 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Information networks, systems and resources of the Belarusian segment of the Internet have until July 1, 2010 to obtain official registration, which is to be granted free of charge, the communication’s ministry’s State Telecommunications Inspectorate said in a statement issued on Wednesday, as quoted by BelaPAN.
The Council of Ministers established the registration requirement by an April 29 directive that was drafted in pursuance of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s February 1, 2010 edict, entitled "On Measures to Improve the Use of the National Segment of the Internet.”
Internet service providers must apply for registration, submitting a completed questionnaire consisting of more than 30 questions, according to the statement.
Earlier, the authorities announced plans to introduce a registration fee of 16,800 rubels (some $5.5) excluding value-added tax.
In an interview with Belarus’ popular portal tut.by on Wednesday, presidential aide Usevalad Yanchewski dismissed as absurd the communications ministry’s proposal that a registration fee should be introduced. “Let’s look at the registration of mailboxes. It would be totally absurd,” he said. “The registration of websites should be free of charge. The Analytical Processing Center [of the Presidential Administration] holds the same opinion. As for the identification of users, everything should be neat. My position is that there is no need in a talent show. We should copy the European experience and that’s it.”
On Wednesday, the communications ministry held a “roundtable” discussion to mull the enforcement of the registration requirement. Taking part were representatives of Internet companies.
The government has no intention to use the Internet for ill ends, Alyaksey Vasilkow, of the Presidential Administration’s Analytical Processing Center, said at a conference held in Minsk on Wednesday to discuss the Bynet, the Belarusian segment of the web.
“Many government opponents say that we are afraid of some color revolutions and want to use the Internet for ill ends, but it is not true,” Mr. Vasilkow said. “We are not afraid of revolutions. And anyway, it is hardly possible to use the Internet for political mobilization or the accumulation of some financial resources.”
The official accused the Bynet of unwillingness to enter into a dialogue. “The Bynet is clearly unprepared to talk to the authorities,” he said. “Actually, this is understandable. The Bynet is a territory of freedom. But nobody wants to deprive you of this freedom.”
Free Wi-Fi service will cease to exist in Belarus after Alyaksandr Lukashenka's February edict governing the use of the Internet takes effect, IT expert Mark Bernshteyn said during a round-table discussion held on Wednesday in Minsk.
Officially titled "On Measures to Improve the Use of the National Segment of the Internet,” the edict takes effect on July 1.
Hotels and other service providers will probably stop offering free Wi-Fi access rather than comply with the edict, which will require them to keep record of the users’ personal data and the time spent online, Mr. Bershteyn said. This may affect the star rating of Belarusian hotels and hamper the tourism industry, he warned.
The edict will also disrupt the operation of Internet cafes, as visitors will have to wait in lines to have their passport data recorded, while under-16-year-olds without passports will not be able to use Wi-Fi altogether, Mr. Bernshteyn said.
The edict will cause a scale-back in the operations of Internet providers and hosting companies and the degradation of the Belarusian Internet, predicted Syarhey Balykin, chairman of the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses that had organized Wednesday's discussion. "They aimed at the opposition but hit businesses," he said, accusing the government of creating problems "out of nothing."
On Wednesday three activists of an opposition youth group called Maladaya Belarus were grabbed by police in Homyel as they were collecting signatures to a petition demanding the abolition of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s edict governing the use of the Internet.
Ivan Zaytsaw, Zmitser Skachkow and Kiryl Kavalyow were taken by a police station and held there for an hour and a half. They were released without charges afterward, the press office of Maladaya Belarus said.