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India Blocks Code Sharing Websites On Anti-Terror Advisory

darkstar019 writes The Indian government has banned websites under the pretext that ISIS is using them for anti-Indian purposes. The list includes code sharing websites like Pastebin, Github and Sourceforge. As of now, these websites are still up. From the article: "Officials from the department of Information Technology and the department of telecom were not available for comment. 'These are all providing very dangerous kind of cut and paste services..You can take code, cut it, paste it, remove it, delete it,' said one government official who requested anonymity."

78 comments

  1. Holy shit by PrimeWaveZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Copy, paste, remove, delete?

    This is why we invented nukes, people.

    1. Re:Holy shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      And that is why India invented nukes, too.

    2. Re:Holy shit by pushing-robot · · Score: 3, Funny

      They're just trying to remove crud from the web. Is that so wrong?

      --
      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    3. Re:Holy shit by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

      Possibly the start of something good - maybe next they'll be banning compilers, and all those jobs that were off-shored to India will come back home.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    4. Re:Holy shit by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      Theirs are all pointed at Pakistan... long story as to why.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    5. Re:Holy shit by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Funny

      With Github and Sourceforge cut off, that's about what, 1/4 of their coding output right there?

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    6. Re:Holy shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let us not forget our internets is a series of tubes, Senator!!

    7. Re:Holy shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      make mrproper

      -saber

    8. Re:Holy shit by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 1

      Everybody knows the best way to remove crud is with acid.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    9. Re:Holy shit by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Now they just need to cut off access to websites where people ask coding questions, like StackOverflow.

    10. Re: Holy shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've seen some code on there that made me recoil in horror, but it never made me feel terror because I don't have to maintain that shit.

    11. Re:Holy shit by nashv · · Score: 0

      Actually, they are all pointed towards China. Your geopolitics is about 50 yrs outdated.

      --
      Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
    12. Re:Holy shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well I guess the Indian developers will actually have to develop something instead of as the Indian governement put it copy and paste.

    13. Re: Holy shit by Calavar · · Score: 2

      Considering that Pakistan and India are currently fighting a war over the Siachen glacier, no, those geopolitics are not outdated.

    14. Re:Holy shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ..and ban technical books

    15. Re:Holy shit by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      Depends on the crud. Sometimes a base is much better.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  2. Criminals by NoKaOi · · Score: 2

    When developing FOSS is a crime, only criminals will develop FOSS.

    1. Re:Criminals by allaunjsilverfox2 · · Score: 1

      When developing FOSS is a crime, only criminals will develop FOSS.

      I would argue that may be true, but the level of output would drop at rather obvious rate. Since most FOSS work is paid work, it wouldn't be advantageous for a company to run the risk of legal issues. So if a company A is only sourced from region B, they will not risk their income on goodwill alone.

      --
      Restore the madness of youth's lechery
    2. Re:Criminals by genner · · Score: 1

      When developing FOSS is a crime, only criminals will develop FOSS.

      Only a good guy with FOSS can stop a bad guy with a FOSS.

    3. Re: Criminals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would be overjoyed if we had a constitutional amendment that guaranteed our right to keep and bear FOSS.

  3. very dangerous kind of cut and paste services? by wisnoskij · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "You can take code, cut it, paste it, remove it, delete it"
    OH, the humanity!

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
    1. Re:very dangerous kind of cut and paste services? by halivar · · Score: 1

      If you'd seen MY code, you wouldn't be mocking.

    2. Re:very dangerous kind of cut and paste services? by allaunjsilverfox2 · · Score: 1

      If you'd seen MY code, you wouldn't be mocking.

      Ok, then show us! You have thrown down the digital gauntlet, let us have at thee!

      --
      Restore the madness of youth's lechery
    3. Re:very dangerous kind of cut and paste services? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Must be Chuck Norris code.

  4. Is RoseIndia Safe? by GTRacer · · Score: 1

    Not sure why I haven't seen them lately but I used to get scads of results from them doing searches for code snippets.

    --
    Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
  5. Anonymously by spauldo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd request anonymity too, if I went around in public saying stupid crap like that.

    --
    Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
  6. India, tech savior of the world. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah. These people think github is for terrorists. This is who you are outsourcing all your work to. Fucking brilliant.

  7. Outsourcing Crisis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    US Companies depending on cheap Indian programmers labor, just saw costs skyrocket !

