MTNL at home and VSNL at work as servicer providers. MTNL which is state owned is blocking Blogs on Blogspot while I can access blogs through VSNL which is privately owned.
Sid on July 17, 2006 11:22 AMComment link
Airtel, a privately owned ISP, has blocked blogspot.com too. It wasn't blocked until about 10 hours ago. Typepad is blocked as well.
Btw, Indian govt does have precedent of blocking sites. A few years ago it banned Yahoo Groups.
Manu Sharma on July 17, 2006 11:49 AMComment link
It seems like Indian Govt ordered ISPs to block some blogging sites as they are used for anti-national activities and ISPs went one step ahead and banned entire domain!! Desihub blogs are not yet blocked in India, hope it does not happen!
Indeed a sad day for Freedom of Speech in Democratic India. There is more information on Freedom of speeach at http://freespeech.desihub.com
-Bala
bala on July 17, 2006 5:26 PMComment link
Indian govt and majority of the market still doesnt seem to grasp the concept of web 2.0 or community websites!
This reminds me of the arrest of Avnish Bajaj because some guy sold some porno MMS on eBay/Bazee! knee jerk reaction of some ignorant politicians if you ask me! :-(
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Mihir and Bala,
This is not a knee jerk reaction, this is being done to track the SIMI (Islamic fundamentalist in India) blog community hiding inside sophisticated blog community. Read more on this in http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/
It has noting todo with free speech and politics.
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Very sad that indian service providers blocking Blogs .....
I dont understand whats the problem with blogs...or Blogging...
A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary), displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although many focus on photographs, videos or audio. The word blog can also be used as a verb, meaning adding an entry to a blog.
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SK,
You have been watching too many spy movies :) SIMI inside the blogosphere? Lets look closer, we just might find Osama as well.
Patrix on July 18, 2006 11:00 PMComment link
