2.0 movie: Thousands of websites blocked to stop torrent downloads of India’s most expensive film ever made

Pre-emptive move is one of the biggest blocking operations ever

Andrew Griffin
Thursday 29 November 2018 09:30 EST
Comments
A person sprays milk as they celebrate the release Indian director and actor Rajinikanth's long awaited film '2.0' in Mumbai, India
A person sprays milk as they celebrate the release Indian director and actor Rajinikanth's long awaited film '2.0' in Mumbai, India (EPA/DIVYAKANT SOLANKI)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Indian courts have handed down one of the most prolific blocking orders ever, banning people from thousands of websites.

A full 12,564 sites have been banned in the country, according to TorrentFreak. The move is an attempt to stop people distributing leaks of 2.0, a brand new Indian film.

The movie is the most expensive ever to be made in the country, and has just been released amid a flurry of publicity.

But studios fear that people will distribute it online, leaking it and getting it for free rather than paying in cinemas.

Even despite the wide-ranging block, the film is thought to be circulating online and is easily available through torrenting sites.

Some 37 internet companies will now have to ban all of their users from accessing those sites, to keep the film protected.

It comes as India cracks down on internet sites that citizens can access generally. The country has been launching intense crackdowns on pornographic and adult websites, to broad criticism.

The pre-emptive order – which was given before the film was actually released, let alone made available online – is thought to be one of the most wide-ranging ever to be granted.

As well as the wide breadth of the number of sites being covered by it, it is notable in that many of the sites covered had not actually started offering the film.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in