VideoLAN threatens to sue Indian government as ISPs continue to block VLC website

Expand Getty Images | SOPA Images

VideoLAN is threatening to sue the Indian government, claiming that it has received no explanation as to why the VLC website has been blocked by Indian ISPs for the past six months.

"In March 2022, much to our surprise and dismay, the URL 'https://www.videolan.org/' appears to have been blocked from viewing in India without notice to me or anyone else in the organization," wrote Jean-Baptiste Kempf, president of VideoLAN and lead developer of VLC, in a Sept. 30 letter to India's telecommunications ministry. "Despite reports and outcry on social media, no reason to block the URL has been provided to us or the Indian public."

The letter stated that attempts to reach the URL in India resulted in the message: "Your requested URL has been blocked in accordance with instructions received from the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India."

VideoLAN is a French non-profit organization that developed the free and open source VLC media player. In an email, Kempf told Ars that "VideoLAN is a non-political organization (we only take positions on anti-DRM and pro-open source topics). So this topic shocks us a bit. "

VideoLAN's letter told Indian government officials that the blocking "particularly shocks us, since the Indian government itself endorses the use of VLC under its Digital India initiative, where it has expressed its intention to use open-source software for government applications. In fact, the Indian government also appears to use the VLC Media Player icon and logo on its website promoting open-source software."

The letter to the Indian government stated: "VLC is currently used by 80 million Indians, and has consistently recorded an average of 25 million downloads per year in India since its release. For millions of Indians, VLC is the first choice to run all kinds of media formats for free."

Speculation, but no firm answers on blockage

There has been speculation that the ISP blocking was due to a misunderstanding around a hacking campaign in which a Chinese state-backed group allegedly "exploited the legitimate VLC media player by launching a custom loader via the VLC export function".

However, Kempf noted in his email that the website blocking began weeks before the hacking campaign was revealed in April. He also pointed out that "Chinese hackers used a modified version of VLC". The hack apparently only works with an outdated version of VLC.

Kempf's letter to the Indian Department of Telecommunications requested "a copy of the reasoned blocking order issued for the blocking of the URL, and the opportunity to argue my case through a virtual hearing". VideoLAN is entitled to these remedies under India's blocking rules, the letter states.

"If you fail to comply with the above, we shall be entitled and obliged to take legal action against you, for failing to protect our rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of India, for violation of your obligations under international law, and for breach of your own rules. Any such proceeding, if instituted, shall be at your sole risk, expense and consequence," the letter reads.

VideoLAN has help in the legal battle

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) said it helped VideoLAN write the legal notice. The blocking of the website "was carried out without notice or given VideoLAN an opportunity to be heard, which is contrary to the blocking rules of 2009 and the law established by the Supreme Court in the case Shreya Singhal against Union of India,” the IFF said.

In June, the IFF requested details of the URL ban in a filing with the Department of Telecommunications, but said it received no information. VideoLAN's letter says "several members of the Indian public and civil society" have filed similar requests for information...