Russia Wants All Wi-Fi Devices to Be Registered
Sure, we've seen the occasional loony look down upon open Wi-Fi access, but Russia is apparently out to really slow down wireless adoption with its latest directive. Reportedly, the Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service (or Rossvyazokhrankultura for short -- no seriously, we swear) is looking to have every user of a Wi-Fi-enabled device obtain permission and register said device before hopping on the world wide web. Even worse, it seems as if every single wireless transmitter and device must be registered, meaning that technophiles will be filling out heaps of paperwork in order to get their handset, laptop, DS Lite, PC and hacked-up Foleo online (legally) via their home-based access point. We're hearing that registering a single PDA or phone would take around ten days, while signing up a new home network would be even more painstaking. We'll spare you the snide In Soviet Russia... remarks, but feel free to concoct your own below.
From The Other Russia (via Wi-Fi Net News)
Filed under: Audio/Video, Cell Phones, Cameras, Computers, Video Games
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Daniel Gaunt @ Apr 16th 2008 9:07AM
Oh great, Russia is going back to stalinism
Chris @ Apr 16th 2008 11:38AM
Wow...sucks to live in Russia.
mandee @ Apr 16th 2008 10:05PM
here in america most places you can't just hop on public wi-fi either, it takes a registration and IP address confirmation which may be faster than 10 days but is very similar, as far as tracking who is doing what- surfing the net is not anonymous as some believe