- Photo by Nicolai Bangsgaard http://farm1.staticflickr.com/211/461475994 _e39e352912.jpg
The Russian parliament has approved a bill that would see “illegal websites blacklisted from the web.”
According to CNET, the bill proposed that websites that incite suicide, drug use, offered “extremist” material, or any content deemed illegal under Russian law, could be added to a government-operated blacklist.
Any website found guilty of hosting this material would have 24 hours to remove the content, after which they would face blacklisting.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the Internet should be “free,” but warned it should be regulated based on rules that the global community has yet to form, according to Russian news service Ria Novosti.
The bill has been compared to the U.S.’ Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill, which would have given the federal government similar power to blacklist websites that infringe copyright.
In protest to SOPA, websites such as Reddit and the English version of Wikipedia shut down after which SOPA was abandoned a few days later.
Then in April the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, otherwise known as CISPA, was passed. While the bill was put in place to combat piracy it also infringes on the 4th Amendment by allowing carte blanche surveillance of the internet. It will also provide federal agencies the ability to share data without fear of violating regulations.
Websites may have won the battle with SOPA, but have they lost the war with CISPA?
{ 0 comments… add one now }