Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoin In India Under attack :- global community please help

After  the RBI (our central bank released the press release )http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=30247 (http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=30247)

They has started raiding the  only manual exchanges in the country.  http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-first-time-in-the-country-ed-raids-a-bitcoin-seller-in-ahmedabad-1941187 (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-first-time-in-the-country-ed-raids-a-bitcoin-seller-in-ahmedabad-1941187)
And looks like  they want to go after the  users  too.

i have  setup a  IRC channel for every one to get together  and  find a solution to this. would like it if the international community would help this  small group https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=386916.msg4163880#msg4163880 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=386916.msg4163880#msg4163880)

Update:-

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Bitcoin-may-be-used-by-hawala-traders-Officials/articleshow/28067184.cms (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Bitcoin-may-be-used-by-hawala-traders-Officials/articleshow/28067184.cms)

Looks like The government is starting to demonize bitcoin users.

Now they have started calling all bitcoiners Gang

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/bitcoin-gang-gets-67-new-ecurriences-value-grows-to-13-bn/article5515128.ece

I am starting to re-think why i would want to stay in such an ignorant country.

Sad but not unexpected.

India has strong capital controls to try to stem flight.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/08/capital-controls-india

We should expect strong resistance from corrupt regimes everywhere.  But this is Bitcoins mission in action - providing modern financial tools to the other 6 billion people on the planet. 

I expect zero coin will to be a key weapon in fighting corrupt regimes. 

right now shit is hitting the fan in india.

I am unaware of the legality of bitcoins in India, but the article says, "... to trade in this illegal but virtual currency." Is this a typo, or is BTC actually illegal in India?

I understand from the article the raid was triggered because the use of bitcoins in trade violated "foreign exchange" (which I assume to be trade with money over international borders.)

Then there's the ED official who says, "No country has legalised Bitcoin as of now because of its opaque nature." I don't know that any country has "legalized" bitcoins, but some countries an exchange of value need only not be illegal to be fine. And I'm not sure what sort of takeaway we can expect from the "opaque" claim. It tells me that the official speaking is ill informed on what bitcoins are and how they function -- perhaps that opacity is education?

So, the article suggests that India's central bank sets the regulations on what transactions can be made across international lines, "...in clear violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules of the country as central bank does not provide permission to indulge in such transactions." Does this mean that India's central bank can give permission to bypass this FEMA?

Those who have used online bank transfers to buy BTCs will now be in trouble. But still, I don't know how far they will go. There are tens of thousands of people who posses Bitcoins in India.

Wikipedia says that under FEMA any foreign exchange activity is illegal unless expressly permitted.  This is a very unusual and harsh law by English law standards (which India follows because it used to be an English colony).

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Exchange_Management_Act

Looks like bitcoin will stay strictly black market in India for the foreseeable future. 

The article doesn't say anything new. Just states Bitcoin  and other crypto's aren't backed by any Central banks. Which is exactly one of the good things about it.  Don't worry about it.

I'm not sure what you think the global Bitcoin community can do about government oppression. If I had the power to stop any kind of global oppression I doubt India would be the country that I start with.

I dont know but a  few ideas would help alot.

Are the authorities actually raiding bitcoin exchanges, like the OP mentioned?  If the raids are violent and someone can get good photographic evidence (especially with a bitcoin logo in situ), then perhaps it would get some western media attention.  The people of the world will side with those whose freedoms are oppressed.  

The only solutions I can think of is either defect or go underground. Governments that really want to stop something will use fear campaigns and well orchestrated physical force attacks. It's difficult for individuals to fight against that unless supporters exist in great numbers and are willing to make great sacrifices. In other words, it's hard for the people of a country to stop public physical violence against the citizens without an uprising. I don't know that you will get the necessary local support for an uprising to defend a financial instrument. I wish you good luck with your fight.

https://localbitcoins.com/

So the bank of India has the power to arrest people?

The central bank of the US only has the power to start wars and choose our leaders but even they cannot arrest people...yet.

