Abhishek Manu Singhvi's leaked CD goes viral on the Internet

New Delhi: A controversial CD allegedly featuring Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi's has him livid. Despite a court injunction, the video went viral on the internet. Some are worried the incident will spark off a fresh wave of restrictions on the web.

If you've shared Abhishek Manu Singhvi's leaked video with friends online, you could go to jail, say cyber experts. The video not only invades Singhvi's privacy, its content is pornographic. And sharing porn online is a crime in India. Still, the video's popularity online need not be driven by any criminal intent as Singhvi believes.

Cyber Lawyer Apar Gupta said, "The internet is pretty random. If anything like a dancing baby or a cat picks its fancy, it posts it. There is a viral phenomenon. It's distributed, instantaneous, there is no grand design. It's spontaneous."

Executive Director, Software Freedom Law Centre Mishi Chaudhary admits freedom should have its limits. In an age of torrent sites, content is impossible to control and a leaked video can destroy reputations. But Mishi believes the law must punish those who uploaded the video. Not the websites who hosted it.

"It's like shooting the messenger. Shoot me because I brought you bad news. Facebook is only a postman. Any ISP or telecom service provider is only giving you a means to access. They are not culpable. 72 hours of video are uploaded to Google every minute. Is it practically possible to monitor all of it all the time?" Mishi Chaudhary said.

Long time technology watcher Prabir Purkayastha says embarrassing people in power is an ancient game. In the past, posters were pasted on bare walls in the city. Today, the internet is our communal wall. But he doesn't believe in censorship even before the content goes online.

The fear is that in an attempt to prevent similar incidents, the government will put in place draconian measures that could seriously compromise freedom on the internet.