[iwar] [fc:Russia.poised.to.restrict.Net.activities]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2002-06-24 20:58:09
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 20:58:09 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Russia.poised.to.restrict.Net.activities]
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Russia poised to restrict Net activities

By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
June 24, 2002, 12:10 PM PT

MOSCOW--Russia's parliament may give final approval this week to sweeping
restrictions on using the Internet to oppose the government.

At the request of President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Duma voted 272 to
126 last week in favor of the offline and online restrictions as an
immediate response to what Putin called a spate of pro-Nazi and
anti-religious extremist activities.

Russia's actions come as U.S. law enforcement is seeking expanded powers to
monitor Web activity.

Last month, U.S. Justice Department and FBI officials announced new
guidelines that would allow agents to mine publicly available databases and
Web sites for information, even if they're not conducting a specific
investigation. The move would relax guidelines set in the 70's that sought
to prevent tracking or compiling dossiers on people based on their religious
or political activities.

And the U.S. Patriot Act, passed just weeks after the terrorist attacks on
the World Trade Center, granted law enforcement unprecedented powers to
monitor Internet communications.

The Russian measure, which could receive final approval in the Duma as early
as this week, pitted Putin and his supporters against the members of
Russia's nascent human rights community who decried the anti-extremism bill
as a perilous expansion of police power. Also opposed to the Draft on
Contravention of Extremist Activities were members of the Communist Party,
who feared they could be targeted as illegal extremists.

"It is true that in Russia nowadays, there are many cases of extremism based
on religious and national background," Sergei Kovalev, a member of the
450-person Duma, said in an interview. "But the declared purpose of this
bill has nothing to do with the true purpose.

"This version of the bill still allows the ability to prevent Internet
activities without any necessity," said Kovalev, a 72-year old civil
libertarian and member of the liberal "soyuz peravikh sil" faction.

Kovalev cited the portion of the bill that says it is "forbidden to use
computer networks for extremism" and pledges a vague punishment that may
"take into consideration" existing Russian criminal laws.

Another section says the Justice Ministry, the Press Ministry or public
prosecutors may shut down any for-profit, nonprofit or religious
organization deemed extremist without first obtaining a court order. All
Russian print and broadcast media outlets are required to register with the
government.

Probably the most vocal criticism aimed at the legislation targets its
11-part definition of extremist activity, which in part echoes current
prohibitions on terrorism, forcible overthrow of the government, and
inciting riots or racial strife. It also adds new bans on some public
demonstrations, the use of extremist symbols, and any activity or
publication that could threaten the "safety" of Russia.

Vladimir Pekhtin, leader of President Putin's "unity" faction, told the
Strana.ru Web site, "The most important thing is that the new bill sets the
goal of fighting extremism activities. Thus, it outlaws not only ideas but
the actions of persons and organizations threatening the rights and civil
liberties of our citizens and the entire constitutional order in Russia."

Pekhtin cited examples such as mass brawls staged by football fans, attacks
on foreign visitors and an incident earlier this month near Moscow when an
anti-Semitic sign was booby-trapped to explode, injuring a woman who tried
to remove it.

Victor Naumov, a lecturer at St. Petersburg State University's law school,
said it's difficult to estimate what impact the anti-extremism bill would
have.

"In this law, there are many blanks," said Naumov, who edits the
Russianlaw.net site. "For instance, it says that a state organization could
temporarily interrupt the operation of a nonprofit organization--without any
definition of which state organization."

Under Russian law, a proposed law must be read in the Duma three times
before it is approved and forwarded to the second chamber of parliament, the
Sovet Federatsii, which may send it to the president for his signature.

On Thursday, the anti-extremism proposal received its second reading in the
Duma, which deleted one controversial Internet regulation. The earlier draft
said Web site administrators, including those living in nations not subject
to Russian law, must delete material at the request of a Russian prosecutor.

"What we see is an attack on the Internet. This part of the draft was
withdrawn. But it doesn't mean that the bill has become better," said Lev
Levinson, an activist at the Moscow-based Institute for Human Rights who
tracks legislation in the Duma.

Human rights activists predict the broad definition of extremist behavior
will imperil legitimate activities such as Greenpeace protesters or anti-war
Web sites. 

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