VideoLan, the developer of famous media subordinate VLC, says Indian telecom operators person been blockading its website owed to the information that February of this twelvemonth successful a determination that is perchance impacting immoderate users successful 1 of the unfastened proviso firm’s biggest markets.

“Most main ISPs [internet work providers] are banning the web site, with assorted techniques,” VideoLan president and pb developer Jean-Baptiste Kempf said of the blocking disconnected successful India, successful an email to TechCrunch.

The telecom operators started retired blocking disconnected the VideoLan website connected February thirteen of this year, erstwhile the website online saw a driblet of eighty% successful tract visitors from the South Asian marketplace, helium stated.

India represents 10% of each VLC users international, helium said. The net site’s visitors has disposable an mean driblet of 20% arsenic a effect of the blocking successful India.

Indian telecom operators person not defined wherefore they person got blocked the VideoLan net site, but a fewer speculate that it is capable to beryllium due to the fact that of a misinterpretation of a information caution from earlier this year.

Security steadfast Symantec stated successful April this 12 months that the hacker enactment Cicada, which has ties with the Chinese government, became exploiting VLC Media Player arsenic good arsenic galore different fashionable programs to summation distant get introduction to to the victim’s machine systems.

Kempf said helium oregon his corp has nary longer been contacted by means of immoderate Indian authorities organisation and the artifact is successful each likelihood a extremity effect of a misunderstanding of the Chinese extortion difficulty.

VLC, downloaded implicit 3.5 cardinal times worldwide, is simply a adjacent media subordinate that doesn’t necessitate nett get introduction to oregon transportation to immoderate precise bearer online for the wide bulk of its functions. A artifact connected its net tract doesn’t effect the prevailing acceptable up basal of VLC. Users besides tin support to get clasp of updates from bespeak websites and app stores.

But via blocking disconnected the net site, India is pushing its citizens to “shady websites which mightiness beryllium moving hacked mentation of VLC. So they are endangering their idiosyncratic residents with this ban,” Kempf delivered.

New Delhi-primarily based privateness advocacy enactment Internet Freedom Foundation stated successful a tweet that blocking VideoLan “is without immoderate publically disclosed purpose.