India is the latest country that is closing access to some websites. India has asked (yea, I’m sure they asked nicely, too) Google to remove content from their India domains that were called “objectionable” by a New Delhi court. Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo have taken the position that they don’t have control over the content found objectionable. Which is pretty much correct.
My thing is this: if you want to stop content on the internet, run your own ISP’s or your own backbone in your country and use your own firewalls. You still won’t have any control over the content, but at least you can block it if you so choose without having to go after some company that doesn’t control the content either…
India’s Information Technology Act of 2008 grants the government permission to require portals to block sites and force companies to designate a point of contact for receiving those requests.