And the Same Messgae for Geocities from Spectranet ISP on Monday July 17, 2006
I am regularly updating this post adding new stuff at the end. Please scroll down for updates.
I tried reading my usual quota of blogs (11.45 am, India) from the side bar and all the blogger sites are giving error. ‘XXXX.blogspot.com could not be found. Please check the name and try again.’ Replace the stars with any blog you know of and you might get this error message if you are in India. I thought there must be some problem with blogger. Then I searched the web. And this is the discussion I found on ‘blogger-help’ google group.
Gaurav wrote: > Hi,
> I am not able to see my blog: > http://home-business-secrets.blogspot.com/ and I cannot see any other > blog either. There is no notification of this from Blogger either. I am > able to log in to my account and see the dashboard and see all the > other stuff. But for some reason I am not able to view any blogs. Is > anyone else experiencing the same problem? Please let me know.
> Regards,
> Gaurav.
Gaurav, Your blog looks fine to me – both FF and IE. Where are you located? Nitecruzr, Northern California USA (I copied this information from his ‘view profile’ page)I asked a few people who are from India and were available on Google chat that if they were facing the same problem? People in India that I contacted are facing it. Now I know I am speculating but it makes me very very irritated to think that our government might be playing some hanky panky with blog sites? The other possibility is that Blogger messed it up only in India? I would love it if it is the second possibility but I think there is a very slim chance of that. I can only hope that there is an innocent explanation to it.
Update 1: A friend in Noida says he can access blogspot sites (Airtel Broadband), so maybe some ISP service providers are facing a problem?
Update 2: A friend from Mumbai (Sify ISP) too can access. I can’t make any sense of this one. Why me?
Update 3: More from Google groups:
Dhir:
When I type the url http://blogspot.com/ that shows this message Site BLOCKED !!!! But I can Open the http://www.blogger.com/home I Can create blog but when i click to view blog it shows 502 Bad Gateway The following error occurred: [code=DNS_HOST_NOT_FOUND] The host name was not found during the DNS lookup. Contact your system administrator if the problem is not found by retrying the URL. Could not open error file Also I can see other blog but not mine blogs….the above message appears I tried the same and I got the same message, site blocked.Update 4: I contacted the Spectranet callcenter and this is big, they confirmed that they have blocked the site because they have a letter from Ministry of communication! I wish I had heard it worng. Call your ISP providers that are blocking it and check it out for yourself.
Update 5: I once again called Spectranet customer care. They are more guarded now. They said we will not block any site unless there is a govt directive. So next question was “So is there a govt directive?” To which the executive took me into a loop. What is my institute name etc. etc. finally saying they cannot find my institute account. I dropped the call finally saying if it is too uncomfortable for you I will drop my question. Anyone desiring to ring the call centre can do so at 011 41612277.
Update 6: The most plausible explanation doing rounds is that maybe the govt. just wanted to block a few ‘blogspot’ sites and in the process the entire domain got blocked! This might be true and maybe by Monday things will be back to normal.
Update 7 (edit: July16, 2006): Abi calls up the Spectranet call centre and is given the same explanation.
… I called up the Spectranet’s Call Centre in Delhi, and their agent told me that the Ministry of Communications had indeed sent a letter asking them to block the blogspot.com sites. He was unaware of the reasons behind this move.Update 8: Back to office on Monday, still unable to view *.blogspot.com and *.typepad.com at Spectranet
Update 9: Please join bloggers collective (
publicmoderated google group) for more discussion on the same. Shivam has been calling up various people and trying to find out more. More discussion on bloggers collective. Peter has setup a Wiki that is tracing which ISPs in India are facing the problem.Update 10 (Shameless rip from Neha 1): The following people are a good place to get started off to get through the Indian Government Maze. One person who is accountable to you is Dr. Gulshan Rai (Exec Director). His phone numbers as listed by the government website are (Office: 91 -11-24363081), (Residence: 91-11-22323085) and his email is [email protected]
More phone numbers for the Department of IT can be found here.
If you want to seek information under the Right to Information, Shri BB Bahl is the Public Information Officer for Department of IT. Here is a very comprehensive guide to finding out more about blogs through the Right to Information Act. It even has a draft letter that you can send off. (End of shameless rip from Neha 1)
Update 11 (edit: July 17, 2006): Shivam has been calling people left, right and centre (more power to him, and us bloggers) and has given an account of various interactions. Brings a lot more clarity to the issue.
