Russian ISP Refuses To Spy On Customers

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July 26, 1999 (12:00 AM EDT)

By Marina Moudrak,

At least one Russian ISP is refusing to go along with a directive that lets the government spy on customers -- and it's paying the price.

The directive is known as System of Efficient ResearchMeasures 2 (SORM 2), and it gives Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) the right to look into private e-mail without a warrant, under the pretense of sniffing out tax dodgers and corruption.

It also calls for ISPs to pay for surveillance equipment in their servers and a link to FSB headquarters in Moscow.

But ISP Bayard-Slavia Communications is refusing to go along with SORM-2, and now the government is taking action.

According to Bayard-Slavia director general Nail Murzakhanov, the FSB tried to shut down the ISP by withdrawing its license and challenging its right to frequencies used for its satellite connection to Moscow.

Eventually, it found a way to freeze the ISP's bank account so it couldn't pay for the satellite connection at all.

"We will never help the FSB implement illegal shadowing," Murzakhanov said. "We're the first ISP to struggle against illegal information collection. Unfortunately, we're also likely to become the first to be destroyed because of insubordination."