…because now, you can’t read Blogspot or Typepad-hosted blogs in India. That means no Barmaid, no Abhi, no MD, no Brimful, no Badmash, no Maisnon. Erstwhile Mutineer Manish has more (natch) on Ultrabrown:
For all the talk of IndiaÂ’s freedom and democracy, the Indian government has apparently just censored all of Blogspot and Typepad. For shame. Blogspot- and Typepad-hosted blogs are inaccessible from my Bombay ISP and many others and seem to be blocked at the Airtel Internet backbone in Delhi. Geocities is reportedly blocked as well.[link]
Sabahat Iqbal Ashraf pointed out the utter lameness of this action via the ASATA mailing list:
As I was saying all along, unenlightened Internet policies are not a Pakistani monopoly; the Indian establishment can be just as “efficient” in the matter. First it was only Pakistan blocking most blogs, now it seems the Indian establishment is getting into the act…
Apparently, terrorists are using blogs to communicate, but Ultrabrown notes that Dr Gulshan Rai, Director of the Computer Emergency Response Team—India (CERT-IN) feigned cluelessness when asked about this unwelcome development:
“Somebody must have blocked some sites. What is your problem?“…
Awesome.
I can’t improve on Manish’s response to that:
As the worldÂ’s back office, for India to blame overzealous techies would hardly be credible. ItÂ’s not yet clear which blogs the government was targeting, but the tactic of banning Blogspot is nothing less than outright repression — mimicking the tactics Pakistan used to shut down discussion of Danish cartoons critical of Islam. India is now in the august company of some of the worldÂ’s least free nations…
…because I’m too busy freaking out over the possibility he raises at the end of his post:
These repeated incidents are also a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on Web apps centralized on a small handful of domains. WhatÂ’ll you do when your government blocks Gmail?
Shivam Vij has a detailed and worrisome post about his telephonic attempts to figure out what the hell is going on, here. He also has a grim sort of workaround, since not all platforms are censored equally:
Is there a moral of the story? Yes, there is. Shift to your own domain and your own hosting and most of all, to WordPress. [link]
…or, click your ruby slippers together thrice and chant, “There’s no speech like free, there’s no speech like free, there’s no speech like…
Indian Government has lost their mind. Babu Sahib is clueless.
Can anyone really censor internet? I had read about it on DesiPundit over the weekend.
it’s ridiculous – what a silly excuse! i see india is taking a leaf out of the Bush administrations’ crack down on civil liberties post 9/11..
Um, “now“?
if there’s pressure on the ISP’s from ‘above’ it seems there’s not much they can do – or can they?
They really cannot be that clueless. Blogger does not seem to be blocked, but Blogspot is. That means a terrorist, if there’s one using blogger to conceive plots, can still publish his information, and anyone with RSS feeds can still read what he is saying anyways.
WTF!!??
This reminds me of the saying in Hindi: Andhe ke haath bateer lagna!
Cannot believe the “HERD” mentality!!…Yes, Indian Govt. might have blocked certain “BLOG” sites…But, have you stopped for a moment and tried to think from the GOVT. perspective?…what if, the Terrorists (to be specific Islamic stripes) did use these Blogs to share & communicate with one another?…..you can say, there are zillion ways to go around such measures…may be. But to jump to conclusions is being same, as one is trying to condemn here. I think…Manish gets “orgasmic” pleasures in pounding India…just ‘cuz we blocked some Sites..does not mean, we graduated into the League of least free nations…what an idiotic conclusion!…..India is free in lot more important areas, than US is…or it can think of. So..just ‘cuz in US you can walk around with your Boobs and Belly hanging around..does not mean…its free!!!… Get over your snobbish attitude..and try to understand things in real sense.
yeah! what an idiotic conclusion! good thing that isn’t what manish said — he said india’s “in the august company” of some of the world’s least free nations. there’s a difference.
Care to explain a bit more about what you mean by this?
One thing all of the readers can do is run TOR. The Onion Router is software from the EFF that anonymizes web traffic and lets people visit filtered websites. You can download it here and set it up to run on your personal computers.
You can get a copy here: http://tor.eff.org
Speak for yourself, Suraj!