Update 12: Amit cannot access blogspot and geocities from Airtel now. Looks like Airtel has joined in. Can more people confirm this, I will myself do so once I reach home. My home connection is Airtel. (I cannot access .blogspot domain now from my home ISP Airtel)
Update 13: OK, I called Airtel asking help once again with mumbaihelp.blogspot.com (though I have not yet reached home, still thought no harm in ltrying) and the Airtel person confirmed that they cannot open mumbaihelp.blogspot.com at their end too. They had no idea why it was happening.
Update 14: Has it spread to Sify?? A friend says she
was able to open .blogspot.com domain on Sify ISP in the morning but now is getting ‘time out’ message. Anyone else having
problems at Sify? Time for another call centre to get busy?Update 15: Any Other ISP having problem? Please leave a comment. Also give a call to your call centres if you are gaving a problem.
Shameless Rip from Neha again (2):
List of ISPs that are blocking Blogspot.com. Some of them are also blocking Typepad.com and Geocities.comSpectranet, MTNL, Airtel, Sify, Reliance Powersurfer, Exatt, Swiftmail, Incable and 7 Star Cable Service (which AFIK – has been bought over by VSNL). (End of shameless rip from Neha 2)
Update 16: Shivam writes at Rediff Are the ISPs blocking the blogs.
Boing Boing Report: Indian government blocking all Blogspot blogs
Now on Digg: Indian Government Blocks Blogs
The conversation that The Great Indian Mutiny has with a call centre rep is hilarious:
There is a crack down in place. IP numbers are being physically located and identified. All should come back to normal once this operation is over. There is no ban in place. Livejournal and WordPress have been spared. No reason given.
Now I know you are not going to believe this, so I’m going to quote what she said, “This operation is limited to certain parts of India. Bloggers in Andaman, Nicobar and Lakhsadeep islands are not affected.” I thought she was joking but I didn’t hear the reciprocal laughter from the other end of the phone line.
Update 17:
Two wikis are tracking the issue. List of ISPs that seem to have blocked blogger, if your ISP is not there add to the list.
Register your protest at Protest by Bloggers Wiki.You can track the Press Coverage of the Issue here
Update 18: (July 19, 2006) Nandan files an RTI (Right to Information) application and shares his experience:
I filed my application at the Azad Nagar Post Office in Andheri (W). The only difficulty I had was explaining to the people behind the counter what RTI was. You see, certain Post Offices are designated as APIO (Assistant Public Information Officers), and the Superintendent in each of these offices is well aware of this. However, the common staff may not be.
So if you’re going to one of these designated post offices, and the staff is more puzzled than a Polar Bear during Holi, ask to speak to someone in the Superintendent’s office.
Once I went to that office, it was a breeze. They’re super helpful the moment you mention RTI.
Another RTI application filed by Abby.
You can see a scanned version of the list here and the letterhead does spells Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. After all, the Spectranet call centre kid was right!
Update 20 (July 19, 2006): Now that it is well known that Indian government did want to ban particular sites I would like to say a big thank you to Abi for calling up Spectranet ISP call centre and confirming what people thought I had assumed. In the beginning, mine was such a lonely voice, even though I knew very well that in spite of not being tech-savy, I can hear alright and that I heard it right the very first time when the Spectranet ISP call centre guy told me they were blocking http://blogspot.com because of ‘a letter from ministry of communication’ on Saturday 15, 2006. But then, it was such a bizare statement in a country like ours that I can understand the disbelief.
Update 21: (July 20, 2006) Messages are trickling in that people can access blogspot domain on certain ISPs but others say they cannot. I for sure at 12.30 noon, cannot access .blogspot domain from Spectranet.
My take on the entire issue? Well Shivam said it much better than I can ever say it.
How many sites did the govt want blocked?
18. (17 it seems, parenthesis mine)Was the govt right in this request?
N.O.How many sites did ISPs block?
Hundreds of thousands.Who’s to blame for our inconvenience?
ISPs.Who’s to blame for censorship?
DoT, CERT-IN, the IT Act – the powers that be.Update 21: Press Information Bureau Release: DOT Orders Internet Service Providers to Block Only the Specified Webpages/WebsitesUpdate 22: Games call centres play
Ravi writes at Bloggers Collective (the link in this update will take you there):
“Airtel (Banga
lore).
No change in the blockage.Airtel (Bangalore – though i believe all airtel customer calls are
attended in NOIDA ) has been giving me the run around from today
morning.
