Putin considers plan to unplug Russia from the internet 'in an emergency'

[Blue_Tires]

The Kremlin is considering radical plans to unplug Russia from the global internet in the event of a serious military confrontation or big anti-government protests at home, Russian officials hinted on Friday.

President Vladimir Putin will convene a meeting of his security council on Monday. It will discuss what steps Moscow might take to disconnect Russian citizens from the web "in an emergency", the Vedomosti newspaper reported. The goal would be to strengthen Russia's sovereignty in cyberspace. The proposals could also bring the domain .ru under state control, it suggested.

Russian TV and most of the country's newspapers are under the Kremlin's thumb. But unlike in China, the Russian internet has so far remained a comparatively open place for discussion, albeit one contested by state-sponsored bloggers and Putin fans.

The move comes at a time when Russia has been bitterly critical of the western media, which Moscow says has adopted a biased attitude towards events in Ukraine. Russian channels have portrayed the conflict in Ukraine as a heroic fight against "fascists" in Kiev. They have disputed western reports that Russian soldiers and heavy weapons are involved. A BBC team that went to investigate reports of Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine was beaten up this week.

According to Vedomosti, Russia plans to introduce the new measures early next year. The Kremlin has been wrestling for some time with how to reduce Russia's dependency on American technology and digital infrastructure, amid fears that its communications are vulnerable to US spying. It has mooted building a "national internet", which would in effect be a domestic intranet. These proposals go further, expanding the government's control over ordinary Russian internet users and their digital habits.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/19/vladimir-putin-plan-unplug-russia-internet-emergency-kremlin-moscow

This is the part where I make my obligatory snide one-liner about Snowden, but since it's Friday I'll skip it...

[CJCRANE]

2. Would you be comfortable

using a communications network based in Russia or China?

[Blue_Tires]

3. Probably not...

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. You mean the "champion of human rights" doesn't completely trust his people?

[lunasun]

5. It could happen anywhere

USA Communications Act of 1934

[TwilightGardener]

6. Control the information, control the people.

Getting more North Korea every day, that Pooty. Where's all his DU fans to spin this one?

[cwydro]

7. Doesn't surprise me.

KGB all the way

[PragmaticLiberal]

8. RT said this is false therefore it must be.

[951-Riverside]

9. Internet 'Kill Switch' Approved By Senate Homeland Security Committee

Posted: 06/25/2010 2:46 pm EDT

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has approved a cybersecurity bill, Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA), that would give the president far-reaching authority over the Internet in the case of emergency.

As The Hill explains, the bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, and Tom Carper, would give the president "emergency authority to shut down private sector or government networks in the event of a cyber attack capable of causing massive damage or loss of life." The original bill granted the president the authority to "indefinitely" shut down networks, but an amendment to the PCNAA, approved yesterday, mandates that the president "get Congressional approval after controlling a network for 120 days."

The authority granted to the government in the bill has been likened to an Internet "kill switch."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/25/internet-kill-switch-appr_n_625856.html

[Blue_Tires]

10. Oh, so you want to start comparing internet freedoms between us and Russia?

That's something you'll lose...

[951-Riverside]

12. We all lose when they're in competition with each other n/t

[Blue_Tires]

13. True....Fair enough...

Sorry for snapping....Old reflex....

[NuclearDem]

11. Four years ago. Note how it went nowhere.