Belarus Bans Use of Foreign Websites

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Belarus Bans Use of Foreign Websites

Posted by Soulskill on Monday January 2, 2012 @08:01AM from the technological-island-nation dept.

bs0d3 writes "A new law in Belarus prohibits people from using 'foreign' websites. The law requires that all companies and individuals who are registered as entrepreneurs in Belarus use only domestic Internet domains for providing online services, conducting sales, or exchanging email messages. The tax authorities and the secret police are authorized to investigate violations."

28 of 361 comments (clear)

Geek perspective: websites by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-02 08:05 · Score: 5, Informative

Belarus is a dictatorship with a history of human rights abuse. All bets are off.
1. Re:Geek perspective: websites by houstonbofh · 2012-01-02 08:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Once SOPA passes, and US companies start to offshore both domain names and hosting, how long before a law like this passes here? Don't say it could never happen. A lot of "nevers" have happened in the past few years. I never thought US Citizens could be dissapeared on US soil either.
2. Re:Geek perspective: websites by Sponge+Bath · 2012-01-02 08:35 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Belarus is a dictatorship with a history of human rights abuse.
  Well, you certainly don't minsk words.
3. Re:Geek perspective: websites by LordLimecat · 2012-01-02 08:51 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Criticisms of SOPA or anything else will fall on deaf ears when you lose all perspective and compare the US to a repressive dictatorship.
4. Re:Geek perspective: websites by sortius_nod · 2012-01-02 08:57 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  As a non-American, the US is viewed as repressive, & we all assume the dictatorship bit will come soon (not that it's really needed). More & more the US is looking like 1920's Germany.
5. Re:Geek perspective: websites by dkleinsc · 2012-01-02 09:03 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  whoosh
  
  --
  I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
6. Re:Geek perspective: websites by Hatta · 2012-01-02 09:13 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  As an American, I can assure you that you are absolutely correct.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
7. Re:Geek perspective: websites by Existential+Wombat · 2012-01-02 09:21 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Is this a load of .bs ?
8. Re:Geek perspective: websites by cold+fjord · 2012-01-02 09:58 · Score: 3
  
  As an American, I can assure you that you are absolutely correct.
  
  Patriotism is bigotry.
  Little wonder.
  
  --
  much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
9. Re:Geek perspective: websites by MrBandersnatch · 2012-01-02 09:59 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I've been avoiding the US since the Patriot act passed - there is no way I want to visit, work-in or deal-with (business wise) people from a country where as a "foreigner" they can lock me up and throw away the key without due process or oversight.
  Dictatorship no......oppressive regime? 'Fraid so!
10. Re:Geek perspective: websites by Mashiki · 2012-01-02 10:11 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  The US is far from perfect, but saying that it's a dictatorship is far from the truth. Especially if you've never lived in one, or visited one, or even had family who escaped from one. At worst, you're using your statements to push an agenda. At best you're using hyperbole.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
11. Re:Geek perspective: websites by roman_mir · 2012-01-02 11:31 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I don't see why you would fail to mention this, unless you were intentionally trying to mislead people about who exactly was behind these new laws.
  - maybe you should actually READ what I linked to, which is my journal entry?
  In fact I mentioned something, but it's the exact problem that I mentioned that you are displaying - being confused by the MSM, which are on purpose make it confusing for some people to understand that in FACT it was Obama who fought...... to EXCLUDE the provisions from the bill that would LIMIT the power against being applied to US citizens (not that these powers should be applied to ANY humans on the planet, but that train left the station back when the 'Patriot' Act was signed).
  Obama fought in order to ensure that the US citizens would in fact be included in the list of people that are targeted by this bill.
  You see, you got screwed by your MSM as I explained in my journal entry. Here is what you should know.
  So, I expect some form of a retraction from you for your false accusations here.
  
  --
  You can't handle the truth.
12. Re:Geek perspective: websites by LordLimecat · 2012-01-02 12:09 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  AAAAAAAAAND Godwin. I think we're done here.
13. Re:Geek perspective: websites by Reservoir+Penguin · 2012-01-02 12:27 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I actually lived for some time in the US. My perspective is that US is no dictatorship but neither it is a modern democracy as defined by the standard set by modern Western European democracies. I find American political system quite peculiar.
  