They seem to be unaware (or pretend to be unaware) that DOT has issued
an order asking them to unblock blogspot. Every time I tell them that
DOT has asked them to unblock the sites they say something like “Our
team leader has gone out. He will call you back when he gets back” etc.If any of you are in bangalore, do call up/ mail airtel (and try to get
a “confirmation number” so you don’t have to repeat yourself everyt
time you call). Do let them know that people using SIFY (for e.g.) can
access the sites right now. That puts a stop to the “The government
ordered a block last week” explanation.Reading out http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=18954 to them
helps too.Regds,
ravi”I can understand his frustration. So it seems that the ban is lifting in pockets. But the larger issue remains: why try to censor the internet? In a way I am thankful to the bumbling ISPs who blocked the entire domains rather than particular sites, so that we all became aware of the issue.
Update 23: Blogspot domain on my ISP Spectranet is back. I discovered this around 5.00 pm on July 21, 2006. And I guess it is a matter of time before the other two domain get back too. Smaller issue resolved. Larger issue remains. Why block sites when those blocks can be easily foiled by alomst anyone, even the non-tech savy me!
I will be travelling over the weekend (remember this is a travel blog, primarily, though the few readers I have often question me why I call this blog Travel Tales from India) and will be able to update stuff only on Monday. Though I think there may not be much to update now in the short run.
What is Up with Blogspot (Blogger) Sites in India?
Screen Shots (edit: Saturday 15, 2006) with Spectranet ISP (and I checked with my System Admn. he has not blocked blogspot sites, my institute is blog friendly)
i cant access it either. is yur isp mtnl?
Hi,I don’t think this problem is because of the Indian Government blocking blogging sites, since some people in India are able to access Blogspot websites. Also, we are able to see WordPress and other blogs. So then why not Blogger? I think we all should complain to Blogger individually and get to the bottom of this. Or is there any other way to get out of this mess?Regards,Gaurav.
Hi,Yes my ISP is MTNL Triband. But I have got another connection with my cable operator, and I cannot see any blogspot sites there either.Regards,Gaurav
Me with Spectranet.
mridula, the same’s been happening with me since yesterday afternoon – i’m on Reliance Powersurfer. i manage to get into the dashboard and can blog, but I can’t view any blogspot blogs.
Update 4: I contacted the Spectranet callcenter and this is big, they confirmed that they have blocked the site because they have a letter from Ministry of communication! I wish I had heard it worng. Call your ISP providers that are blocking it and check it out for yourself.
So if they are saying that they have directions from the Govt, what are those directions…? Did you check it up? Are there any other sites that they’ve blocked?what a wierd thing to do….!,Anyways, nice blog.
I thought it is enough that the call centre kid said that much. Had he realized what he was saying, he would not have even uttered those words. Some of you can try calling a few call centers.
Even I am unable to access blogs through MTNL broadband, Mumbai. I can open ‘blogger.com/start’ and post entries though. Who’ll be there to see it when the site won’t appear.
Nazim try calling MTNL call centre?
Mridula, I called Reliance Powersurfer – they say they have no such directive, and that they are not blocking or filtering blogspot blogs. That’s what the call centre guy told me … it doesn’t make sense really.
Dina, I would say try once again, different call centre employe different information many a times. I just asked why it was not working and the kid came up with the answer on own initiative!
Mridula I was trying to update my blog last night and the error ” page cannot be displayed “There could be a million reason for this error but i just wanted to check my local connectivity.all other websites were opening fine. i thought it must be some outage or blogger webserver hardware upgrade. and after 24 hours ,I realized such a downtime is impossible for any organization and it must be some other reason I also went on to search if this i not my browser, plugins, activeX control in my browsers and checked if I hadn’t blocked this site accidentally but after fiddling for 10 minutes I eventually gave up.Then only after iI came to your blog I realized that the problem is in india only.Fortunetly my system allows me to log on to VPN and I tried to connect thruogh America and Australia VPN servers and BINGO…Iam ONso thanks, I can update my blog tonight.no matter blogger is down or up & running, tonightThanks for sharing,VJ
To be sure that it’s not blogger itself that is down – you can try and access it through http://pkblogs.com.I doubt though that the Govenrment would do this deliberately or with the knowledge that the entire domain is blocked.
Neha when I try through pkblogs, I get a blank page but when I access a blogspot domain through http://www.hidemyass.com I can access any blogspot site.Of course it makes no sense at all. Why only a few ISPs? After all so many can still access the blogspot domain in India.
