India restricting web access

As we catch up with the news this week, we have been reading with interest the debate in India regarding the Government's efforts to restrict the way in which terrorist organisations can make use of the Internet. In the wake of the dreadful Mumbai train bombings 10 days ago, they do, of course, have our sympathy.

There is significant nervousness in the Indian Internet community, however, when China-style site blocking kicks in. The Great Indian Mutiny blog has some interesting commentary. "There is a crack down in place" the site confirms.

Meanwhile, WebProNews carries a detailed story here. Writer Jason Lee Miller confirms the "...Department of Telecommunications was found to have given directives to regional Internet service providers to block access to blogspot.com, typepad.com and geocities.

Over the weekend, the blogosphere lit up with reports that access to these sites had been blocked. As bloggers busied themselves trying to find the reason, update upon update revealed that ISP call center representatives were instructed by the DOT to block access to the sites, but did not offer a reason why".