Russia Rejects Proposal To Ban Skype, Gmail

MOSCOW -- A Kremlin official has rejected a proposal from within Russia's main domestic security agency to ban Skype, Gmail and Hotmail as a major threat to national security.

A senior FSB official made the proposal Friday, according to Russian news agencies. It came after cyber attacks on Russia's most popular blogging site and the website of a popular independent newspaper this week.

While a Kremlin official condemned the cyber attacks on condition of anonymity Saturday and dismissed the proposal to ban foreign Internet services, commentators saw them as an attempt by authorities to tighten controls on communications before parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote next March.

Comments

[flinthfp]

08:03 AM on 04/11/2011

We have repeal of NET Neutrality by the republicans and tea party....1984 ...here we come !!!!!

[Grousefeather]

03:26 PM on 04/10/2011

Ah yes, national security, we have that here too.

[fla kracker]

08:26 PM on 04/10/2011

You're talking about HP I assume

[Grousefeather]

08:46 PM on 04/10/2011

Whatever injustice our government perpetrates; whatever calamity it promotes, however many murders it commits; whatever resources it usurps, all in the name of national security.

[scrzbill]

10:58 AM on 04/10/2011

Uverse, Comcast already have Internet use limits. They do not want you to use the Internet for TV. Netflicks has really cut into their selling of movies and they are fighting back.

[kcwookie]

07:13 PM on 04/09/2011

With the house voting down net-neutrality Skype is an endangered species. Now that Skype is successfully competing with cell phone companies, efforts to restrict their traffic with damage their brand and deny the customer a good product. So it's not really any different from what the Russians were wanting to do, we are just sneaker.

Netflix is next.

[Antoinette Anderson]

01:13 AM on 04/10/2011

The NN repeal doesn't have enough votes to pass the Senate.

[Joseph Joyal]

02:52 PM on 04/09/2011

Don't give the Repugs and Baggers any ideas. or we'll be next

[kcwookie]

07:10 PM on 04/09/2011

They've already been there.