I’m glad to see that I’m not facing this problem all by myself- my blogis from Mumbai, India tooIt’s http://saffrontrail.blogspot.com. I am able to go to blogger.com,the dashboard, create new posts and publish as well (which i couldconfirm from technorati). Just that I am unable to view any blog thatis something.blogspot.com. I have also tried viewing on both IE as well as Firefox, it’s the sameproblem of ‘cannot find page’, also tried getting to my blog fromvarious links like google, technorati, no luck Hope the problem is rectified soon
Called several times more – same response Mridula. Dina
Nandita use http://www.hidemyass.comDina, thanks for trying. But something definitely is happening!
I user firefox and it still throws up error . I’ve a reliance dataphone.*************************************firfox error :The connection has timed out The server at whereisvijay.blogspot.com is taking too long to respond * The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments. * If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection. * If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.=====================================It would be interesting to know , what is going behind the scenesHowever the site works perfect on my corporate VPN Channel using and american IP address.Well Interesting ,I must say.DID any body get any lead on what’s going on ?
I don’t know what ISP i am on at the moment but blogspot ain’t blocked
sorry to get on to this discussion late, i just hope its the problem of blogger n not blocked by the ministry of communication for it disobeys the freedom of press. I hate to make things out of nothing but i cant resist the thought whether this blocking of communication has anything to do with the mumbai blasts and then the govt fighting against terrorism.
I am from India and I am playing the problem too. I guess its the Ministry of Communication which blocked the blogspot and I am not sure if it is because of freedom of press.Blogging is still legal.Freedom of expression is still there. Then isn’t this a conspiracy to take away a Freedom from a Citizen. Where are we ? China ? Still bloggin is possible with Rediff, MSN, yahoo, multiply and other major blogging sites.With questions rise answers, Someone please contact the Ministry. Or Blooger.com please do it for us.
From Google groups http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help-customizing/browse_thread/thread/b5668cd896a8e473/e46b79c757ea568eHere, as you can see, a lot of others have the same problem. Whencontacted our ISP: MTNL (Mahanagar Telehone Nigam Limited), i was toldthen the Ministry of Communication has blocked the BloggerBlogs. Take note that the prblem is not with all the bloggershere in India, but with some specific ISPs like MTNL and Spectranet (amulti state ISP).There was also some disconcerting news about bloggers in Pakistanhaving the same problems.As you know very well, India is neither a Communist country nor isruled by a military leader like in Pakistan, but infact the largestdemocarcy in the world (may sound cliche but i’m trying to asssert thatthis is a free country with tax payes having the right to informationand the right to vote, as much as the US and other nations). We’rebeing unduly ostracized for nothing.So, all i want to say is, please take a look at this issue and try toinform what and where the problem lies.
This morning, i was checking out some Typepad blogs – same problem as with Blogger blogs. Am really puzzled now … and wonder what’s going on. I just called Reliance Powersurfer again and they tell me that after all my calls yesterday, they checked again and wished to confirm that they were not blocking or filtering any sites themselves. However, the big news from the call centre employee on the line was that they did check and it seems that Blogspot has been blocked by the Ministry of Communication centrally. I asked them for more details, or any sort of confirmation of the same, which they were unable to provide.
Anon, I wish more people would call their ISP providers.Dina, I read very few Typepad blogs but I do remember getting error on the education blog of Praytna.On the other hand, my home ISP Airtel works fine. I wish more people would call their ISP providers from where there is a problem.
HiIm from Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. Im also not accessing blogsopt/blogger pages. Im regularly looking of some Tamil blogs and also Gavrav Sabnis’ blog. Since friday 14/7 afternoon(3.30PM) any of the blogspot sites are not accessible. Im using Reliance.If it is Indian Govt. doing this then what is the meaning of [email protected]
Nitin, thanks for your reply. I am no techi. But why assume that if I am not a techi I can’t hear a call centre person’s response right that they have ” a letter from ministry of communication.” I thought it was really as simple as that!You might also have seen that along with using ‘hanky panky’ I discussed other possiblities and possibility of some innocent explanation.
i cud access blogspot…is this hitch @ selected places in india?
Abhishek, seems to be happening with Spectranet, MTNL, Exatt and Reliance ISPs as of now.
