“The scenario of disconnection of Russia from the Network is real only in one case — in the case of real military action”
Experts about the recently adopted bill adopted on “sovereign Runet”
The controversial bill on “sovereign Runet” has been recently adopted in the Federation Council. Let us remind that the document brought in the State Duma at the end of last year is aimed at “protecting the sustainable operation of the Internet in Russia in the event of a threat to its functioning from abroad”. Realnoe Vremya interviewed experts and found out what positive and negative sides they see in the upcoming “sovereignization of the Runet”.
“Sovereign Runet” from the creators of the bill “On disrespect for authorities”
The controversial bill, which has suffered enough criticism for a short time of its existence, has been brought to the State Duma at the end of 2018 and was successfully adopted in the Federation Council on 22 April. The authors of the document were members of the Federation Council Andrei Klishas and Lyudmila Bokova, as well as Deputy Andrey Lugovoy. Let us note that in addition to the sovereignty of the Runet, Klishas and Bokova have already become “famous” because of the controversial bill “On disrespect for authorities”, which, according to some experts, may violate the constitutional rights of citizens of the Russian Federation.
To put it as simply as possible, in Russia it is planned to create an autonomous segment of the Internet, in case of disconnection from the global network. The explanatory note to the new law clarifies that the document is a response to the US national cybersecurity strategy adopted last year, which refers to the punishment for Russia for alleged hacker attacks committed by our country.
Roskomnadzor, which has been unsuccessfully trying to block the Telegram messenger since last year, will be responsible for “coordinating the provision of a stable, safe and holistic” Internet in Russia. In case of a threat, the agency will be able to carry out “centralized management of the public communication network”. The Russian government will be responsible for determining the types of threats and measures to eliminate them. Meanwhile, the Cabinet of Ministers is obliged to determine “the conditions and cases under which the operator has the right not to direct traffic through technical means of countering threats”. Directly the technical means to operators will be provided by the same Roskomnadzor, and free of charge.
Besides, the document describes the rules of traffic routing, provides for the creation of a national domain name system, and also introduces a ban for operators of state and municipal information systems on the use of databases and hardware located outside of Russia.