And which email services so you use? What if the Indian Govt. decided to block access to them next under the same ruse, which would seem to be the logical next step, given the scope of this action. Hell, why not just ban the Internet itself. That should take care of the problem for good!
Actually, if they’d blocked certain (criminal) blogs that would be great. Instead they blocked probably over half the blogs in the world.
Our favorite pundit Michelle Malkin is on it.
Looks like India is continuing its proud tradition of appearing to take measures to combat terrorism, but nothing constructive. In 2002, it was a military build-up on the border for an invasion that was never going to happen. And now it is blocking websites, so teenagers will not be able to get pictures of Aishwarya Rai.
wow… i was really surprised to read this! there have been sooo many terrorist bombings in the past few years and never such a drastic step. maybe because of the global publicity it got? most past attacks have gone unheard of in mainstream media. totally agree with other comments that it’s probably part of ‘appearing’ to be against terrorism… i thought the indian govt would take a smarter approach though… kinda sad!
A lot of us Bombayites living abroad got info on Bombay post-blasts via blogs. MumbaiHelp (on Blogspot) played such a crucial and invaluable role in getting information out, and helping people get in touch with fmaily and friends.
Its really sad that all the positives are being ignored for the rare negatives.
Uhhhhh, I’m no counter-terrorism expert (understatement), but couldn’t you learn a valuable thing or two by reading and tracking terrorist websites? I thought I read something along those lines on StrategyPage or something. Better the devil you know……
As soon as I go home I am going to setup a proxy on my server. Anyone in India, care to post a list of blocked blogs? Either email me or post here. This is for non-technical people who can’t figure out how to install tor or other such software.Dreamhost doesn’t allow proxies. For now anyone being blocked TorPark is the easiest way to get around the blocks
TERROR – an excuse to clamp down on rights everywhere.
Then again, no one should use Blogger/Blogspot. WordPress is where it’s at.
Michelle Malkin is on it? I’m shocked. Really.
Okay, here’s the StrategyPage link.
StrategyPage links are known to be, uh, not that robust so you can search around that site for it too. Basically, the article by Jim Dunnigan says that it’s a game of cat and mouse between counterterrorism people and these message boards and websites, and that while you may have to shut down some sites, you can get good information if you are tracking them well. Why don’t the Indian authorities encourage tracking of these sites from their own citizens and set up a kind of place where you can send links you think might be dangerous or talking about an upcoming terrorist event? Do such things already exist? Or is that just asking for trouble?
For arguments sake…could it be that the Indian Govt is trying to curb any anti-muslim hatred from being spread around in the cyberspace. We all saw some of the comments/reactions by some of the members here in SM, you can only imagine what the mumbai locals might be bloggin/spreading. I agree that this was a wrong approach, but it could just be knee jerk reaction from an official( atleast i hope it is)
Terrorism is a bitch, i think the stupidest fact is that anyone who wants to access the entire web in india still can. Thanks to the beauty of virtual networking, you can sit on the internet in mumbai as if you were in nyc…i do this all the time for work…and also to have multiple hands on the same cash table when playing online poker…
i doubt this is going to do anything to deter terrorism, just punish creative expression…
Boingboing’s defeat censorware page is also handy.
The first thing I would do as a terrorist is to outline all my plans on a blog and send instructions to my aides. This is indeed a masterstroke by the Indian government to spot this clever ploy used by “islamic stripes” (pardon me if this sounds ignorant, but stripes???) and put an end to it.
If the ministry of communications has given a list of *.blogspot addresses to be blocked, and assuming they know enough about the ones they are concerned… wouldnt it be easier for them to contact Google itself and get those blogspot sites removed, and also get their web logs?
It seems wierd that Govt decides to ban whole domains, and then they try to catch ppl using them. I think the ministry of communication has a serious communication crisis!
Suyog
I’m in India on holiday for three weeks. I noticed that I couldn’t read two of my regular blogs- one on typepad (brad delong), the other, oddly, hosted on the TIME site (andrew sullivan). But if I use a VPN it’s ok. VPN is the ticket, screw the Indian government. They’ll never be able to keep websites off-limits for too long
while i’m as disturbed as you (I share my personal pix and journeys with friens and family in india via flickr and blogspot), i’ll urge patience.
Sit back and do a cost-benefit analysis on this situation – and tell me what you would do?
