In Victory for Crypto Community, Russian Court Lifts Ban on Bitcoin Sites
A court in Ekaterinburg, Russia has effectively lifted the ban to Bitcoin-related websites blocked in January by authorities. The Sverdlovsk Oblast court has accepted the appeal of the blocked sites and dismissed the demands of the prosecutor’s office to leave the ban in place. The Bitcoin community in Russia feels that it efforts to win the struggle have paid off. The founder of BTCsec.com, Ivan Tikhonov, called the court decision “a victory for the Bitcoin community, our mutual victory.” “As a participant in the process, I am very happy with the court’s decision,” Tikhonov told....
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Since the middle of the last year, the Russian government has been discussing the possible ban and criminalization of digital currency. Some Bitcoin related sites have even been blocked in a move that forced many of the Bitcoin Russian startups to close or go overseas. Last week, Russian courts overturned the ruling about blocking sites. Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor banned access to bitcoin payment systems in January this year by ordering internet service providers to restrict access to certain sites such as Bitcoin.org, Coinspot.ru and BTCSec.com, according to Gigaom.....
Interest in bitcoin and blockchain technology by business and governments around the world increased in the past months. However, many governments have yet to take an official stance on digital currencies while some have placed restrictions or regulations on the use of Bitcoin. Russia was one of these countries, as it blocked access to websites with information about Bitcoin. The ban was implemented by the City Court Nevyansk on the basis that these sites contained information which was prohibited in the Russian Federation. The ban began on January 13th 2015 and included access to the....
The Russian Bitcoin Ban is still incoming, so it seems. Russian telecom regulator Roskomnadzor has finally acted on a court order from 2014. Russia is currently blocking access to several (seven at last count) Bitcoin-related sites. These websites have been blocked because Bitcoin contributes to the growth of the shadow economy." Some feel that this is just a warm-up for the upcoming Russian Bitcoin ban. Last year, Russia's Ministry of Finance revealed a full draft of their proposed Russian Bitcoin Ban legislation. Russia's stated goal has been to ban Bitcoin by 2015, despite some....
[Update: The number of blocked sites now totals seven. One of these sites is reported to be bitcoinconf.ru] The Federal Supervision Agency for Information Technologies and Communications (Roskomnadzor in Russian) has blacklisted five Bitcoin-related websites. Roskomnadzor has effectively blocked access to Bitcoin.org – an online community of cryptocurrency users and specialists supported by the Bitcoin Foundation - entering it into a registry of prohibited websites despite the site not having any user-submitted content. “Given the remoteness of the [the Ural, Sverdlovsk region] region and....
A court in Russia’s Perm region has decided to block a number of websites describing how to exchange cryptocurrency for fiat cash. Local prosecutors claim the dissemination of this type of information is against the law in Russia as it may facilitate the laundering of illicit funds. Kungur City Court Blocks Crypto-Related Sites The Kungur City Court in the Russian Perm Krai region has upheld a request filed by the Beryozovsky District Prosecutor’s Office to take down several internet sites detailing various methods of cashing out bitcoin. The prosecutors who discovered the....