Stories from RuNet Echo from June, 2010
Russia: Networks of Paid Bloggers Exposed
In Russia, networks of paid bloggers sometimes turn to advocating certain political views or to promoting the official political agenda. A recent investigation by LJ user dobrokhotov sheds some light on this "grey zone" of RuNet.
Russia: Mysterious Death of a Soldier in the Far East
Alexey Navalny, famous anti-corruption blogger, posted a shocking video [RUS], depicting an observation of Roman Suslov's dead body. According to Russian military officials, Suslov committed a suicide during the transfer to Far East military base, though his family and independent journalists suspect [RUS] he was tortured and later murdered by military...
Russia: Far East “Partisans” – Nationalists or Corruption Fighters?
Maxim Sviridenkov posts the recording of the coversation with Vladimir Savchenko [RUS], father of one of the members of the Primorsky krai [EN] partisan group. The “Partisans” were claimed to be a nationalist cop-killing gang [EN], although Savchenko says they “went to the woods” because of the police corruption and...
Russia: Street Action to Save Khimki Forest
Bloggers Igor Podgorny [RUS] and bb-mos [RUS] post pictures of the street action to protect a historic oak forest north of Moscow. Legally protected Khimki Forest Park is endangered to be completely replaced due to the construction of the new Moscow-St.Petersburg highway [EN].
Russia: Prosecutor's Office Forces Provider to Close Website
Prosecutor's office of Zabaikalsky region [EN] demanded to block [RUS] the website of newspaper “Russkoye Zabaikalie” (previously available at www.srn.megalink.ru), whose content has been officially recognized as “extremist.” Earlier, the newspaper's editor was given a 1-year suspended sentence [RUS] for xenophobic and anti-Semitic articles.
Russia: Famous Blogger Speaks About the Future of Social Networks
Sergey Kuznetsov, one of the first RuNet activists, discusses how social networks will look like in five years. In his interview to Lenta.ru [RUS] he argues that analysts should focus on functions but not platforms, describes the new ways of virtual connections between people, and suggests that the social networks and electronic devices...
Russia: Protest Against Building in the Historical Center of Moscow
Bloggers post photos [RUS] and footage [RUS] of the protests against a building site next to the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi that is located in the historical district of Moscow [EN]. Moscow authorities deny both the problem and the conflict, while conventional media simply ignore them.
Russia: Media Company Calls to Close Country's Biggest Social Network.
Alexander Akopov, head of a media company “Amedia“, called [RUS] to close Russia's biggest social network “Vkontakte” for massive copyright violations describing it as “the main pirate of the country” and its users as “30 millions of criminals”. He offered to prosecute both the network and its users and demand 100 million...
Russia: Are Websites Responsible for User Comments?
The latest edition of the Supreme Court's decision says online news media will be responsible for user comments left on their websites, gazeta.ru reports [RUS]. A previous version implied no accountability for user comments, but it is now being revised due to pressure from RosKomNadzor, a government media and internet regulation...
Russia: Relations Between Bloggers and Car Manufacturers
Autonews.ru compares [RUS] different attitudes towards bloggers among foreign car manufacturers and AutoVaz (the largest car manufacturer in the country). If western companies tend to cooperate with bloggers, AutoVaz considers blogosphere as a space for unethical competition.
Russia: Mapping Top Bloggers and Regional Communities
Alexey Sidorenko shares his analysis of the data on Russia's top bloggers and regional communities.
Russia: Artists Against State Bureaucracy
Several artists led by Alexey Biryukov launched the blog “Artist! Set Yourself Free!” [RUS]. The idea of the blog is to attract attention to the issue of export of modern art from Russia. Currently an artist needs a state permission to move his/her piece of art outside the country (even...
Russia: Theater Play About Sergei Magnitsky's Death
Playwright Mikhail Ugarov (LJ user m_u) announces (RUS) the premiere of a play about the prison death of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian tax lawyer: “Those guilty of the hero's death will appear on the stage – investigators, judges, the prison staff, doctors, and each one will be given a...