India the next country lining itself up for an economic tsunami  :D

The current government of India is one of the most corrupt in the entire world, and the RBI governor (Raghuram Rajan) is very close to the ruling party. Yesterday, they just launched a criminal investigation on flimsy grounds against the opposition leader. If the opposition leader himself is not safe, then what will be the condition of the common people?

A DDOS attack on any agencies involved with the crackdown would not be unexpected at this point ... just saying.

Don't take such shit lying down ... if you welcome the scum with resistance they think twice next time.

hopefully the government in india helps create some guidance that allows exchanges to still operate. sounds like as of right now a lot of exchanges in india are voluntarily shutting down. hopefully this a temporary thing.

http://www.coindesk.com/indian-bitcoin-exchanges-suspend-operations-following-rbi-warning/

A new government will be elected after the April 2014 elections and in all probability the current Reserve Bank governor will be thrown out of power immediately after that. So I urge all Indian Bitcoiners to wait for 4 months. Don't do anything drastic.

That is very interesting marcus_of_augustus.  I wonder if there's a way we could crowd-source funding for defensive manoeuvres in cyberspace to help those being unreasonably attacked. 

You do know where Gandhi is from and what they did to him, don't you?

Maybe this India Bitcoin Crackdown story will get some legs:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-27/indian-bitcoin-exchanges-halted-government-shifts-capital-control-attention-away-gol

Zerocoin could be a way yes.

maybe the next wave of more professional exchanges will rise in india with more compliance.

Seems that gold smuggling is big business in India: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20131227_ap_0de6e3846a724796bdfda985c331de84.html
Hmm... I wonder which is easier smuggling gold or transferring bitcoins.

I would humbly suggest that educating the populace is Bitcoin's only hope in India and much of the world. Well, that and the courage of an educated populace to act. As a previous poster noted, yes you can see what they did to Gandhi--but he still won through his sacrifice. "First they ignore me, then they ridicule me, then they attack me, then I win."

Given the danger Bitcoin represents to tyrannical systems, we should not be surprised that they ignore the first and jump to the following three simultaneously. The US FED seems committed to step one for the time being, but we should be prepared for the other steps if attempts to label coins and/or transactions fail. It is probably not a good idea to purchase all you coins from the likes of Coinbase.

Also noted previously, localbitcoins really should be the first line of both defence and attack transformation

No I don't think the raids are violent. They raided the offices to collect evidences and took the owners of a big manual exchange in custody for questioning. He may be arrested if proofs of any illegal activity like money laundering are found against him.

Financial regulations for small businesses in India are getting tougher everyday. Its a very dark zone and its difficult to understand what is legal and what is illegal. As the laws are not clear and well defined the authorities and governments misuse them multiple times.

I don't think pressure from international media will help Indian bitcoin users. I think lots of PIL(Public Interest Litigation) cases against the government on bitcoin issue may help. If there is a court order in support of bitcoin users then the authorities can do nothing.

Gandhi led his followers to make their own sea salt when the British imposed a salt tax. Satoshi led his followers to make their own sound money when the Banksters imposed Quantitative Easing, a hidden tax on money.

India should have there very own resistance coin, called "The Gandhicoin" with Gandhi face on it.

Here's an image for inspiration.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRPb12512cTm8cegdnL2yfEZ4kZhb6u4rRXCuG8rkDtKkDulEqx

The control-freak authoritarians the world over have one goal in mind - control everyone else for their own power.  All the while claiming it is for their own good. 

 ;D

http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5355141/il_570xN.228407401.jpg

Not was its still under English Colony (Politically and Living under donationation)
The fact is Indian ED officer himself dont know what actually bitcoin is,
RBI also dont know what bitcoin is and what is its purpose,
They are thinking about ML but they are not thinking if there will be no any ligit then it will appear as ML if they will open ligal option then they could track the transaction and all will be under AML rules.
This step will be harmfull for Indian givernment itself.

This is the main problem  we are facing.
The india bitcoin  community got together  today. and  decided the first step is  to release  a  press release, so that the authorities can meet  with a delegation and they can  explain  what  bitcoins are and how  it  can be  uses.
In the past  every time  people  from india tried to meet the  Authorities  they  have always  stonewalled them and  never have they once  met any member of the bitcoin  community to  talk  or  even  a  dialogue  with us.  

