India lifted the ban on VLC players, and local users can now download and install

CTOnews.com, Nov. 15, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) lifted its ban on VLC Media Player websites after a nine-month ban. This means that Indian users can continue to download this popular media player for free.

CTOnews.com learned that the ban came into effect in February this year, but neither the Indian government nor the VideoLAN project officially announced or disclosed any information about the ban. The Internet Freedom Foundation of India (IFF) subsequently indicated that it had provided legal support for VLC on this issue.

The VideoLAN team said that before it was banned, VLC media players were downloaded 2500 times a year in the Indian market. At present, the Indian government has not issued an official statement on the lifting of the ban on VLC in India, but Indian users can visit its website and download VLC players freely.

The VideoLAN team issued a legal notice to the Indian government in October explaining why the company's services were banned in the country and allowing it to defend through virtual hearings.

The VideoLAN team also threatened the government that if they did not provide appropriate grounds for the ban, it would be "entitled and forced to take legal action against the government because you failed to protect our rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, in violation of international and domestic laws".