Another bitter news for torrent lovers. Viewing and downloading pirated content from Torrent sites is now a big crime in India which leads to 3-years jail sentence and a fine of Rs. 4 Lakh.
Govt. of India banned many Torrent websites in recent years under the directives from the court. Until now, people who tried to browse blocked torrent sites encountered with “the URL has been blocked at the direction of DoT” message.
Now onwards the following message will appear on your screen.
“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”
Most of the times Internet Service Providers (ISP) implement a DNS-filtering technique to block illegal websites. But people have plenty of other options to bypass those DNS-filters such as using proxy servers etc., ISPs and Govt. taking more robust measures to stop those alternatives to combat piracy.