My one caveat to all my friends and family is "price is headed to $5,000 in 2014 UNLESS they start arresting people for ever having traded it". This appears to be people being arrested for having traded bitcoin. SO?!!

This is clearly the Central Bank of India orchestrating this policy of arrests... 3 days isn't enough time for police to actually get their sh$t together, especially not in India. So this was planned ahead of time, meaning that the global banking cartel is using India as a test case?

And this is another badge of honor for Bitcoin. A central bank comes after us, check, we are now officially legitimate. Where do I send my donations for the Indian defense fund?

Yep I'll donate to a Defence fund. DDOS, education campaign, whatever. We need to free the world from this government oppression.

I suggest we arrange for planes to fly with banners over Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. The banner should read, "We free ppl of the world choose gold and Bitcoin!" or maybe "RBI attacks gold & Bitcoin. Next, we win!". Who is in India who can take our donations and make this happen?

they may stop the individuals in india from participating in bitcoin transactions
but they the authorities can't shutdown bitcoin

cryptocurrencies will persist against any resistances
& will ultimate win in the long run.

it may be up to us to educate those around us more about
the benefits of cryptocurrencies. (redistribution of wealth to the people)

it's been time for people to rise & take back their freedom of choice

may 2014 be a prosperous year for you

best regards
peer2peer360

why oh why do you guys manipulate the written word and try to exadurate what its all about.

its the same thing as EVERY country. if your going to touch FIAT (be an exchange) you need to get regulated


the governments of all countries do not want to risk large sums of FIAT being syphoned through basement dwelling teenagers who dont care about security, protection ETC.

so if you want to operate a exchange in india GET A LICENCE.

i cannot believe after 35 replies on this topic, that no one else has read the full articles and offered this proper advice.
but instead used it purely as a anti-government rant

again ill repeat
so if you want to operate a exchange in india GET A LICENCE.

PSA:

FUD is always more fun than facts.  Don't rain on a FUD parade with facts.  You should know this by now.

Carry on...

My suggestions to the Original Poster:

Get people in your IRC channel and on social networks to organize an in-person, real life protest.  Make sure the press is there to film it, and do plenty of YouTube uploading with your cell phones.  Make this a human rights issue, because it is.  People just don't realize it yet.  Freedom to control our own money.  Seems like a basic freedom when you put it that way, doesn't it?

Decentralized networks evolve.  Come up with some way to continue providing the services without having a central point of weakness.  Anything with a centralized resource can be stopped.  Decentralized, multi-location setups can't be stopped.  Think about the evolution from Napster to Bit Torrent.  Each evolution occurred because the previous one was squashed.  Now it is virtually impossible to stop it.  Someone needs to get creative and find a way to host a decentralized exchange.  


Its cute that you think its like going to the DMV and getting a little laminated card. 
Pretty sure the licensing process in India is such that anyone attempting to get a license for this will be denied.
I highly doubt this is an issue of a bunch of monumental idiots who just "didnt think of it" ...

-Burger-

Exchanges who have been working on getting licensed for years now, still have no license. They are doing everything right, as if they are complying under a license and are in regular communication with the authorities who tell them they don't need a license (essentially "f&ck off, details to follow... oh and isn't it cute that you think the law matters when it comes to protecting the banking cartel").
My exchange in Canada - Cavirtex is doing everything right, leading the way on getting everyone using the same good lawyer to correspond with the state... Still we are in a-legal limbo.
If you are calling everyone blind for not seeing that we need to be legalized, as if that's a really simple thing, and not the whole crux of the matter, then I politely suggest you reconsider the middle men that Bitcoin disrupts - the banks. If you think the banks just roll over and let them be turned into middle-men in the dust bin of the march of technological history, well then...? Who is really the one missing the point in this instance?

First make clear which Gandhi you are referring to. There are two Gandhi families.

1. The original: That of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Died in 1948, his descendants are not active in politics.

