Will ISPs have 2 million e-mails and 50,000 sites registered on time?
Effective from July 1, Belarusian companies will be banned from having their web site on foreign servers, while internet service providers (ISP) will not be able to sell hosting abroad, under the president's decree No 60 and several resolutions of the Council of Ministers. Now all ISPs must transfer their users to Belarus-based data centers and have them registered at the State Inspection of Electric Communications and to have all e-mail accounts located on the Belarusian servers registered as well. It is impossible to get it done by the end of June, reckons Syarhei Pavalishau who runs hoster.by
"Last week, they said that no web site was registered yet. Throughout the month of June, nearly 30,000 web sites and all e-mail boxes will apply for registration. For example, Active Technologies stated they had nearly 2 million e-mail accounts. If the State Inspection of Electric Communications simply looks through those applications, it is obvious that one month will not be enough", he said.
The State Inspection of Electric Communications refuse to reveal how many sites have already been registered, saying this is classified information.
"We don't comment. Our seniors told us the data is classified. We forward the data to the Operative Analytical Center. You should approach them to find out how they are going to deal with the data".
By the way, the new decree deals not only with legal entities. If you bought a foreign hosting for your blog from a Belarusian provider, it will have to be transferred to Belarus and get it registered. Otherwise, you will have to shut your blog down or switch to a foreign provider, Andrei Padlubny who gathers signatures for the abolition of the decree, told the European Radio for Belarus.
“The registration of web sites on Belarus-based servers makes it senseless for physical entities. It will lead to their exodus to foreign servers. The sites will become farther from the Belarusian audience. Hard currency will flow abroad. Even simply payments for the hosting. These services might have been offered by our providers if there were no rules. For instance, there are 10,000 Belarusian sites, $5 each. It means $50,000 will flow abroad”.
The decree also hits the development of small-sized entrepreneurship in the internet. Now, in order to sell anything through the internet, it will be necessary to pay taxes from Br200,000 to Br1,200,000. Andrei Padlubny says: "When I started up, I hand 600 euros in my hands. Now I would be unable to start up, if I paid these taxes. This decree is killing the critical mass that gives birth to new projects. Now, it makes it unprofitable to invest in the internet".
In the view of the expert, the government is trying to make the internet transparent for law-enforcement agencies like it was done in many countries. But in our country the state forwards these functions to hosters and providers.
Millions dollars will have to be spent on collecting the information, creating the database and registration.
2 million e-mail accounts and 50,000 web sites will have to get registered.
Belarusian providers will not be able to sell foreign hosting and will lose customers.
Thousands of users will drift to foreign hostings, and tens of thousands dollars will flow abroad monthly.
The decree will hit the small-sized business in the internet and will prevent successful projects from starting up.
"Last week, they said that no web site was registered yet. Throughout the month of June, nearly 30,000 web sites and all e-mail boxes will apply for registration. For example, Active Technologies stated they had nearly 2 million e-mail accounts. If the State Inspection of Electric Communications simply looks through those applications, it is obvious that one month will not be enough", he said.
The State Inspection of Electric Communications refuse to reveal how many sites have already been registered, saying this is classified information.
"We don't comment. Our seniors told us the data is classified. We forward the data to the Operative Analytical Center. You should approach them to find out how they are going to deal with the data".
By the way, the new decree deals not only with legal entities. If you bought a foreign hosting for your blog from a Belarusian provider, it will have to be transferred to Belarus and get it registered. Otherwise, you will have to shut your blog down or switch to a foreign provider, Andrei Padlubny who gathers signatures for the abolition of the decree, told the European Radio for Belarus.
“The registration of web sites on Belarus-based servers makes it senseless for physical entities. It will lead to their exodus to foreign servers. The sites will become farther from the Belarusian audience. Hard currency will flow abroad. Even simply payments for the hosting. These services might have been offered by our providers if there were no rules. For instance, there are 10,000 Belarusian sites, $5 each. It means $50,000 will flow abroad”.
The decree also hits the development of small-sized entrepreneurship in the internet. Now, in order to sell anything through the internet, it will be necessary to pay taxes from Br200,000 to Br1,200,000. Andrei Padlubny says: "When I started up, I hand 600 euros in my hands. Now I would be unable to start up, if I paid these taxes. This decree is killing the critical mass that gives birth to new projects. Now, it makes it unprofitable to invest in the internet".
In the view of the expert, the government is trying to make the internet transparent for law-enforcement agencies like it was done in many countries. But in our country the state forwards these functions to hosters and providers.
Conclusions
Millions dollars will have to be spent on collecting the information, creating the database and registration.
2 million e-mail accounts and 50,000 web sites will have to get registered.
Belarusian providers will not be able to sell foreign hosting and will lose customers.
Thousands of users will drift to foreign hostings, and tens of thousands dollars will flow abroad monthly.
The decree will hit the small-sized business in the internet and will prevent successful projects from starting up.
