VideoLAN’s website— www.videolan.org— has been blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the Information Technology Act, 2000. A quick glance at the website reveals a white screen dotted with the notice that the website has been blocked. What is VLC: VLC media player is a free and open-source media player software and streaming media server. It is available on major operating systems like Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. Who is behind VLC: VideoLAN is a non-profit organisation which develops software that can play video and other media formats on various devices. https://twitter.com/b50/status/1506165390472212491 Why VLC is so popular: VLC Media Player is often considered to be one of the most popular media players according to TechRadar because it is: Available for free Supports nearly all file formats without the need to download additional codecs Optimises video and audio playback as per the device Offers streaming Extended with downloadable plugins which enable integration with other programs and streaming services Since when has the website been blocked? It is difficult to ascertain the date but a quick perusal of social media tells you that the website has been down since March. Availability on app stores: VLC’s mobile apps seem to be available for download on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. Is the ban uniform? The ban does not seem to be uniform as it seems unavailable on mobile carrier networks such as Airtel, Vodafone, and Jio as well as some broadband services but available on other broadband services…
