GitHub, a popular software development platform that hosts open-source projects is said to be block for some users in India. A domain use by the service to serve files and content from repositories to users all over the world, has seemingly block in India.
The block appears to be active for some users on ACT Fibernet broadband, while some Jio Fiber users are also facing issues with the URL as well.
This block was spot by users on Sunday, who tweeted about the website being inaccessible on the ACT Fibernet service.
As a result of the block domain, affect users may have limit access to files use in open-source projects host on the platform for developers and GitHub users.
Twitter user first spot the issue. In his tweet on Sunday, he enquire if http://raw.githubusercontent.com was block on ACT internet in Bangalore.
Responses to his tweet indicate that the domain has block on certain ISPs in the country.
We also able to confirm that the URL was not accessible on ACT broadband internet and Jio Fiber.
Visiting the URL via a web browser displays the message,
“This URL has been blocked under the instructions in compliance with the orders of a Hon’ble Court.”
But the domain appears to be working normally for Airtel users.
It is note that GitHub is home to numerous, valuable open-source projects.
Blocking the raw.githubusercontent.com domain, which is use to serve files store in GitHub repositories, would restrict access to notable projects including React Native, Linux, and Google’s TensorFlow.
While the URL is not accessible via browsers on the affect ISPs, using the Command Prompt to send a Client URL (Curl) request also returns the same error, informing the user that the host has block in compliance with a court order.
The blocking of Github’s domain use to serve content to users is also surprising, as one of the objectives of the National Policy on Information Technology, 2012 is “To adopt Open standards and promote open source and open technologies“.
Restricting access to the platform could hamper the adoption and development of open source technology in India.
