VKontakte (VK), Russia’s leading social network, is to introduce subscription for its music services, the Izvestia newspaper reported Wednesday. Users will still be able to listen to music on the site for free, but some paid functions will appear at the start of 2017. “Users will still be able to listen to audio recordings for free …
Last week Private Internet Access (PIA), a VPN provider based in California, announced that it was suspending all operations in Russia following server seizure by the Russian authorities and due to an ever-more restrictive legal environment. Under a controversial “anti-terrorist” legislation signed by President Putin in early July, Internet and telecom players will soon be required to store the content and the …
The Moscow police have recorded an 86% rise in online extremism in the first half of 2016, compared to the same period last year, the Interfax news agency reported. Anatoly Yakunin, the head of Moscow’s Interior Ministry announced that all forms of extremist crimes had risen 25% in the first half of the year but …
Moscow police report 86% rise in online hate crime Read More
According to the human rights group “Sova,” which monitors the enforcement of anti-extremism legislation in Russia, 119 people were convicted last year of criminal activity for posting and reposting content on Vkontakte, Russia’s leading social network. For comparison: in 2015, police went after only three users of Odnoklassniki (another Russian social network) and just a …
Why Russian police targets people on Vkontakte rather than on Facebook Read More
The FindFace mobile app, which makes it possible to find a random person’s social-media page on Vkontakte after taking a photo of them in the street, has made news headlines for its use in experimental art projects and bullying women who appear in pornography. Daniil Turovsky, special correspondent for independent online publication Meduza, sat down with the authors …
The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian) has teamed up with high tech company GS Group and mobile operators Megafon, MTS and VimpelCom (Beeline) to create an Internet-of-Things (IoT) consortium in Russia. Tele2, another major mobile operator, expressed interest in potentially joining the consortium in a further stage, Russian news agency TASS reported. The …
IIDF teams up with mobile operators to create IoT consortium Read More
Less than one year after the introduction of new restrictions on personal data collection, use and storage, and in parallel to recently adopted ‘anti-terrorist’ measures, Russian officials are considering yet additional moves to tighten state control over users’ digital data. Speaking last month at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, Alexander Zharov, who heads Russia’s telecom and …
Russia considers creating a “national Big Data operator” Read More
Russian service marketplace YouDo.com announced today the completion of a $6.2 million Series C financing round, led by Sistema Venture Capital. Existing investors Flint Capital, United Capital Partners and QIWI shareholder Sergey Solonin also took part in the round. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Launch in 2012, YouDo’s platform matches those …
Russian service marketplace YouDo raises $6.2 million to go global Read More
An exchange for hacked software just launched in Russia, Expocod.com, is ready to pay tens of thousands dollars for vulnerabilities in popular software such as Linux, Windows, and Adobe. Vulnerabilities are interesting to IT giants that might want to fix them, but also to unscrupulous users who could exploit them for personal gain. Andrei Shorokhov, a …
Russian information security specialists launch exchange for hacked software Read More
Private Internet Access (PIA), a US-based VPN provider whose users may anonymously visit webpages and bypass site blockings, has announced that has discontinued its Russian gateways and will no longer be doing business in the region. PIA seems to be the first international player to stop activities in the country after the adoption of Russia’s latest “anti-terrorist” legislation. Under this …
Russian search giant Yandex and private equity fund Baring Vostok Capital Partners have invested $5.5 million in DOC+, acquiring a minority stake in the company. The deal was revealed last week by Russian business publication RBC, based on exchanges with the startup’s co-founder Victor Belogub, and confirmed by the investors. The deal was led by Baring Vostok. …
Yandex and Baring Vostok invest $5.5 million in house-call doctor service Read More
Today Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the controversial “anti-terrorist” legislation adopted by the lower and upper houses of parliament in late June, despite the flurry of criticism coming from opposition-mided circles and the serious concerns expressed by Russian telecom and Internet companies. As reported earlier by East-West Digital News, the new legislation — which Edward Snowden has called …
Putin signs ‘Big Brother law,’ asks government to “minimize implementation risks” Read More
