While this information has not yet been confirmed by any of the involved sides, Uploaded.net/ul.to and Stooorage.com have been blocked in India by BSNL broadband and Idea 3G.
The move is not the first of its kind in India. Back in February this year, the Department of Telecom (DOT) ordered the blockage of 78 websites, 73 being connected to the Indian Institute of Planning and Management. Two months later, Care.org – a non-profit organization that fights worldwide poverty – had also been blocked by Vodafone India and Spectranet. Last but not least, Zedge, one of the world’s most popular services when it comes to “pimping up” your mobile phone, has been blocked by Vodafone (Tamil Nadu).
What’s weird is that, unlike the aforementioned cases, these last blockages are without a “signature”. By that we mean that neither of the blocked websites shows a message from DOT; instead, they are simply displayed as a blank page.
Censoring websites with the help of internet service providers is turning to be the natural order in India’s online ecosystem, with plaintiffs ordering blockages with impunity. While we do admit that this is a rather strong word, it is unacceptable and probably unconstitutional to block a service without a warning or some kind of explanation for that action. Zedge, for example, is trying to find out why it’s been blocked since January 2013, but their efforts remain futile.
Until all this is confirmed, we can only assume that the whole thing was some sort of mistake.