Anonymous Wi-Fi will impose a fine – BBC

Ministry of Communications together with the FSB and the Interior Ministry proposes to penalize entrepreneurs and legal entities for the lack of user authentication Wi-Fi networks via the mobile number. Experts and Internet providers believe that the abundance of illegal SIM-cards have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the initiative.

Ministry of Communications has presented for public discussion developed in conjunction with the FSB and the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development amendment to the federal law “On Communications “and the Code of Administrative Offences (CAO), which will allow to fine legal entities and individual entrepreneurs for the lack of identification of users of public Wi-Fi-networks. This reports on the official website of the Ministry.

For providing anonymous Wi-Fi plans to levy a fine of 5 thousand. up to 50 thousand. rub. individual entrepreneurs and 100 thousand. 200 thousand. rub. with legal entities.

Repeated violation of the law will cost individual entrepreneurs in the 10-100 thousand. Rub. or disqualification for up to three years, and legal entities will pay up to 300 thousand. rub.

The administrative responsibility for such an offense is planned to install the first quarter of 2016.

In this case, the very government decree №758 on access to the public Internet for identity card came into force last summer. According to the document, the telecommunications operator before allowing access to the Internet is required to demand to enter the mobile phone number to which to send the code to confirm the data.

Requirements judgment is subordinate to the first Wi-Fi network of the Moscow Metro “Maxim Telecom” at the end of February 2015 will start the mandatory user authentication via the mobile number.

As of May 2015 the registered subscriber base of this network consisted of about 4.5 million people.

However, the example of “Maxim” was followed by a few. What has caused concern communications minister Nikolai Nikiforov. As part of the May meeting of the government commission on regard, he noted that some public access point Wi-Fi is still not secured user authentication. “Visitors to the largest Russian network of fast food still enjoy public access to the Internet without registration”, – the minister complained.

Then Nikiforov was first voiced the idea that to be responsible for the identification of users and entrepreneurs have a legal entity.

However, the minister said “the biggest coffee shop chain in Russia »McDonald`s decided not to wait for changes in legislation and self-imposed authorization for its Wi-Fi in all of its Russian restaurants.

Nothing negative to overcome the idea of ​​anonymous access to the Internet in public places is not, says the head of the Institute of the Internet (IRI) German Klimenko. Especially if the issue will be resolved with the help of a simplified procedure for the identification number of the mobile phone, he said “Gazeta.ru”.

Klimenko also noted that any difficulties in the implementation of the law should not arise, and the entrepreneurs themselves will not incur significant costs.

With the head of the board of IRI agrees representative of a Wi-Fi provider for a number of Moscow restaurants and public places. According to him, equipped with a single point of Wi-Fi mechanism mandatory identification would cost a maximum of 10 thousand. Rub.

Another source in the market of Internet providers told “Gazeta.ru” that in Russia today there are more than 100 thousand. public points of Wi-Fi and most of their owners prefer to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Communications.

At the same time, the source questioned the effectiveness of the identification of users through the mobile number of the abundance in free sale of illegal SIM-cards. “Buy a sim card without a passport today can be almost anywhere, making every effort to authorize meaningless,” – he concluded.