Bloggers may no longer express their uninhibited views on everything under the sun, for the Supreme Court said they may face libel and even prosecution for the blog content.

It will no longer be safe to start a blog and invite others to register their raunchy, caustic and even abusive comments on an issue while seeking protection behind the disclaimer — views expressed on the blog are that of the writers.

This chilling warning emerged as a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam refused to protect a 19-year-old Kerala boy, who had started a community on Orkut against Shiv Sena, from protection against summons received from a Maharashtra court on a criminal case filed against him [source].

A recent Supreme Court ruling seeks to alter the way we blog or even perceive bloggers [hat tip: Rahul]. Given the recent NDTV v. Chetan Kunte issue, we find these developments disturbing not only from the perspective of freedom of speech but also in terms of implications for political discourse and reasoned debate.

We are seeking suggestions to address these concerns especially from a legal perspective. Moving beyond rants against the SC ruling, we would appreciate if you could offer any suggestions to tackle efforts at controlling our blogging rights. This ruling not only affects bloggers but all netizens who comment on forums and Facebook/Orkut communities. You are free to share your suggestions through your personal blogs; if you do please send us your links. Any suggestions from lawyer-bloggers would be greatly appreciated.

What are your favorite Bollywood blogs? They may not only be blogs written by celebrities but also by bloggers who focus on Bollywood, Indian movies, or celebrity news either exclusively or to a large extent. Leave your suggestions in the comments.

There has been a spate of incidents recently when the Indian mainstream media has thought it convenient to plagiarize from the blogging community. The content stolen has not only been blog posts but also photos which they publish without due acknowledgement.

Few bloggers are considering establishing an organization/ community to fight against such theft and give bloggers a stronger voice in protecting their content. Express your opinion in the comments below and let us know if you would like to join such an organization. This would not be a DesiPundit venture but we would strongly support it.

We are considering posting a list of our popular links (based on outbound clicks) every week. Would you be interested in such a list every week or it would be too redundant?

Inspired by Neelakantan’s first attempt, we invite more suggestions for expanding acronyms of political parties in India. Heck, we can even vote for the best one if we get enough.

Could India ever face a second Emergency?

Which movie are you planning to watch first? Om Shanti Om or Saawariya (or none)? Why?

Given Tehelka’s expose on post-Godhra riots, do you think the Indian media is doing a good job in investigative journalism? What other controversies would you like to be throughly investigated?

PS. We’re trying to revive the Speak Up section.

Which celebrity would you like to see [honest] blogging? Why?

As Israel intensifies its attacks in Lebanon, it pays to wonder if the word “peace” has any meaning at all? Add this to many recent events, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, for example, and one is tempted that to think that the world is only a few steps away from self-destruction.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye would only end up making the whole world blind.” Would the old man have approved of all this? Or is war the only solution? Has peace lost its meaning and value? Are we on the road to perdition?