    They have MORONS in government also !

  8. Indian programmers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What a surprise; the best vector for attacking Indians is via copy & paste code snippets.

  9. Slashdot is next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm going to use Slashdot for anti-Indian purposes and maybe get this site blocked as well.

  10. Anti-Indian ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... another way of saying you've just unemployed a dozen dot-head coders that could have re-written the same thing.

    1. Re: Anti-Indian ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      .head should be a TLD

    2. Re: Anti-Indian ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that like .blow.job?

  11. In related news by hey! · · Score: 2

    Amazon sells books..

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  12. Block Github? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Clueless government machinery at work here. Someone needs to educate these idiots that "code" in this context means "sequence of instructions for the machine" and NOT "cipher instructions for the terrorists". Github is the last place in the world a terrorist would signup for. If terrorists thought logically, they wouldn't be terrorists in the first place.

    1. Re:Block Github? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, because free healthcare is anti-American! Just like free code!! Damn terrorist commies sharing things without price! Treat 'em like we did the feather Indians.

    2. Re: Block Github? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know you are an AC but please stop spreading lies. I have been living in Russia for the last 10 months and github was never blocked.

  13. at least not stackoverflow by MHewis · · Score: 2

    Now THAT wold be serious.

    1. Re:at least not stackoverflow by rjforster · · Score: 2

      Now THAT wold be serious.

      True. Stackoverflow is the answer. Now what was the queston?

    2. Re:at least not stackoverflow by wisnoskij · · Score: 4, Funny

      This question has be closed as Not Constructive.

      --
      Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  14. Communication, it's dangerous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lock everybody in a solid box, and never let them out. This will solve all our security and safety issues.

  15. Face meet palm by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    Nuff said.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  16. They're absolutely right! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cut and paste can be used to violate copyright.

  17. Where did 3 months go? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it April 1st today, have I lost three months?

  18. OMG, it's like reusing WORDS! by swschrad · · Score: 1

    can't have that. they might be put in the wrong order against rules.

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  19. Put Slashdot on the terror watchlist by Alsee · · Score: 1

    10 print "pasting code on teh internets is dangerous"
    20 goto 10

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  20. The real reason by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... not co-operating with government investigations ...

    From the second paragraph of the article. No mention of what the Indian government was investigating but terrorism and IP piracy were mentioned; although not in the same sentence.

    "... but blocking the entire website is wrong ..."

    As the article points out, Sony just got all file-sharing web-sites blocked in India.

  21. Re: Tell you what: THESE *may* help... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have a 84-bit version? Sign me up! It's bits all the way down!

  22. Hehe: Good catch (typo)... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    64-bit (not my typo of "84-bit")... sorry about that!

    (In ANY event? Well - I hope those help you in your quest...)

    APK

    P.S.=> "Onwards & UPWARDS"... apk

    1. Re: Hehe: Good catch (typo)... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Happy new year apk. Love you lots.

  23. Yarg! by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    Yarg! It's time to outlaw opposable thumbs.

    Why with opposable thumbs you could build something which flashes in big giant neon letters that the Indian government is stupid and reactionary, and meddling with things they can't even grasp.

    Just like every other fucking moronic government in the world.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Yarg! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Like private companies are any better. If it were up to the private sector, there would be no unalienable rights. Screw free speech, shut down those criticisms of my company! Screw the right to life, if you don't have enough money you should starve, no matter that food is rotting in a granary because of overproduction!

      The private sector cares nothing for the General Welfare. The market bears a lot of unnecessary suffering. Government should work against the selfish short-sightedness of the private sector.

      Unfortunately, private money buys governments too often, and gets sites shut down in the name of terrorism but in reality because of private paranoia about IP theft or whatever.

      Solution: stop viewing government like a business. Government should be an alternative to business, a hedge against the market,. Government should give individuals a "public option" so that we don't have to play the market's cruel games, if we don't choose to.

      We should address the fundamental causes of terrorism, not try to shut down communications and sites. The latter is a business strategy. But the government should not be viewed as just another business.

  24. Cut out everyone's tongues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know what, the more I read about all this ridiculous bullshit the more I think we are all condemned to have our tongues cut out, our eyes burned and ear drums perforated. The state fears its people so much it wishes to hang draw and quarter them all. Do our governments really have Democracy or are the conquistadors still in charge?

    The wild animal does not strike until it is backed into a corner. The predator actively hunts. Who is the prey and who is the hunter?