2. The fakes: The current ruling dynasty in India. Originally, this was the Nehru family. However the new name was discovered after Indira Nehru married Feroze Khan in 1942. Both adopted the surname Gandhi. This family is currently ruling India.

1. Don't call them exchanges. Call them bitcoin stores or something that way you don't attract attention. This might stop them if they are just confused about bitcoins and are not actively cracking down on it.

2. Trying to explain to them why they are wrong might backfire. From personal experience some people in authority who are on a power trip will FLIP out if you show them they are wrong and ignorant about something for e.g. bitcoins.

3. Go to a lawyer who is familiar with finance and get some advice.

4. Go to the press and see if they can make it look like India might be left behind in the cryptocurrency market especially since India is a tech hub. This might shame them a bit.

1: There is problem calling Bitcoin Stores coz Bitcoin is not a physical things we can take and give

Most Important in Indian Market is to Unite all the exchangers and  bitcoin related business and reach upto Government and
1: Teach them what Bitcoin Actually is
2: They must know what will be negative impact in India if they will tightned there Hand
3: They must understand how they could track transaction (Recently they are afraid in ML case so AML surity will positive)
4: Bitcoin Business must be Registered
Bitcoin must have a different kind of law which help Government to collect taxes and even to Bitcoiners to work fluently.
I hope Indian BTC exchanges and all the Bitcoin related business Holders may proceed to it.
Good Luck

yes, this is just what India needs to succeed, more laws, regulations, rule books, bureaucrats and officials to oversee the new officiating regime.

Whole new armies of bitcoin bureaucrats in white shirts ... let's just accept the place is truly fecked up and move on ... they couldn't organise their way out of a paper bag.

what bitcoin needs in india is just what it will get ... millions of little bitcoin ninja-warrior guys in hot, smelly little shops doing black deals behind curtains in backrooms ... that's how it will thrive.

Bitcoin Anthem India GOING UNDERGROUND! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1ct5yEuVY) ... sing along boys!

(btw it's the use case test we've all been waiting for)

I don't know what you're talking about. I think all that needs to happen is for the honest Bitcoin businesses to pay for some lobbyists and open a dialog with regulators, so those regulators understand that Bitcoin isn't a threat.

As long as they act in good faith to obey the rules then everything will be fine, because regulators are reasonable and fair people and regulations really are there for our protection, not to just to be arbitrary or vindictive or to benefit some parts of society at the expense of others.

They just need to form some kind of Foundation in India, donate money, and believe; and everything will be fine.

Wait ... what's that I hear, the distant sound of a crowd holding hands and singing kumbyaa?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Bitcoin-may-be-used-by-hawala-traders-Officials/articleshow/28067184.cms (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Bitcoin-may-be-used-by-hawala-traders-Officials/articleshow/28067184.cms)

Looks like The government is starting to demonize bitcoin users.

The bureaucrats in india is like the Vogons. regulation will take about another year and  they will try to get  people the bribe them for favorable licensing and deny licence to any one  that goes through the proper channel .
They are looking at this as a centralized currency base and must be looking for  satoshi to arrest. lol

... sounds like the typical cheap propaganda from a third world junta ...


age old 'terror' invocation, act scared now


slurs on the accused before anywhere near a court


more slurring and aggrandisment of state actions (why a 'raid', not a visit to the offices?)


FUD spreading ... breathing and drinking water is not authorised either, doesn't stop people doing it every day ...

Looks like owning bitcoin is going to be illegal in india.

Don't bitch and put up attitudes against other people, punjab. Keep your mouth to yourself.

Maybe then others would like to help.

Still as true today as when I first said it last October: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=368431.msg3955248#msg3955248

subvolatil thanks for showing your interest in bitcoin and even persuading others to stand with you to protect bitcoin. These days bitcoins are being attacked by various countries but believe me bitcoin is strong enough to combat all these challenges. Yes I shall be there to help in bitcoin safeguarding. 

Know what? The ruling party in India recently hiked the gold import duty to 10%, just to encourage smuggling.

