Monday, July 17, 2006

The Government of India has reportedly instructed Internet Service Providers to block Blogger, Typepad and Geocities, among around twelve other domains perceived to be hosting ‘radical’ and ‘anti-India’ websites. Many Internet users in India were unable to access blogs over the weekend.

The ISPs which have complied with this alleged directive are Spectranet, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Reliance Powersurfer, Airtel Broadband and Sify, among others. Spectranet has confirmed that it has received such a directive, saying that the list of blocked sites ran into 22 pages.

As of now, there has been no official confirmation from the government in any form. Bloggers are reportedly “furious” at the action by the government and are planning collective action against the government, including filing a Right to Information request under the Right to Information Act passed in 2005.