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Monday, August 21, 2006
Movie channels blocked in Mumbai now
Peter just sent me an email alerting me to a post about how his cable operator has cut off all his movie channels. He called up the cable operator, who gave him a two-word answer: "Government block."
NDTV confirms the news, and says that this is "in response to a Bombay High Court order last December which banned TV channels from screening A and U/A rated films."
The lesson from this: if the executive don't get you, the judiciary will.
(I'll be updating this post if further developments take place. My accounts of the recent block on blogs: 1, 2, 3, 4.)
Update: The cable operators seem to be protesting. Deep Ganatra (via the Bloggers Collective email group) writes that his cable operator has stopped all channels, and is showing the following message on the screen:
Update 2: MadMan writes in (via BC):
Update 2.5: aNTi emails me to let me know that Tom and Jerry ain't safe even in England.
Update 3: I've just received news that the cable operators have stopped showing all paid channels in Mumbai to protest against police raids that were carried out on eight cable operators and three multi-system operators, during which transmission equipment was seized. The cable operators' stand is that the onus of complying with the high court directive was on the television channels, and that they have been needlessly harassed.
Update 4 (August 22): Some reports: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Update 5 (August 22): These Swedish chappies have all the fun.
Update 6 (August 23, early hours): The cable operators in Mumbai have restored service, though none of the movie channels are being shown yet.
NDTV confirms the news, and says that this is "in response to a Bombay High Court order last December which banned TV channels from screening A and U/A rated films."
The lesson from this: if the executive don't get you, the judiciary will.
(I'll be updating this post if further developments take place. My accounts of the recent block on blogs: 1, 2, 3, 4.)
Update: The cable operators seem to be protesting. Deep Ganatra (via the Bloggers Collective email group) writes that his cable operator has stopped all channels, and is showing the following message on the screen:
Due to unprecedented raids on the cable operators for carrying satellite movie and entertainment channels having Adult content, All Maharashtra cable operators have shut down the channels till further directions from high court. Kindly bear with us. CODA.(Update 1.5: Sameer reproduces the message carried by Incablenet in Prabhadevi on his post here.)
Update 2: MadMan writes in (via BC):
How dare they allow Cartoon Network to be shown on cable? Cartoon Network has been showing nudity for many years now and the government has done nothing! I can't begin to recall the number of times I've turned it on and seen naked mice and cats running freely in shows named "Tom and Jerry".Heh, indeed. And I think I might have caught a naked cow or two as well. Aren't they sacred?
Update 2.5: aNTi emails me to let me know that Tom and Jerry ain't safe even in England.
Update 3: I've just received news that the cable operators have stopped showing all paid channels in Mumbai to protest against police raids that were carried out on eight cable operators and three multi-system operators, during which transmission equipment was seized. The cable operators' stand is that the onus of complying with the high court directive was on the television channels, and that they have been needlessly harassed.
Update 4 (August 22): Some reports: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Update 5 (August 22): These Swedish chappies have all the fun.
Update 6 (August 23, early hours): The cable operators in Mumbai have restored service, though none of the movie channels are being shown yet.
