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Summary The Russian Federal Security Service denied it had any plans to ban Skype and Gmail.
Federal Security Service (FSB), information and special communications director said that he was increasingly concerned due to the dependency and uses of foreign encrypted internet services, as they posed a serious security risk. Following the statement, the Russian internet community feared a ban would be placed on Gmail and Skype.To clarify the situation, the official FSB spokesperson said that agency was not proposing a ban on the popular services. On the contrary, he said that the development of advanced technology is a natural process that should be welcomed.On the other hand, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev makes regular updates on his Twitter Inc. Account and has been promoting Internet use in Russia. While, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, former head of FSB, suggested that the ban is well- reasoned and required further debate before a final decision was made.Both Putin and Medvedev can potentially run for president in polls set for next March and their comments are increasingly being read to determine which of the two has the upper hand in domestic policy issues.
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