Roskomnadzor proposed slowing down Internet services without public disclosure

The additions to the amendments to the federal law “On Communications” proposed by the RKN will allow the department, in accordance with the requirements of the Prosecutor General or his deputies, to manage communication networks through technical means of countering threats (TSPU) or transmitting mandatory instructions to telecommunications operators, owners of communication networks or traffic exchange points.

The mandatory instructions are to install the SORM (operational investigative measures) system, TSPU and restrict access to sites based on registration, Alexey Amelkin, president of the Association of Makatel Communications Operators, explained to the publication. At the same time, all telecommunications operators have already installed TSPUs in accordance with the Law “On the Sovereign Runet”.

TSPU filters all traffic and can block Internet resources and slow down your work. Experts assume that the TSPU’s action is the reason for restricting access to the video hosting site YouTube. With TSPU, you can block Internet resources without the involvement of a telecom operator.

Thanks to the decisions of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the RKN will be able to slow down and block Internet resources, as this will be called “communication network management,” says Philip Kulin, creator of the Escher II blocking project. The Attorney General’s Office cannot indicate the reasons for its decision to block the appeal and itself as the initiator of the block, he noted.

In early August, users in Russia began experiencing difficulties accessing YouTube video hosting: videos began to load slowly or became unavailable for viewing. Google later stated that it was not involved in the failures.

Against the background of an exit of clients, telecom operators began to look for ways to speed up work on video hosting, but RKN sent them a letter demanding to exclude the use of technologies of “distortion, fragmentation and substitution of Internet traffic “. .” In September, the Rosteleset Association sent a complaint to the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) for discrimination due to the slowdown of YouTube.

In October, RKN blocked the Discord service, popular among gamers and IT specialists. Access to it was limited due to a violation of the requirements of Russian legislation, the RKN explained.