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Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

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Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#21

Post by PureParadigm »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #14

This is a reminder that without physical security, electronic security is pretty much worthless. The best encryption won't save you from rubberhose cryptanalysis where they beat you until you reveal your key. Clever circumvention technologies such as VPN won't save you when they arrest your for using circumvention technologies. These are all good things, but we in tech, oftentimes think we can program our way out of…

Perhaps there is also the need for untraceable/hidden tools for censorship circumvention. This may involve masquerading as normal traffic. I've heard of specialized hidden censorship circumvention tools that do this by tunneling information though protocols like ping or DNS which won't look as suspicious as a VPN. Of course, for wide deployment this will become a game of cat and mouse, but I don't see any reason it would be impossible to make a good solution that is very hard to detect.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#22

Post by screye »

aarongray wrote: post #3

It's really too bad that the two rising tech countries - China and India - have such a third-world approach to censorship on the Internet. You would think they would want to mimic the US's successful formula in hopes of building their presence as a tech powerhouse, but in this area they don't seem to be doing that.

We have yet to see how the US reacts when a massive section of it wants to secede.

India and China both face a significantly more difficult geopolitical reality than the USA.

Some of the world's most westernized and developed countries (Spain, Israel) are starting to use violence and suppressive tactics now that they are faced with even the smallest amount of secessionist unrest.

Kashmir is one of the most militarized border zones alongside the West Bank. I fully agree that there might be better and less suppressive methods that the Govt. can use to deal with the Kashmir issue, but to act as though a USA like policy would work in countries with very different ground realities is being willfully arrogant.

At the risk of sounding too cold, if the choice was between death of a few million people (which India has a long history of) and complete destruction of communication frameworks. I would choose that latter.

Now the big problem with what the Indian Govt. is doing, is that this has been going on for almost a year and they are making no efforts to bring Kashmir back to "normalcy". Such draconian policies should only come into place for very short durations with measures for removal, the second unrest goes below a certain point.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#24

Post by AnimalMuppet »

definitelyRobot wrote: post #20

As a young tech person in India, this stuff makes me so angry. The ruling party here (BJP) doesn't have any real competition. Which means they can get away with pretty much anything. They've banned VPNs. They'll chuck you in prison if you speak against the government or a politician. Then they'll brand you as an "anti-nationalist" and openly say to their supporters that you deserve to be shot. Facial recognition is n…

They say "anti-nationalist" is a bad thing? Wow.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#25

Post by heavyset_go »

alunchbox wrote: post #10
_jal wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> mimic the US's successful formula You mean the one involving outsourcing IP law enforcement to private cartels amid increasing calls to remove 230 protections from public-facing internet companies?

Can you elaborate on this a bit more? I'm intrigued yet confused from your comment.

People that don't like it when freedom of association is exercised by website owners want to chip away at safe harbor provisions such that all of the internet is turned into a virtual Disneyland where any objectionable content is banned out of fear of criminal liability for hosting it.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#26

Post by legolas2412 »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #24
definitelyRobot wrote: post #20

As a young tech person in India, this stuff makes me so angry. The ruling party here (BJP) doesn't have any real competition. Which means they can get away with pretty much anything. They've banned VPNs. They'll chuck you in prison if you speak against the government or a politician. Then they'll brand you as an "anti-nationalist" and openly say to their supporters that you deserve to be shot. Facial recognition is n…

They say "anti-nationalist" is a bad thing? Wow.

They're calling you anti-national. Basically a traitor.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#28

Post by wolco »

ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #2

Can anyone contribute a source which doesn't break EU regulations by forcing me to accept cookies?

Make your choice: Accept that the next time you visit they will remember you.

or

Choose not to visit.

or

Delete your cookie

or use curl

or go private browser mode

or hunt in google for the title to read the cache page

or pay someone to copy over the contents to text.

Plenty of choices. I'd go private browser mode in your case. Well I would just accept the cookie.

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#29

Post by arsalanb »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #19
arsalanb wrote: post #13

When I left Kashmir a few months ago, my phone and all its contents were checked by Indian police at the airport. They asked me to unlock and checked photos, WhatsApp texts, etc. Random arrests and extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris by the Indian state is a quite regular occurrence. A laughable narrative around how they were "Pakistan sponsored terrorists" is usually spun by the media/police nexus.

Did they manually browse through the data or download it to a computer for further analysis later?

No, they just manually browsed it. Both on my computer (which is a practice that's been there for >7-9 years) and mobiles.

Because of the media/telecom gag my non-Kashmir friends find it hard to believe absurd laws imposed by the Indian state, like AFSPA, PSA, etc

Re: Indian police open case against hundreds in Kashmir for using VPN

#30

Post by fennecfoxen »

wolco wrote: post #28
ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #2

Can anyone contribute a source which doesn't break EU regulations by forcing me to accept cookies?

Make your choice: Accept that the next time you visit they will remember you. or Choose not to visit. or Delete your cookie or use curl or go private browser mode or hunt in google for the title to read the cache page or pay someone to copy over the contents to text. Plenty of choices. I'd go private browser mode in your case. Well I would just accept the cookie.

Why would anyone bother with doing that when they could simply act righteously indignant, and post complaints that some uppity American-based website is noncompliant with their enlightened and unimpeachable European dictates?
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