Is India ready for Net beyond space censors?

BANGALORE, INDIA: This one is sure to make Communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal fume. Some German hackers are working on taking the Internet beyond the reach of censors by putting up their own satellites.

"The first goal is an uncensorable Internet in space. Let's take the Internet out of the control of terrestrial entities." That was hacker activist Nick Farr's call to fellow hackers to put their own satellites into orbit to take the Internet beyond the reach of censors, according to a BBC report.

But that is remotely possible in India, which is still conservative online.

Farr, spokesperson for the Germany-based Chaos Computer Club, explained the mission at the  recent Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) in Berlin. The project's organisers said Club's Hackerspace Global Grid will also develop a grid of ground stations to track and communicate with the satellites, the BBC said.

In India, Sibal has maintained that the government does not want to interfere with the media, but if the social networking sites are not willing to cooperate with the government on stopping incendiary material, appropriate steps will be taken against them.

However, that has not gone down well with people, who feel it is a threat to online freedom.

Whatever be the motive, Farr's idea will certainly generate much curiosity among hackers, who have begun thinking beyond space. 

It's not just India that is supervising online content. In the US, there is a threat of blocking of some sites on copyright grounds if the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) comes into force.