As we all know, Government has banned almost every popular torrent websites in India. According to the latest reports visiting torrent websites can get you 3 year in Jail.
Visiting Torrents Sites? Be prepared For 3 Years in Jail, Rs 3 Lakh Fine
According to the reports from India Today, visiting torrent sites and another website that is blocked by the government could land you in prison for 3 years along with Rs three lakhs ($4468) as fine. In simple words, Indian Government doesn’t want you to watch or download files that are copyrighted.
The Indian government has already blocked numerous websites with the help of Internet service Providers (ISP) but people do visit those blocked websites using various techniques like changing the IP Address or using VPN.
Earlier if you ever opened any blocked site then the blank screen displays the message “This website/URL has been blocked under instructions of the Competent Government Authority or in compliance with the orders of Hon’ble Court”
Now if you do visit any of the block sites you will get to see something like
“This URL has been blocked under the instructions of the Competent Government Authority or in compliance with the orders of a Court of competent jurisdiction. Viewing, downloading, exhibiting or duplicating an illicit copy of the contents under this URL is punishable as an offence under the laws of India, including but not limited to under Sections 63, 63-A, 65 and 65-A of the Copyright Act, 1957 which prescribe imprisonment for 3 years and also fine of upto Rs. 3,00,000/-. Any person aggrieved by any such blocking of this URL may contact at [email protected] who will, within 48 hours, provide you the details of relevant proceedings under which you can approach the relevant High Court or Authority for redressal of your grievance.”
Earlier most websites were banned in India using DNS-filtering which was actually easy to bypass using any third-party DNS services. However, Government has taken help of big companies like Tata Communications and Airtel in order to attain their “Blocking” Goal.
However, blocking illegal websites is a good step and the message seems threatening too. But it fails to provide any clarity on how it would be enforced. Internet users in India need to be careful while browsing the web and it’ll be better to stay away from blocked websites.