Government to Block Over 200 Sites in India


BANGALORE: A number of websites including torrent file aggregators, file storage sites and even Google Docs and Google's URL shortener Goo.gl have been blocked in India, reports TOI.

Delhi high court has commanded the internet service providers to block around 472 websites.

The order, sanctioned by Justice V Kameswar Rao, was passed following a complaint against the Multi Screen Media, a company that runs sports channel.

Sony Six holds the exclusive media rights for the FIFA World Cup in the Indian sub-continent, has secured a court order to block content over 200 websites relating to the ongoing World Cup Football matches.

An official with an Internet service provider confirmed the development and said the order contains list of over 200 websites, content on which have to be blocked.

Internet service providers are finding it tough to block content on "private, password protected websites," since it is difficult to locate where the illegal content is hosted. Such orders are applied through the department of telecom.

The current order, which was first issued in the last week of June by the Delhi High Court, includes popular torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay among others. In such cases, Internet service providers do not block the entire website but only the webpage where illegal or pirated content is located. This is not the first time when such an order has been passed.

The website Medianama mentions that there is an updated order that shortens the list of blocked websites to 219 and excludes Google services websites. However, a number of Internet service providers are including MTNL Delhi and Airtel continue to block Google Docs and Goo.gl. The site notes that BSNL is blocking sites at DNS level and using a Google DNS or OpenDNS address unblocks the websites.

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