With the help of internet service providers, and presumably under directives of the court, has banned thousands of websites and URLs in the last five odd years. In August 2015, the government banned at least 857 sites for their pornographic contents. Moreover, the government also banned about 170 objectional sites. As a report in India Today, this penalty is just for viewing a torrent file or downloading a file from a host that is banned in India.
As per the latest reports,there is a penalty for viewing blocked URL’s in India. This penalty is just for viewing a torrent file or downloading a file from a host that is banned in India. It is not necessary for users to download a torrent file such as videos, but just visiting the sites and viewing the information is enough to land one in jail and be fined a sum of Rs 3 lakh too.
This fine is just for viewing a torrent file, or downloading a file from a host that may have been banned in India, or even for viewing an image on a file host.
If you visit such a URL, you will be shown the following warning.
“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 urlblock@tatacommunications.com 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”
The interesting bit here is that once a URL is blocked it remains blocked, even years after the release of the film.
- However, you can definitely use proxy websites and some VPN softwares to access websites to stay anonymous.