Regulated?
The text below, for reasons unknown to the author, did not come out in full. Therefore, it was kindly provided for the entire BelHabroustreet.
“Last week, the whole Internet community of Belarus eagerly awaited: the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus adopted 5 resolutions explaining the February Presidential Decree of February 01, 2010, No. 60“ On measures to improve the use of the national Internet segment ”.
Generally speaking: the government tried to regulate user access to the World Wide Web in places of collective use (henceforth, Internet café employees are required to register all users and store information about what resources they visit); formulated general requirements for state sites (must contain adequate and regularly updated information); introduced new rules for the operation of online stores (must be registered in the Trade Register).
The main innovation is the state registration of information networks, systems and resources connected to the Internet located in the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
About how and what resources should be registered and what all this can lead to, we are talking with Lyudmila Chekina, a lawyer at UE Reliable Programs.
- In accordance with the resolution, all Internet resources located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus are subject to registration, regardless of their commercial or non-commercial nature. This applies even to e-mail boxes (if they are located on Belarusian hosting). In accordance with clauses 2 and 3 of Decree No. 60 of February 1, 2010, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are obliged to ensure the transition to the use of information networks, systems and resources of the national Internet segment located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus before July 1, 2010. Sites owned by individuals are in a more favorable position: they can also be located on foreign hosting. But if citizens' Internet resources are still located on Belarusian hosting, they are also subject to mandatory registration, regardless of their non-commercial nature.
- Accordingly, if a resource has a domain name .by, but is hosted abroad, it is not necessary to register it?
- Absolutely. The Regulations on the procedure for state registration of information networks, systems and resources of the national segment of the global computer network Internet, located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, specifically stipulates the territory. Domain name does not matter. If the domain name is not in the .by zone, and the site is in Belarus, then it is subject to registration.
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- What exactly is meant by the provision of services? Is the placement of advertising banners, catalog, news provision of services?
- Advertising is definitely a service. Catalog placement can be considered as provision of information services, as in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 31 of the General Part of the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus services can also be provided free of charge.
In fact, a very wide range of activities can be qualified as providing services. If payment is supposed, then it definitely qualifies as providing services.
- What is the mechanism for registering an Internet resource?
- All Internet resources that are located on the territory of Belarus must be registered according to the application principle by an Internet service provider, that is, a hosting provider. It is not yet completely clear which provider will do this: a hosting provider that provides virtual hosting services, or does this concern only physical hosting? While these moments are specified. But now we can definitely say that the hosting providers will be registering the resources, not the site owners. Another thing is that providers will need additional information for registration (application to the State Register of information networks, systems and resources includes more than 30 items, including not only the full name, passport details and contacts of resource owners, but also a detailed description of the site, network (IP) addresses used by the resource, domain names, data center registration number, type of hosting, ports of transport protocols used by the resource ... - note by Y. Kh.). Therefore, it seems that providers will post electronic questionnaires on their sites with a proposal to fill them in, since the providers themselves do not have all this information. But it is the Internet service providers, not the site owners, who will have to register these applications, sign them with a digital signature and send to the registering authority.
The Council of Ministers has a very difficult task before all the players in online business. After all, many providers - just a huge number of sites! If for any reason the owner of the Internet resource does not provide all the necessary information, the hosting provider simply will not be able to fulfill its obligations to register the site. Therefore, if resource owners do not want them to have any problems with the operation of their resource, it is better to help the provider in a timely manner. Clients who have faithfully provided the provider with all the necessary information have nothing to worry about - they will all be registered.
In addition, it turned out that the registration of sites will be paid. The Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of 01.02.10, No. 60 did not mention this. The cost of registration is quite significant - 16,800 (~ $ 5.6) rubles (including VAT) for each site. Considering the number of Internet resources, in aggregate a very large amount is obtained. In my opinion, it does not correspond to the costs of the state body for registration, because it is provided with ready information that only needs to be entered into the Register. Many providers have thousands or even tens of thousands of customers. 7-8 thousand customers - the normal subscriber base for the provider. It is easy to calculate that this is a one-time payment of hundreds of millions of rubles. Naturally, in the long run, the costs will be compensated by the final consumers. Apparently, the cost of hosting will increase. Providers simply do not try to pay for registration at their own expense. I admit that there will be different ways of collecting this money, but basically it will lead to an increase in the cost of hosting services, which are already quite high in Belarus. Thus, there is a contradiction to the goals proclaimed in Decree No. 60 of February 1, 2010, which referred to the adoption of measures to reduce the cost of Internet services. In this case, on the contrary, conditions are created for the increase in the cost of hosting, noncompetitive conditions for the work of Belarusian hosting providers compared to foreign ones. Email registration will be free.
- In addition, opinions are already being expressed that hosting providers, with all their desire, will not be able to host all their clients in Belarus: there are no such number of servers in the country. It turns out that the decree will lead to a significant reorganization of the market?
- Yes, it is determined. It is not known how the situation will change by July 1, but as far as I know, now there is an acute problem with the placement of servers, with data centers. Nowadays, Beltelecom data centers are overcrowded.
- Are there any sanctions against Belarusian legal entities and entrepreneurs who place their resources abroad?