Mridula,I refer to the comment you left on my site, as well as my comment on Neha’s site.From what I could read from your early posts and comments, it was unclear to me whether this was a case of ISPs’ routing problems, network outages in transit, or a policy decision from the government. My point was that it is incorrect to automatically assume a government directive. The lack of technical awareness among many in the comments section led me to advise a more cautious line.From what Abi’s post, it appears that there was indeed a directive from the Indian government.Do note that “hanky panky” is a non-technical word with a wide range of meanings (as opposed to “blocking” a certain site). My intention was not to offend you, or indeed, comment on your right to use whatever phrase you liked on your blog.
http://www.frankzzsword.com/see how to bypass the block from Gobermint 😀
Please read a similar problem regarding sites hosted on Geocities sites.However I am able to connect to Blogspot for sure.Check this out and confirm if this is not a similar technical issue rather than an actual ban by the Govt of India :http://nonadsense.blogspot.com/2006/07/indian-isps-are-blocking-geocities.html
Nitin, Abi is saying the same thing as Mridula: that the Spectranet call centre says the GOI has asked them to block blogspot.
Can we file an application under the Right To Information Act to find out why this is being blocked?
regarding blog censorship in India….http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/2006/07/what-is-up-with-blogspot-blogger-sites.htmlYou know the tremendous effect bloggers have on internet readers thesedays.. An anonymous blogger, a fiery soul, writing fierce words and appealing Indian youth to act is creating ripples in blogosphere now. He is most likely the cause of the censorship by Govt of India as I believe his writings are making the Indian Govt run scared. He has already declared Independence, (Declaration of Independence: http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/declaration-of-independence-anyone.html), asking people to identify the traitors (Am I a traitor? http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/am-i-traitor.html ) and goading Men to Act ( http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/06/awake-arise-o-bharata.html).I think if we bring this blog down, the ministry might lift the censhorship. But, if we bring it down, I think India goes down along with it, the only flicker of hope I’ve seen in my entire life.RegardsRanjeeth.
Neha and others,For those who are affected by this, here’s my simple solution to view a text-only version of any Blogger blog post. It works with most of the blogger templates. Its faster than proxy server access and better than feed readers sometimes in the sense that it always shows the entire post (which is not true in the case of feed readers if the blogger has configured short version of syndication).Here’s the tool. Anniyalogam Freedom viewer
Franz, thanks, I already know how to bypass it but for us the bigger question is why is it being blocked in this patchy fashion? Ram, I am going by what the call centre person told me. That they have a letter from Ministry of Communications to block it. Abi got the same reply. Why don’t you too try calling the number? It is given in my post.Shivam, thanks for making it clear again.Nonedone, I have no idea about the legal angle, I would first like more clarity on the issue, why only a few ISPs? I wonder how do we get this clarity?Ranjeeth, please don’t add to the confusion. Apart from the call centre statement we are not even sure about anything.
hey, i checked my blogs from chennai yesterday & there were no problems.. my connection out there is BSNL..2day am checking from bangalore & no problems so far..
Venkat, don’t you think the issue is bigger one? If blogspot is blocked (and it looks quite likely) shouldn’t we be worried about why it has been done in a democratic setup?
Sathish, the mystry is that this is happening only to a few ISPs, Spectranet, Exatt, Reliance, MTNL, I know for sure are facing problem, whereas I have no problem at home with Airtel.
Mridula, clarity is exactly why I was wondering if we can file an application under the Right to Information.It’s not a legal case. It is merely a request for information which the Government is compelled to answer.I think I will file one asking the Min. of Comm & IT if and why they have blocked these sites.
Nonedone, tell me how to go about it, I am all for asking for information.
I haven’t had problems today Mridula. Of course, I have not really tried logging into either my blog or any of the other blogs over the weekend, so I am not sure what the status was during the last two days. But you are right – if there is an attempt to block blogspot for some reason, it is an issue one should think about and severely condemn it as well.
Mridula you can file an RTI application at the post office. I’ve given comprehensive details here:http://nonedone.blogspot.com
Nonedone I suggest hop over to http://groups.google.com/group/BloggersCollectiveThere are many concerned people and we can put our heads together. At least have a look.
Thanks Mridula.Duly noted. Good to see people working hard at this.
I have not accessed blogger from my home (I have an airtel broadband connection) over the weekend. But I am able to see blogger sites from my office (we have a leased line here). I asked another friend in mumbai to check up- she was also able to access the sites, but I am not sure what kind of connection she has. Also, in one of the discussions on this topic, i read that geocities was also observing access problems. I tried that and I was not able to connect to geocities. Mridula, this post of yours is not completely visible now – i can see only the last comment (update 9). (it was visible earlier in the morning). I guess the page size of this post has grown very large.Regards,shalini
Yes, AirTel seems to have joined them all. I use AirTel Broadband, Delhi. I can login into my blogger acount, get to the dashboard, write and publish but I cannot read the site. I called customer care but they had no clue. They said they’ll get back to me. I hope it’s not the government that is doing this.
