Open Letter to the international IT and telecom companies
You can read it sign it with the link above. However I never liked canned news so here is what it is all about and why it matters in my own words.
As sanctions keep piling up on Russia some of things here become increasingly restricted and this affects freedom of communication. Ironically this is the effect Putin wants - the government is busy building up their Internet censorship and control. Now as the result of some sanctions people trying to maintain independent services and censorship circumvention tools are under attack from both sides. Myself included.
Some examples:
Thawte certification authority suddenly revoked certificates of some services (banks mostly) which gave the government the reason to double down on imposing national certificate system. If successful it opens unprecedented opportunities for censorship and surveillance.
NameCheap domain registrar suddenly refused supporting customers from Russia forcing them to either move their domains immediately or lose them. This together with rumors of the government imposing isolation measures on Russian part of network made many people move their websites and services into Russian-controlled zone.
Some backbone ISPs like Cogent disconnected Russia impacting network connectivity and making it easier to shutdown, control and censor.
Visa and Mastercard payment systems withdrawing is probably the hardest blow for everyone who hosted something outside of Russia as there is no easy way to pay for services or receive donations for them. This also forces many people to migrate their projects back to homeland where they risk to be seized and their owners prosecuted.
While I understand the reasons for diplomatic pressure and public reaction to the events in Ukraine I can’t believe this is the effect we want. This hurts the opposition, freedom of speech and access to information. I can’t access some of the links above without VPN. Soon I likely won’t be able to get on the global network without VPN - and not public one, these get blocked every day.
And the last thing - free social networks like this one are one of few remaining bridges between Russian and Ukrainian people. Mainstream networks are getting ugly, media sources get banned and blocked by the opposing sites. Here we still can talk. Hopefully it will last.
Open Letter to the international IT and telecom companies: stop helping Putin. // Открытое письмо к западным IT и телекоммуникационным компаниям: хватит помогать Путину.
Open Letter to the international IT and telecom companies: stop helping Putin. Because of Russia invading Ukraine many international IT and telecom companies suspend or stop their operations in Russia. This results in loss of connections within Russian internet segment while access to unbiased information online becomes complicated for people in the country. As of now the following measures intended to disrupt internet in Russia have already been taken or are considered: ❌ IT exodus from the country, including Microsoft, Adobe, Nvidia, Dropbox, Snapchat, Coursera, and many more. ❌ Disruption of connections with the World Wide Web, e.g. Cogent and Lumen terminating their relationships with Russian customers. ❌ Hacker attacks targeting DNS servers in the.RU / .РФ zone. ❌ Visa and Mastercard blocking people in Russia from paying for online services provided by international companies. ❌ Possible undelegation of root zone for all the .RU domains which is already discussed by ICANN. ❌ Possible recall of IP addresses and ASN of Russian providers by RIPE. Internet Protection Society objects against these and other possible measures. Shutdowns can be used in tyranny, not in democracy. Any sanctions that disrupt access of Russian people to information only strengthen Putin’s regime. We support the actions of Cloudflare and other initiatives aimed at supporting IT infrastructure and ensuring it is as stable and resilient as possible. We call for developers of social networking services, instant messengers, VPN services, and other tools that are crucial for communications and obtaining news and truthful information to not only ensure their stable operation in Russia but to allow for free access until the end of this crisis. For example, it could be possible to provide free access keys for VPNs which could have allowed people to avoid the censorship imposed by the government and to access the information that is forbidden in Russia despite of the blocks by payment providers. The all-encompassing government propaganda is the main reason why some Russians still support Putin and still believe that he is actually attempting to bring peace to Ukraine. Only access to unbiased information can help us resist brainwashing. Putin is not Russia! It