  It is quite authoritarian at the federal level, between defacto one party rule (I refuse to consider R and D to be sufficiently different ideologically to be considered distinct parties, they are more like a liberal and conservative wings of the old CPSU) and absolutely mad lobbyism there is a real abyss between ordinary people and what is going on in DC. It's almost a total disconnect like in other authoritarian countries like Russia. It is very different in countries like Norway for instance.
  
  On the other hand below state level it's quite a lively democracy with real political competition and shifting balance of power. And the whole "legislation by court" is a rather unique American thing not present in other countries.
  
  --
  US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
14. Re:Geek perspective: websites by artor3 · 2012-01-02 12:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why would I read a journal entry with such a hyperbolic title as "The End of the Republic"?
  But okay, let's go read it...
  
  [The bill] ends the Democratic Republic of USA and installs a dictatorial power of the 'elected' POTUS.
  Well, that's a flagrant lie, right off the bat. Perhaps you should look up the term "dictatorial"? Also, I like the scare quotes to suggest that Obama wasn't elected.
  
  The MSM propaganda machine has been deployed to ensure that the population of USA (and probably of the world) does not understand that it was the President himself, who required that the current NDAA, which has provisions for 'indefinite detention' of 'suspected terrorists' by the military would also apply these powers against US citizens, which means that at this point the POTUS (any POTUS, Obama or anybody who comes after him), can capture and detain anybody in the world, including US citizens and hold them in military containment without a trial, without even possibility to contact any lawyers for any length of time.
  That is one sentence. Try as I might, I can't parse it. It's an absolute train wreck of missing and misplaced commas and incomplete thoughts.
  
  At this point it is clear that the powers that govern USA are making their last preparations before the USD collapses and ensures the survival of the elite with this dictatorial nonsense and basically establishment of the martial law.
  Uh-huh. Right. The big bad THEY all know that the country is about to collapse, and are thus laying the legal groundwork for the following chaos. Because if the country does collapse, a few words on paper are going to make a difference.
  
  Say hello now to the Fourth Reich
  And there's the Godwin, a great note to end on.
  You are paranoid and delusional. Scream about ad hominems all you like, the fact is you come across as no more trustworthy than the homeless crazy guy a few blocks from my apartment. Come back with sources, or don't come back at all. Better still, seek help from a professional before you hurt yourself or others.
15. Re:Geek perspective: websites by PopeRatzo · 2012-01-02 14:03 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  but if the founding fathers could "run rings around lawyers of today", don't you think they would have taken the time to be more specific about the wording in the constitution?
  No, because the guys who wrote and ratified the constitution had a LOT of disagreements. We tend to think about the Founding Fathers as this group of guys who all had the same opinions, goals, agenda. It wasn't like that at all.
  Like today, their biggest concern was getting something that would actually pass - actually be adopted.
  The Founders didn't expect their Constitution to last 240 years. Franklin thought that there would be a constitutional convention before the turn of the 19th century, in fact. They just wanted to get it done and get on with it. That's why they left so much to be decided by future Americans.
  Maybe the biggest thing that the Founders did NOT forsee was the huge amount of corporate money that would impact future elections, and just how much it would cost to get elected in the future. They even made sure that the Post Office was subsidized so that there would be a medium for politicking.
  So now, I'd say that we ought to have a constitutional convention except for the fact that we'd be royally screwed because the richest corporations would have an outsized influence on the outcome and we'd get something infinitely worse than what we've got. No doubt about it, we're in a pickle unless we figure out a way to take the direct purchase of government out of the picture.
  It wasn't "the lawyers" who have messed things up for us, it's "the money".
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
Thank you, Belarus by Samantha+Wright · 2012-01-02 08:07 · Score: 5, Insightful

Thank you for providing us anti-SOPA people with a rhetorical example of an internet rights disaster that is less politically sensitive than China. (Also, it may be time for another revolution.)

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Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
SOPA by kurt555gs · 2012-01-02 08:08 · Score: 5, Insightful

This is different from post SOPA USA how?