- Yes, such sanctions are possible. They are provided for by Decree No. 60. It is about stopping the provision of Internet services. And the domain name does not play a role. If this resource is used by a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, or if services are rendered with the help of this resource, goods are sold in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, then from July 1 he is obliged to switch to Belarusian hosting. If this does not happen, then the measures may be applied under paragraph 11 of Decree No. 60, that is, the provision of Internet services is terminated. The decree also contains instructions for the development of regulatory acts providing for the improvement of administrative, criminal and other liability for violations of the requirements of the Decree, other legislation in the use of the national segment of the Internet, so it is likely that other liability measures may be established in the near future.
- But, on the basis of this, a number of foreign online stores, which services are used by Belarusians, can be “closed”, for example, ebay.
- Probably. True, I find it difficult to answer how this can be done technically. But in any case, the provision of services by non-residents is a big question in the light of paragraph 2 of Decree No. 60. It contains slippery language that allows for different interpretations. The first possible interpretation: the requirements for the transition to the Belarusian hosting applies only to residents or non-residents who have a permanent representative office in Belarus. The second possible interpretation: the provision of Internet services in the territory of the Republic of Belarus by non-residents who do not have branches or representative offices in the Republic of Belarus is completely prohibited. On the one hand, this is absurd, since it is rather difficult to impose any sanctions on non-residents, they do not obey Belarusian jurisdiction. But literally this norm can be interpreted that way. I hope, in due course, official interpretation of this norm will be given, or law enforcement practice will put everything in its place.
- Internet access via mobile phone and wi-fi also implies user identification?
- Yes, regulations prescribe to identify subscriber devices. There are technologies that allow you to do this. There are no major problems in the identification of the subscriber device.
- How much do the adopted resolutions solve the existing problems of Bynet and improve the national segment of the Internet?
- It seems to me that basically they only add complexity to work due to the appearance of numerous additional bureaucratic procedures. It is hard for me to say what will become better with the introduction of mandatory registration of Internet resources. Perhaps the existence of such a base is convenient if it is necessary to protect the rights of consumers of online stores. On the other hand, the existing system of registration of domain names, the system of licensing of trade on samples in online stores allows you to do the same with minimal financial and time costs. With a certain share of responsibility of the user himself, who records in which store, from which business entity he purchased the goods, retains the relevant documents confirming the fact of payment, identifying Internet resources is not a big deal. It seems to me that the proposed measure for the mandatory registration of Internet resources introduces only time and financial costs, and is unlikely to be able to significantly help the work of law enforcement agencies. ”
upd .: added some more points
Julia Khadnevich
“Last week, the whole Internet community of Belarus eagerly awaited: the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus adopted 5 resolutions explaining the February Presidential Decree of February 01, 2010, No. 60“ On measures to improve the use of the national Internet segment ”.
Generally speaking: the government tried to regulate user access to the World Wide Web in places of collective use (henceforth, Internet café employees are required to register all users and store information about what resources they visit); formulated general requirements for state sites (must contain adequate and regularly updated information); introduced new rules for the operation of online stores (must be registered in the Trade Register).
The main innovation is the state registration of information networks, systems and resources connected to the Internet located in the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
About how and what resources should be registered and what all this can lead to, we are talking with Lyudmila Chekina, a lawyer at UE Reliable Programs.
- In accordance with the resolution, all Internet resources located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus are subject to registration, regardless of their commercial or non-commercial nature. This applies even to e-mail boxes (if they are located on Belarusian hosting). In accordance with clauses 2 and 3 of Decree No. 60 of February 1, 2010, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are obliged to ensure the transition to the use of information networks, systems and resources of the national Internet segment located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus before July 1, 2010. Sites owned by individuals are in a more favorable position: they can also be located on foreign hosting. But if citizens' Internet resources are still located on Belarusian hosting, they are also subject to mandatory registration, regardless of their non-commercial nature.
- Accordingly, if a resource has a domain name .by, but is hosted abroad, it is not necessary to register it?
- Absolutely. The Regulations on the procedure for state registration of information networks, systems and resources of the national segment of the global computer network Internet, located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, specifically stipulates the territory. Domain name does not matter. If the domain name is not in the .by zone, and the site is in Belarus, then it is subject to registration.
')
- What exactly is meant by the provision of services? Is the placement of advertising banners, catalog, news provision of services?
- Advertising is definitely a service. Catalog placement can be considered as provision of information services, as in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 31 of the General Part of the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus services can also be provided free of charge.
In fact, a very wide range of activities can be qualified as providing services. If payment is supposed, then it definitely qualifies as providing services.
- What is the mechanism for registering an Internet resource?
- All Internet resources that are located on the territory of Belarus must be registered according to the application principle by an Internet service provider, that is, a hosting provider. It is not yet completely clear which provider will do this: a hosting provider that provides virtual hosting services, or does this concern only physical hosting? While these moments are specified. But now we can definitely say that the hosting providers will be registering the resources, not the site owners. Another thing is that providers will need additional information for registration (application to the State Register of information networks, systems and resources includes more than 30 items, including not only the full name, passport details and contacts of resource owners, but also a detailed description of the site, network (IP) addresses used by the resource, domain names, data center registration number, type of hosting, ports of transport protocols used by the resource ... - note by Y. Kh.). Therefore, it seems that providers will post electronic questionnaires on their sites with a proposal to fill them in, since the providers themselves do not have all this information. But it is the Internet service providers, not the site owners, who will have to register these applications, sign them with a digital signature and send to the registering authority.
