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WEB-SURFING RUSSIANS ENDURED a brief scare today when it appeared that authorities had blocked YouTube after the video-sharing site appeared on a list of banned addresses, in what officials later called a “technical mistake”.
The new registry of blacklisted websites introduced this month showed the website youtube.com as having been added there on Wednesday by Russia’s consumer protection agency and remained on it for several minutes.
After a media furore swiftly ensued, the agency’s head Gennady Onishchenko told Russian news agencies that the intention was to ban 22 specific videos, rather than the whole service, notably ones giving instructions on how to commit suicide.
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The spokesman for communications ministry’s watchdog responsible for the website registry Vladimir Pikov called the incident a “technical mistake”, without giving further explanations.
Russians have been worried about an impending Internet crackdown ever since the hasty recent passage of a law which introduced the concept of the blacklist.
Supporters said it was necessary for blocking harmful content, including suicide manuals, child pornography, and information on illicit drugs, but critics saw it as yet another measure to suppress free speech following President Vladimir Putin’s election to a historic third term in May.
The legislation was protested by many global websites, including Russian search engine Yandex and Wikipedia, who warned that the mechanism behind the blacklist could be used for a blanket shutdown of popular social networks.
Probably the most fascinating serial killer in modern times. I must refamiliarise myself with this.. one wonders did he ever leave anything that today can be tested for DNA. With such amazing advances and how they nailed the EAR aka originally night stalker they (the authorities) don’t even need the suspects own DNA to get results. Hope one day we know for sure.
@William Cecil: Had he been caught he obviously wouldn’t hold the fascination he does today especially give the low number of victims attributed to him in relation to those serial killers who came after him. I think the movie established him in the modern public’s mind. He’d been pretty much forgotten before then. The ones I find horribly fascinating are Edmund Kemper, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy all of whom had very high I.Q.’s but most definitely had something awry personality wise and were driven by a compulsion to rape and kill. Ted Kaczynski had an even higher I.Q. but was driven by a different compulsion. These are just the ones that get the most publicity. There have been many with even more gruesome crimes to their name before and since those mentioned.
@William Tallon: lol and after all the resources put into tracking the unibomber it was his brother who figured out it was ted.
I find those with exceptionally high IQ have very low EQ and lack social skills. But very interesting how it manifests Ted Bundy had charm but no empathy, most people are balanced but when you have have high something you lose other traits
@William Cecil: I think they got at least a partial profile from saliva on the back of postage stamps used to mail his letters. But they didn’t go very far with it. It’s more than 50 years after all…
That is of course assumes it’s him who mailed the letters…
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