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* Carthago Delenda Est *
1. Re:SOPA by impaledsunset · 2012-01-02 08:45 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  SOPA is a tool. If it corresponds to something in Belarus, it's the dictatorship itself.
  The ban on foreign websites as described is just a use of that tool and, yes, an example of how SOPA might be used.
  The possibilities that it opens are frightening, but it's not as bad as what's going on in Belarus already. And the Great Firewall of China might be a better example of how SOPA might be actually used.
Dumbshits. by kheldan · 2012-01-02 08:11 · Score: 4, Insightful

If you live in that country you may as well just stop using the internet completely then, since it's effectively not the internet anymore, just an extremely small walled garden. Anyone want to take bets on exactly how many weeks this continues before they rescind it? A move like this couldn't be good for any country's economy.

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Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
1. Re:Dumbshits. by Hatta · 2012-01-02 08:45 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  You assume Lukashenko cares about something other than his own personal fortune and control over his country. This is not the case.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Re:Sensationalist Title! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-02 08:12 · Score: 5, Informative

"Additionally, the Law states that the owners and administrators of Internet cafés or other places that offer access to the Internet might be found guilty of violating this Law and fined and their businesses might be closed if users of Internet services provided by these places are found visiting websites located outside of Belarus and if such behavior of the clients was not properly identified, recorded, and reported to the authorities."
From TFA
Re:They're not banning people from using foreign s by Grishnakh · 2012-01-02 08:17 · Score: 4, Informative

Wrong. From TFA: "Additionally, the Law states that the owners and administrators of Internet cafés or other places that offer access to the Internet might be found guilty of violating this Law and fined and their businesses might be closed if users of Internet services provided by these places are found visiting websites located outside of Belarus and if such behavior of the clients was not properly identified, recorded, and reported to the authorities. The Law states that this provision may apply to private individuals if they allow other persons to use their home computers for browsing the Internet."
If you're not allowed to go to an internet cafe and visit slashdot.org without being identified and reported to the authorities, that sounds pretty close to being banned from using a foreign site to me.
Alexander Lukashenko by sirdude · 2012-01-02 08:27 · Score: 5, Informative
For those who are unaware, Belarus is ruled by a turd named Alexander Lukashenko. He's been their president since 1994 and initially increased presidential term limits from the standard five years to seven and later removed presidential term limits altogether.
Some of his memorable moments include:
1. He warned that anyone joining an opposition protest would be treated as a "terrorist", adding: "We will wring their necks, as one might a duck".
2. Addressing the "miserable state of the city of Babruysk" on a live broadcast on state radio he stated: "This is a Jewish city, and the Jews are not concerned for the place they live in. They have turned Babruysk into a pigsty. Look at Israel—I was there and saw it myself ... I call on Jews who have money to come back to Babruysk."
3. "My position and the state will never allow me to become a dictator, but an authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and I have always admitted it. You need to control the country, and the main thing is not to ruin people's lives."
... and so on.
In other words, such stories while shocking are, IMO, hardly surprising ...
no iran and / or NK may be the next place to get by Joe_Dragon · 2012-01-02 08:30 · Score: 3, Funny

liberated!!
We're Number Two! by Bob9113 · 2012-01-02 08:42 · Score: 4, Funny

We're Number Two! We're Number Two!
Yeah, Baby! We are now only the second stupidest country on the planet regarding writing Internet laws that completely misunderstand how the Internet works. Thanks Belarus! You've shown that our politicians are not quite the most ignorant twits in positions of power on Earth!

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Re:Sensationalist Title! by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-01-02 08:57 · Score: 5, Funny

Fortunately the country's benevolent leadership has created "Worlds of Belarus", which provides Belarusian youth with hours of endless online fun!
Activities include marching, buying bread, and standing in line. As you gain experience levels, you can compare how short Belarusian lines are compared to those in corrupt western states.

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#DeleteChrome
Re:I bet the US by cyfer2000 · 2012-01-02 10:55 · Score: 3, Informative

Even the name Belarus means "White Russia". Now I hope people could understand the relationship between Russia and White Russia better.

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There is a spark in every single flame bait point.