Rediff blog

I started blogging on Rediff. Today, I just visited that site and it showed June 9, 2006 as the date when my first blog post was created. When Google started providing the facility to its account holders, I switched over to it. I found a post in Rediff written in Oct 2006 against the government's proposed decision to effect strict measures on the functioning of cyber cafes, which is attached below. This was in the aftermath of a guy sending threatening letters to the President of India to implicate his lover who deserted him.

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Kerala proposes law against cyber cafes

The Government of Kerala plans to introduce a new law curbing the operating freedom of internet cafes in the state, as reported by The Hindu on Oct 28, 2006. The finer details are being worked out, but the salient provisions are

1. The browsers have to produce a photo identity card or be willing to be video-graphed.

2. Children should be accompanied by an adult

3. A register containing the details of customers should be maintained by the establishment

4. An operating license from the City Police Commissioner to be mandatory

5. The Commissioner will have the right to impose any condition on the cafe owner, subject to changing circumstances and development of technology.

6. The cubicles to customers should not be more than 4 feet high

7. The computer screen should face the common area inside the cafe

8. No cyber cafe would be allowed within 500 metres of an educational institution

9. Customers would not be allowed to attach any device brought from outside (such as pen drives)

One might wonder if these provisions will safeguard the country from seditious and anti-national elements! The provisions are ridiculous in the least, if not outright lunatic. How can a democratic government impose restrictions on its free citizens in sending and receiving data? What purpose would it serve to demand photo ID cards just for sending e-mail? Under the pretext of a prankster sending threatening mails to the heads of state and government, the bureaucracy is trying to stifle the freedom of thought and expression as enshrined in the Constitution of India. Consider the scenario for example, that this prankster, instead of sending e-mails, decided to send threatening letters. Will the government then bring in a law which would make it mandatory to show photo ID cards to post a letter at the post office? The post office, in fact provides far greater anonymity than the cafe! The post boxes are located in an outside public place and the postal staff have no clue about the customers, where as in an internet cafe, you are likely to be remembered and identified later by the staff. 

Thinking about mail warnings and threats, how many of it would prove to be harbingers of actual events? As far as I know, there were no warnings about the attack on parliament, the Mumbai bombings, Rajiv Gandhi assassination, 9/11 attacks, 7/7 attacks etc etc. Actually, the investigating agencies can glean valuable information from anonymous e-mails claiming moral responsibility about events afterwards. In internet, you can't be anonymous and most of the people don't realize this fact. Why the Police should fear e-mails when they can easily go through ISP logs, traces of IP numbers and home in on the cafe in a matter of hours, if not minutes? 

The attempt to impose restrictions on the usage of internet is a clear attack against freedom of expression and thought. The internet has been a head ache to authoritarian governments world wide. Now the government of Kerala is also going the same way. There are some more options it can contemplate to eliminate such nuisance, such as

1. The postal mail boxes would be placed in the clear view of the postal staff and all outside boxes would be removed

2. Photo ID cards would be required to post a letter

3. The postal staff shall maintain a register of the customers buying stamps and posting letter

4. In order to post a letter to a government official, a sanction from the police commissioner is necessary

5. The people would not be allowed to write mail in public. All mails should be certified by the notary. If notary is too busy, giving 500 bucks to his office staff will not harm you.

6. The police commissioner has the right to open any letter and peruse its contents

Think it over, political fools and bureaucratic rogues! You can at last curtail those freedoms which constitute the other nuisance that is overarching above your stubborn heads - Democracy!!!