[Reader-list] India: Govt blocks e-group

[Harsh Kapoor]

[  * The Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council 
(HNLC) produced its Fortnightly Newsletter named 
"The Voice" starting 30th September 2002. This 
was available on a yahoo group. The details are:

Group name on Yahoo: kynhun · Bri U Hynniewtrep:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kynhun/  ]


o o o

The Hindustan Times, September 23, 2003

Govt blocks e-group but can't prevent access
Siddharth Zarabi
(New Delhi, September 22)

For the first time since its inception four 
months ago, India's Computer Emergency Response 
Team (CERT-In) has issued orders for blocking an 
obscure e-group on Yahoo.com for "promoting 
anti-national news and containing material 
against the government of India and the state 
government of Meghalaya".

In response, the department of telecom (DoT) 
ordered around 200 Indian Internet service 
providers (ISPs) to block the 'Kynhun'  [*] 
discussion group last week. The link is an online 
forum that acts as a message board for a 
secessionist outfit spread over the seven states 
in the Northeast. The group seeks to form an 
independent country - Hynniewtrep.

State-owned BSNL, Tata-owned VSNL and Sify have 
conveyed to the DoT verbally that they will 
comply with the order.

A February 2003 notification empowers CERT-In to 
block websites that promote hate content, 
defamation and child porn and other objectionable 
material.

Many ISPs have told the DoT that selective 
blocking could interfere with other legitimate 
online discussion groups.

HT failed to access the link using a 
government-owned ISP. However, such a block is 
futile. A Google search for the offending 
material gets you access to the group, and you 
can download cached content from this group.

About reports that it has refused to block the 
group, a Yahoo India spokesperson said: "We have 
not been approached. The content is hosted on 
Yahoo.com's US server and whatever content rests 
on it is not under Yahoo India's jurisdiction."

*****************

Net nanny

** Who's banned what?

India's Computer Emergency Response Team has 
asked ISPs to block a discussion group started on 
Yahoo by Meghalaya secessionists

** Will the ban work?

Most surfers in India can't access the group as 
around 200 ISPs have been asked to block it. Some 
have complied

** But...

You can access cached material via web search. 
Link can be accessed via sites like 
anonymizer.com. The group can abandon link and 
start a new discussion group easily