Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore (VM)
and Inputs from Various Sources
Mangalore Jul 19: In the wake of reported shooting up of terror and hate messages on the internet following the deadly Mumbai serial blasts, the Telecom Department has directed all the 150 operational Internet Service Providers to block 18 websites.
The 18 websites, according to the Government, could be used by terror groups to communicate and spread provocative messages.
Two websites www.dalitstan.org and hinduunity.org figure among the blocked sites. It is not immediately clear till what time period this blockade will be in force.
On the list is also the official weblogs of Dakshina Kannada www.spdk.blogspot.com which has been blocked since Monday. The same is the status of the blog run by the Udupi police, www.udupipolice.blogspot.com.
The government on Tuesday asked the ISPs to stop them with immediate effect even as bloggers across the country complained of access problems.
The decision by the government has been flayed by the software industry. "The Centre's decision to block some blogs and websites in the wake of last week's serial blasts in Mumbai was "neither desirable nor feasible," NASSCOM President Kiran Karnik said.
"The Internet should be a free media. Any attempts to block out some websites are not desirable. "If you stop the media, rumours float very fast and it is not desirable," he said.
Both the blogs www.spdk.blogspot.com and www.udupipolice.blogspot.com contained regular postings on crime details and also news updates of the activities of the DK and Udupi police departments.
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