Three-year jail and fine for those visiting torrent sites blocked by the government.
The Department of Telecommunication has asked major Internet Service Providers(ISP) to start blocking torrent sites.
Justice Gautam Patel while ordering the block, also ordered ISPs to display a warning.
The warning read, “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.”
On August 12, Tata Communication, an ISP, pleaded the impossibility of its implementation. But court ordered the declaimer to be shown.
Even visiting the website is seen as viewing and may call for action against the users. This outlaws many legal uses of torrents. This will impact a large population of Indians, which has grown up watching films from Torrents!
Earlier one of the versions of Torrent was closed by the owners, silently. This may be seen as the attack on the open sources, which sometimes infringes on the legal uses.