VKontakte (VK), the leading social network in Russia and a property of LSE-listed Mail.ru Group, has won a legal battle against Universal Music and Warner Music. In two verdicts handed down on March 2 and 3, the Saint Petersburg & Leningradsky Region Appeal Court overturned an earlier ruling that VK must implement effective technology to stop infringements …
Russia’s financial regulator, Bank of Russia, announced it has set up a working group whose main task is to analyze the technological innovations on the financial markets and the blockchain technology in particular. The deputy chair of the Bank of Russia, Olga Skorobogatova who headed the group, noted that the fast development and digitalization of the financial technologies …
Bank of Russia sets up working group on Blockchain technologies Read More
The Russian government is planning to tightly control Internet traffic in the country. A parliamentary bill has been drafted by the Russian communications ministry, according to daily newspaper Vedomosti, which obtained official documents relating to the matter. The ministry’s plan calls for creating a government system to monitor Internet traffic routes along communication channels. It would track DNS servers and the assignment of IP addresses. Meanwhile, …
Russian authorities to tighten control over Internet traffic “against external threats” Read More
Last week a top Russian military official revealed plans for a United Nations-backed plan to ban cyberwarfare attacks in peacetime between all leading powers. “The first step in this direction will be the signing of the Electronic Non-Aggression Pact, which will be signed under the auspices of the UN,” Yury Kuznetsov, head of the Russian …
Russian military reveals plan for global ‘cyberwarfare non-aggression pact’ Read More
Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to develop legislative amendments that will provide “more equal working conditions” among Internet companies in Russia. The executive order is addressed to several branches of the state: the Anti-Monopoly Service, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, …
Putin supports introducing sales tax on foreign Internet companies Read More
East-West Digital News reviews the most important developments on the Russian high-tech scene in 2015. Today’s article analyzes the growing restrictions on online freedom in a country where the Internet was once considered to be relatively free. 2015 was marked by expanding restrictions and controversies around several Internet-related issues. In January, the authorities banned several bitcoin websites. However, following an appeal filed …
2015 in review: The Russian Internet was less free than ever Read More
East-West Digital News reviews the most important developments on the Russian high-tech scene in 2015. Today’s story is about the main changes in the legal environment which affected foreign businesses. 1. Legislation on personal data storage Russia’s new legislation on personal data storage came into force on September 1. According to the new rules, only databases located in …
Rutracker.org, the world’s largest Russian-language torrents website, has deprived copyright holders of the ability to delete illegal downloads, the IT-website Roem.Ru reported Tuesday. “It has been announced officially (…) that all CNA-accounts [which granted copyright holders the authority to delete links to illegal downloads] have been switched to regular user mode,” Oleg Yashin from the intellectual …
Russian torrents website strips copyright holders of their rights Read More
A space beyond governmental control, the Internet has long been a thorn in the Kremlin’s side. The search for a solution began in 2012. Various tricks have been tried, from the introduction of internet filters and the updating of a national system of online surveillance known as SORM to the direct intimidation of Internet giants both domestic and international. By 2014 the Kremlin had came up with something akin to a strategy. Accustomed …
RuNet 2016: Pressure shifts from companies to citizens Read More
Finland’s Justice Ministry has decided to extradite to the United States Maxim Senakh, a Russian citizen accused of illegal hacking. According to Senakh’s lawyer, Igor Khitrukhin, Finnish authorities decided on January 5 to send Senakh to the US, though he wasn’t informed until January 8. Khitrukhin says the move is politically motivated and promises to appeal …
Finland decides to extradite Russian hacker to the US Read More
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a blogger to five years in jail for what it said was his extremist activity on the Internet after he urged people to attend a protest against high transport fares and criticised Russian intervention in Ukraine. Vadim Tyumenstev, 35, from the Siberian region of Tomsk, was also banned from using the Internet for three years in a case which Russian human rights activists said violated his …
Russian blogger sentenced to five years in prison for “extremist” posts Read More
Put under pressure by the Russian authorities to put an end to the “total anonymity” of user exchanges, Telegram intends to keep its users’ personal data and communication fully confidential. The international instant messenger will not allow security agencies to access such content, stated Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov on his Vkontakte account. “We have not issued and will …
Presidential advisor threatens to block Telegram for “de facto helping” terrorists Read More
