Russia Urges Wi-Fi Users to Register Their Devices

Russian government agencies are reported to enforce the registration of any Wi-Fi-enabled device used across the country. The imposed restrictions look strikingly similar to those enforced by the Chinese government, given the fact that Russian Wi-Fi users would have to fill loads of paperwork then await for their approval.

Today's technology makes heavy use of wireless devices that ship with Wi-Fi capabilities by default. For instance, the vast majority of notebooks and intelligent mobile phones rely on Wi-Fi to connect to a local wireless network.

While most countries do not impose users to license their wireless gear, the Russian media and communications agency announced that it would confiscate any wireless device that has not undergone the registration and certification processes.

According to Deputy Director of the Russian agency, Vladimir Karpov, all wireless Internet surfers must get a written permission to use the wireless spectrum for Wi-Fi transmissions. The restrictions apply to cell phones, notebooks as well as wireless routers or any other Wi-Fi capable networking gear.

Users who would like to surf the web with "no strings attached" to their computer are expected to file a whole load of paperwork, then wait for its approval. Moreover, wireless network owners in the metropolitan area of St. Petersburg and Moscow will be asked to await for approval from the Federal Security Guard Service and the Federal Security Service.

The new policy will cancel the previous specifications, such as the decision taken back in 2004, that allowed users receive blanket permission for indoor wireless access point operation, as well as the 2007 act, claiming that consumers can use their mobile Wi-Fi devices without registration.

"Similar conclusions speak to the complete professional deterioration of a unified regulatory agency. It is now engaged in all manner of fields - protecting cultural riches, registering mass-media outlets, control of legal compliance on personal data, monitoring communications, allocation of radio frequencies and so on," claimed an anonymous industry specialist, quoted by the fontanka.ru website.