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According to the new bill, VPN services and anonymizers are required to cooperate with the authorities and block access to resources from the register of prohibited sites. Services that refuse to cooperate face blocking. 
In addition, this law regulates the activities of search engines: They should not display links to blocked resources in search results. For failure to comply with the requirements, search engines face a fine of up to 700 thousand rubles.
If the bill is approved by the Federation Council and signed by the president, it will come into force on November 1, 2017.
How will this affect traffic arbitrage?
Many arbitrators use VPN services both for anonymity on the Internet and for work purposes. Most of these services are foreign companies that are unlikely to cooperate with the Russian authorities, monitor the Rosskomnadzor register and limit any resources for users. Therefore, most likely, they themselves will be blocked by Roskomnadzor, which will lead to some inconvenience for arbitrators.
Fortunately, in addition to VPN, there are other options for bypassing blocking, such as, for example, VPS - virtual private service.
As for the anonymous Tor network, it also falls under the scope of the bill. But, the Tor Project has a solution specifically for such cases: hidden entrance nodes (bridges), with the help of which the network operates in other countries where it is officially blocked, such as China, Belarus and Turkey.
Partnerkin decided to find out from well-known arbitrage specialists how this will affect traffic arbitration and whether there are any alternatives to bypassing blocking?
The bill banning means for bypassing Internet blocks, which includes VPN services and anonymizers, is in final reading. If such services refuse to block access to prohibited content, they themselves will be blocked by Roskomnadzor. If approved by the Federation Council and President Vladimir Putin, the law will come into force on November 1, 2017.
The Village figured out which services will be subject to restrictions, how they will be blocked and how this will affect users.
What will be blocked
The new law prohibits the use information systems and programs for gaining access to Internet resources blocked in Russia. The law covers not only proxy and VPN services, but also anonymous networks such as Tor and I2P. In addition, the document prohibits search engines like Google and Yandex from providing links to blocked resources.
However, the list of resources available for restriction does not end there, since sites that post information about means of bypassing blocking are heterogeneous. These include any resources with lists of VPN services and even application stores, including App Store And Google Play. Software platforms such as operating systems and their technical portals, such as Microsoft's support portal, which describes VPN setup in different Windows versions. It is also possible to restrict the operation of popular browsers that offer built-in ways to bypass blocking. Similar options are available in various versions in Opera, Chrome or Safari. Lists of VPN services and instructions for setting them up are also distributed on social networks and messengers.
However, the law provides an exception for companies’ own VPNs if these tools are available only to employees. In turn, the Internet Ombudsman under the President, Dmitry Marinichev, who called the bill “madness,” noted the impossibility of separating a VPN used for commercial purposes from a VPN used to bypass blocking.
How to block
Anonymizers and VPN services can be blocked in two ways - by IP addresses or by type of traffic.
In the case of using the first technology, already tested in Russia, Roskomnadzor will enter into the register all domain names and IP addresses of official websites of VPN services where you can purchase the product. You can also block public Tor servers that users connect to using IP.
To use the second technology, it is necessary to install DPI equipment on the networks of all operators for deep traffic analysis, which is capable of identifying VPN traffic and distinguishing it from other encrypted HTTPS traffic. DPI equipment is quite expensive, so given the large number of operators in Russia, using this technology will require a lot of time and money. This method has already been tested in China, where there is a constant arms race between the authorities and developers.
What should users do?
The experience of Asian countries like China, where the Golden Shield content filtering system has been in place since 2003, shows that limiting the operation of tools for bypassing Internet blocks does not completely limit user access to VPN services, Tor exit nodes and other means of proxying traffic.
Clients of VPN services will not notice any changes for themselves before implementing DPI equipment. Unlike sites with software distribution kits, the VPN itself is extremely difficult to block, which will require a deep understanding of the operating principles of each individual service and the structure of the network. In addition, the VPN service can quickly restructure the network, and everything will have to be done anew. In this case, the restructuring procedure can be automated - in this case, the VPN provider can create new IP addresses at least every minute. For users it will look like automatic update extensions.
There are now many VPN services around the world, and new ones are constantly appearing. The competition in the VPN market is quite high, and it is impossible to block all bypass tools in a short time. Besides, everything setup files Users will be able to receive VPN applications on forums, by mail or in instant messengers. According to the head of Roskomsvoboda, Artem Kozlyuk, 80–90% of services will remain available to Russians.
In addition, the possibility of using a dual VPN will remain and will likely develop - where a user connects to a server in one country (for example, Canada), and from there to a server in another (for example, Norway). Then the final, Norwegian service will perceive Russian user as a Canadian and will not apply blocking from the Roskomnadzor list even if both VPN services perform Russian law.
Another option is to set up your own VPN by renting space on foreign hosting, which will require a small investment. And in some mobile devices, for example, in Android smartphones, there is a built-in VPN function, and in the case of pre-installed programs It is simply impossible to block any VPN resource. In addition, as noted earlier, blocking will officially allow corporate VPNs used by company employees to be bypassed.
