russia

The inner workings of United Nations telecommunications agencies aren't usually headline news. But then again, most U.N. confabs don't grapple with topics as slippery as Internet censorship, taxation, and privacy.

A U.N. agency called the International Telecommunication Union has kicked off what has become a highly controversial summit this week in Dubai, capping over a year of closed-door negotiations over an international communications treaty that could have a direct impact on the Internet. The summit continues through the end of next week.

It's true, of course, that U.N. meetings often yield more rhetoric than … Read more

Just days after releasing a new version of iTunes, Apple has announced an expansion of its iTunes Store into Russia and dozens of other countries, nearly doubling the number of countries in which it has a presence.

In addition to Russia, the popular music platform has landed in Turkey, India, South Africa, and 52 other countries, Apple announced today. The addition of the 56 countries brings the total number of countries with iTunes Store access to 119.

With the launch, Apple touted the selection of local and international music tailored to its new audiences.

"The iTunes Store features local … Read more

Apple's iTunes platform could make its debut in Russia tomorrow.

An Apple PR person in Russia has sent out an event invite to a small number of people in the country for a music event the company plans to host tomorrow night, TechCrunch, which obtained a copy of the invite, is reporting. The invite did not say that iTunes will be launching, but did acknowledge that the iTunes team will be holding the event.

Russia is one of the more difficult digital-music markets to crack. The country has several legitimate download services, including one from search firm Yandex, but … Read more

A Moscow district court has ruled that videos by jailed Russian punk band Pussy Riot are considered "extremist" material and must be blocked by Internet providers in the country, according to news reports.

The unnamed judge today read out the IP addresses of the Web sites hosting the Pussy Riot videos and ordered them to remove the videos, according to the Associated Press. It is not clear whether Google-owned YouTube was on the list.

Government experts labeled the videos a "disguised call to organize mass riots on squares similar to the Occupy Wall Street or the events … Read more

Sadly, the French trampoline bridge Crave told you about last month remains a concept. But in some news that's sure to make you jump with hopeful joy, Russia recently boasted an actual trampoline sidewalk. Could there be a more fun way to get from Point A to Point B? I think not.

Estonian firm Salto Architects built the sidewalk for the Archstoyanie Festival, an annual art and design exhibition in the village of Nicola-Lenivets about a four-hour drive away from Moscow. Archstoyanie visitors used the 167-foot-long "Fast Track" sidewalk for both play and playful transport between festival venues. … Read more

The Russian Federation has revised a controversial proposal to turn Internet governance over to the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union, CNET has learned.

The revised proposal tones down some of the anti-Internet rhetoric of the original, but still calls on the UN to help member states seize control of key Internet engineering assets, including domain names, addresses and numbering.

Both the original proposal (PDF) and Saturday's revised version (PDF) have now been posted on WCITLeaks, a Web site operated by researchers at George Mason University.

On Friday, CNET was first to report on the original proposal, which leaked … Read more

commentary The Russian Federation is calling on the United Nations to take over key aspects of Internet governance, including addressing and naming, according to documents leaked on Friday from an upcoming treaty conference.

The Russians made their proposal on November 13 in the lead-up to December's World Conference on International Communications in Dubai. The conference will consider revisions to the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), a treaty overseen by the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The treaty has not been revised since 1988, before the emergence of the commercial Internet.

Russia's proposals would, if adopted, dramatically affect Internet … Read more

You might make the case that Apple is sinful based on the gluttony for gadgets it inspires, but some extreme Orthodox Christians in Russia are more offended by the company's "blasphemous" logo.

According to a translation of a Russian news report that's been kicking around the Web, some conservative believers see the image of the bitten apple as a symbol of Adam and Eve's original sin in the Bible. Some have gone so far as to cover up the logo and replace it with an image of a cross.… Read more

Clearly, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has decided he's ready for his close up.

After months of silence from Zuckerberg, the hacker-turned CEO is basking in the limelight. He's been doing public appearance after public appearance recently, with the latest -- an interview with Matt Lauer -- airing Thursday on the "Today Show."

Zuck and crew didn't make a peep as Facebook recoiled from a bungled IPO. And, now, with fallen stock and lawsuits dragging down the company's image, the social network is working hard to make sure the public hears its message loud and … Read more