Latest posts by Alexey Sidorenko from January, 2010
Russia: Opposition Blogger Finally Gets Permission To Leave Country
An opposition blogger Oleg Kozlovsky tells his story [EN] on how his blog helped his to finally receive a passport allowing him to leave Russia. The country's Federal Security Service (FSB) refused to issue a new passport to Kozlovsky but quickly changed its decision after he published a blog post...
Russia: Political Dossier Web Site Shut Down
Compromat.ru, a notorious Web site that publishes controversial dossiers on various Russian politicians and businessmen, has been allegedly closed following a court order, Elena Tokareva (a.k.a. LJ user elena-tokareva2) reported [RUS]. There are no further details on the issue but a mirror site kompromat.ru has been launched with some of...
Russia: Prosecution Against Opposition Blogger Stopped
The first criminal case against a blogger in Russia with a happy ending unfolded over a long period of time. After two years of investigation and three socio-linguistic assessments, experts didn't find any evidence of "incitement hatred against police and Russian Security Service officers." But the blogger's victory, however, is rather an exception than a rule.
Russia: Newspaper Web Site Hacked
The Web site of a popular Russian newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” has been hacked today, RIA news agency reported [EN]. Allegedly, the attack has been provoked by the article [RUS] about a controversial demolition [ENG] of houses at the luxury Rechnik neighborhood in Moscow.
Russia: Gamer, Cat And Intellectual Are Most Popular Memes On RuNet
“Hero of the Runet” prize is awarded this year to the following Internet memes of Russian Internet: computer games reviewer Ilya Maddison, cute Cat Manul and Russian flamboyant intellectual Anatoly Vasserman.
Russia: Project Aims To Translate Popular Blogs Into Russian
The World Wide Web now hosts a new project that aims to make English-speaking blogosphere more accessible to Russians. Inoblogger [RUS] is a Web site that will be translating the most popular IT-related blog posts from all over the Web into Russian.
Russia: Yandex Released Most Popular Search Queries in 2009
Russia's most popular search engine Yandex.ru published [RUS] top 10 search queries in 2009. Those are “New Year”, “Eurovision 2009″, “homework”, “GTA 4″, “High School Diploma exam”, “International Women's Day”, “Long Night of Museums”, “Swine Flu”, “The Sims 3″ and “Defender of the Fatherland Day.”
Russia: Story About Paid Bloggers Appears On TV
Paid bloggers became a topic of a segment [RUS] in a popular Russian TV program “Vesti.” The story depicts mechanism of blog marketing and shows interview with a popular paid blogger in Russia sholademi.
Russia: Company To Pay $300K For Illegaly Taking Forbes Domain
Russian cybersquatter company “Landmark VIP Service” will have to pay $300,000 penalties for illegally taking domain Forbes.ru, forbesrussia.ru reports [RUS] . It is the largest fine for cybersquatting in the history of RuNet.
Russian Bloggers React to Haiti Earthquake
Reaction of Russian bloggers to the devastating earthquake in Haiti is diverse and sometimes unexpected. The cataclysm provided an opportunity for sorrow, support, contemplation and self-observance.
Russia: Businessman in Exile Uses Blog to Answer Questions
One of the youngest Russian millionaires Yevgeny Chichvarkin [EN], who escaped Russian authorities and currently resides in London, UK, used his blog [RUS] as a platform for a virtual press conference. This live Q&A session attracted thousands of bloggers.
Russia: Largest Political Community Online Removed And Restored
The recent case of the most popular political online community demonstrated how easy it is to limit free expression on RuNet and revealed the willingness of online audience to defend free speech.
Russia: Quarter of Households Use Broadband
A recent report [RUS] shows that 23.6 percent of households in Russia use broadband Internet access. Analysts also predict the increase in wireless Internet usage in the country within the next few years.
Russia: Mobile Operator Upset With Mockery Online
Russia's largest mobile telecommunication company Mobile Telesystems [ENG] demanded to remove a blog post [RUS] that mocked the company's new ad campaign, adme.ru [RUS] reports. Russian blogosphere is boiling with indignation (here and here ).
Russia: Details of Arrested Blogger Case Emerge on RuNet
LJ user beri_llii published [RUS] details of Irek Murtazin's [ENG] criminal case. Murtazin has been arrested last year on defamation charges when he reported on rumors about the death of Tatarstan president.
Russian Official Proposes to Block Online Gambling Web Sites
Moscow City Deputy Andrey Metelsky proposed amendments [RUS] to the Telecommunication Law that, if passed, would require Russian Internet providers to block gambling Web sites, fontanka.ru reports [RUS]. Bloggers are sceptical [RUS] about these amendments.
Russian Orthodox Church Condemns Web Anonymity
Russian Orthodox Church spokesperson Vsevolod Chaplin expressed concerns with “extremist ideas” that spread out on the Internet and called for the limitation of Web anonymity, Securitylab.ru reports [RUS]. The statement provoked heated discussions [RUS] on RuNet.
Russia: Blogger Reveals Microchip Plant Construction Delay
Habrahabr user pechkin1007 published [RUS] photos showing a construction delay at the “Angstrem-M” microchip plant near Moscow. The plant administration received a €815 million government loan [RUS] in 2008 and committed to starting the construction in Autumn 2009.
Russian Parliament Start Broadcasting Online
The Russian parliament starts broadcasting its sessions online from January 1, 2010, Gzt.ru reports [RUS]. It's believed that these initiatives would increase transparency of political processes in Russia.
Russia: Blogger Arrested for Weapon Possession
Russian police found illegal weapons at an apartment of a famous blogger Timofey Shevyakov ( LJ user tarlith-history), information agency Rosbalt reports [RUS]. Shevyakov is allegedly connected to various propagandist, trolling and hacker groups in Russia.
