Beltelecom’s infrastructure, often at very high
prices.
5
In recent years, broadband Internet services
have begun to develop rapidly. Beltelecom has
announced plans to establish 250,000 ADSL
connections by the year 2010. Beltelecom holds
a monopoly over the fixed-line infrastructure and
services. Despite the formal liberalization of the
Belarusian mobile market, the government owns
a significant stake in all four operators. 6
Beltelecom is the only operator licensed to provide Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services
in Belarus. The high prices maintained by the
monopolist operator encourage the emergence
of illegal VoIP providers, which are criminally
prosecuted. Under decree of the Ministry of
Communication and Information, IP telephony
can be used only for noncommercial purposes. 7
Legal and regulatory frameworks
The Ministry of Communications and
Informatization is the main regulatory authority of
the telecommunications sector. The ministry is
frequently accused of placing unjustified limitations on commercial operators to reinforce
Beltelecom’s monopoly. Actual information communications technology (ICT)-related policy
appears to be mostly created on an ad-hoc basis
by President Lukashenka and his administration.
The President frequently holds special meetings
to issue directives regarding ICT regulation and
the implementation of particular policies. The
Security Council, chaired by the President,
decides on a wide range of questions related to
the security of the regime, including information
security. Additionally, a number of state entities
have significant power to influence and control
the Internet. The State Center for Information
Security, under the supervision of the President
and initially a subdivision unit of the special security services (KGB), is a specialized body responsible for protecting state secrets. The Center also
manages the administration of the country’s toplevel domain (“.by”).
Although Belarus lacks a well-developed
Internet regulatory framework, the authorities
appear to be pursuing a legislative basis for
achieving control over the Internet. Conscious of
the popularity of Internet publishing among
opposition groups and private media, authorities
compel self-censorship through frequent threats
and prosecutions. In addition, in order to avoid
public debate of pending measures, authorities
often delay publishing laws before their final
promulgation. In 2005 the Security Council of
Belarus drafted a document entitled “The
Conception on Information Security,” which was
then revised at the President’s directive to take
into consideration the new challenges to national
security posed by ICT. This text is not available to
the public.
Officially, Internet filtration and monitoring
telecommunications networks is illegal in
Belarus. However, authorities conduct surveillance of Internet activities under the pretext of
protecting national security. In 2001 a
Presidential Decree extended the concept of
“national security” to include the Internet as a
potential threat.
The special bodies of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and the KGB have the right to seize data
distributed through any channel of communication 8 in order to fight criminal activity and guarantee state security. This law establishes the right of
the KGB to obtain any data considered to be “relevant” from state entities and from private or
public organizations, and also gives the KGB
unlimited access to the information systems
(including log files and so on) of communication
providers.
Belarus does not have systems monitoring
Internet traffic analogous to the Russian SORM-II.
However, it is likely that the Belarusian and
Russian special services cooperate in this
sphere. Over 70 percent of Belarusian Internet
traffic goes through Russia and part of it is
processed through the Russian system SORM-II.
Some providers confirm that the authorities have
260
Country Summaries
prices.
5
In recent years, broadband Internet services
have begun to develop rapidly. Beltelecom has
announced plans to establish 250,000 ADSL
connections by the year 2010. Beltelecom holds
a monopoly over the fixed-line infrastructure and
services. Despite the formal liberalization of the
Belarusian mobile market, the government owns
a significant stake in all four operators. 6
Beltelecom is the only operator licensed to provide Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services
in Belarus. The high prices maintained by the
monopolist operator encourage the emergence
of illegal VoIP providers, which are criminally
prosecuted. Under decree of the Ministry of
Communication and Information, IP telephony
can be used only for noncommercial purposes. 7
Legal and regulatory frameworks
The Ministry of Communications and
Informatization is the main regulatory authority of
the telecommunications sector. The ministry is
frequently accused of placing unjustified limitations on commercial operators to reinforce
Beltelecom’s monopoly. Actual information communications technology (ICT)-related policy
appears to be mostly created on an ad-hoc basis
by President Lukashenka and his administration.
The President frequently holds special meetings
to issue directives regarding ICT regulation and
the implementation of particular policies. The
Security Council, chaired by the President,
decides on a wide range of questions related to
the security of the regime, including information
security. Additionally, a number of state entities
have significant power to influence and control
the Internet. The State Center for Information
Security, under the supervision of the President
and initially a subdivision unit of the special security services (KGB), is a specialized body responsible for protecting state secrets. The Center also
manages the administration of the country’s toplevel domain (“.by”).
Although Belarus lacks a well-developed
Internet regulatory framework, the authorities
appear to be pursuing a legislative basis for
achieving control over the Internet. Conscious of
the popularity of Internet publishing among
opposition groups and private media, authorities
compel self-censorship through frequent threats
and prosecutions. In addition, in order to avoid
public debate of pending measures, authorities
often delay publishing laws before their final
promulgation. In 2005 the Security Council of
Belarus drafted a document entitled “The
Conception on Information Security,” which was
then revised at the President’s directive to take
into consideration the new challenges to national
security posed by ICT. This text is not available to
the public.
Officially, Internet filtration and monitoring
telecommunications networks is illegal in
Belarus. However, authorities conduct surveillance of Internet activities under the pretext of
protecting national security. In 2001 a
Presidential Decree extended the concept of
“national security” to include the Internet as a
potential threat.
The special bodies of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and the KGB have the right to seize data
distributed through any channel of communication 8 in order to fight criminal activity and guarantee state security. This law establishes the right of
the KGB to obtain any data considered to be “relevant” from state entities and from private or
public organizations, and also gives the KGB
unlimited access to the information systems
(including log files and so on) of communication
providers.
Belarus does not have systems monitoring
Internet traffic analogous to the Russian SORM-II.
However, it is likely that the Belarusian and
Russian special services cooperate in this
sphere. Over 70 percent of Belarusian Internet
traffic goes through Russia and part of it is
processed through the Russian system SORM-II.
Some providers confirm that the authorities have
260
Country Summaries