Russia Quietly Passes Anti-Blogger Law 284
randomErr (172078) writes "Russia is tightening its grip on free speech and freedom of the Internet by creating a new 'bloggers law'. This policy follows the pattern set by China, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran."
Any site with more than 3000 daily visitors will be required to register and be held to a number of restrictions, quoting the article: "Besides registering, bloggers can no longer remain anonymous online, and organizations that provide platforms for their work such as search engines, social networks and other forums must maintain computer records on Russian soil of everything posted over the previous six months."
Re:Russia you were so close (Score:2, Informative)
Is that really so strange? In Italy we have the same law and it is purported as something good and beneficial to public order!!
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Russia you were so close (Score:5, Informative)
No, they just pass the information to the police that handles that job.
Look at what happened to all the Occupy members. Funny how all the important people in the movement were found very accurately by police forces across the country.
Re:this would never happen in america. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Beatings will continue until... (Score:3, Informative)
I bet Democrats look at Putin with envy.
Maybe the "conservative" ones [newrepublic.com], but it shows much more strongly inside the republican sect.
Re:Russia you were so close (Score:3, Informative)
None of those arrested because of the NSA tip-off [reuters.com] were arrested for their speech. It may or may not be in violation of the 4th Amendment, but not of the 1st.
What happened? Where do I look? For such a highly-moderated comment, you are offering surprisingly few links. Was anyone prosecuted for mere speech? Assaulting a police officer [democracynow.org] — yeah, that's more likely...
Police may not be able to find every criminal, but finding any criminal they really set their minds on — that they could do for decades now. And, certainly, "the important people" of an infamous movement qualify. Hardly a surprise.
Re:Russia you were so close (Score:0, Informative)
Not necessarily. You could probably get a bath sponge convicted of assaulting a cop.
Pick a different country/era and maybe it won't be a hollow and meaningless line.
Re:Russia you were so close (Score:5, Informative)
Convicted of assaulting a cop doesn't mean she assaulted a cop. Policing and jailing of protestors is very often political.
In this case the flip side of the story is that she was grabbed on the left breast by a hand from behind, and the person doing so received an elbow in return. Any in other situation, it would be the boob grabber if anyone that would have been at fault. But cops are above the law.
The UK is also Regulating larger Blogs (Score:4, Informative)
The UK also introduced regulation of larger commercial blogs that publish "news type" material, part of the recommendations of the Leveson enquiry into press standards. Large blogs have to sign up to a press regulator, if not they get fined. It does not matter where the Blog's servers are located, if someone downloads content in the UK, it is published it in the UK and they can be held responsible ("Downloading here can count as publication in the law.").
Links:
"Press regulation deal sparks fears of high libel fines for bloggers - Websites could have to pay exemplary damages if they don't sign up to new regulator, claim opponents of Leveson deal [theguardian.com] "
BBC News: Will websites/blogs etc be covered? [bbc.com]