[x-pubpol] Fwd: SOPA masala: 387 Indian ISPs must block 104 piratical websites

[Joly MacFie]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/sopa-masala-indian-isps-must-block-104-piratical-websites.ars

By Nate Anderson |

The recent Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), considered and eventually
abandoned by the US Congress after rancorous debate earlier this year,
proposed giving judges the power to cut off American access to
particular websites. Under the initial version of the bill, judges
would have been able order Internet service providers to use only
crude tools like DNS blocking to make piratical websites harder to
access. The proposal was criticized strongly on grounds of
practicality, due process, and free speech, but major rightsholders
want such approaches implemented worldwide. In India, they have
succeeded.

A Kolkata court has ordered all 387 Internet providers in the country
to block a list of 104 websites after the Indian Music Industry (IMI)
filed suit against them. Indian Music Industry officials filed
information with the court showing that each of the 104 sites hosted
at least some infringing material; the judges ruled that site blocking
was a proper way of dealing with the issue. Four injunctions—on
January 27, February 6, March 1, and March 2—implemented the
blacklist.

Every one of the sites targeted by the music industry was ordered
blocked. IMI officials have insisted to local media that they are
targeting only the worst offenders, saying that they began their
process with 300 websites and eventually narrowed it down to 104 of
the most flagrant infringers.

As for how the blocks will be implemented, the court has allowed
Internet providers three options: blocking by DNS name
("arstechnica.com"), blocking by IP address ("75.102.3.15"), or URL
blocking by deep packet inspection (which can do things like block
specific links like "arstechnica.com/bollywood").

But site blocking on the Internet, though it sounds so seductively
easy, comes with its own set of problems. Blocking by DNS can be
circumvented simply by entering a site's actual IP address instead of
its name. Blocking by IP address can be bypassed by moving a site to a
new server that carries a new IP address. URL blocking has little
effect when an existing site simply changes its name.

These are hardly esoteric technical secrets. One of the first sites to
be blocked, "songs.pk," has rebranded itself "songspk.pk." Confused
users who turn to a Google search for answers will already find that
link number one for "songs.pk" directs them to the new site.

Truly blocking sites from the Internet in this fashion remains
difficult, though as usual the goal is more about making infringement
more difficult than curtailing all illegal activity. European courts
have on occasion required specific sites to be blocked, but those
rulings have tended to target one site at a time, and have often been
applied only to a single Internet provider. The Indian approach is far
broader, and Internet companies like Facebook and Google are coming
under legal pressure to censor far more material, including obscene
images of gods and goddesses.

NO MUSIC! A friendly Christmas 2007 reminder from IMI (horrific
pixelation present in the original)
Indian Music Industry

The first list of 104 sites largely focuses on regional music; it
includes sites like apunkabollywood.com, bollywoodmp4.com, and
lovepaki.com. IMI promises that its next targets will include more
general-purpose file-sharing sites, however.

IFPI, the international music trade group, welcomed the ruling—but
insisted that even such measures did not go far enough. “The court
ruled that blocking is a proportionate and effective way to tackle
website piracy,” said IFPI chief executive Frances Moore. "The Indian
government should build on this progress by moving forward legislation
to effectively tackle all forms of digital piracy to enable the
country's digital music market to reach its full potential.”


--
---------------------------------------------------------------
Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
 http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
 VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
--------------------------------------------------------------
-
-