
Russia enacts 'draconian' law for bloggers and online media - dollaaron
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28583669
======
pinaceae
If the US really would like to hit Putin in the balls, they would offer all
Russian university graduates (at least in STEM) a green card and a one way
flight ticket to the US.

Since 9/11 and the effects on immigration to the US there has been a whole
lost generation of Russian techies sitting on the benches, not being able to
join the rank of Brin and other over here. Lots of very smart, very well
educated people.

~~~
trhway
that's what people outside and even many inside don't understand about Russia
- many people there, even university graduates, will stay there at their own
will. Putin is really supported by the Russian people - that is the real deep
problem, ie. the problem is with the people not with the one of them who just
happened to be the leader.

To "adamnemecek" (below) - no. Unfortunately support of Putin (or at least of
the national ideas he is actively using/riding/associating himself with) among
the "enlightened" people is appallingly high. The people mentioned by the
parent have had ample opportunities to emigrate and they haven't.

~~~
adamnemecek
Presumably Putin is supported mainly by people who don't fall in the category
of people described by the parent comment. Sure there might be some who
support him but I'm guessing that most don't.

~~~
purringmeow
Nope, it seems counterintuitive that educated people might support someone who
is pretty much a dictator, but they do. Russian mentality is different and
seems odd to westerners.

~~~
Zancarius
To that end, _The Soviet Experiment_ by Ronald G. Suny [1] is a worthwhile
read, and I'd highly recommend it to the curious. It provides a great deal of
insight into Russia's recent history (and outlook), from the fall of the Tsar
to more modern times. Suny provides a backdrop that illustrates some of what
purringmeow alludes to, although it (obviously) contends with the creation of
the Soviet Union and some of the cultural attitude for which it was
responsible.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/The-Soviet-Experiment-Russia-
Successor...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Soviet-Experiment-Russia-
Successor/dp/0195340558/)

------
Aldo_MX

      It means bloggers with more than 3,000 daily readers must register with the mass
      media regulator, Roskomnadzor, and conform to the regulations that govern the
      country's larger media outlets.
    

This is absolutely ridiculous!!!

------
_delirium
Discussion earlier today:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8118678](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8118678)

~~~
dang
Thank you. Burying this one as a dupe.

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guard-of-terra
As a Russian, I no longer care. Either this starts to change, or I'm out of
here. There's an upper bound of shit one is ready to absorb even for the nice
pay.

The war in Ukraine might be the tipping point, but not in the sense you would
perhaps think.

~~~
Zancarius
> The war in Ukraine might be the tipping point, _but not in the sense you
> would perhaps think_.

I'm curious what you mean by this (emphasis in particular) and would like to
know more, if it's not asking too much.

~~~
guard-of-terra
You would think that Putin will stand down over a strong applied force (for
example, economic sanctions).

No he won't. But. I expect it is possible for Putin to be torn apart by
conflicting vectors of several forces - USA and Europe; oligarchs and
business; and Russian people finally enter the play since it's them who wage
the war in Ukraine. The tidal shocks may do what a single force won't.

~~~
Zancarius
Part of me hopes you're right, but I'll be honest: Speaking as an American, I
don't think the US or Europe have the gumption to face Putin head on with his
domestic policies, no matter what ills he may bring about on the Russian
people. Worse, I think some of our domestic problems will preoccupy us
substantially in the coming years, although with an election coming up this
year it's plausible stronger talk might supplant previous timidity. I know of
a few politicians who have been reluctant to take a stance on Ukraine simply
on the merit that they're afraid they might be accused of attempting to
reignite the Cold War.

Although, I think I see what you're getting at: Multiple forces, political,
economic, and domestic could force his hand--I just have very little faith in
my government doing the Right Thing in light of recent revelations (NSA, et
al) and it's unlikely we'll be of any help.

In a way, I was rather hoping the downing of MH17 might've triggered
sufficient outrage to dampen the conflict in Ukraine and perhaps prevent Putin
from continuing down the road of stripping away citizens' rights, but I guess
that's premature? (Sadly, few here in the US even care--I'm not even sure how
many people are _aware_ of the downing.)

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Much appreciated.

~~~
guard-of-terra
"I just have very little faith in my government doing the Right Thing"

This doesn't matter, as I tried to tell you. The vector direction is not
important, applied force is. Then we expect the regime either tearing apart or
losing balance.

UPD: "and perhaps prevent Putin from continuing down the road of stripping
away citizens' rights" We don't care anymore. He has already broke so many
things that we don't care for the rest, rather for a reboot. And he's not
gaining balance by breaking more things.

------
trhway
to understand full picture one needs to factor in Russian hate speech laws
under which any political critical statement is de-facto a felony crime of
"spreading/flaming up hate on the political and social grounds" . Doing it in
the mass media is a major aggravating factor (like doubling the prison time
and multi-fold increasing the fine). The mentioned "draconian law" converts
any even mildly popular blog, FB/VK page, twitter feed, etc. into mass media
and thus, in particular, adds such and aggravating factor to any political
critical speech on the blog/page/feed.