Atlantean, thanks for sharing. Pretty much my experience too with the call centre.
Sify user here from Mumbai. All blogspot blogs are inaccessible since afternoon. Another ISP’s joined in.
Hi MridulaI guess this would make your update number 15.My ISP Sify (Delhi) has also blocked the the URL xxx.blogspot.comI was able to acess it till about 4 in the evening but not now
I’ve written an email to the editor of CNN-IBN urging them to investigate the matter .Let’s see if that makes a difference
Airtel Broadband, Bangalore too have blocked blogspot.com. Maroons!
Seems like the list of ISPs who are blocking it is growing. Bloggers Collective is having a lot of discussion
guys, blogspot has stopped opening on BSNL from today evening afound 4:30, got a brodband conn… what the hell is this…
I am using Airtel broadband in Noida, and I am facing the problem with blogspot anf geocities sites. As posted earlier, there was no problem in accessing blogspot sites from my office (VSNL leased line).
hey, while there was no problem with BSNL connection back inChennai and with my office connection which mostly gets routed through server in Germany, am currently facing the same problem. I cannot access anything which is xx.blogspot.comMy connection here in my Bangalore home is Airtel.Of course am able to post blogs..
To add on, I have written a short post on the same…
I am accessing blogspot currently through http://www.hidemyass.comcurrently am facing problems accessing blogs from this site also!!
Sathish http://pkblogs.com is also a bit slow but it works if one is patient enough.
My god that sucks…no reason for the govt. to block all blogspot access. This better be a temp thing. Whenever we heard of the Chinese govt. blocking internet access to certain sites, I always took pride in telling colleagues that no such thing happenned in India. So much for India being the “largest democracy” with “freedom of speech”.
me from hyd and use sify and i am blocked to…… use shysurfer to get around…. one of the few anonymous surf sites which allows you to post. Other just allow you to surf.
Good discovery Mridula! Indian government doesnt understand the concept of web2.0 or community websites yet. This reminds me of the arrest of CEO of Baazee/eBay India for a porno mms sold on eBay/baazee.Sad reality!http://www.desihub.com/blogs/page/mihir/20060717#indian_market_government_not_ye
Mridula,I’ve included a draft letter for an RTI Application. All someone needs to do is enter their own Name and address and send it.This is the link:http://nandanbabla.googlepages.com/BlogsRTIApplication.doc
The news has made it to the front page of The Economic Times today. As mentioned on the Bloggers collective site, some other media sites have also reported it.
Thanks for the information Mridula. Great job there. I think we should wait for some official statement from the GOI on this. Up until then all the things we are/might discuss are just conspiracy theories. and I don’t think they are going to give such a statement unless and until we protest and express our disappointment and collective anger over this.So I am off to my blog to express my disappointment and anger towards it./Kamesh
Seen your mail Mridula, it is really unfortunate that our government is doing this and that also without providing any justification for the same.
Scratch my last comment Mridula.I made a Wiki:http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Blogs_and_RTI_Act
i use sify and it’s blocked..i think the message got out at different sites to isps spread across india at different times…and hence the difference in individual experiences..this takes us back to the emergency. i used pkblogs to access my site in the evening and towards late night..that domain got overloaded i think..because i couldn’t connect..so i used proxzee.com.now i’ve accessed your blog through pkblogs again.. but i find it funny i’ve to reach you through pakistan..kafkaesque is the appropriate word perhaps..great work, mridula, in pointing out this ‘blockade’ first. you’re as sharp as ever.
Lal Salaam !I have a faint idea what blogs the government is talking about and whythe government is afraid.Visit my blog and you will know whyMridula. The truth is one click away..But are you ready for it ?RegardsStalingam NAXAL REVOLUTION
The danger is this government will institutionalize things… that’s worse that what happened in the emergency. At least the emergency ended in a couple of years.. but these kind of things (the proposed media bill and now this banning of blogs) done as part of routine governance are more dangerous as they can become entrenched in the way the government runs. Also, people are talking about using RTI in this case to get the government to answer.. sorry to dampen your spirits further, but the RTI Act permits the government to withhold information where “national security” is involved. It’s going to lead to nowhere.
