Litvina: “Draft decree on Internet wasn’t discussed in Consultative Council on Media”

Lukashenka’s Administration is considering the draft decree on regulating the Internet in Belarus.

BelaPAN learnt this from Yury Zisser, the general director of Nadzezhnye Programmy company, who had taken part in this project discussion in late 2009.

Head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) Zhanna Litvina said the organizations interested hadn’t been able to discuss the draft decree.

“The Consultative Council on Mass Media, to which I belong, had the last session in early June 2009. Since then, I haven’t received any invitations for sessions. We haven’t had a discussion on the draft decree on the Internet,” Litvina said.

The draft Decree on Measures for Revising Use of the National Segment of the World Wide Web provides, in particular, for registration of Internet resources in the order established by the Council of Ministers agreed upon with by the Operative and Analytical Center under President. Data on registered resources are provided to the Center in order and volumes it established.

Under the document, telecommunication operators and other companies or individual entrepreneurs giving Internet access services must identify the users they render service to.

A lot of experts apprehend if the decree comes into force, the appropriate agencies will gain a legal opportunity to “block uncomfortable websites”.