Most of the gold smuggling in India is done by a particular community, which is very close to the ruling party. And most of the gold is sourced from the GCC nations, such as UAE and Oman.

The same government now blames Bitcoin users of hawala transactions... lol.. how funny?

Now they have started calling us gangs

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/bitcoin-gang-gets-67-new-ecurriences-value-grows-to-13-bn/article5515128.ece

I am starting to re-think why i would want to stay in such an ignorant country.

That's pretty much what you should expect.

Sir, I urgently suggest to you that you create a forum both online and offline for people to contribute ideas to be able to see all the perspectives being seen by your entire Indian Bitcoin Community. If you can gather all of them into a protected forum where they can hide their names and critique and talk openly without fear of they themselves, instead of their ideas being critiqued, you will have gained a powerful force for good.

Remember everyone has their own mind, own eyes, hands to explore the world, do the same for this. Get everyones viewpoint so that a clear understanding can be achieved, once everyone else knows what is up, then you can start to organize into skill based systems.

I suggest that you create a forum, using whatever forum software you like, get suggestions from people here on This forum how to secure it for peoples safety, so they can discuss openly their views.

Then start to figure out what skills will be required to build a proper group capable of holding the line of Democratic rights.

You'll need.
Grassroots Followers: They won't get involved too deeply but they will provide eyes, ears and minds to augment the core Bitcoin Contributors, not to mention the power of Distributed Action. The more people involved the closer we are to knowing what is happening and the stronger the total power of the group... they can help the cause by volunteering, providing financial support when needed to those at the Front.

Web Masters: People knowledgeable about Bitcoin, it's protocols, Namecoin, to build a decentralized communication system. Bitmessage, Secure communications(so secure people won't even know where they are); These people are the backbone... they provide technical expertise for the other members and make sure that their communication infrastructure is safe. If possible they should contribute their skills to the main Bitcoin Project and it's ecosystem to make sure the system is secure.

Teachers: We need them to guide people on what they should know, when they should know it and to organize the group to guide our actions correctly.

Visionaries: People capable and willing to give everything they have to understand the cause at every level, they are people so commited that they understand every level of the projects, the people, the technology, willing to teach others and capable of having the courage to go on when no one else will.

Leaders: To motivate the people on what Democracy truly is, It is a massive Distributed Amalgamation of the People anything that does not consider that is not a Democracy.

Researchers: These people are the Lawyers, Scientists of our cause they search for Truth and will be in the Background or at the Front Lines of the Court Room, but they will need to know what Truth is and make sure they have a good foothold in it.

Now you will need to gauge what everyone knows, there is a project by the Mozilla Project called OpenBadges. You will need people to make Badges on what skills are required and training programs to make sure people do have the skills to back those badges.
http://openbadges.org/ (http://openbadges.org/)

Figure out what information you need and who needs to know, what skills are required, the different jobs that will be needed, then start making Badge courses so that everyone can smoothly in this order reach the top.

Find out everything about Bitcoin and the system that you are in.

Give people the most relevant information requires in public places where they can find the information easily and guide them
to sources with more information like the forum.

On the forum give people all the information they need, neatly organized for people different interests in the projects, Protocol, Legal, Research, Bitcoin Ecosystem, etc, whatever you think is relevant.

Allow people to discuss and guide their discussions into the correct Topics, so more information can be put in the main Information center as new developments unfold and are confirmed.

Give people a place where they can contribute whatever they can to the project, whether it's a commitment to research, to teach, for Litigation,  to maintain and update the forum, or general job postings for the project.( The important thing is that everyone with useful skills are grouped together so that relevant information is spread among the most active members in a timely fashion and relevant duties done)

Once the organizing of the group is complete then actions can be taken because the logistic train of information, jobs, duties are properly supporting the people at the front and always fine tune this process for maximum effect... in fact have people analyze the organization of the group to make sure that everything is moving properly through the group.

