Russia To Require Registration For Wi-Fi Use

Oleg.salenko points out a ComputerWorld story with some bad news for Russia's wireless users, which starts out "Business travelers to Russia might want to keep their laptops and iPhones well-concealed — not from muggers, necessarily, but from the country's recently formed regulatory super-agency, Rossvyazokhrankultura (short for the Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service)... Rossvyazokhrankultura's interpretation of current law holds that users must register any electronics that use the frequency involved in Wi-Fi communications, said Vladimir Karpov, the deputy director of the agency's communications monitoring division, according to an English commentary provided by website The Other Russia." It gets worse: "Aside from public hotspots, the registration requirement also applies to home networks, laptops, smart phones and Wi-Fi-enabled PDAs, Karpov reportedly said. Registration only permits use by the owner. Registration for personal devices is said to take 10 days, but registering a hotspot — including a home network — is more complicated, involving a set of documents and technological certifications akin to putting in a cell tower."

Comments

I am high.

[the brown guy]

I REALLY apologize for my scattered thoughts, but it's 4/20, so we have been getting baked since early this morning, and I am burnt out as fuck. this isn't that big a of a deal. I mean, sure the government knows who you are, and that you have wifi access, but even then that doesn't mean they can break encrypted data. And people with stuff to hide won't register it. Shouldn't be that hard to get around it. I wouldn't be suprised if China tried this too, but they would be more worried about their economy, the russians have oil at least. What about starbucks? My native village in the northern (poor as fuck) region of Punjab, India has a few starbucks coffee shops with wifi, and if we have them, so does russia, and i seriously doubt home users will agree to this bullshit.

registering a hotspot â" including a home network â" is more complicated, involving a set of documents and technological certifications akin to putting in a cell tower. I doubt this, because there are probably thousands of wifi hotspots per cell tower, and i just don't believe it. maybe the russians should try some of BC's finest bud, it made me stop caring about what people say. In Soviet Russia,

Re:I am high.

[the brown guy]

my bad, im still baking and i didnt finish my post.
In Democratic Russia, internet surfs you!