Blog blocking stalemate continues

Three days into the unhappy skirmish with bloggers, the government on Thursday double-barrelled its decision to gag 17 websites and blogs in India.

On Thursday, the Department of Telecom (DoT) sent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) yet another letter—this one ''ordering'' them to selectively block only those websites that it had specified in the July 13 ban order.

All other websites, DoT has told the Internet companies, must continue to be accessed ''unhindered''. In a statement issued today, DoT has said that by blocking more websites than the 17 in the hot seat, ISPs are in ''contravention'' of its orders.

This is the first time that DoT is placing its cards on the table on the July 13 ban, but its position is remains marred, since not all ISPs seem to have the required technology to selectively block webpages maintained on blogs.

But the government is not playing along with niceties. The official statement issued today paraphrases the new order as saying: ''It has come to notice that in some cases the parent website had been blocked in contravention to what was stated in its earlier order.''

As if on cue, the ISP Association of India (ISPAI) has also said that there is technology available to block websites and web pages selectively, and that though not all ISPs may have it now, they can acquire it soon.

On Thursday, one representative of a Delhi-based ISP confirmed that the July 13 order did only mention a few blogspot.com pages and some other websites. ''That's why ISPs cannot block blogspot.com completely,'' he said. This is complicated, because the blocking of pin-pointed 17 websites was not effective and most bloggers had railed against the extensive nature this ban had taken on.

The Thursday order, however, has given some bloggers more teeth to bite the official hand with. An informal coalition-in-the-making of bloggers has now decided to address the government on the blog issue by bringing up tricky legal questions.

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