Make progression Badges so people from the bottom to the top can smoothly see their skills rise in step with their usefulness to the group. Remember this is a massive discussion group and their can be no single leader in any point only equals, with equal skills and knowledge, even in a court room, a lawyer does not stand alone, they represent everyone that brought them to that point, the Paralegals, Researchers, Administrators, Officials, Police, the people and the thousands of years of History that have brought them Here.  As Isaac Newton said,"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

The rest is up to you, I cannot tell you what your groups consensus will be when action is required, but I can tell you that
Nations that Dare call themselves Democracies but are not, will resoundingly be spanked by the true members of Democracy, the people.



This is the software you will need.

Bitmessage: Secure Communication Protocol, so secure people won't even know where you are communicating from.
https://bitmessage.org/wiki/Main_Page (https://bitmessage.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Namecoin: Decentralized Information System, Keep a copy of this and all listed websites cannot be blocked, use for Time Stamping Documents, Torrent Tracking using magnet links, Secure login system, web of trust, many uses
http://dot-bit.org/Main_Page (http://dot-bit.org/Main_Page)

OpenBadges: to create a skill system to bring everyone in your group up to date on all known skills and information needed for your Bitcoin Swarm and we will need them to be a swarm... everyone knows everything that everyone else knows and has the skill to do anyone else's job. Remember the example of the Blockchain, It is the foundation of what is True and all who know the Truth will know you for who you are, and all falsehood within that chain will be found to be a shaky foundation to build upon, don't build your house on sand.
http://openbadges.org/ (http://openbadges.org/)

And all the other Cryptocurrencies to unleash the possibilities of what is possible.
Litecoin: for easy personal currency earning using regular computers, plus of course all other GPU/CPU minable coins.
https://litecoin.org/ (https://litecoin.org/)

Primecoin: Cunningham chain prime search CPU earnable
http://primecoin.org/ (http://primecoin.org/)

Franko's: Social Engineering coin, promoting Democratic values. GPU earnable.
http://frankos.org/ (http://frankos.org/)

Devcoin: To incentivize writers, artists, programmers, Architects of your cause, contribute to www.Devtome.com (http://www.Devtome.com) to earn coins.
http://devcoin.org/ (http://devcoin.org/)

Peercoin: A Proof of Stake coin, earn coins for saving the coins you already have.
http://peercoin.net/ (http://peercoin.net/)

Freicoin: A innovative coin with a Demurrage design to offset Network power by the wealthy, promotes economic movement.
http://freico.in/ (http://freico.in/)

Feathercoin:A GPU earnable coin with Network checkpoint for security
http://feathercoin.com/ (http://feathercoin.com/)

Curecoin: Earn coins for helping the Folding@Home community(not launched yet, but very promising)
http://curecoin.us/ (http://curecoin.us/)

Ripple: A company trying to create a legal infrastructure to buy Cryptocurrencies, similar to Western Union/Money Gram.
Earn coins by processing Scientific data on the Boinc network.
https://ripple.com/ (https://ripple.com/)

Emscripten: A C/C++ program to convert programs into a fast form of Javascript for direct deployment to the web of all programs to give all volunteers access to Software programs they will need to be effective... add to namecoin so all members have access to programs, like Word Processors(Apache OpenOffice), Graphic Design(GIMP), Video Editing(Blender), Audio Editing(Audacity), etc all open source software that will be required by people to contribute to your cause.
https://github.com/kripken/emscripten/wiki (https://github.com/kripken/emscripten/wiki)

OpenTransactions and the Monetas Projects: A project to provide bank accounts off of Mobile phones for the billions of people on earth who do not have bank accounts, plus easy software for anyone to build their own business.
http://opentransactions.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page (http://opentransactions.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page) http://monetas.net/ (http://monetas.net/)

Apache Bigtop: A testing environment for the Hadoop Distributed Computing infrastructure... never know when you need servers that never go down.
http://blog.cloudera.com/blog/2013/06/apache-bigtop-the-fedora-of-hadoop-built-on-hadoop2/ (http://blog.cloudera.com/blog/2013/06/apache-bigtop-the-fedora-of-hadoop-built-on-hadoop2/)

Collaboration tools.