  25. Why should we move by publiclurker · · Score: 1

    when it is the spoiled brats like you that think the entire world exists for your own benefit, and that we should be honored for the privilege of cleaning up after you?

  26. This is going to cripple their outsourcing by Sarusa · · Score: 2

    Usual outsourced programming involves finding chunks of vaguely related existing code, smashing them together, beating on them till they compile, calling it done.

    If this includes StackExchange they'll be completely dead in the water.

    1. Re:This is going to cripple their outsourcing by Greyfox · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, I was just thinking, how are our outsourced contractors going to plagiarize code for their employers if India blocks all those web sites? Just when I was beginning to think the quality of work from those contractors couldn't get any worse...

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    2. Re:This is going to cripple their outsourcing by Threni · · Score: 1

      Why do you think there's such an emphasis on reusable code, formal proof and test driven development? Before too long you'll be literally able to get actual monkeys to more or less randomly hit keys and have a guaranteed working program out the other end. Well, working in terms of meeting some sort of spec, anyway; no guarantee that's correct.

  27. The Internet is Terrorist by SpaceManFlip · · Score: 1
    The Internet allows anyone to take secret code and use the Terrorist Copy technique to Terror-Paste the secret death code into REAL TIME PUBLISHING ACROSS THE GLOBE

    This is how they obtain the means to kill freedom

    Through their unfettered access to text-sharing. This Internets must be stopped.

  28. How is this a pretext? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    The Indian government has banned websites under the pretext that ISIS is using them for anti-Indian purposes.

    A pretext is a fake reason, not simply a reason you take issue with.

    Also, from the article:

    Websites like Pastebin don't host any content but are a platform for users to paste text.

    How does Pastebin not host content? That's exactly what it exists to do, isn't it? In pretty much the purest possible form.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:How is this a pretext? by knwny · · Score: 1

      The article is from The Economic Times which is part of The Times Group. And as most Indian readers know, content from The Times Group isn't really well-known for grammar and accuracy.

  29. this is possibly the best way to follow up by P3r53ph0N3 · · Score: 1

    in order to lose any war. Let's cut off electricity because certainly enemies use it too.

  30. Facepalmingly incompetent ban, too by billstewart · · Score: 1

    If the ISPs want to ignore the ban, they've got good ammunition. The ban lists a bunch of "URLs", including things like "http://vimeo.com/" and "https://archive.org". Does it ban URLs like "http://vimeo.com/some-movie-here" or "https://archive.org/whatever"? Nope, just the front pages of the websites :-). Then there's also the problem that most ISPs don't serve URLs, they transmit IP packets and maybe also serve domain names and email mailboxes, so technically the ISP is just connecting you to 107.162.132.45 port 80, not to http://vimeo.com./

    Does this incompetence mean that the government of India can't hassle ISPs that don't do what the censors wanted them to do, rather than what they asked them to? Sadly, probably not.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re:Facepalmingly incompetent ban, too by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This discussion itself is likely what the ban is all about. A test of the public's reaction to mass banning of a range of websites. What gets by, what gets resisted, who should they target first and, how should the list grow and expand. All about how they can regain control of public communications and put it back into the box of pay millions to play main stream media. Something that is being played out in every part of the globe from Australia to Russia, from India to the UK and, from China to the US. The strangling to death of net neutrality and the institution of censorship as the norm and you only have the right to express you opinion in the silence of the political wilderness and not in any publicly accessible forum.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  31. Baby thrown out with bathwater by Peter+(Professor)+Fo · · Score: 1
    Don't these people realise? People sit at home and dream of dropping nukes on their shitty politicians. We all do. (Personally a few plagues and extracted fingernails as revenge for their greedy self-interest as well.) So eliminate all homes. Better still eliminate all brains. Make thinking a crime.

    If malicious code is being passed around well known public forums then deal with that code. Hey! Why not encourage the eyeballs and brain cells of visitors to report hacking code requests. It could be done because most people won't have the slightest thing to do with terrorists and hackers.

    It's an attitude problem. Make it easy for me to report something suspicious and make it easy for me to believe I'm doing something valuable and sensible by talking to clued-up people then I will. OTOH Why bother with these twits.

