Russia Backs Down On Skype, Gmail Ban

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has backed away from its call for a ban on Skype, Gmail and Hotmail, first voiced on Friday.

On 8 April, FSB official Alexander Andreychkin said foreign-based services that allowed for encrypted communications posed a security problem for Russia.

“The uncontrollable use of such services can lead to a major threat to Russia’s security,” Andreyechkin reportedly said at a government meeting.

Proposed ban

During the meeting he proposed a ban on Skype, Gmail and Hotmail, with a spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin saying that Andreyechkin’s comments reflected the FSB’s official position.

However, on Saturday the FSB backed down and said it had no plans to try to control Skype, Gmail or Hotmail.

“On the contrary, the development of modern technologies is a natural process that needs to be assisted,” said an FSB spokesman, according to a report by state news agency RIA-Novosti.

However, legislation to regulate cryptography in public communications networks is in the works and will be drafted by October, according to the FSB spokesman, who said the legislation is unlikely to restrict the services “in any technical way”.

Government interference

Skype faced a previous call for a ban in Russia in 2009 when the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs proposed blocking the service on national security grounds.

Skype has also faced troubles in countries such as China, which in December declared that Internet telephony services other than those provided by state-owned carriers were illegal.

Gmail has faced claims of interference from countries such as China, while RIM’s BlackBerry messaging technology has encountered government friction in countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and India.