The State Duma adopted in the first reading such amendments to the law on the media, which equate to the media each such website on the Internet, which is updated regularly

    Today in the newspaper Kommersant - No. 32 (4573) dated February 24, 2011 - an article appeared “ Mass Media Adds Mass Media, ” which talks about the adoption by the State Duma (so far in the first reading) of a number of more than interesting novelties.

    I just can not deny myself the perverted pleasure of quoting just one piece of the paragraph of this article:
    “I wish them the speedy adoption of these amendments in all three readings at once, and then the media law will cease to apply, and all media will fall outside the legal field,” Mikhail Fedotov , one of the authors of the current media law , told Kommersant . According to him, “this document is very crude” in all its aspects. So, it is proposed to include Internet sites in the category of media . At the same time, on the one hand, it is said that the “principle of voluntary registration” as a media is maintained for sites, and on the other hand, all sites that regularly update information and which “provide access to electronic materials” are referred to the media. So, “the official website of the State Duma is the media,” said Mr. Fedotov.And "the auto parts store website is also the media." But then, according to Mr. Komissarov’s amendments, “the store owner must create an editorial office in the store, and journalists must work for him in the spare parts warehouse”.
    What the hell, huh? And there is still a lot of interesting things about “the licensing authority decides to issue a license or to refuse to issue a license”, for example. That is, registration of a site may be refused, for example. For a number of more than possible reasons.

    What thoughts are born about this?

    First, let me remind you that initiatives to equate sites with the media have been coming from above for more than a year - it’s just right to get a separate tag for them, or something ... However, to such a stage as now - in order to accept this initiative in the first reading in the State Duma - it seems did not reach yet. But it came, it came.

    Secondly, just now, in the pre-election year, someinvestigations and revelations appearing on the Internet are inconvenient, and journalism is simply inconvenient, publicizing various thoughts that deviate from the party line ... It is clear that if only special people from a narrow circle of holders of journalistic IDs could express themselves on the Internet, and even with a special license, which not everyone is given out - then then a lot of people could, by law, immediately shorten their language. In order to see, a sort of law is being conceived . But it will be a shame if the law is adopted with political intentions, and ordinary people and their sites suffer from it. Where it says “licensing”, it’s easy to read “bribe-taking”.

    Thirdly,the first reading, not the last. It's not the end of the world, that's for sure. Maybe things will become clear, and it turns out that the article in Kommersant overly dramatized the situation. Again, all interested parties still have time to convince one or another deputy, so that in the current form, these amendments do not survive to the second reading.

    But the news is gloomy, and you need to look closely at the development of events.

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