Slashdot Mirror
India Blocks Yahoo Groups Over Political Content
Ryan Barrett writes "In an attempt to shut down the Yahoo Group of a separatist political
movement, the Indian government's
CERT organization ended up blocking its country from accessing Yahoo Groups as a
whole. China's censorship of the Internet in the past few years has been
unsettling, but most people have accepted it as a by-product of China's form of
government. Given that India's form of government is clearly different, this is
much more chilling."
This government is doing nothing more than trying to please people. Many people will be pleased, and many will be displeased. They have blocked Yahoo Groups, but there are plenty other sources of criticism, probably many much worse, that will remain uncensored until they go to the extreme of blocking everything by default and only allowing the sites of their choice.
This is not only ridiculous, it's not feasible. Good try.
Can't you just use the Java Anonymous Proxy or anonymizer.com and still access it? Or someone can just write a script to copy the particular banned Yahoo group and mirror it somewhere else...
When are countries going to learn that the Internet can't be stopped?
please go enroll in a 1000 level history and political science class at your local community college.
Yeah too bad it's all going to hell. The Patriot Act has already taken away a bunch of our rights. And the Patriot Act II is still being thrown around. People are being scared into giving up thier rights, and as long as they are being told that they'll get more 'security' then everyone is going to keep giving up thier rights. They'd rather live in a secure little perfect world, than a world that is full of limitless possibilities.
There's a wonderful quote (I'm not getting it word-for-word):
If we don't believe in free speech for people we despise, we do not believe in it at all.
It's very difficult to draw a line in the sand to divide what is and is not acceptible as free speech. And the most damage doesn't come from misplacing the line a little to the right or the left, but from placing the line to begin with.
India will now be forever locked in a debate over what can and cannot be accessible to the public.
On the upside, the more India is cut off from the internet, the better my job security.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
The Honchos sitting up there have no idea of the power of the Internet and the repercursions of blocking such a widely used site like yahoo groups. I did contact my friends in India. They said it was back online after a day or so.
Of course for a democratic nation like India free speech was taken for granted until today. The infamous declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975 plagues the Congress party even today. Funny, a lot of the leaders in the ruling party found themselves at the receiving end of the stick back then. Time really does make one forget I guess.
Anyway let us see how the "democratic process" pans itself out on this issue. The US found its own achilles heel in the Patriot Act. So moralizers beware.
--> Your Wisecrack Here
Does it really matter what name the government is called? Wether it be socialist, communist, republic or democracy? Any form of government can be corrupt. Maybe we shouldn't be trying to bring democracy to other countries. Maybe we should be more intersted in governments that server the people. Any one notice that about 100 years ago people stopped refering to the US as a republic and started calling the US a democracy?
Good grief,the country has over 840 million people and it is worried about a Yahoo group that has 12 members (now 188 thanks to this news story). While it is easy to say "remember 9/11", remember reality too.
It is unlikely they need Yahoo in order to successful anti-government activists. If they do, then they are not much of a threat. It would seem this is like killing flies with nuclear weapons.
Perhaps this should be a word to the wise, as American companies continue off-shoring development. What happens when the shut down incoming email? Your corporate site? Or your ISP? It appears they have no concern for the outcome of their action, merely that they follow it, as their duty demands. However, it is _their_ country and as it said, it is outside the control of US laws, and by direct connection US protections.
democracy is nice
but so is strong government
a lot of people here come from cultural monocultures of western democracies with strong central governments
we're talking about an organization with at most a few dozen members that want a sliver of land in the northeast of india to be independent, in a country that is as about as culturally varied as the entire african subcontinent
this is serious stuff in a place where india and china still have serious border issues about sikkhim, kashmir, etc., not to mention active separatist groups like in assam
this is not the border of canada and the us, across which most people here on slashdot are posting, perhaps the most historically peaceful border in the world
this is serious stuff, this is not funny, this is not a simplistic civics lesson in sixth grade that is understandable in simplistic terms only
india has to take serious steps to protect the integrity of its borders and internal cohesion
blocking all of yahoo groups was a MISTAKE in trying to block this one small group
everyone involved admits that
germany/ france actively censors nazi interests, and we think of them as open democracies
that's a group a lot larger than this tiny unknown group
nobody's screaming bloody murder over that here
so please, ket's have not have all the knee-jerk over-simplifying chicken littles cry the sky is falling in india
let's have some perspective
this really is no big deal, except for this minor practically unknown separatist group, which now has won more pr than they could have possibly dreamed of
which is perhaps the real lesson here about censorship, after all is said and done: you often just wind up buying pr for the group/ work you are trying to censor
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
But you're still free to say the Patriot Act blows, and to vote for people willing to overturn it or its most dangerous provisions - and there are quite a few legislators out there speaking up against the act.
In addition, we have courts that have overturned provisions of the patriot act, and states that have refused to enforce parts of it.
Our system isn't perfect, and it requires consistent vigalance on the part of hte governed, but at least the avenues for change are built into its core.
Just one more reason why maintaining freedom of speech in the U.S. requires constant vigilance.
Would you care to list some rights that you personally used to enjoy but no longer can, due to the Patriot Act? If 'a bunch' of your rights are gone, I would think you could at least name a couple.
Let's put this in context. Millions of Indians-- more than the entire population of the United States-- live in poverty. (Just because Fortune 500 corporations are outsourcing stuff there doesn't mean India is some sort of wonderful, prosperous Democratic playground. Jobs are outsourced to India because it's cheap.) And we're worried about which Yahoo! Groups they can read there? Many Indians are worried about how they'll feed their children next month.
So instead of ranting and raving on SlashDot about freedom of speech, write a letter to the appropriate ambassadors-- and then go and donate to a charity that helps poor Indians. It'll be more productive, and you'll help solve two problems, not just one.
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
India has border disputes with just about every
neighbor. Indian political leaders are under a lot
of pressure to not settle any of these disputes.
Instead they have to fan these flames to win votes.
Maybe one day Indians will wake up and elect leaders
that will do something about feeding and educating
their masses rather than bickering with neighbouring
countries over land.
how come we didn't see so much outrage when US banned al jazeera in Iraq?
So if the site is blocked, what about emails from them, or what about if they have it sent to their Hotmail for example, cant they just check their hotmail
i barely actualy use the actual website for yahoo groups.
so all they have really done is made it a bit more difficult, but i dont see how they are going to stop people from checking webmail email accounts
and technicaly you dont really need to access the webpage to accept an invitation to the group
Logic such as this could have resolved the conundrum of the Confederacy by stating simply that the north had a right to invade the south for the sole purpose of giving slaves the right of self-determination -- and that the right of the Confederacy to secede was not the issue.
Of course, as the globe shrinks there are opportunities to violate the self-determination of a lot more of the people than ever before. Hence the real test of a sovereign's committment to human rights is its committment to expanding the ecological range of Earth.
Seastead this.
India has traditionally been isolationist with both business and politics. From what I've read of Indian politics over the years it doesn't surprise me. It's similar with business. It is very hard for a foreign business to set up there because they wish to protect their own burgoning industries. Don't forget the modern Indian nation is only 60 years old and is showing the signs of insecurity that most new nations show. Paranoia, isolationism, protectionism etc. In fact very similar to a slightly less young nation over the pond.
You forgot the importing of foriegners to take American jobs through H-1Bs & L1s. Clinton didn't do much to help out during his term in the office of President. I didn't see him stopping in influx of foriegners through visa programs.
At the next eco-hypocrisy-meeting, count the private jets used to get to the meeting. Should be interesting to see that