Posted below are URL's to news reports about a droconian move by the Indian state to specifically block a specific online news group on yahoo. The targeted Group's name on Yahoo is: kynhun Bri U Hynniewtrep. URL: groups.yahoo.com/group/kynhun/.
Blocking of single web site being done by Indian agencies, is bad enough, but what is extremely disturbing is the apparent blocking of an entire domain, (groups.yahoo.com) ALL yahoogroups are now inaccessible to India based users for the last 4 days or so. [This has been repeatedly confirmed to me by hundreds of users in India, the latest being few hours ago]. There are literally thousands of yahoo groups list sites related to and/or based in India (if you do search on yahoogroups with the term India, it gives you figure of 12503). This is a grave violation of freedom of expression and sets a very dangerous precedent of censorship and control of the internet in India. Human rights groups in India, South Asia and around the world need to take note and express concern.
Addresses of the officials and bodies to whom people may write to protest or seeking their intervention re this current instance of Internet censorship in Iindia:
Government of India's Ministry of Communications & Information Technology & Disinvestment
Ist Floor,Electronics Niketan,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi
Arun Shourie
(Minister of Communications & Information Technology & Disinvestment)
Email :
ashourie@nic.in Government of India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Web site :
http://www.mib.nic.in Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
(Minister of Information and Broadcasting)
E-Mail:
ravis@sansad.nic.in Phone: (91) 23384340, 23384782 Fax : (91) 23782118
Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)
http://www.mit.gov.in/cert/ India's Department of Telecom
http://www.dotindia.com/ ddgir@sancharnet.in The Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI)
http://www.ispai.com/ Yahoo! India Web Services Ltd;
Bombay office:
386, Veer Savarkar Marg
Opp. Siddhivinayak Temple
Mumbai 400025
Phone: +91-22-56622222
Fax: +91-22-56622244
Yahoo! India Web Services Ltd;
Delhi Office:
Ground Floor, First India Place,
Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road
Gurgaon [Haryana]- 122002
Phone: +91-0124-5061888/9 (from Delhi 95124-5061888/9)
Fax: +91-0124-2560057
solutions.yahoo.co.in/contact.html
[* India's Official Human rights watch dog]
National Human Rights Commission(NHRC)
http://nhrc.nic.in/contact.htm Please write to any or all of the above, write to the press and to contact human rights groups
In the meantime users in India wanting to urgently access the groups.yahoo.com domain based sites despite this unofficial ban should attempt to beat the ban by browsing via: www.anonymizer.com
or may want to visit www.proxy4free.com/ [this second option may require some figuring out changing settings]
Harsh Kapoor
(South Asia Citizens Web)
NEWS REPORTS:
http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/industry/0,39001143,39152163,00.htm Cnet Asia, Sept. 24, 2003
India blocks Yahoo web site
By Staff, CNETAsia
o o o
Newindpress, September 24, 2003
Yahoo refuses to remove anti-India content, site blocked
This is the first time a website has been blocked under Cert-IN since it came
into being in July this year. Representatives of Yahoo in India had been
http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEH20030923005101&Title=Top+Stories&rLink=0 o o o
Editorial, Hindustan Times, September 24, 2003
No net gain for Big Brother
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_387920,0012.htm o o o
News Today, September 24, 2003
Yahoo Groups continue to be blocked
http://newstodaynet.com/23sep/ld1.htm o o o
Rediff, September 24, 2003
Government bans Yahoo! group
http://www.rediff.com/netguide/2003/sep/23yahoo.htm o o o
The Hindu,September 23, 2003
Bid to block anti-India website affects users
By Sandeep Dikshit
http://www.thehindu.com/2003/09/23/stories/2003092312761100.htm o o o
The Register [UK]
India blocks Yahoo! Groups
By Andrew Orlowski
Posted: 23/09/2003 at 16:21 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/32983.html o o o
Business Week, September 23, 2003
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/cnet/stories/5081021.htm o o o
The Times of India., September 23 2003
Yahoo website blocked
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com:80/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=196169 o o o
The Hindustan Times, September 23, 2003
Govt blocks e-group but can’t prevent access
Siddharth Zarabi
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/230903/detFRO04.shtml o o o
Business Line, India - 20 Sep 2003
Govt issues orders to ISPs — ` Block separatist outfit . .
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/09/20/stories/2003092002890100.htm o o o
Business Standard, India - 26 Aug 2003
IT and political parties – a clash of cultures
http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=8&story=21575 
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