The project of law “about information, computerisation and protection of information” was prepared for examination in the first reading at the autumnal session [northern fall, 2007] of the House of Representatives. In the opposition MEDIA there are increasing fears that it will become possible to place the Internet under the control, to introduce censorship.

As Khartiya9 (Хартия97) writes, the explanation given by representatives of the Ministry of Information, was that the problem is to set up a normative base, directed towards the “exception of the possibility of appearance in the World Wide Web of information of extremist, neo-Nazi or pornographical content, or calls to the violence”. This response did not quiet down opponents.

At the recent encounter of journalists with the working group chairman on the modification of the bill, Tatiana Safronenko, the latter said that 200 proposals and observations from various organizations to which this document was sent had been received. The deputies agreed with many of the recommendations. “So, we decided to drop the requirement that moderately-priced information systems be registered with the state”, says T.Safronenko. Now, the members of the working group are discussing the need to require identification of the users of information systems. According to T.Safronenko, the issue of the complexities of separation of moderately-priced and limited information systems arose, since “it is very difficult to find a criterion which would ensure from one side, the right to security, and from the other – the right people have to information”.