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A Kolkata court has ordered all 387 Internet providers in the country to block a list of 104 websites after the Indian Music Industry (IMI) filed suit against them. Indian Music Industry officials filed information with the court showing that each of the 104 sites hosted at least some infringing material; the judges ruled that site blocking was a proper way of dealing with the issue.
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IMI officials have insisted to local media that they are targeting only the worst offenders, saying that they began their process with 300 websites and eventually narrowed it down to 104 of the most flagrant infringers.
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The first list of 104 sites largely focuses on regional music; it includes sites like apunkabollywood.com, bollywoodmp4.com, and lovepaki.com. IMI promises that its next targets will include more general-purpose file-sharing sites, however.
Source: [arstechnica.com].
My views:
While their anti-piracy stand (finally!) is commendable, the plans to target general file sharing sites, along with recent government proposals to censor Google and Facebook, will have serious implications regarding civil liberties, and (I think) can be considered as authoritarianism.
First of all, the site owners weren't informed. They weren't given a chance to respond to the court order, or to challenge it. This is NOT how the judiciary is supposed to work.
Does the Kolkata court have the authority to decide on pan-India matters?