The Council of Ministers has a very difficult task before all the players in online business. After all, many providers - just a huge number of sites! If for any reason the owner of the Internet resource does not provide all the necessary information, the hosting provider simply will not be able to fulfill its obligations to register the site. Therefore, if resource owners do not want them to have any problems with the operation of their resource, it is better to help the provider in a timely manner. Clients who have faithfully provided the provider with all the necessary information have nothing to worry about - they will all be registered.
In addition, it turned out that the registration of sites will be paid. The Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of 01.02.10, No. 60 did not mention this. The cost of registration is quite significant - 16,800 (~ $ 5.6) rubles (including VAT) for each site. Considering the number of Internet resources, in aggregate a very large amount is obtained. In my opinion, it does not correspond to the costs of the state body for registration, because it is provided with ready information that only needs to be entered into the Register. Many providers have thousands or even tens of thousands of customers. 7-8 thousand customers - the normal subscriber base for the provider. It is easy to calculate that this is a one-time payment of hundreds of millions of rubles. Naturally, in the long run, the costs will be compensated by the final consumers. Apparently, the cost of hosting will increase. Providers simply do not try to pay for registration at their own expense. I admit that there will be different ways of collecting this money, but basically it will lead to an increase in the cost of hosting services, which are already quite high in Belarus. Thus, there is a contradiction to the goals proclaimed in Decree No. 60 of February 1, 2010, which referred to the adoption of measures to reduce the cost of Internet services. In this case, on the contrary, conditions are created for the increase in the cost of hosting, noncompetitive conditions for the work of Belarusian hosting providers compared to foreign ones. Email registration will be free.
- In addition, opinions are already being expressed that hosting providers, with all their desire, will not be able to host all their clients in Belarus: there are no such number of servers in the country. It turns out that the decree will lead to a significant reorganization of the market?
- Yes, it is determined. It is not known how the situation will change by July 1, but as far as I know, now there is an acute problem with the placement of servers, with data centers. Nowadays, Beltelecom data centers are overcrowded.
- Are there any sanctions against Belarusian legal entities and entrepreneurs who place their resources abroad?
- Yes, such sanctions are possible. They are provided for by Decree No. 60. It is about stopping the provision of Internet services. And the domain name does not play a role. If this resource is used by a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, or if services are rendered with the help of this resource, goods are sold in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, then from July 1 he is obliged to switch to Belarusian hosting. If this does not happen, then the measures may be applied under paragraph 11 of Decree No. 60, that is, the provision of Internet services is terminated. The decree also contains instructions for the development of regulatory acts providing for the improvement of administrative, criminal and other liability for violations of the requirements of the Decree, other legislation in the use of the national segment of the Internet, so it is likely that other liability measures may be established in the near future.
- But, on the basis of this, a number of foreign online stores, which services are used by Belarusians, can be “closed”, for example, ebay.
- Probably. True, I find it difficult to answer how this can be done technically. But in any case, the provision of services by non-residents is a big question in the light of paragraph 2 of Decree No. 60. It contains slippery language that allows for different interpretations. The first possible interpretation: the requirements for the transition to the Belarusian hosting applies only to residents or non-residents who have a permanent representative office in Belarus. The second possible interpretation: the provision of Internet services in the territory of the Republic of Belarus by non-residents who do not have branches or representative offices in the Republic of Belarus is completely prohibited. On the one hand, this is absurd, since it is rather difficult to impose any sanctions on non-residents, they do not obey Belarusian jurisdiction. But literally this norm can be interpreted that way. I hope, in due course, official interpretation of this norm will be given, or law enforcement practice will put everything in its place.
- Internet access via mobile phone and wi-fi also implies user identification?
- Yes, regulations prescribe to identify subscriber devices. There are technologies that allow you to do this. There are no major problems in the identification of the subscriber device.
- How much do the adopted resolutions solve the existing problems of Bynet and improve the national segment of the Internet?
- It seems to me that basically they only add complexity to work due to the appearance of numerous additional bureaucratic procedures. It is hard for me to say what will become better with the introduction of mandatory registration of Internet resources. Perhaps the existence of such a base is convenient if it is necessary to protect the rights of consumers of online stores. On the other hand, the existing system of registration of domain names, the system of licensing of trade on samples in online stores allows you to do the same with minimal financial and time costs. With a certain share of responsibility of the user himself, who records in which store, from which business entity he purchased the goods, retains the relevant documents confirming the fact of payment, identifying Internet resources is not a big deal. It seems to me that the proposed measure for the mandatory registration of Internet resources introduces only time and financial costs, and is unlikely to be able to significantly help the work of law enforcement agencies. ”
upd .: added some more points
Julia Khadnevich
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/93378/
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