Stories from RuNet Echo from December, 2009
Russian Constitutional Court Ready For Internet
The Chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin announced that the Court was ready to broadcast all its public hearings via the Internet, Russian news agency Prime-Tass reported [RUS].
Russia: Soviet Handout on How to Behave in Afghanistan
English Russia posted a translated handout [ENG] for a Soviet “soldier-internationalist,” a.k.a. Soviet soldier fighting in Afghanistan, outlining the basic rules of engagement for USSR troops in the foreign country.
Ukraine: Bureaucracy and Incompetence at Defense Ministry
Sergei Maximishin, an award-winning Russian photographer, has recently tried to get the Ukrainian defense ministry's assistance in doing a photo story on the Ukrainian navy and army for a German magazine. He ended up defeated by the Ukrainian bureaucratic monster, but posted a detailed account of the ordeal on his blog.
Russia: Kremlin Plans To Create ‘Party of Bloggers’
The Kremlin will create a new “Party of Bloggers”, reports [RUS] luberblog.ru. The party will function on the basis of electronic signatures and forums. This initiative shows the virtuality of the whole party system in Russia.
Russian Google Books Site Launched
Google launched its “Books” project in Russian language [RUS], reports Russian radio “Mayak” [RUS]. The corporation will face serious competition from other 10 large Russian e-libraries with lib.ru [RUS] being the oldest and most popular.
Russia: Three Stories of Extreme Poverty
Russian photojournalist Oleg Klimov shares three stories of extreme poverty that he happened to overhear while waiting for a train at the train station in Syzran, a city in Russia's Samara region.
Russia: Climate Change in the North
AskYakutia.com and Window on Eurasia write about climate change issues in the Russian North.
Russia: Video “Girls Against Army Conscription”
LJ-user aka_ankaz [RUS] posted video “Girls Against Army Draft” [RUS] where women protest against the draft in front of the Ministry of Defense in Russia.
Russia: “Free Labor or People For Rent” Video
LJ-user kashamanka [RUS] posted a video [RUS] where two women tell their stories of being tricked into working for a Moscow company that never paid them salaries.
Russia: Mobile Internet Provider Filters Opposition Websites
Russian WiMAX provider Yota [ENG] blocked several opposition Web sites, such as www.kasparov.ru, www.rufront.ru, www.rusolidarnost.ru, www.nazbol.ru, www.namarsh.ru and www.newtimes.ru, DileSoft [RUS] reports. Those sites are inaccessible in Moscow and Krasnodar.
Russia: A Blogger's Account of the Rescue Effort in Perm
At least 109 people died and more than 130 were injured Friday night in a fire and the resulting stampede at a nightclub in the city of Perm. A blogger who happened to be outside the nightclub when the fire broke out - and who ended up helping out with the rescue effort - recounts his experiences and observations.
Russia: Online Forum Beats Media in Covering Night Club Fire
Fire at the night club "Lame Horse" in a central Russian city Perm killed more than 100 people. Local online forum Teron.ru quickly became the main source of information about the tragedy for ordinary citizens and mainstream media.
Russia: Blogger Arrested For Pneumonic Plague Rumors
Ivan Peregorodiev, a 22-year-old medical student and blogger, has been arrested on December 3 for spreading rumors about pneumonic plague in the city of Saratov. Authorities accused him of disseminating false information related to an act of terrorism.
Russia: Newspaper Website Hacked And Completely Destroyed
The Web site of a popular Russian tabloid “Moskovsky Komsomolets” [RUS] lost all of its online data due to the recent hacker attack, radio “Ekho Moskvy” reports [RUS].
Russia: Microsoft Loses $1 Billion to Pirates
Profy cites a report by the Russian division of Microsoft, which claims that the company has lost $1 billion to Russian pirates, but has earned the same amount from legal sales.
CEE: “Social Media and Social Memory”
Evgeny Morozov writes about “social media and social memory” – and a Facebook project involving a 22-year-old Lublin resident posing as a 7-year-old Jewish boy who was killed by the Nazis during WWII. Vaviblog (ENG) is a similar project, which “gives voice” to Russian scientist Nikolai Vavilov: “…if Vavilov were...
Russia: Law Enforcement and Crime
Robert Amsterdam's reports on the pre-trial detention center death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky last month – here and here; also, a note on the murder of Ivan Khutorskoy, an anti-fascist activist. Oleg Kozlovsky – on a murder committed by drunk police officers in Moscow.
Russia: Internet Providers Block Separatist Web site
Russian Internet providers blocked the Cavkaz-center [ENG], the Web site famous for its support of Caucasus separatists and extremists, LJ-user nl reports [RUS].
Russia: USSR-Nostalgie Internet-TV Portal Launched
Internet-TV channel CCCR-TV.ru with archival Soviet TV footage launched on November 27. The site contains videos from 1952 till 1989. Is it another sign of Russian nostalgia for the USSR or just a new way to access cultural heritage?
