It appears that Reliance Communications has blocked video sharing website Vimeo and torrent website The Pirate Bay. While the reason of the block is not yet known, these websites are apparently blocked as per the instructions of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) (screenshot below). We tried accessing Vimeo and several other torrent websites and were instead redirected to a landing page which mentions that “The site has been blocked as per instructions from the Department of Telecom”. We are not sure on the range of the torrent websites blocked, since we were able to access a few popular torrent websites at the time of writing this article.

Why Vimeo? While the block on torrent sites are understandable, we are intrigued by the block on Vimeo, since its is just a video sharing website, quite similar to YouTube. Was Vimeo blocked because it houses user generated videos? If thats the reason, will YouTube and other video sharing websites be the next target in this site blocking spree?

Another thing to ponder is that the reason for the block has been suggested as an order from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), but we wonder if Reliance has obtained yet another John Doe order to block the above mentioned websites, considering that it is releasing a Bollywood movie next week.

Last Years Blocks

In July 2011, where several ISPs including Airtel had blocked access to several file sharing sites like Mediafire.com, Megaupload.com, Rapidshare.com, Sendspace.com, Megavideo.com, VideoBB.com, Novamov.com, Movshare.com, Putlocker.com, Hotfile.com, Fileserve.com, Filesonic.com, Filesonic.in, Depositfiles.com, Wupload.com, Uploaded.to, and Uploadstation.com, suggesting the reason of block, as an order from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) but it was later revealed that the block was instituted because of a John Doe order from the Delhi High Court, allowing Reliance Big Pictures to prevent piracy of its movie Singham. A month later, Reliance Entertainment had got yet another John Doe order from the Delhi High Court to prevent piracy of its movie Bodyguard.

That being said, it should be noted that these blocks are limited to Reliance Broadband at present and the above mentioned websites worked fine on a BSNL broadband connection.

Report The Blocks To Us

If you know of any other ISP which has blocked these websites, do let us know in the comments below. Please mention your location and ISP, and add a screenshot of the blocks for The Pirate Bay and Vimeo. So far:

– Reliance Communications Data Card: Yes, both blocked

– Reliance Wireline, Mumbai/Gujarat: Yes, both blocked

– MTNL Delhi/Mumbai: No

– Airtel Delhi/Bangalore/Mumbai/Pune/Chennai: No

– BSNL Bangalore/Pune/Andhra Pradesh/Gurgaon: No

– Tata Pune: No

– Sify Pune: No

– Hathway Mumbai: No

– Syscon Infoway: Yes, both blocked

– Zylog Wi5: Yes, both blocked

– Aircel Ahmedabad: Yes

– Vodafone 3G, Ahmedabad/Maharashtra: Yes, both blocked.

– Tikona, Mumbai: Yes, both blocked.

– You Broadband: No

Related Articles

John Doe orders on File sharing websites

– Reliance Entertainment Gets Order To Block Piracy Of “Bodyguard” On File Sharing Sites

– Files Sharing Sites Blocked In India Because Reliance BIG Pictures Got A Court Order

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IMI Music Block

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– Music Block Update: 68 Indian Music Piracy Sites Down

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– Guruji Shuts Music Search

– YouTube & Music Label T-Series Reach Out Of Court Settlement

– Execs Of Sequoia Funded Guruji.com Arrested Over Alleged Copyright Violation In India

–T-Series Argues IT Act Doesn’t Prevent Courts From Terminating Copyright Infringement

Also read

– Hyderabad Police Arrests Torrent Uploaders

– Anand Audio Gets Google To Remove Search Results For “Anna Bond MP3″