Mridula, you mentioned CNN-IBN is on the story. On TV?
Yes Jagdish, most probably after 6.00 pm. I would be replying all the comments later. comments
I have an update from the journalist contact at CNN-IBN that they’ll be running a story at 9 pm on this issue.
I’ve been trying to access blogspot since last night here in madras unsuccessfully. My ISP at home is Iqara and the one at my office is BSNL and both seem to have blocked!
Whoa,Some response!! but hey its 18th July and around 10PM and still cnt access my blog..Here’s what i can see my blog thru the url http://www.pkblogs.com/para-blogs/All the people blocked on blogspot can chose url fwding @ http://www.pkblogs.com/
Hello Reason of blocking Blogspot is “Rumours” see many people spreading Rumours of bombers will going to target again in Mumbai ( Bomb blast in Mumbai) through Blogs so I think Its correct decision taken by Indian Govt to Block Blogspot, don’t worry it is for short period, according to my knowledge is will release in next 2 days see my Blog http://www.bolly2holly.blogspot.com its alos not opening RegardsSanket Mumbai
Hi,11:32 PM, July 18 2006. I cant access to my blogspot.com from my home either.Regards,QiDelhi
it seems, airtel has lifted the ban in chennai. few chennai based tamil bloggers have blogges that they are able to access blogs now
I wonder if the infection at the ISP’s is spreading to include more domains. Appears like the morons at Bharti are working overtime apparently blocking a bunch more sites. blog.wfmu.org and thepenguinpodcast.blogs.com were unreachable this morning. Boreproxy however does the trick, so it does look like our idiot ISP’s are hard at work.Hey, you idiots at the ISP’s, while you are at it why not just power off your core routers. You can then, as you always do, come up with some stupid excuse as to why access to the internet is down.
thanks man for the information, otherwise I was at a lost as to why it was happening. Now for those blogspot bloggers like me who can’t survive a day without looking at their blog once, here is a suggestion: You can go to your HTML template page (by logging on to your blogger account) and click preview. Walla! you can see your blog!
hi, I am Bellur. Came here via Sanjay’s blog.Just modified an old english saying into this:Bloggers can’t be choosers (in India).Have a post on the freedom of expression in my blog, which is pretty new, considering that I just moved from blogspot to wordpress y’day!You can read it here:http://bellurramki18.wordpress.com/The entire issue could have been avoided if the ISPs had even a clue on what the government wanted them to do. The source of the problem is the technical incompetence of the ISPs. The Govt. is at fault for not comingforth with a public explanation till now and for having staffed the DOT/IT with bureaucrats who seem to lack the domain specific knowledge to understand the problem. Blocking every blog is not a Govt’s business and they don’t seem to have that intention but it is within their role to block any form of anti-social propaganda, be it originating from a blog, in the interest of national security.The Govt has shown that it is capable of doing only irrelevant things and not concentrate on the real problem. What did the Govt. gain by blocking these blog sites. Anyway I know how to access them. Doesn’t the Govt know that these sites can be accessed via proxy servers ?
thank you MRIDULA,thank you SHIVAM,thank you NEHA,thank you DINA,thank you ABI,thank you NONEDONE.and big Thanks to everybody assocaited I knew it couldn’t have stayed for long.Thank you all for updating and spreading information.Just 48 hours to go…before we’re free…Iam Jumping with JOY already
Does anyone here agree with me that bloggers are way too self-promoted-hoping -to-be-self-important people??? If a handful of sites do get blocked whats the big deal anyway??? It wasnt as if these sites were promoting/doing something worthwhile in the first place. Whats the whole hulaboo about it anyway??? every blogger worth his blogo-salt will now write in a piece on the blog-blockade thing, this would go on for the next month or so and then once the issue has shifted below the publics’ tiny horizon-of-view, its back to usual business. So whats the big deal?? Why clamour for all the attention anytime something miniscule-y interesting comes up in the indian blogosphere??And whats th big deal with a few blogs being blocked?? It could very well be a case of national security and in a time after the terror attacks on mumbai, it should make much more sense to supposrt the government’s knee-jerk reactions than create a hullaboo about ur blogo-freedom being violated. Remember US after 9/11, the whole country was clamped down, remember Israel now??Indians I tell you, have much much bigger mouths than limbs of action.
