Friday, October 31, 2008

New law on Internet coming

Yesterday I was talking with two Russian journalists about some new legislation. Apparently, the government will require all sites to register as sources of mass information (known by the Russian acronym as СМИ). The law will come into force at the end of the year. I had to stop the conversation to make sure I understood correctly. I did. A daunting task - to register all thee sites. How with the order be implemented? If I had to put money on it, the law will be enforced selectively. Not being registered gives a wonderful excuse to impose crippling fines. Yet another blow to the principle of glasnost, a principle that belongs to another age.

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