As for Tor, the network, in addition to the public list of keys, has a constantly updated list of servers through which you can access the necessary sites. If public Tor nodes are blocked, to connect to the network and access prohibited sites, you can use bridges, which were specially designed to bypass blocking using hidden relays. Users can take advantage of the browser's built-in bridging options or obtain new addresses.
While the struggle for the Internet continues in Russia, more and more users are learning to use means of circumventing Roskomnadozar’s restrictions: they are mastering VPNs and proxies, thanking the supervisory agency for the incentive to take up computer literacy. However, the question arises as to how legal it is to use these services, and since the country has so zealously begun to block the Internet, will they be punished for circumventing the bans.
When Roskomnadzor began (trying to) block Telegram, users only joked about the department and. Stories even appeared on social networks that saleswomen in stores were teaching how to use bypass tools.
Sergey Vasilievich
Now I drove to the nearest “Vkusville” for a fruit drink, there at the checkout a saleswoman about 45 years old was trying to explain to a customer about 60 years old how to set up a proxy in the cart in order to continue using the store’s bot.And although not everyone believed such stories, the number of people who started using proxies and VPNs increased sharply. As the owners told the BBC three services to bypass blocking, at least half of Telegram users (about 8 million people) continued to use the messenger through their services after the official blocking.
It is not yet known exactly how many people began to use bypass tools after Roskomnadzor began massively blocking IP addresses, but back on April 12, cybersecurity specialist Alexander Litreev told Vedomosti that his proxy service alone had a customer base that grew from nine thousand up to one and a half million. Also, according to Kommersant, the number of entries from Russia to the TOR network has increased by 20 percent.
However, some users began to have questions: is it even legal to use tools to bypass blocking?
Maria
Before installing a VPN, I was first concerned with the question of whether I could be imprisoned for this as a repost. I can't go to jail now(The question is quite reasonable, because back in November 2017, the ban on bypassing blocking through VPN, TOR and anonymizers came into force. However, it has its own nuances. This law prohibits the owners of such services from providing access to blocked resources. For refusal to comply, they promised to block VPN services, which happened in early March. Then RKN blocked 18 servers through which Telegram could be used.
Can users be held accountable for bypassing blocks? Not yet. The law, adopted in 2017, states that responsibility for providing access to prohibited sites lies with the “owner of the access software and hardware,” that is, the VPN owners and proxy services. They are threatened with blocking for failure to comply with the law. As for TOR, according to experts, it is almost impossible to block it (although they are trying in Belarus).
For the average user, this law can be compared to the law banning the sale of cigarettes to minors. If a teenager buys cigarettes, the seller will be punished, not the buyer.
That ordinary users they do not plan to hold people accountable for using services to bypass blocking, said the head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, on April 16, who, according to him, installed a VPN on his smartphone, reported in Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
When it comes to VPNs, you can't block them all. There are hundreds of thousands of them in Russia, both commercial and homemade. Is it possible to block individual VPNs? It’s definitely possible. We will look at what they use, whether they are used en masse, and whether it makes sense to limit access to VPN. But VPN, like any other Internet program, has a set of characteristics, IP addresses.
Lawyer and criminal law specialist Alexey Sinitsyn also told RIA Novosti that ordinary users will not be punished for using bypass tools.
Russian legislation does not provide for users to be held liable for the use of such services and networks.
Before the “war” with Telegram, the law banning services for bypassing blocking was generally called useless. Despite the fact that the FSB was supposed to monitor the owners of services and prevent the provision of access to prohibited resources, in three months from the start of the document, the special services never contacted Roskomnadzor with a demand to limit the work of anonymizers, he wrote
Access to sites prohibited in Russia. However, in fact, VPN services themselves may be banned, as well as anonymous network Tor. found out why the state declared war on anonymity and how the law will operate.
What does the law say?
The law obliges owners special programs and applications to block access for Russians to sites prohibited in the country. The wording of the document is as vague as possible, so that all proxy and VPN services, special browser extensions, as well as anonymous Tor network.
The management of the above services will be given access to the register of prohibited sites, and the implementation of the law will be monitored in and. If law enforcement officers notice that Russians are visiting prohibited resources through specific application, they will report this to Roskomnadzor. He will demand that the violation be eliminated, and in case of disobedience, he will block it.
In addition, the law obliges Internet providers to contact the management of proxy and VPN services and demand from them information “allowing the identification of [their] owners.” In fact, this means that services will be required to provide registration data, that is, the office address and server location. Search engines will be prohibited from providing links to prohibited resources.
The law does not apply to government bodies and departments, as well as to private companies if the means of bypassing blocking are available only to their employees.
How Russia prepared for the adoption of the law
The development of the bill first became known in April. It was alleged that the Security Council was interested in it, and Roskomnadzor and lawyers from the Media Communications Union (MCU) were involved in its development, for whom the document became a chance to strike a new blow against pirate resources and torrent trackers.
