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posted by martyb on Monday July 31 2017, @09:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the someone's-watching-you dept.

Russia has banned VPNs capable of circumventing website blocking, and will require users of chat apps to have a phone number associated with their accounts:

Vladimir Putin has banned virtual private networks (VPNs) and Tor in a crackdown on apps that allow access to websites prohibited in Russia. The law, signed by Mr Putin, was passed by Russia's parliament last week and will now come into force on 1 November. A second law to ban anonymous use of online messaging services will take effect on 1 January next year.

It would make it easier for the state to snoop on citizens' browsing habits, one internet security expert suggested.

The laws signed by Mr Putin are meant only to block access to "unlawful content" and not target law-abiding web users, the head of the lower house of parliament said, according to the RIA news agency.

One feature of the second law is the provision to require internet operators to restrict users' access if they are found to be distributing illegal content.

Also at Engadget, ZDNet, RT, TechCrunch, and CNET.

Related: Apple Capitulates, Removes Unlicensed VPN Apps From China App Store


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  • (Score: 2) by jasassin on Tuesday August 01 2017, @03:42AM (1 child)

    by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Tuesday August 01 2017, @03:42AM (#547506) Homepage Journal

    Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose repudiated such claims and said: "To be clear, this is not a 'bill' nor a 'law'. It does not 'introduce Sharia law' as some people have suggested nor would it 'ban freedom of speech'.

    Then what does it do? What purpose does m103 serve?

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Codesmith on Tuesday August 01 2017, @12:53PM

    by Codesmith (5811) on Tuesday August 01 2017, @12:53PM (#547613)

    M-103 is a private member's motion, which is a "proposal moved by an MP to draw attention to an issue considered urgent or of public interest"

    from Motion 103 wikipedia entry [wikipedia.org].

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