Pavel Durov, founder of the Telegram messaging app, agreed on Wednesday for his firm to be registered in Russia after coming under pressure from the authorities to do so, but said it would not share confidential user data with anyone. Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor had threatened to block the messaging app if it did not …
Telegram app agrees to register in Russia, but not to share private data Read More
Russia’s FSB security service said on Monday that terrorists had used the Telegram messaging app to carry out a deadly suicide bombing on Russian soil, increasing pressure on the app days after the authorities accused it of breaking data laws. Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor said on Friday it would block Telegram soon unless it handed …
Last week Russian lawmakers in the State Duma unanimously adopted the first reading of legislation that would ban technologies that make it possible to circumvent Internet censorship. In the law’s explanatory note, the Duma deputies argue that Russia’s existing system to block illegal content on the Web is “not effective enough.” 363 deputies voted in …
Russia’s telecom regulator Roskomnadzor blocked internet giant Google for several hours on Thursday in a bid to enforce a tax ruling made in 2016. Google.ru appeared on Russia’s register of banned sites for approximately three hours on Thursday afternoon, with a number of internet providers restricting users’ access. The site was blocked as part of …
A group of Russian lawmakers has submitted draft legislation to ban VPN and Internet anonymizers that allow users to gain access to blocked information resources, making it possible to circumvent Internet censorship. According to these Duma deputies, the country’s ability to police the Internet is hindered by such technologies as well as by search engines which provide …
Russian lawmakers consider banning VPNs and Internet anonymizers Read More
Russian security software maker Kaspersky Lab has filed antitrust complaints against Microsoft with the European Commission and the German federal cartel office, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Kaspersky Lab said Microsoft was abusing its dominance in the PC operating system market, creating obstacles for independent software security vendors by distributing its own Defender …
Kaspersky files antitrust complaints against Microsoft in Europe Read More
According to its deputy chairwoman, Olga Skorobogatova, Russia’s central bank is in the process of drafting legislation to legally recognize and monitor digital currencies. The preliminary draft regulation could be presented to the Russian State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, as soon as June, Skorobogatova was quoted as stating by Interfax. Skorobogatova’s comments …
Russia’s central bank plans to tax bitcoin, deem it a “digital commodity” Read More
Two weeks after the Ukrainian authorities banned leading Russian Internet sites as part of sanctions affecting 468 Russian legal entities, Yandex announced that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) conducted searches at the company’s offices in Kiev and Odessa. Yandex.Ukraine management and employees are accused of having gathered personal data of Ukrainian users and transmitted them …
Yandex’s Ukrainian offices searched by security service Read More
“We tried fighting Internet piracy, but unfortunately piracy won,” wrote an heir to famous Soviet writer Andrei Strugatsky on his Facebook page, adding that it is “completely impossible” to defeat the enormous amount of illegal content. Two out of three Russians believe that viewing and downloading pirated content is legal, according to a survey conducted …
On June 22, Saint Petersburg will host the international Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference as part of a series of events held in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Sweden. Blockchain in banking and digital currencies legislative regulation will be among the main topics covered at the event, with industry experts and executives, entrepreneurs, startups …
Blockchain and banking discussed in Saint Petersburg (June 22) Read More
Telegram, the international instant messenger which claims to guarantee its users a superior level of confidentiality, has reiterated its refusal to disclose “any information” to any “government or special service in the world,” the Russian media have reported, citing company statements. Earlier this week, Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom regulator, requested Telegram to provide contact and other corporate information …
Telegram under pressure to get official registration with Russian authorities Read More
Confirming that the relations between Ukraine and Russia are currently at their lowest, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko yesterday signed a decree applying sanctions to 468 legal entities and 1,228 individuals from Russia. Among the targeted organizations are the two leading Russian Internet groups — Yandex and Mail.Ru Group — the services of which will be made …
