Stories from RuNet Echo from March, 2010

Russia: Blogger-Businessman Killed

  29 March 2010

Maxim Zuev (aka LJ user kenig), a blogger from Kaliningrad, was killed on March 18, rian.ru reported. Zuev's occupation was business although Kaliningrad bloggers remember him as a moderator of the kenigsberg LJ community. The motives of the murder are still unknown.

Russia: Theatre Play Based on Online Conference

  29 March 2010

Theatre director Pavel Rudnev proposed to stage a play based on the questions of bloggers to the Russian State Duma's Speaker Boris Gryzlov during an online-press conference. Rudnev admits not only high number but also inexhaustible wit of venomous questions asked by Russian netizens.

Ukraine: Fire Destroys 20% of Hosting.ua Servers

  28 March 2010

Some 20% of the servers at Odessa-based Hosting.ua data center – one of the biggest in Ukraine – are reported to have been destroyed in a fire on March 27. UkrainianWatcher writes (UKR) that “tens of thousands of Ukrainian and a number of Russian sites are currently offline” and re-posts...

Russia: Degrees and Dimensions of “Scandalous”

  28 March 2010

Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog comments on the recent bribes/coke/girls video scandal: “Also, catching them bribing cops is hardly scandalous. If they offered the cops bribes and the cops refused now that would be scandalous! Anyway, isn’t the more important issue not Yashin, Oreshkin, and Fishman giving bribes, but...

Russia: Two Video Scandals

  27 March 2010

In Russia this week it has been hard to miss the two scandals that, at first, appear to have only one thing in common: both are centered around amateur videos published online. Heated discussions in the blogosphere and in other online venues are taking place on quite different orbits - which nevertheless do have one or two overlap points.

Russia: Top Blogger's Account Hacked

  26 March 2010

Livejournal account of Igor Bigdanov (aka LJ user ibigdan), one of the top RuNet bloggers, has been hacked, Bigdanov reported. The most common version of the motives of the hack – commercial. This one and several similar attacks were allegedly carried out by the so called the “Brigade of Hell”,...

Russia: Website Closed By Police Order

  26 March 2010

20marta.ru, an opposition website dedicated to the “Day of Anger” held on March 20, was closed by police after just one day of functioning, kasparov.ru reported. According to the source, the police have sent the letter informing that the website is closed due to inciting anti-government sentiment.

Russia: One of the Top Bloggers Dies

  26 March 2010

Dmitry Gorchev (aka LJ user dimkin), a writer and artist (some of his translations are here), died today in his house leaving about 13,000 readers mourn, openspace.ru reported. Gorchev was one of the first bloggers on RuNet with his Livejournal account registered in 2001.

Russia: “Drugs and Hookers Scandal”

  25 March 2010

At The Daily Beast, author Michael Idov chronicles “Russia's amazing drugs and hookers scandal,” which involves opposition activist Ilya Yashin, political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin, and the Russian Newsweek‘s editor-in-chief Mikhail Fishman: “‘Let me get this straight,’ wrote Ilya Krasilschik, the editor of Afisha magazine, commenting on a Facebook status update...

Is Russia an Enemy of Internet?

  23 March 2010

The degree of freedom on the Russian Internet is an issue for debates. Some put Russia on the same list of "Internet enemies" with China and Iran. Others strongly oppose this kind of generalization and claim that Russian Internet is the most liberal and unrestricted public sphere in the country.

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