Stories from RuNet Echo from September, 2010
Russia: Political Discourse Overview
“A Short Overview of Russian Political Discourse” – by a guest-blogger at The Kremlin Stooge.
Russia: Intellectual Property Rights as NGO Prosecution Tool?
Rebecca MacKinnon calls for revising software copyright policy following the story in Irkutsk, where local authorities used the excuse of struggling against illegal software to confiscate local NGO's computers. Irkutsk case represents a wider problem of using intellectual property protection as a justification for prosecution of human rights activists all...
Russia: “Luzhkovectomy”
The Moscow Diaries, The Power Vertical, and The Kremlin Stooge weigh in on the Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov scandal.
Russia: Vladikavkaz Market, Sept. 12
Twenty-one photos from the Vladikavkaz market, three days after the Sept. 9 terrorist attack – by LJ user farniev-kostya (RUS).
Russia: Bloggers Create Alternative Website to Discuss Police Reform
In addition to the official website to discuss police reform [RUS], bloggers had created an alternative one [RUS]. After proposing and discussing the amendments (the list with the illustrations here [RUS]) to the police reform draft bill, the bloggers managed to promote them to #1 position [RUS] in the official site's rating.
Russia: Cyrillic Domain Reveal Putin's Plans for 2012
Federal Security Service (FSO) had registered more Cyrillic domains than any other company in the country (including “блог.рф” (“blog.rf”) and “письма.рф” (“letters.rf”), see full list), Vedomosti.ru reported [RUS]. Lenta.ru adds that FSO also registered “Путин2012.рф” and “Путин-2012.рф” (“Putin-2012.rf”). Blogger wunder_bar suggests [RUS] the domains reveal Vladimir Putin's plan to re-elect in 2012.
Russia: Happy Birthday @KremlinRussia! ;)
On September 14, 2010, the Russian president celebrated his 45th birthday. It was his third birthday as president. In 2010 wishes and congrats poured in from all over the world, in their hundreds, not only from official phone calls but also from Twitter. Yelena Osipova analyzed the Twitter-o-sphere's reaction.
Russia: Officials Embrace Twitter. By mistake
Yelena Osipova reviews some notable examples of the use of social media by Russian politicians.
Russia: Paid and Unpaid Bloggers Against the Moscow Mayor
An ongoing TV and online campaign against Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov is now one of the most discussed topics both in the mainstream and citizen media. Most bloggers appear to support the attack on the politician. Alexey Sidorenko analyzes the main patterns of the discussion.
Russia: Pluses and Minuses of Putin's Regime
Blogger rusanalit sums up [RUS] 10 years of Vladimir Putin's direct and indirect (after president Medvedev's election) reign. Pluses, among others, include: creation of the Stabilization Fund [EN], finishing Chechen war [EN], paying off $100 bln of state debt by raising the oil taxes. Minuses: making corruption a core principle of...
Russia: Bloggers Discuss the Market Bombing in North Ossetia
A suicide car bombing outside a market in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia-Alania, killed at least 18 people and wounded over 100 on Sept. 9. Below is a selection of blog posts that appeared after the attack.
Russia: Tens of Thousands of Muslims Celebrate Uraza Bairam
Bloggers share pictures [RUS] and video [RUS] of the unusually populous celebrations of Uraza Bairam (internationally known as Eid ul-Fitr [EN]), an important Muslim holiday. Paul Goble notes [EN] critical reactions in the press and a new wave of anti-Islamic sentiment provoked by the event.
Russia: Pictures of Burnt Villages in Volgograd Region
Photoblogger Igor Podgorny posts [RUS] apocalyptic pictures of the burnt fields, forests, and villages in the Volgograd region, that suffered from the second wave of wildfires.
Russia: Bloggers Expose Pro-Kremlin Youth Movement
Blogger fritzmorgen posts[RUS] pictures of Anastasia Denisenko, a regional leader of “Molodaya Gvardia”, Russian pro-Kremlin youth movement. The movement officially agitates against alcoholism and drug abuse, although the unofficial pictures depict quite the opposite. The blogger also supplies the posters of the various club parties sponsored by the movement.
Russia: Bloggers Clash With the Ruling Party
The Russian Internet community's response to the wildfires was accompanied with a high level of hostility and direct clashes between netizens and pro-government activists. Gregory Asmolov analyzes the conflict and suggests a strong linkage between the degree of online cooperation and the way online sources presented the role of the government in the wildfires disaster.
Russia: Reactions to the “Buckwheat Panic”
The article reviews the blogosphere's response to the "buckwheat panic" that emerged due to the rising prices of this type of cereals.
Russia: Beslan School Siege Survivor's Account
Agunda Vataeva was a 13-year-old girl about to begin her ninth-grade studies on Sept. 1, 2004, the day when she, her mother and more than 1,100 others were taken hostage at School #1 in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. Now 19, Agunda has posted her recollections of Sept. 1-3, 2004, on her LiveJournal and Radio Echo of Moscow blogs.
Belarus: Charter97.org's Editor Found Dead
Aleh Byabenin, a Belarusian journalist, founder and editor of the leading oppositional website Charter97.org, was found dead Friday. He was 36 years old. This short Charter97 item announcing his death already has 193 comments, mainly with words of condolence.
Russia: “Six Years Without the Children”
Two more posts from Beslan – here and here (RUS) – by Marina Litvinovich (LJ user abstract2001): “Six years without the children… Six years without the truth…”
Russia: Bloggers Help to De-anonymize Violent Policemen
Active campaign raised by the bloggers outraged by a brutal policemen who assaulted a protester [RUS] led to the results. First, bloggers found out policeman's identity, then the criminal case had been started. Finally the policeman came by himself to the Prosecutor's office to witness on the case, corrupcia.net reported [RUS].
Russia: Blogger Exposes Putin's Numerous Law Violations
Blogger ibigdan mentions [RUS] at least 4 public law violations conducted by Vladimir Putin within 2 months, including his famous putting out the fire while co-piloting a plane [EN], and Lada Kalina [EN] trip.
