Latest posts by Kevin Rothrock from October, 2012
Russia: Assessing Predictions About the Coordinating Council Election
As RuNet Echo readers know well, the Coordinating Council's elections took place last week, and that body has already convened virtually through Facebook and once again in person. Weeks in advance of the vote, Global Voices offered projections based on Yandex's blogger rating index. Here, we've assessed those predictions against the actual results and another forecast model
Russia: Facebook Insults Lead to a Fight at the Bolshoi
Earlier this week, an online spat between the chief editors of Russian GQ and Russian Tatler magazines came to physical blows on the steps of the famous Bolshoi Theater. First, Tatler's Eduard Dorozhkin insulted GQ's Michael Idov in a Facebook post that had anti-Semitic overtones [ru]. Idov, a Jewish emigre whose parents fled...
Russia: Cryptanalytic Vulnerabilities in the Opposition's Online Elections
The opposition's Elections Commission accidentally leaked personal voter data to one of its most dangerous enemies, Sergei Mavrodi's MMM group. How avoidable was this mistake, and does the fact that it happened indicate more serious vulnerabilities in the protest movement's digital self-defense?
Russia: DDoS Attacks Cripple Opposition's Online Vote
Eight hours after online voting for the Russian opposition's “Coordinating Council” began, unknown assailants launched a sustained Denial-of-Service attack against the Election Commission's website, disabling the primary voting portal.
Russia: A Ponzi Scheme to Destroy the Opposition's Coordinating Council?
There are storm clouds rolling in for the Coordinating Council's coming elections, and the promise of a democratic triumph for the protest movement could be faltering, thanks mainly to the unsavory scheming of one of Russia's most infamous and odious characters: Sergei Mavrodi, the founder of the MMM series of pyramid schemes
Russia: Getting It Wrong on the Pussy Riot Prisoner's Dilemma
Reactions to the release of Yekaterina Samutsevich have generally been myopic and misleading. The popular "insight" is that the authorities are maneuvering to "divide and conquer" the punk rocker trio. That is undoubtedly part of what's happened, but it isn't the whole story.
Russia: Winners & Losers in Round 1 of the Opposition's Debates
The first stage of the Russian opposition's Coordinating Council debates has ended. So who has advanced to the next round of debates? Who among the candidates is best winning the hearts and minds of the opposition's voters?
Russia: The Opposition Coordinating Council's Great Debates, Day 1.0
"What should the next Duma adopt as its first new law?" "Does Russia have any friends?" Just some of the questions thrown at the candidates for the upcoming elections of the first Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition. Read the debate transcripts here.
Russia: Apple Logo Branded As Unchristian by Orthodox Activists
Interfax new agency reported [ru] today that a fringe group of Russian Orthodox activists (including some priests) has “on a number of occasions” staged public protests against the maker of the iPhone and iPad, Apple Inc., on the grounds that the company's logo (a monochrome “bitten” apple) constitutes an anti-Christian symbol.
Russia: Echo of Moscow Pokes Fun at Environmentalist Dissident
Earlier today, oppositionist blogger Oleg Kozyrev took issue [ru] with an apparent gag that graced the website of Echo of Moscow. In an article titled “Leader of the Khimki Ecologists and Mayoral Candidate Evgenia Chirikova Complains About Interference In Her Election Campaign,” the accompanying photo [ru] features Chirikova against the background of...