Faced with the same challenge in the West, the authorities might conduct a risk assessment, establish a monitoring mechanism, implement a phased transition, engage the private sector, etc. A minuscule % of the general population is tech-savvy, and mostly in the private sector, at that. The west outsources to India, paying top $. The Wipros of the world would tell the govt to take a long walk if the govt came to them with the same work effort paid off in indian rupiahs. Ergo, India has neither the resources to investigate the root causes for risk with due diligence, nor the means to apply a controlled choke.
I dont like it any more than you do – but tell me – as a % of the indian population – how many do you think use or care about blogs? – based on connectivity, power availability, air conditioning, recreational time availability, the % would be miniscule. So reality check guys.
In brief – Indians dont have the time or the means or the patience or the need to tiptoe around this.
BTW – rediffiland is very good. Do check it out.
I would like to thank Suraj for his delightfully funny satire. I was feeling down all day, but that post cheered me up immensely. Thank you, thank you, thank you for that great laugh.
Number Six, I’m with you, but this might be a building opportunity rather than a time for snark 🙂
hairy_d, I sympathize with your point of view in some sense (India does have limited resources) but I still wonder if there isn’t more to be had by tracking open sites and mining them for information than blocking all of them? Tech savvy types: am I completely off base here?
that’s exactly it…. that’s been the whole debate with the bush admnistration’s manipulation of 9/11 using fear tactics to trick the public into pushing their private agendas… the hype hides the real motives. if a terrorist organization wants to plant an attack, they can do it despite the so-called security measures that are being taken… seriously, the terrorists are not that dumb!!! and it’s not like most of the security measures are a huge secret, the administration is covering their ass to prevent finger pointing in case of future attacks and to justify their agenda.
this was the G8 statement made in st petersburg re mumbai blasts:
first off, where were the outrage and the condolences during the many terrorist attacks in the last 10 years in india, where far more than 200 people have died?! why now? and we know what ‘legitimate’ means, like dropping bombs in civilian lands in afghanistan and invading Iraq instead of searching for Bin Ladin. justice may not come pretty, but there have been so many miscalculations, so much misjudgement and deceit in the past few years, i absolutely cannot trust those words!
it would be nice if this were true but it’s BS… which next political move are they trying to justify and paving the way for now?..
sorry this was a vent-fest… it is really irking me!
In response to MD in #29.
The challenge is not in pulling the technical lever – it is in putting together the organization and the processes to support the lever pulling.
The issue at hand is that there is a central body in charge of security management. There are very few people who know what to do. They see blog usage tantamount to “timepass” by idlers or by terrorists, with little tangible societal benefit. The most logical path is to enforce a timeout. The only recourse for the public is to use their vote to yank the chains, but this is hardly the dominant issue on most voters’ minds – not when it’s summer in India and the price of gas going skyhigh.
QED
o! btw – in case some non SM’er is popping in via the links – i’d rather not be referred to as “you indians” – i’m canadian but have work intersts in both US, india.
Contrast the indian reaction to the Matrix launched by Dept of Homeland Security, a big-lardassed boondoggle if there was one. What would you do if you had limited resources and had to take an action to mitigate citizen risk?
Suraj,
The freedom to walk “around with my boobs and belly hanging out” is really important to me (so I can show off my man-cans). So are MANY other freedoms in American society and I feel much freer here than I ever felt in India. So, you go stick it up your Suraj.
To all you South Indians, Gujus, Sindhis, Bengalis and other ‘Indian Castes’ whose ethnic group is not part of the army and security of the country. HOW DARE YOU COMMENT ON WHAT SHOULD BE DONE!!
PUNJABIS, RAJPUTS, SIKHS, MARATHAS AND THE OTHER FEW CASTES WHO MAKE UP THE ARMY HAVE THE FIRST AND ONLY SAY.
GUJUS AND SINDHIS: GO BACK TO YOUR MOTEL BUSINESS SOUTH INDIANS: GO BACK TO DEVELOPING SOFTWARE BENGALIS: GO BACK TO DOING PAINTING/ARTWORK
peace out and keep it real!
fair enough, fair enough…. 🙂
“To all you South Indians, Gujus, Sindhis, Bengalis and other ‘Indian Castes’ whose ethnic group is not part of the army and security of the country. “
ali g, i suggest you go back and re-read some of the names of people in the army who are part and parcel of defending the country and who have died for it. what an ignorant comment from someone who only seems to deal in crude stereotypes.
