During the HostObzor forum for hosting providers and registrars held last year, 36 IT companies sent a letter to Internet ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev, urging him to develop a constructive dialogue with the authorities. The letter highlighted the biggest problems in the hosting industry, namely inadequate legislation or, more precisely, the lack of clear licensing terms for communication services and hosting providers’ lack of recourse when resources they host are blocked.
This letter led to active interaction between hosting providers and the Internet ombudsman. As a result, hosting experts formulated proposals for amending existing legislation.
In December 2015, the Internet ombudsman sent a letter to the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media requesting clarification on issues concerning licensing and resource blocking. Dmitry Marinichev wrote that a vague definition of telematic services in the current legislation created legal ambiguity regarding the licensing of hosting providers, so that hosting providers have to apply for licenses, form and launch communication hubs, and to comply with other requirements that are actually designed for communications operators. This increases the cost of hosting services and affects their competitiveness.
The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media replied that hosting services don’t have to be licensed. The ministry also proposed holding a public discussion at the office of the Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights on the drawbacks in current communications legislation. This discussion will be open to everyone who wants to improve the legal regulation of hosting.
“Licensing is an old headache for hosting providers. The situation is absurd because even tiny hosting companies have to launch a communications hub and to comply with other requirements for communication operators. It’s good that the Ministry of Communications has promptly responded to the industry’s concerns. Our dialogue with the authorities has really become a two-way street, and it will continue in the same spirit,” said Sergey Kopylov, head of the legal department at the Technical Center of Internet.
