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India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

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Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#121

I'm not a India software industry expert, so excuse me if this sounds like a dumb question. Isn't it a terrible economic idea for India to block access to Github? I thought India was really big into software engineering?

Ofcourse it's a terrible idea. There will be an uproar. And then someone from the govt. would actually take the time to carefully look into the decision and then the govt will have to take an embarrassing U-turn.

Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#122
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The full URLs provide the source of the problem causing the block. It doesn't mean they won't crudely cut the entire domain.

For sites that work only over HTTPS, like Github, they'd need to block the entire domain, right? This is what happened in Russia recently: http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/05/to-get-off-russias-blacklis...

Correct! The domain and protocol are unencrypted, but the path is encrypted.

Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#123
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Terrorism is the use of mass terror against a civilian population you don't control to reach a political goal. Terrorizing a population is simply oppression and governments have been doing this for as long as there has been governments (Nazis, Soviets, Chinese Communists, etc. are all modern examples of this.)

Like the threat of a nuclear bomb? Not just NK but Fat Man too.

By that definition Russia is a giant terrorist organization, seeing as they're pointing nuclear missiles at a lot of cities in North America and Europe.

Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run https://snipt.net , one of the sites listed as being blocked, and I've never received any communication from anyone with the Indian government or ISPs. So they're not proactively doing anything to unblock these sites, as far as I can tell.

As the owner of https://cryptbin.com , also on the list, I've never received any such communication either.

Can you send out a tweet from the Cryptbin or your personal Twitter account stating that you haven't received any communication? Retweets should help raise awareness on this.

Thanks!

Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#126

I'm not a India software industry expert, so excuse me if this sounds like a dumb question. Isn't it a terrible economic idea for India to block access to Github? I thought India was really big into software engineering?

I am an Indian citizen so I can offer some perspective. Atleast 50% of those in software engineering don't vote. Going to voting station, standing in queue and voting is a painful process and most of us don't take the trouble. Hence, their concerns are not really heard in the govt. These people will not go to concerned authorities and explain them how it will affect the economy. They will just whine for a few days and then find a workaround. Most of those affected by these blockades are mom and pop shops aka startups. Govt doesn't listen to people in startups. It only listens to big guys like Infosys and TCS. These big guys don't use github to host their code.

In India, the moment you say security, all logic and reason stop. And police is always looking for quick fixes. That is why google street view is still not available in India.

Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#127
post #83
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes no sense. Conservative groups are all about outsourcing. "dey took'r jeebs" groups are complaining about immigrants in the US.

The anti-immigration crowd are the conservative working class. Like it or not, immigrants are actually coming and displacing them. Where I disagree with them is their solution to the issue. The correct solution I think would be to level the playing field by making illegal immigrants citizens who pay taxes. The same conservative masterminds which influence the working class to be upset about immigration, are the ones…

Exactly. "Conservatives" may want to go back in time 50 years, but their opponents want to go back 100.

Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#129

I'm not a India software industry expert, so excuse me if this sounds like a dumb question. Isn't it a terrible economic idea for India to block access to Github? I thought India was really big into software engineering?

I am an Indian citizen so I can offer some perspective. Atleast 50% of those in software engineering don't vote. Going to voting station, standing in queue and voting is a painful process and most of us don't take the trouble. Hence, their concerns are not really heard in the govt. These people will not go to concerned authorities and explain them how it will affect the economy. They will just whine for a few days an…

Also, one more point.. if you watch any local news item in US, the dominant theme in it is "How much money will it pump into economy". In India, The dominant question is..."How much safety and security will this cause". Unfortunately, There is never a discussion of the benefits vs costs of this security.

Re: India Orders 32 Websites Blocked, Including GitHub, Archive.Org, Pastebin

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run https://snipt.net , one of the sites listed as being blocked, and I've never received any communication from anyone with the Indian government or ISPs. So they're not proactively doing anything to unblock these sites, as far as I can tell.

Why would they have any incentive to contact you? From their perspective the problem is solved -- the material offending statist is out of sight, out of mind. You're the one who wants a different situation to exist. Governments aren't in the customer service business.

Governments should be in the customer service business. Typically, they provide many services that, if they were provided by private companies, which they very well could be, would be customer service oriented. The concept that a government employees such as police are not working for the people is exactly what's wrong with the attitudes surrounding police in the United States. They are providing a service that we pay for as taxpayers, and theoretically, we are their employers, or customers.
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