Russia Blocks Internet, Google Distressed
Posted on 30. Jul, 2010 by Raven Schneizer in Technology
Russian courts have forced an internet provider to block five sites which they said were “disseminating extreme views”, which internet giant Google claims as a restriction of information, according to reports.
Russian internet provider Rosnet are attempting to fight the decision on Wednesday. The block, which includes YouTube, will only be applied to the eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Alexander Yermakov, president of Rosnet, said the judge was “incompetent” and that he was determined “to go till the end, till the Constitutional Court.”
“This (ruling) is an obvious violation of the right to obtain information,” said communications and public affairs manager at Google Russia Alla Zabrovskaya.
“Due to just one video clip, which is mentioned in the court’s ruling, the talk is about blocking the entire site which channels a huge stream of information — you can imagine its volumes if it takes you a minute to download 24 hours of video. This is a huge volume of information which may now be unavailable to users in this city.”
She stated that the internet community in Russia should be able to monitor harmful videos and control the site on their own without government involvement.
No related posts.