is extremely important that people of the country who do not believe the propaganda and who participate in anti-war protests stay in touch with each other and with people abroad, it is crucial that we are able to learn the truth about current events and are able to share it. Do you want Russians to fight the regime and demand the war to be stopped? In this case do help Russians with access to information! Today the internet is the battlefield where common sense fights against the machinery of government. Please, do not help the repressive state win. Appeal can be viewed at this link: https://ozi-ru.org/news/it-call-stop-putin Total number of signatories: 3008 Signatory Organizations: Internet Protection Society METROPOLIS Roll Internet Services cory.foundation SOTA Rays of Good Dreamless systems ltd Editus FaceToPlace Libertarian Party of Russia // Либертарианская партия России (libertarian-party.ru) Бархат Sysadmingroup LLC 3М Россия Milshiks EspressoLab ТК"Абсолют" D.1 strace X-MEDIA LLC AirQode ИП Эрмиш ДС Itis.team Энциклопедия «Янтарная ноосфера» Независимый театральный проект "Спектакли Ксении Зориной" Microimpuls Naxeex Astronomy Alena Chter NetMAX Veliteq ЮК LLC Soltech ООО "Адвател" Itmicro OrderCom IP Katsev Yuri Ассоциация интернет-издателей // Webpublishers Association Юридическая компания «Vicelaw” IT.Partners LLP Медиа Проект Private Entrepreneur Zheludkov A. A. Farbe Elektronik CovenDay *** В связи с российской агрессией в Украине многие западные IT и телекоммуникационные компании прекращают деятельность на территории России. Ухудшается связность российского сегмента интернета, ухудшается доступ россиян к достоверной информации. На данный момент реализованы или обсуждаются следующие действия по нарушению работы сети Интернет в России: ❌ Прекращение работы IT-компаний на территории страны. Microsoft, Adobe, Nvidia, Dropbox, Snapchat, Coursera и многие другие. ❌ Разрыв связности с интернетом. Например, компании Cogent и Lumen прекратили сотрудничество с российскими клиентами. ❌ Хакерские атаки на DNS-сервера регистраторов доменов зоны .RU / .РФ. ❌ Запрет россиянам оплачивать зарубежные онлайн-сервисы со стороны Visa и Mastercard. ❌ Возможное разделегирование корневой зоны всех доменов .RU. Вопрос уже обсуждается в ICANN. ❌ Возможный отзыв RIPE IP-адресов и ASN российских операторов. Общество защиты интернета выступает против этих и других возможных мер. Шатдауны – инструмент диктатуры, а не демократии. Любые санкции, ухудшающие для россиян доступ к информации, только укрепляют путинский режим. Мы поддерживаем инициативу компании Cloudflare и другие инициативы по обеспечению максимально устойчивой работы интернет-инфраструктуры. Мы призываем разработчиков социальных сетей, мессенджеров, VPN-сервисов и других критичных для общения и получения информации сервисов не только приложить все усилия для их устойчивой работы на территории России, но и обеспечить россиянам бесплатный доступ на время кризиса. Например, предоставление бесплатных ключей для VPN-сервисов позволит обойти государственную цензуру и получить доступ к запрещенной в РФ информации, несмотря на блокировки со стороны платежных систем. Тотальная государственная пропаганда — основная причина, по которой часть россиян еще поддерживает Путина и до сих пор верит в его «миротворческие цели в Украине». Доступ к объективной информации — единственный способ противостоять промывке мозгов. Путин – это не Россия! Жителям страны, которые не верят пропаганде и массово выходят протестовать против войны, важно оставаться на связи друг с другом и с мировым сообществом, важно получать и распространять актуальную информацию о происходящем. Вы хотите, чтобы россияне боролись с режимом и требовали остановить войну? Тогда облегчите им доступ к информации! Интернет сегодня — на линии фронта в противостоянии между здравым смыслом и репрессивной государственной машиной. Не помогайте репрессивной машине побеждать. Ссылка на обращение: https://ozi-ru.org/news/it-call-stop-putin Общее количество подписантов: 3008 Подписавшиеся организации: Internet Protection Society METROPOLIS Roll Internet Services cory.foundation SOTA Rays of Good Dreamless systems ltd Editus FaceToPlace Libertarian Party of Russia // Либертарианская партия России (libertarian-party.ru) Бархат Sysadmingroup LLC 3М Россия Milshiks EspressoLab ТК"Абсолют" D.1 strace X-MEDIA LLC AirQode ИП Эрмиш ДС Itis.team Энциклопедия «Янтарная ноосфера» Независимый театральный проект "Спектакли Ксении Зориной" Microimpuls Naxeex Astronomy Alena Chter NetMAX Veliteq ЮК LLC Soltech ООО "Адвател" Itmicro OrderCom IP Katsev Yuri Ассоциация интернет-издателей // Webpublishers Association Юридическая компания «Vicelaw” IT.Partners LLP Медиа Проект Private Entrepreneur Zheludkov A. A. Farbe Elektronik CovenDay