The update is few individual blog URL’s would be blocked.. if the ISP is not able to block specific ones then its upto the ISP’s…
Hi Mridula, Finally it has happened in Hyderabad as well. All these days when blogspot was blocked for you all we were able to access it without any hassles out here – both at my office as well as home. Now, I have realized I am not able to access it from home. I use a local cable operator as my internet provider. I haven’t called them to check on what was happening. Just thought will let you know.
When first time I heard this, I thought somebody is joking then I dig little more and finally I end this whole episode by writing my post ‘Neem hakim khatra-ai-jaan’.Now I think people can access bloggers as some of them said that.Apart from this, when I try to come to ur site thru my link some screen (scandoctor or something) pops up and close the browser. Finally I was able to access ur site by going to gomad.com and then follow the link. I know this has nothing to do with that whole episode.
We have made a bypass gateway to access all blocked blogs/websites at: http://tools.superhit.incheers!
Hathway Internet (South Bombay) is also blocking these sites, but doesn’t say so when you try and access the sites. Just gives the usual Firefox error msg – ‘Connection timed out, server taking too long to respond, blah blah blag’. The incompetent customer reps claim to have no clue as to what’s going on, even to the extent of saying that no sites have been blocked and all connections are fine, and that the problem must be with something at *my* end! I’m pissed! And anyway, how the hell can you block a site like mumbaihelp?!? Which bureaucratic jackass decided THAT site was communal/inciteful/whatever? ANyone else have a problem in dealing with Hathway over this?- Gautam
A fews days ago, ‘Indian Express’ did carry a news item that governemnt wanted to block a few blogs. And the mandarins in IT Ministry took it too seriously. They blocked it all. ‘Asked to bend, they crawled’. Phew…. I hope this gets sorted out soon. Since, I still cant blog my way through this block. It happens only in India. Now I know what they mean when they say it.Manish
still not able to access from Airtel, Bangalore
Mridula, this is terrible! I didn’t think censorship was a problem in India. Having read a few of the news reports about the blocking of blogspot.com, it appears to be an error on the ISPs part. I think this will be resolved, it makes no sense to block the entire domain just to get at the 4 or so sites that the Gov’t had demanded be blocked. But still, that sends a chill up my spine to see what “Big Brother” is capable of!
Fortunately I use Sify.. so the blogs weren’t blocked.. anyways.. such censorship is pointless.. you can always use the zillions of proxies to workaround the banned sites.. 🙂
Hi Mridula,I am not able to access blogspot (at least from my office) since Aug 2. I am able to access it thorough proxy server (pkblogs) though. I was wondering whether other people are facing the same problem and if the blog ban problem has resurfaced. So I thought I’d ask others. Thanks,Shalini
Hi Mridula !I was searching for blogs that had Videos in them and came across yours. I live in Japan, Tokio and I have a free online video sharing site that you can embed some videos to your blog too. I like the posts on your blog, so I have bookmarked it to stop back by periodically. Take care. Mike
Question to anyone who uses internet cafes anywhere in India: are they still slow? When I was visiting India in 1999/2000, it seemed like all the internet cafes of India connected to the outside world through a single dial-up connection! The Yahoo email account I was using could take 15 minutes just to open and list the emails I had in my in box! Then it took maybe 5 to 10 minutes to open each email (unless it was unusually slow that day).Is it still like that, or have things improved? I hope they have. Are internet cafes tolerably fast now? Thanks!
Doug, things have changed for the better and at least in bigger cities the net speed is quite fast.
Thanks for the update, Mridula. They seemed to be putting in fiber optics at some locations out in the countryside when I was there. Perhaps it is fast all over now.
The thing;s a shame, I came accross this ‘cuz the admin at my workplace (large media multinational) had blocked access to quite a few sites on the network and I was needing some of those for work. Especially when you are in the media you can need to access slightly questionable sites to get juicy quotes etc. Now getting formal permission takes aprox 2 hours for each time, so what we eventually did was use proxy websites like http://www.shadowsurf.com http://www.secret.sc http://proxytrix.com etc as anonymous proxies to get to the site.
I think issue is more with ISPs than GOI
I often travel to India , and my corp web mail portal is blocked so I usebypass.thezerogroup.comThey have like 50 mirror sites, so if one gets blocked I just use another. Make sure print their list before you go, just in case their site gets blocked.
Credit this happened almost a year back. It is business as usual with blogs now in India.
I just can not believe it! I can understand government blocking blogs in China or Russia, but India…Hang on, guys!
I think only some ISPs are doing this.
Thanks for Sharing an Informative post.