[Air-L] Sanctions, war, and the sovereignty of RuNet | Online seminar with Ksenia Ermoshina

[Orsolya Gulyás]

Dear colleagues,

The next edition of our online Data Sovereignty seminar series will take place on 13 December at 15.00 (CET) with Ksenia Ermoshina (CIS-CNRS) on the project of the sovereign Russian internet in the context of the ongoing war and sanctions.

Registration: https://brussels-school.be/event/data-sovereignty-seminar-5sanctions-war-and-infrastructures-control-project-sovereign-runet

While the Russian authorities have been tightening their control over RuNet for the last decade, there have been multiple possibilities for circumvention and evasion both for the RuNet users and for Internet Service Providers. We have previously examined the dynamic relations between the ISP community and the regulators, and described various tools and practices used by ISPs to avoid total control over the networks. However, with the adoption of the law on "Sovereign Runet" in 2019, Roskomnadzor hardened its grip over the networks. The new generation of DPI middleboxes called "TSPU", officially "made in Russia", changed the way RuNet was filtered and left little to no chance for ISPs to boycott censorship and surveillance over their users.

However, after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the technological sovereignty project was challenged — on the very level of infrastructures. Sanctions of technological companies against Russia led to a crisis of both components and software solutions, revealing a profound dependency of the RuNet on foreign technologies. The presentation will explore the effects of sanctions on the project of the Sovereign Runet, based on a mixed-methods approach: interviews with ISPs and vendors of information control equipment, analysis of vendors' websites and technical documentation of the equipment, analysis of websites and materials of specialized exhibitions focused on cybersecurity equipment and finally, network measurements.

Programme
15:00-15:05: Welcome and introduction by Orsolya Gulyás & Clément Perarnaud (BSoG)
15:05-15:25: Presentation by Ksenia Ermoshina (CIS-CNRS)
15:25-15:35: Discussion by Clément Perarnaud (BSoG)
15:35-16:00: Q&A

Time: December 13, 2022 at 03:00 PM CET

The Data Sovereignty seminar series is jointly organised by the Center for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation<https://brussels-school.be/research/digitalisation-democracy-and-innovation> at the Brussels School of Governance and the UNU-CRIS/VUB Chair on Digital Sovereignty.

Best wishes,
Orsolya Gulyás and Clément Perarnaud


ORSOLYA GULYÁS
PhD Researcher
orsolya.gulyas at vub.be<mailto:orsolya.gulyas at vub.be>
Brussels School of Governance<https://brussels-school.be/>
Pleinlaan 5 - 1050 Brussels