  32. Yes, let's destroy our fastest growing industry. by dbc · · Score: 1

    Were this any other country, I'd give this about 48 hours to get reversed. Since this is the Indian bureaucracy we are talking about, in may be more like two weeks for this to trickle through the system. But when you the take the fastest growing industry in the nation, that pays the best wages, and is your only hope for keeping the best and brightest from emigrating to greener pastures, and basically torpedo it, somebody is going to notice.

  33. How dare you berate them Indian ***GENIUSES*** !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who do you guys think you are?

    You guys think that you are smarter than the Indians?

    Don't you know that the Indians are much way smarter than all of you combined?

    Take, for example --- no one in this world can link Planet Jupiter and Planet Venus to them stinky Chinese communists ! But the Indians sure can !!

    Just in case you do not know what I am talking about, I am providing two links for ya ...

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

    and

    http://www.ign.com/boards/thre...

  34. Re:Yes, let's destroy our fastest growing industry by perryizgr8 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Hey, the block will take about a week to get enforced here! I can still access each one of those at my home, office and mobile. India is slow. And mark my words, nobody gives two shits about this block. Those who care about github, will still be able to access it. At least I will. We have had dailymotion blocked for months. I didn't even know until yesterday when everybody went up in arms about github. Because dailymotion never went down for me.

    Incompetency pervades everything here. The ones ordering the block did it because they are incompetent. The ones supposed to enforce it are also incompetent.

    --
    Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
  35. How is this a pretext? by netvaibhav · · Score: 1

    How does Pastebin not host content? That's exactly what it exists to do, isn't it? In pretty much the purest possible form.

    I guess parent wanted to say "Pastebin don't host any (of their) content".

  36. they won't block stackoverflow though because... by Assmasher · · Score: 1

    Their out-sourcing industry would go under...

    --
    Loading...
  37. Sony connection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From TFA:

    "In June 2014, the Delhi High Court ordered a block of 472 file sharing websites including Google Docs and Pirate Bay following a complaint filed by Sony Entertainment. The entertainment company was hacked and contents from its servers were shared by hackers on various file sharing websites. In earlier instances, many websites have been blocked for copyright infringement as well."

    Word has it that next the FBI will be announcing that, indeed, they were wrong, and it was not North Korea that hacked and leaked. No, it was ISIS/L, instead, and the so-called "insiders" were charter members of the Culver City chapter. And, no, LQ is not ISIS, just an affiliate group, though indictments are being prepared for them as well. Ok, so that's all supposition and caricature, but I've seen the Fibbies and the Justice Dept. claim dumber stuff than NK crack-fu.

    All begs the question, why a 1st amendment? Censorship is evil. Copyright is by definition, censorship. Finish the syllogism. Explains all the hate for Sony[*], MPAA, and the make-it-so mentality of bonehead courts and governments, though, doesn't it?

    Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke, anyway. Look, they get a big box office out of what would have been a turkey, and the MPAA will have Congressmen and Senators asking how four-square they need to come out against terrorist copyright piracy. Easiest way to tell LQ is Federal. Follow the money. So why are we dolts putting up with this shit?

    1. Re:Sony connection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry. LQ = L sQ. Ya know, the provocateurs and gullible patsies for hire franchise. Feds, Sony, M$, others, maybe. Ya knever know.

  38. Re:Yes, let's destroy our fastest growing industry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Were this any other country, I'd give this about 48 hours to get reversed. Since this is the Indian bureaucracy we are talking about, in may be more like two weeks for this to trickle through the system. But when you the take the fastest growing industry in the nation, that pays the best wages, and is your only hope for keeping the best and brightest from emigrating to greener pastures, and basically torpedo it, somebody is going to notice.

    Excuse me but as someone who has worked with India'a "best and brightest" they are only capable of copy-and-paste coding and their resumes and "employment" are as fictitious as "Stephen Colbert." We had Indians claiming to have supported IBM AIX systems for 3 years yet they had to be shown how to list a file system subdirectory among other command-line things. The honest Indians admit most of them are a nation of con-artists, a cabal if you will.

  39. I've heard this one before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "You can take code, cut it, paste it, remove it, delete it"...

    Isn't that a Missy Elliott song?

  40. Legendary quote being born by CurryCamel · · Score: 1

    "These are all providing very dangerous kind of cut and paste services..You can take code, cut it, paste it, remove it, delete it," said one government official who requested anonymity.

    These sentences will live forever! Can't wait for the memes.
    Honestly, my BS detector is beeping. This has to be a hoax, right?