Apache ESME:Enterprise Social Messaging Experiment (ESME) is a secure and highly
scalable microsharing and micromessaging platform that allows people to
discover and meet one another and get controlled access to other sources
of information, all in a business process context.
http://esme.apache.org/index.html (http://esme.apache.org/index.html)
You will need Apache Tomcat to make it work: http://tomcat.apache.org/download-60.cgi (http://tomcat.apache.org/download-60.cgi)

Apache Rave: A Web 2.0 content aggregator, useful for linking all useful information in a single webpage for members.
http://rave.apache.org/ (http://rave.apache.org/)

Apache Forrest/Cocoon: A Content styling system for presenting information from the community into a magazine format or any format you may find most useful.
http://forrest.apache.org/ (http://forrest.apache.org/) http://cocoon.apache.org/1288_1_1.html (http://cocoon.apache.org/1288_1_1.html)

Apache Subversion:Subversion exists to be universally recognized and adopted as an open-source, centralized version control system characterized by its reliability as a safe haven for valuable data; the simplicity of its model and usage; and its ability to support the needs of a wide variety of users and projects, from individuals to large-scale enterprise operations.
http://subversion.apache.org/ (http://subversion.apache.org/)

Apache Shindig: A OpenSocial API specification for easily hosting Social Applications.
http://shindig.apache.org/ (http://shindig.apache.org/)

many of these apps will need someone with technical knowledge to assemble, But it will give you maximum security for your cause to assemble it from within. You can also use freely available websites as well like Twitter/Facebook/Google+/YouTube/ and other social media sites to spread the message and attract more supporters that could have the skill you need.

Slides: an easy website to post essential information in a slide format for people to follow.
http://slid.es/ (http://slid.es/)

OpenAtrium: A Collaboration toolset for regular documents,files, news, etc, quick to deploy for all participants to collaborate.
http://openatrium.com/#!/ (http://openatrium.com/#!/)

just trade on localbitcoins and eventually media will forget about bitcoins and the government. Better yet do IRC trades so they can't figure out how to get in the room and spread FUD. Even paypal couldn't 100% get into India with their trillions so lobbying Indian gov is a waste of time completely. Speaking of virtual currencies, how do all those Okpay, Perfectmoney, and Ukash exchangers exist in India and advertise freely?

Bribes... They probably work the same way they do where I was born; I couldn't even get my Citizenship card without bribing someone and I followed all the legal steps, had to wait a few months as their backlog of cards was so extreme they had to announce it to people in the newspaper to come pick up their cards, and I got mine without having to bribe anyone... but it sure takes a long time.

They have to go through legislation first, if they do it the other way... they'll be labeled as money launderers or Terrorists, they'll get people murdered or robbed by government thugs, if they don't do this properly, someone hiding things or instantly complying to stupid requests without accerting their rights is an easy target for further heavy handed action... they'd be signalling that they are weak and easy prey.

No most Court cases take a Decade to fight through... that is enough time to let other parts of the system flourish while they are in legal limbo.

Building a swarm of capable Bitcoiners and an infrastructure to support them is all that can be done; This will mitigate an attack against individuals since any one of the group that is willing to take the risks and responsibilities will emerge regardless of what happens to the person before them, it would be like attacking the opposition party leader and expecting their entire base to desolve.

Established Social groups cannot be taken down because of the infrastructure and the Chain of tradition, culture, knowledge of that group... The Bitcoin Pod in India has to establish these foundations in record time to avoid a violent attack.

Bitcoin being a massive Crowd Sourced Swarm has to communicate with the legacy Hierarchy systems, That requires Representatives to interact and educate Government representatives... they cannot be allowed to make up their version of what's up... It'll cause an instant effect on their Hierarchy, for better or worse, their version will go up the chain of command and interaction protocols will be setup throughout the entire Government structure. All laws are, programming protocols, laws are lines of code... but unlike computer code people can choose to comply or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...)

Trading in localbitcoins.com is not risk free. The government can track the IP and trace your transactions. However, I believe that localbitcoins admins will not give the logs to the Indian government.

