Russia To Require Registration For Wi-Fi Use 155
Oleg.salenko points out a ComputerWorld story with some bad news for Russia's wireless users, which starts out "Business travelers to Russia might want to keep their laptops and iPhones well-concealed — not from muggers, necessarily, but from the country's recently formed regulatory super-agency, Rossvyazokhrankultura (short for the Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service)... Rossvyazokhrankultura's interpretation of current law holds that users must register any electronics that use the frequency involved in Wi-Fi communications, said Vladimir Karpov, the deputy director of the agency's communications monitoring division, according to an English commentary provided by website The Other Russia."
It gets worse: "Aside from public hotspots, the registration requirement also applies to home networks, laptops, smart phones and Wi-Fi-enabled PDAs, Karpov reportedly said. Registration only permits use by the owner. Registration for personal devices is said to take 10 days, but registering a hotspot — including a home network — is more complicated, involving a set of documents and technological certifications akin to putting in a cell tower." 
muggers (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd recommend concealing them from the muggers too.
How long before.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hahahahahahaha! (Score:5, Insightful)
Mind you, they get a nice return on that, or used to. Not sure how good BBC programming is these days but I'm willing to wager that it has any of the major American networks beat hands down. I know there are those that like to watch television commercials, but then again, there are people that like reality television too. Go figure.
When I was growing up (rumor has it that I have not done so yet) I read all kinds of Science Fiction books. This was before the intarwebnets and WiFi. Now, more and more, I find that I am living in one of those worlds that were known only science fiction fans.
This sounds like an attempt to sell Russian made equipment, or the beginnings of it. Ahhhh government regulation: an attempt by the ruling to create criminals of those who are not.
Fortunately, in most of the rest of the world WiFi devices have been given rather loose regulation to allow the development of Wireless services and functionality.
In countries where there is no major wired infrastructure it builds revenue streams if you have to be licensed and regulated to do the work. No PC/WiFi entrepreneurs for Russia... sigh! God forbid that Russians actually communicate easily with the rest of the world.
Personally, this makes me sad. Check http://www.englishrussia.com/ [englishrussia.com] and have a peer inside what the rest of us have only just begun to appreciate and understand. The Internet is fucking awesome. I'm sad that there are restrictions on it for Russians, and Chinese for that matter.
russian (Score:5, Insightful)
1. It's not required for end-user to register his wifi enabled devices.
2. Short range Wifi hotspots must be registered if you allow access to a third party (10 days and approx. 1000 rub for registration)
3. "a set of documents and technological certification" required for ISPs (if you sell wifi access for profit) and for wavelength not in a/b/g range
Re:Bluetooth too? (Score:1, Insightful)
The official that came up with this idea probably doesn't have much of a technical background...
Re:How long before.. (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm not going to say it's no different, but speaking as someone who is neither American or Russian, I see having to hand my laptop over to a bunch of oafs in the airport so they can go through it as more invasive than being required to register my wifi adapter. But maybe that's just me.
Yeah, you just keep telling yourself you live in the land of the free if that's what makes you feel good.
Re:russian (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:It's so sad... (Score:5, Insightful)
Must be the weather or something.
It's not the weather. It's russians. Given the choice they don't work. Unlike americans, russians are not chasing the golden calf, preferring instead to have good time. Nothing gets done this way.
Re:Soon in the US (Score:2, Insightful)
There's a difference between ISPs, whom you are paying for access/bandwidth, and private Wi-Fi networks. The GP implies that people will be forced to open up their private networks, which is not the case and has nothing to do with network neutrality.
Re:beaurocracy (Score:4, Insightful)
A large portion of the certification process in Russia is run by private labs whose tactics are not that far from the law textbook definition of extortion.
All this means is that they have gotten themselves a "men at the helm" to provide them with more income.
Brezhnev (Score:2, Insightful)
If you look at history you will see that Russia's potential is most effectively realized under authoritarian governments (Czars, Stalin, Brezhnev) and mostly wasted under "democratic" rulers (Gorbachev, Yeltsin.)
It's not the weather. It's russians. Given the choice they don't work. Unlike americans, russians are not chasing the golden calf, preferring instead to have good time. Nothing gets done this way.
Also, hard work is not the way ahead in society in Russia, all you accomplish is to make some gangster or bureaucrat (in Russia, they are mostly the same) happy. So either you become a gangster/bureaucrat, or you work as little as possible and spend what you have on vodka, so there is nothing to steal.
Re:And... (Score:5, Insightful)
There was a splash in Russian-speaking blogs about this law. It's NOT clear what they mean by "end-user devices". It may be interpreted only as a WiFi card inside your notebook, for example. So you'll still need to register your wireless router.
In short, that law is just a plain money-grab. And will be probably ignored by anyone: "Strictness or Russian laws is alleviated by their optionality" (sorry, it sounds much better in Russian).
Re:Soon in the US (Score:3, Insightful)