Tuesday, February 23, 2010

New law makes blocking adult websites harder

The Times of India notes that the Indian government has relinquished its power to block websites over obscenity.
In a little-noticed fallout of the recent amendment to the Information Technology (IT) Act 2000, the government has given up the power to block pornographic websites purely on the ground of obscenity. Sites like Savita Bhabi, in other words, can no longer be banished from the virtual world merely because they don't conform to a babu's subjective moral view. Now, the courts alone can block such sites.

This is because Section 69A, which came into effect on October 27, 2009 has raised the bar for the executive power to block porn websites. The government can still block such websites, but only if they create a "public order" problem -- an unlikely probability. Savita Bhabi, for instance, can hardly start a riot.
So does this mean the official Savita Bhabhi site will no longer be blocked by Indian ISPs? The Times article doesn't say exactly. But this change in law is a positive step.

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