RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 10, No. 140, Part I, 2 August 2006
PUTIN PUTS FSB IN CHARGE OF 'VITAL FACILITY NETWORKS.'
President Putin signed a decree on July 31 making the Federal Security Service (FSB), which is the successor to the KGB, responsible for information security of computer and telecommunications systems at "vital facilities," "Nezavisimaya gazeta" wrote on August 1. The daily quoted a "reliable source close to the upper echelons of the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications" as saying that the government compiled a classified list of vital facilities, including television broadcasting installations, in March. The FSB reportedly will monitor how such facilities are protected but will not guard them itself. The daily's source added, however, that "the FSB is particularly interested in the content [of broadcasts]. In fact, it is already in control of many things [by having its own] people in key positions." He said that the FSB will play a role in both the financial aspects of broadcasting and the content in the run-up to the 2007 legislative elections. Experts estimate the official revenues of television broadcasting in Russia for 2005 at nearly $3 billion. PM
See also: Russia Restoring Soviet Borders
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