Yes, India is a police state - Christopher Soghoian

IF I WANT TO GO US, I HAVE TO GIVE MY BLOOD, MY DNA. THIS IS DUE TO RISK FROM TERROIST. HAS THIS SYSTEM EVER STOPPED A TERROIST ATTACK.

AMERICA IS A POLICE STATE WHERE IF YOU DOWNLOAD AND SHARE A FEW SONGS, YOU WILL HAVE TO SELL YOUR HOUSE TO PAY THE OUTRAGEOUS FINES. ALL IN THE NAME IF THE RIAA.

This is a wrong way to reason about it.

The article appears in an Indian paper, why single out U.S. as the country to compare to?

Also, just because other countries have other restrictions (wrong or otherwise), that doesn't justify such restrictions in India.

P.S. Avoid typing in all caps. It comes off as rude.

First of all this was not about the US but India.

  1) courier companies opening your packages - check
  2) problem furnishing address proof if 
     working in a different city             - check

 Having experienced most of these things, I totally agree with the article.

The whole premise of stricter laws equals better security is false. These just enable the police to harass the people more. Yes US has its share of idiotic/draconian(or whatever) laws in the name of security. It doesn't mean India should have the same moronic laws. The difference is that privacy is taken pretty seriously in the US while in India people by and large have no sense of respect towards an individual's privacy. BTW, no need to shout (if your caps lock was not enabled by mistake).

My experiences are unlike the blog says. You've got to know your city and where the services, things are not that organized ofcourse. Also, India is big on Human powered telephony search query based services(see 1). It really really works here. For example, you could ask who runs the nearest color copier via phone, and the answer would be SMSed to you.

Also another thing which is unique in India, is the home delivery & pickup culture. You can get virtually anything home delivered like fresh meat, booze, and ofcourse snacks(see 2) etc. Also pickup services like laundry (one of many), are really popular.

Need a new credit card, or a phone connection ? You can have a representative visit you. These kinda of services are primarily possible to India's abundance human resource (and various other factors of course).

In my opinion, these are more accessible that internet based services are they rely on a phone.

Its a pity that blog posts these get a lot of attention because of their extreme nature. Most of the local media tends to be sensationalistic, for grabbing eye balls I guess

My daily reads of good quality Indian news are

* http://www.thehindu.com/

* http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/

References:

1 Eg. http://justdial.com

2 Eg. http://www.delyver.com/

I'm actually quite fed up with people portraying India negatively. Oprah Winfrey has done this and I am surprised at how this seems to be the consensus with the media.

Yes India has some issues with policy and infrastructure, however they are trying to sort this problem out. Have you heard of the 4g network that's a work in progress?

If you actually read the article you would know that non Indian wrote it.

"It’s a police state here in Delhi. Just finding a place with public Wi-Fi is a serious effort, and then they copy my passport."

Now hold on since when was India, Delhi. Do you even know what a police state is?

"Some want only a government-issued ID. Some insist upon an ID with a photograph. And there are some who have a fascination for your passport or driving licence – nothing else will do. I mean, just to check a mail, which will take 5 minutes, you have to fill in a form (particulars in a register) and submit a copy of a “proper” ID"

I live in the UK. I'm 27 years old and when I go to the buy cigarettes. I am asked for Id, only photo id will do. I have no driving licence so am forced to use my passport. Same thing happens when I buy alcohol and at bars clubs. Having to give my id to an arrogant bouncer who can blatantly tell I'm over 18 is greatly annoying.

Every internet café I have ever been to in the U.K has CCTV. the owners of the internet café also has to keep a record of all sites visited. Maybe India should take this big brother approach.