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

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.

Comments

Re: Dear Leader Putin Does What He Likes

[dreamchaser]

Call him what he is; the world's most powerful crime lord in history. Who do you think the Russian Mob answers to?

Re:Do Russians even have a clue what is happening

[Rick Schumann]

They've had several generations to normalize to the fact that they live somewhere where there are no 'freedoms' to speak of. I get the impression that many of them, presented with 'freedom', wouldn't even know what to do with themselves. Their country is run by thugs and is rife with corruption, from the lowliest beat-cop all the way up the food chain to Putin. I'd imagine the last thing the average Russian citizen wants to do is attract attention to themselves.