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Russia Bans VPNs To Stop Users From Looking at Censored Sites (cnn.com)

Posted by msmash on from the meanwhile-in-Russia dept.

Russia is cracking down on software that allows users to view internet sites banned by the government. From a report: President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill that prohibits services, including virtual private networks (VPNs), that enable users to skirt government censorship efforts. The law will take effect on November 1. Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor maintains a blacklist of thousands of websites. Leonid Levin, chairman of a parliamentary committee on information policy and communications, said the law signed by Putin does not "introduce any new restrictions and especially no censorship." "My colleagues only included the restriction of access to information that is already forbidden by law or a court decision," he told state news agency RIA Novosti earlier this month.

3 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Banning VPN's is in style by shuz · · Score: 4, Informative

    This apparently coincides with a crackdown in China. The BBC is running a story about Apple pulling VPN's from its app store.

    --
    There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
  2. Re: Dear Leader Putin Does What He Likes by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 3, Informative

    Forbes has a policy of not including "rulers and dictators" on its various lists of the Worlds's Billionaires.

    ...Forbes has long separated rulers and dictators from our annual rankings of the World’s Billionaires, distinguishing between personal, entrepreneurial wealth and wealth derived largely from positions of power, where lines often blur between what is owned by the country and what is owned by the individual. That is why rulers such as the King of Thailand, the Sultan of Brunei and Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum are not listed among the world’s billionaires, though we have estimated that each controls an 11-figure fortune.

    source

    So, you can't assume anything from his absence. And since Putin's declared wealth is so paltry, proving the existence of Putin's secret nest egg is likely to be difficult and dangerous.

  3. Re:Do Russians even have a clue what is happening by andydread · · Score: 3, Informative

    You missed one huge glaring important point. Putin controls the media in Russia. All the media there has nothing but favourable things to say about Putin and his cronies. The great Russian masses are thoroughly brain washed.