Indian Cities on Verge of Restricting Access to Cyber Cafes

[icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu]

The rapid proliferation of cyber cafes in India recently is the result of
two strong drives: Many Indians want to make money by opening cyber cafes,
and many Indians want to surf the Net, which offers easy access to foreign
news reports, chat rooms, pornography and gambling.

Now the city government of Mumbai (Bombay) is looking to squelch those dual
impulses by regulating cyber cafes. They want to force cafes to get licenses
from the government, install software filters for pornography, and force
patrons to show valid photo IDs. Many cyber cafe owners are angry at the
proposed regulations and are organizing to prevent India from becoming like
its neighbor, China, which forced licensing of cafes after a deadly fire.

While easy entry into the cyber cafe business has caused an enormous boom in
Internet cafes in India -- some estimate there are about 300,000 cafes
nationwide -- it has also brought problems for a very conservative culture.
Some cafes have become known for showing "dirty movies." Worse, terrorists
have used cyber cafes in India as communications outposts. These threats
have caused police in many cities to set up cyber crime units.

Hackers are also causing problems: Calcutta is also looking to take action
after its police Web site was hacked and made into a porn site, according to
the Times of India. The Calcutta proposal, due to be implemented in six
months, would require cafe owners to keep a log book on all users and record
what sites they visit.

Source:
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1070576918.php