A Monopoly Gets Rough

True, the tariff changes announced by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) were reason enough for the Internet users in India to be up in arms. Thoroughly mangled by protests, VSNL hastily withdrew the proposal. Well, it could have been there, seething under their skins. For, when Mumbai-based Apnanet announced a signature campaign against VSNL, they could take it no longer. Apnanet is a free site where users could have their free home pages hosted, and they have been up for only a couple of weeks now.

Well, someone at VSNL had a bright idea: block access to the site completely. Internet users who had responded to the signature campaign were in for a surprise when they tried it again their browsers returned the message that the server could not be found. On contacting the folks at Apnanet, one was told that they had frantically dialled VSNL, and were shocked at the reply, Yes, we have blocked it!

 

VSNL chiefs were not in town when Netsurfer attempted to contact them, and the only person available had no comments to offer.

If anything, this instance proves that Indias only commercial ISP should be put in its place. To begin with, there are just a few web sites based in India, and they have to pay a hefty Rs 1.8 lakh to VSNL.

Does VSNL have the legal authority to cut off a site? Of course not. Obstructing access to a site is tantamount to VSNL abrogating the right of censorship to itself, and that should not be allowed at any cost. This could be the case in China or Singapore which have blocked access to all porn sites on the Net but not in a mature democracy. This is not a web site that carries anti-Indian propaganda, this is not a site that lets you download porn movies. A signature campaign is by no means illegal or even improper behavior.

The sudden clamour that followed led VSNL to re-open access by Thursday morning. But the fact that they dared to do it itself is a fair warning. More than anything, this goes on to illustrate that censorship on the Net is not a matter of protecting our culture or weeding out the filth it has got more to do with exercising control at will. And VSNLs resistance to the idea of private ISPs only shows that it is loath to let its grip slip away. Like any public sector outfit, this is a monopoly that has yet to outlive its past, before it messes up our future.