I found these excellent articles on another post, great reading and very true. Your foundation has to be Mission based, each person observing the pool of knowledge, taking and giving to it for others to work with, simply contributors adding insight.

This article is on normal Hierarchys, and how FUD makes them ineffective. 
http://greatestinstruments.net/breaking-down-the-pyramids-that-govern-part-1-of-2/ (http://greatestinstruments.net/breaking-down-the-pyramids-that-govern-part-1-of-2/)

Another on Emerging Networks and how they approach the same problems
http://greatestinstruments.net/the-rise-of-emergent-networks-part-2-of-2/ (http://greatestinstruments.net/the-rise-of-emergent-networks-part-2-of-2/)

A case example on how structures that critique the individual falter over time, compared to Emergent Networks that emphasize solutions.
http://greatestinstruments.net/pyramids-networks-and-the-emergent-weapons-of-cyber-war/ (http://greatestinstruments.net/pyramids-networks-and-the-emergent-weapons-of-cyber-war/)

The question becomes how to effectively structure the organization in a Distributed or Decentralized manner around the information/problems/systems that emerge on a day to day basis... Basically, how do you get peoples contributions spread to and from key points?

In larger established organizations these problems are dealt by fine tuning the process with better learning materials and policies... but they often take people to the pinnacle of an organizations practices, without letting individuals mentally understand how they got to that point, hence mistakes are made as those who remember why the policies were put in place retire.

Thank you for your inputs and  information .  i  will make it  so.

We already  have  IRC channel  running on freenode #taproom and  getting  people in it slowly hopefully we can get this ball rolling.

"Mahendra Gupta had developed software for a bitcoin trading platform for an Australian company and accepted payments in bitcoins. He later developed a replica of the same platform and began trading in India. During the raid, 13 bitcoins worth Rs 6 lakh were recovered from Gupta's possession."

I wonder which one of the now hacked and defunct exchanges he developed.  :o

I read today that RBI, don't want to regulate Virtual Currencies. What is their problem? If they are not going to regulate it why stirring it up? Not to mention, the Indian government is corrupt as hell anyway. All my Indian friends told me.

They are not going to regulate it. They are going to ban it. That is the problem. The nutcase RBI director was saying something like: Bitcoins are being used for money laundering... so we should arrest everyone who is having BTCs with them. This is the attitude.  ???

Tell me this wasn't the biggest exchanger in India. Probably 2nd or third.

This was  a manual exchange ,  India  still does not a   a  fully functioning exchange market with automatic trade matching. 

I think it was CryptoXchange in Australia

If these Fuckers actually want to fight with Bitcoin and Bitcoin holders then they will never know anything. Either india will be the worlds only country without internet or they will be unsuccess. But if they want to actually track bitcoin then they must regulate one law for bitcoin and all VC so they can track. If they will not bring one rule then how they are going to track the transaction?
Recent unconfirmed news (Few Indians are now Active in Bangladesh and Bhutan even asking to buy in US, EU for buying Bitcoin) so who the hell could track?
If there was ligal option in India noone buy or sell from other country so Indian Authority could Track.

The government of india should be absolutely embarrassed by this movement, and i will never support it because of this.
Many governments feel threatened about bitcoin and they want to have complete control, but more importantly they want people
to be sheep.

Bad news for you. His exchange was the only reliable local bitcoin exchange in India. However, most of the Indian trade takes place through foreign exchanges (Mt Gox, Bitstamp.etc) or through localbitcoins.

Just made a post about the stories here: http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/2013/12/31/india-attacking-bitcoin-calls-us-bitcoin-gang/

Thanks for the story :-)

Yes India sounds like a crappy place to live but most everywhere else is pretty bad too.  There are certainly some countries that are better than others though.  But this type of oppression is the only thing that can effectively kill the growth of bitcoin around the world and it probably will.

Nah, it won't kill kill Bitcoin. In fact, it not really even a bad thing. Many governments are just telling their people that they won't protect them if they get scammed by virtual currencies. Only one country so far has made a statement publicly that they will protect their citizens from being harmed by virtual currencies. 

Only one gov has declared their "protection"?.. India the protectorate!