The power of the internet to be tested again

According to recent reports, Russia plans on disconnecting its internet source from the rest of the world. The coverage of the news came via a report from a Russian outlet called RosBiznesKonsalting(RBK), together with ZDNet.

The report explained that the test pertains to a law that the Russian Parliament saw back around the end of 2018.

ZDNet explained that:

¨A first draft of the law mandated that Russian internet providers should ensure the independence of the Russian internet space (Runet) in the case of foreign aggression to disconnect the country from the rest of the internet.¨

The plans is to redirect web activities towards a more regulated station for authorization. There will be an appointed body that will be monitoring this process which goes by the name Roskomnazor.

ZDNet stated that:

¨Roskomnazor will inspect the traffic to block prohibited content and make sure traffic between Russian users stay inside the country and is not re-routed uselessly through servers abroad, where it could be intercepted.¨

This experiment is aimed at ultimately mimicking China´s Great Firewall of internet screening.

ZDNet noted that Russia is allowed to have internet independence in case it needs to separate its web from the rest of the world. However, in principle this is not how the internet works as the internet is not bound to a specific country or region.

The test looks to compile data from the proposed law in order to make any necessary changes. This turn in the law´s alteration is said to become active as of April 1st.

The test is directed by the Information Security Working Group which is also initiating the Digital Economy National program. The group touts members such as, MegaFon, VimpelCom(Beeline brand), MTS and Restelecom and will be headed by the President InfoWatch Company that deals with cybersecurity issues.

Censorship from Russia

Back in April 2018, Cryptoline News covered a story on Russia blocking the Telegram messaging app in Russia.

According to Smirnov from the New York times, Telegram is just the first step, if they block Telegram things will get worse later as they will block everything. He also thinks Putin is to be blame and they are attempting to block their future and the future of our children.

The New York times explains:

¨The rally comes two weeks after Roskomnadzor, the official internet watchdog, began its bumbling effort to shut down Telegram by blocking what the regulators said was over 18 million I.P addresses.¨

Roskomnadzor is the same entity that is reportedly set to receive and regulate the internet traffic in this Russian test.

What Impact could this have on crypto?

With this news Russia seems to be going on the path towards China´s Great Firewall. ZDNet also wonders what kind of implications this will have in the crypto space, as this technology is boarder-less, uncensorable and disruptive in its nature.

There has even been some attempts and instances in China censoring the crypto space. This includes the China’s ban on ICO´s back in September 2017, which made the crypto market turn into a frenzy as TheNextWeb reported back in July of 2018.

What are your thoughts on this kind of behavior from Russian authorities to try and control the internet? Feel free to leave a comment down below.