already the SC under kg balakrishnan has diluted free speech
Bloggers can be nailed for views - Times Of India
""The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that
bloggers cannot shelter under an escape clause such as 'Any views expressed are solely those of the writers' to exercise freedom of speech in discussions and statements online. The ruling comes in response to an anti-defamation case filed against a 19 year old student's Orkut community, commenting upon the right-wing political organization Shiv Sena. This organization is based in the western state of Maharashtra and has been responsible for inflammatory speeches and numerous attacks upon non-Maharashtrians.""
Now you cannot complain against political parties over the web.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/internet/Legal-experts-caution-against-censorship/articleshow/11012393.cms
"However, once it is notified of a complaint, the website is duty-bound to take action within 36 hours of receiving the complaint. Herein, the IT Act (Rules 3 & 4 of the Intermediary rules under Section 79) also specifically empowers the website to regulate, disable and remove the content - if the person who has hosted it is not willing to remove it himself. The stricter clause relates to Section 69A, under which the government can, on its own, disable content by blocking the relevant web page on grounds of a specified five areas relating to national security, sovereignty, defence, public order, etc. "
Failure to do so can result in imprisonment up to seven years. However, the notices served by the IT ministry to the social networking sites had not fallen under these provisos.
http://www.medianama.com/2011/04/223-indias-internet-control-rules-finalized-blasphemy/
the govt was planning to do this back in feb
http://www.medianama.com/2011/02/223-indias-draft-blogger-guidelines/
As a part of the rules being finalized to supplement India’s Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, rules are being included that will indirectly allow the Indian government to control content being published on the Internet. This is hardly surprising: last week, at the CII Content Summit, three government functionaries – Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Ambika Soni, TRAI Chief JS Sarma and I&B Secretary Raghu Menon, had all mentioned concerns about content on the Internet, even as they tried to downplay content regulation:
- Sarma
said that “How do you control the Internet? That is baffling and challenging, and it is fraught with issues of freedom and security. Security in terms of physical security and others. This will have to be studied over the course of next few months or the next year or so.”
also kill switch
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-16/news/28698054_1_internet-users-sovereignty-and-integrity-switch
he Indian government has armed itself with powers to 'switch off' or kill the internet during times of national emergencies, becoming one of the first few countries to assume such far reaching authority. Even as the US and other western nations debate the judiciousness of giving the government's complete control to shut down cyber traffic, India has moved a step ahead and incorporated a provision under the IT Act of 2008, giving the Central government, or any of its officers specially authorised by it, to block the internet if necessary. The shutdown can happen in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, its defense, security of its states, friendly relations with foreign states or for public order. Failure to comply will result in imprisonment of up to seven years.
These rules are unconstitutional
ran Kurup's blog-The Economic Times
