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posted by martyb on Monday March 11 2019, @11:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the Putin's-predator-proceeds-apace dept.

Thousands rallied in Moscow to protest a bill in parliament that would route all internet traffic through servers in Russia.

Protestors fear this bill would

lead to widespread internet censorship for Russian users.

[...and make] virtual private networks (VPNs) ineffective

It is always easier to manage a powergrab of this sort if you can blame RussiaAmerica so the official line is:

the bill is intended to address concerns that Russia could be cut off if the United States applies a new cybersecurity doctrine in an offensive maneuver

conversely

Critics say the bill would create an internet firewall similar to China's.

It also makes a remarkably convenient surveillance choke point, which saves on costs.


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  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday March 12 2019, @01:25AM (4 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Tuesday March 12 2019, @01:25AM (#813015) Journal

    Good for the Russians. They are quite right about what the effect of the law will be, and its intent. I envy the Russians and Europeans that they've been more on top of Internet freedom, and vocal about it, than Americans have generally been.

    Russia creates bill making it illegal to question the state online. [marketwatch.com]

    Such bastions of internet freedom!

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 12 2019, @01:59AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 12 2019, @01:59AM (#813022)

    They need to learn from us; we have been legislating against sedition since the 1790s:
    "In 1798, President John Adams signed into law the Alien and Sedition Acts, the fourth of which, the Sedition Act or "An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes against the United States" set out punishments of up to two years of imprisonment for "opposing or resisting any law of the United States" or writing or publishing "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" about the President or the U.S. Congress (though not the office of the Vice-President, then occupied by Adams' political opponent Thomas Jefferson)." (Wikipedia)

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by urza9814 on Tuesday March 12 2019, @02:57PM

      by urza9814 (3954) on Tuesday March 12 2019, @02:57PM (#813285) Journal

      They need to learn from us; we have been legislating against sedition since the 1790s:
      "In 1798, President John Adams signed into law the Alien and Sedition Acts, the fourth of which, the Sedition Act or "An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes against the United States" set out punishments of up to two years of imprisonment for "opposing or resisting any law of the United States" or writing or publishing "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" about the President or the U.S. Congress (though not the office of the Vice-President, then occupied by Adams' political opponent Thomas Jefferson)." (Wikipedia)

      Yeah, there have been numerous attempts at similar legislation, most of which thankfully died a quick death. That particular one only lasted two years and damn near sparked a civil war in the process. The vice president of the country was advocating in favor of states seceding over the matter! So yeah, they maybe should learn a thing or two from that...and so should we!

      There's far better examples from recent history...Room 641A would have been more appropriate to this story IMO. Or if we want First Amendment violations in particular, just search with the magic phrase "Free speech zones"...

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday March 12 2019, @10:56AM (1 child)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday March 12 2019, @10:56AM (#813166) Journal

    Really, I meant the average citizens understanding enough and caring enough to go out into the streets in numbers to protest. I remember going to a protest in NYC more than a decade ago about the DMCA, and I was one of 10 people there.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 13 2019, @04:23PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 13 2019, @04:23PM (#813790) Journal
      Again, it's a vastly worse (and more understandable) imposition on the freedom of speech. You would expect the protests to be larger as a result.