"After ignoring the Internet for years to focus on controlling traditional media such as television and newspapers, the Kremlin and its allies are turning their attention to cyberspace, which remains a haven for critical reporting and vibrant discussion in Russia's dwindling public sphere..."
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Hmm I wouldn't believe everything the Washington post writes about Russia :) That article is typical of them, very little factual base and lots of 'what if'.
There are strong pro-Kremlin groups but they seem to work independently. The Kremlin doesn't exactly do much to clamp down on them though. I don't see Russia creating a 'separate' internet - it's just another headline-grabbing proposal by a politician. Due to the political balance in Russia they tend to do this a lot to try and get attention. These calls started during the recent dispute with ICANN over deleting the .SU domains. ICANN is essentially a US company and feathers of Russian national pride were instantly ruffled. ;)
There are calls at the moment to get a Cyrillic extension (.RF) but is is expected that .RU will allow IDN registrations this year - largely defeating the need for this. However they were thinking that the old .SU users (10'000+) could migrate to this extension when registrations are stopped. I guess we'll have to see how the ICANN/SU dispute plays out to see if .RF has a future.
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Hmm I wouldn't believe everything the Washington post writes about Russia :) That article is typical of them, very little factual base and lots of 'what if'.
There are strong pro-Kremlin groups but they seem to work independently. The Kremlin doesn't exactly do much to clamp down on them though. I don't see Russia creating a 'separate' internet - it's just another headline-grabbing proposal by a politician. Due to the political balance in Russia they tend to do this a lot to try and get attention. These calls started during the recent dispute with ICANN over deleting the .SU domains. ICANN is essentially a US company and feathers of Russian national pride were instantly ruffled. ;)
There are calls at the moment to get a Cyrillic extension (.RF) but is is expected that .RU will allow IDN registrations this year - largely defeating the need for this. However they were thinking that the old .SU users (10'000+) could migrate to this extension when registrations are stopped. I guess we'll have to see how the ICANN/SU dispute plays out to see if .RF has a future.