Ali G,
ROFL, I think you are a troll.. 🙂
The “martial races” theory was developed by the Brits (as usual) for maintaining their rule. There is no merit to that.. Right now, the Indian govt’s policy is to have a balanced representation of all the districts in the country..
You forgot “writing”, “directing”, “arguing”, “being Communists”…etc. If you’re going to insult me, kindly be accurate about it.
careful, there, hairy_d, you’re asking people to think seriously about security issues and the difficult task of keeping people safe…….
“BENGALIS: GO BACK TO DOING PAINTING/ARTWORK”
ROTFL! 🙂
How about adding – “BENGALIS: GO BACK TO WRITING NOVELS, COMING UP WITH PSEUDO-INTELLECTUAL VIEWPOINTS OF THIS WORLD, PROTESTING AGAINST HEGEMONISTIC TENDENCIES OF USA ETC. ETC.” I can go on and on.
On a serious note, there are enough Bongs in the Indian Defence forces for Bongs to not worry about their contribution to India.
Regards,
What most people don’t understand is that the internet is not a truck, it’s a series of tubes… the faster you accept that fact, the better off we’ll all be.
MD – I’m sorry I didnt follow you. Pls elaborate.
I cant help but think about this in such terms. A lot of my day to day work is to make things happen – sell the problem, get handshakes, scope work effort, get the ball moving – and then get out of the way.
I just think that if the indian govt came to me with something like this – can you do this ? – frig. it’ll take me a couple of weeks just to know who all are the stakeholders in this and coordinate meetings on their calendars.
now – if i was the director managing the cert or whatever – i would think, “i know this is wrong, but this is the least bad of all the options open to me. at least it will buy me some time and my countrymen will be safe for a few more weeks.” And I’ll pull the plug. Believe me the 20 some page report that was produced sounds like it was done by some person who burnt the midnight oil – given the recency of the mumbai blasts – and it was WIthin the department.
ok – that reminds me. back to work. hugs and kisses.
OMG that was so funny. But I think you might be actually serious. Pray tell us what kind are you?
oh, I was being sarcastic, sorry. My initial reaction was that this was bad for free speech reasons, but also because you might be losing some valuable intelligence by shutting off all these websites. My sarcasms points more the idea that issues of security are difficult…so, in a way, I was saying your posts made me think about this issue a little differently. Maybe it is much harder for Indian security/counterterrorism types to track jihadi websites because of lack of resources or whatever, so closing down blogs seems like the obvious answer.
This may get more blogplay than the actual bombing itself.
If we don’t take our freedoms seriously, we won’t have them for long.
Look, one can come up with all kinds of scenarious which make this look like a reasonable approach. But to me it looks like the height of stupidity. Are they seriously doing this to shut down communications amongst terrorist groups? As other commentators have pointed out, this seems like a highly implausible scenario (if you were a terrorist, would you communicate via a blog?!). More likely, they came across a couple of armchair Jihadist blowhards and decided to shut down the whole thing. The technical knowledge of the parties responsible, I would guess, is not that high, and the thought of blocking just the select sites probably never occurred to anyone.
By doing this they destroy goodwill amongst many opinion-makers within India who are involved in blogging. And the blanket censorship approach is an embarrassment to India worldwide, as many opinion-makers in other parts of the “free” world start connecting India to China for the wrong reasons.
Oh, and my last comment seemed garbled and as if I was agreeing with the decision – basically, I was trying to ‘channel’ the thinking of those who made this decision. I still think, on balance, that it’s not a good idea.
“do some proper research, you wanker.”
sorry, don’t know anything about software. but unlike you i do have enough grey matter to actually undertake research, and my research has taught me to recognize those afflicted with maha-moron syndrome. i suggest you check into a clinic soon:)
Okay, last comment. Sorry, but I am fascinated by this topic. Here’s another StragegyPage link about information warfare on the net. The gist of this article is the more on the net to track, the better.
Whose God, please ignore that fool (his off-topic comment directed at you has been deleted).