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Russia Seeking To Ban Tor, VPNs and Other Anonymizing Tools

Posted by samzenpus on from the no-secrets dept.

An anonymous reader writes Three separate Russian authorities have spoken out in favor of banning online anonymizing tools since February 5th, with particular emphasis on Tor, which — despite its popularity with whistle-blowers such as Edward Snowden and with online activists — Russia's Safe Internet League describes as an 'Anonymous network used primarily to commit crimes'. The three authorities involved are the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, powerful Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor and the Safe Internet League, comprising the country's top three network providers, including state telecoms provider Rostelecom. Roskomnadzor's press secretary Vadim Roskomnadzora Ampelonsky describes the obstacles to identifying and blocking Tor and VPN traffic as "difficult, but solvable."

3 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. This is (sort of) good news for Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anything the evil former Commies do now is held up as a destroyer of freedom. If someone here proposes a similar law, half of Congress will (hopefully) stand up and say "That's something the Russians would do to suppress Freedom(TM)."

    1. Re:This is (sort of) good news for Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As someone who has works with people from Russia, the best description of how the country is run would be similar to Chicago with the Mafia in charge. There is just enough order so that things can function, and not much else past that.

      One example are Russian cars. By law, they have to have sets of cameras on them... because there will be no other way to find who is at fault if a wreck happens. The police don't have enough resources to find who is at fault, so one has to "pack their own parachute" in order to get insurance money if there is a wreck.

      Is Putin another Stalin? No. Russia has its issues, mainly underpopulation, and thousands of miles of borders with countries that would love to nick off some Russian territory. Plus, here in the US, Islamic extremist aggression makes the news often. There, border skirmishes by combatants is common, and there is a sizable death toll.

      Another part of it is that Putin has to be an asshole. He has to run the country with an iron grip or else separatists will fracture the country... and if this happens, it would have far reaching and severe consequences.

      The real truth is that Putin is an ass... but there is a lot worse that could be running the country. However, Russia has only to gain in future years. Oil prices are going back up, and will be at three digits a barrel by Memorial Day due to OPEC production cuts. While fracking has depleted US reserves, Russia still sits on incredible deposits, which are only going to be worth more as everyone else runs dry.

    2. Re:This is (sort of) good news for Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I could do this all fuckin' day,

      Yep. Of course you can do it all day. Because you can live in a country where you can do that without fear of retribution.

      But. Y'know. Keep fighting the good fight, comrade.