Prior to this, Roskomnadzor, according to rumors, tried to negotiate with VPN services on a voluntary restriction of access to prohibited resources. It is known that the department also negotiated with the developers Opera browser, whose Turbo mode allows you to automatically bypass blocks thanks to the built-in proxy.
Why VPN services and Tor will come under attack
Almost all proxy and VPN services are foreign companies that rarely comply with the requirements of Russian legislation. They are unlikely to voluntarily monitor Roskomnadzor’s register of prohibited sites and restrict access to them for Russian clients, and they are not too afraid of the threat of blocking in the country.
The situation with Tor is even more complicated: it is run by the Tor Project development team. Most of the project’s employees consider themselves to be part of the so-called cypherpunk movement, which means they consciously resist any restrictions on the Internet and openly oppose cooperation with the authorities.
As a result, the management of VPN services and Tor will most likely refuse to restrict access to sites banned in Russia and will be the first to be blocked by Roskomnadzor.
Is it possible to restrict access to Tor and VPN?
This has happened before with VPNs. In January, Roskomnadzor, by decision of the Ufa district court, blocked the site of the VPN service HideMe, but it continued to work, simply changing the address to Hidemy.name and enabling redirection. Restricting access to the site does not directly affect the operation of the VPN service, but it complicates access to the payment page and downloading the program itself.
Roskomnadzor may also seek the removal of VPN services from the AppStore application stores, which will hit iPhone owners and iPad - unlike owners of Android smartphones, they cannot download third-party installation files.
You can block technical domains and server addresses of VPN services, causing connection interruptions. Roskomnadzor already has experience restricting access to the infrastructure of the RuTracker torrent tracker: the agency hit the bt servers that were responsible for distributing files, thereby partially blocking the possibility of downloading them.
In addition, Internet providers may be required to install special DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) equipment that monitors transmitted data packets based on their content. Such tools can distinguish VPN traffic from regular HTTPS traffic, and they are used to identify and block VPN services in China. However, the purchase and implementation of such equipment costs a lot of money, and the costs of its installation will fall on the operators themselves.
Most likely no. Roskomnadzor is unlikely to be able to force foreign VPN services and the Tor Project to limit Russians’ access to prohibited sites and will be forced to block them. However, this is unlikely to cause them significant damage and will not be able to prevent residents of the country from bypassing blockages.
1
What's happened?
A bill has been introduced into the Duma prohibiting services for bypassing blocking to give Russians access to prohibited sites. It's about about various kinds of intermediaries who allow you to access prohibited pages through foreign servers. In addition, the document prohibits search engines from providing links to prohibited pages.
2
Banning anonymizers? And how will it work?
The idea is quite simple. The law will clearly state that various services (for example, anonymizers), networks (for example, VPN) and programs (for example, Tor and Opera) cannot be given to Russians access to prohibited sites. Roskomnadzor will monitor such services and networks. If the department discovers that some services, networks or programs allow Russians to access blocked pages through foreign servers, employees will send a demand to the owners - please make sure that Russians cannot access such and such with your help prohibited sites. If the owners do not comply with the requirements within a month, Roskomnadzor will begin to block their servers, with the help of which users bypass blocking, and the sites where they install the desired program. And if they agree, they won’t start. The agency will create a special list of prohibited resources and give access to it to the owners of anonymizers and VPN networks, so that they themselves can monitor whether they allow Russians to watch something forbidden.
3
What about search engines?
It's simple. Now Yandex, Google and other search engines are not prohibited from providing links to blocked pages. Now they want to prohibit them from showing such links to users in Russia. They will also be given access to the list of prohibited pages, which will be maintained by Roskomnadzor. For violations, search engine owners will be fined from 500 to 700 thousand rubles.
4
We have a VPN at work. Will the problems start now?
No. The bill makes an exception for companies that use their own VPNs and other means of bypassing blocks, if these tools are available only to employees.
5
They say the coolest thing is Tor. Can it be blocked too?
Yes, Tor is also covered by the bill. Authorities can block public servers that users connect to. This list is open to everyone, and there is nothing difficult about blocking access to it.
6
So what should I do? Will the blocking now be impossible to bypass?
One way or another, it will be possible to bypass the blocking, but it may just become more difficult. Now it is difficult to answer this question clearly, because we do not know in what form the bill will be adopted (we have no doubt that it will be adopted) and how it will be implemented. But there are ways around it. For example, Tor, in addition to the public list of keys, has a constantly updated list of servers through which you can access the necessary sites. You can learn more about how Tor works and how to use the network if public nodes are blocked in our cards.
There are other ways to bypass blocking - for example, you can use not just a VPN, but a double one. Let's say you connect to a server in, say, Holland, and then - also via VPN - to a server in Denmark. And the Danish server will consider you a user from Holland, although in fact you are viewing the resource from Russia. This scheme will work even if both VPN services comply with Russian law and restrict access for Russian clients. After all, the Danish service will consider the user to be Dutch.
