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IX СТУДЕНЧЕСКИЙ ЮРИДИЧЕСКИЙ ФОРУМ

Internet is a subject of law 2) the Internet is an object of law; 3) the Internet does not depend on any law; 4) the Internet is a special virtual space.

In our opinion, the last statement is the most rational, since the Internet can act neither as a subject nor as an object of law.

In the first case, it is to be noted that the Internet is not endowed with the features of the certain subject of law: it does not have any property, does not have the ability to bear any independent rights or obligations, cannot be a plaintiff or a defendant in court.

Secondly, it is worth to clarify that the Internet is a special legal phenomenon in- asmuchasnopersonhasanyproperty,liability,non-propertyrights(theInternetisnot allowed to be bought or sold).

In the third case, in our opinion it is impossible to deny the relationship between theInternetandlaw,sincemanylegalrelationsthatdevelopinreallifealsoexistwithin the network space (sales transaction in a retail store and in an online store; slander in a newspaper and slander by anonymous user on the Internet site) and they, due to similar content, should be subject to legal regulation.

Thus,havingdefinedtheInternetasaspecialinformationandtelecommunication space1, we should note that it is not the network itself, but the relations that develop in it and not sufficiently regulated by law are of the greatestinterest for the legislator2.

At the present stage, these include:

1.Fraud on the Internet;

2.Protection of personal data on the Internet;

3.Legal regulation of electronic commerce on the Internet;

4.Extortion on the Internet.

The latter seems to expand rather dynamically today.

Malware is currently developing much faster than criminal law, and this is a serious problem for both law enforcement agencies and ordinary citizens. Recently, such programs as «Bomber» and «Spammer» have become widespread. There is a special serviceforautomatedmessagingandhigh-frequencyplaybackofphonecallsonbehalf of large companies (possibly up to 40 calls and/or up to 50 messages per minute to s particular person3).

1 Actual problems of information law : textbook / group of authors ; ed. I. L. Bachilo, M. A. Lapina.2–4rides,reworked —Moscow:JUSTICE,2019.594 p.(Master'sandpostgraduate studies). [P. 286].

2 Talapina E. V. On the possibilities of legal regulation of the Internet // Proceedings of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2016.

3 Nemtseva M. Botom given: how users are bombarded with spam / Izvestia. 2021.

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So, the question to be raised is what danger these programs pose for the society. At first glance, it can only be used as a prank or an idea of a joke. However, if we assume that this type of «spam attack» willbe directed againsta small legal entity that needs to constantly keep in touch with customers (with a call center or with a contact phone number), and this «attack» is accompanied by a requirement for gratuitous transfer of funds under the pretext of shutting down the Bomber, such a service no longer seems as harmless as before. It is important to say that the legislator does not

provide a mechanism for resolving such a situation.

Note that the use and storage of this program is not a crime, since the provision of Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation reveals the concept of a «malicious program»: the creation, distribution or use of computer programs or other computer information, knowingly intended for unauthorized destruction, blocking, modification,copyingcomputerinformationorneutralizationofcomputerinformation protection means. Accordingly, the use of this program does not contain elements of a crime, due to the absence of the above qualifying signs, although it makes the use of cellular communications more difficult in general.

However,byits legal nature,thisphenomenon should be attributedtothe sphere of criminal regulation, since the use of Spammer poses a threat of causing material damagetoalegalornaturalperson,andtheattackerwhoappliestheprogram,inturn, requires the transfer of someone else's property free of charge. Such an act is most likely to be a crime under article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation1, named extortion. But it is not possible to qualify this action as extortion, since there is no significant element of it, i.e., a threat.

On a specific example, it can be seen that the legislator practically does not regulate the scope of Internet crimes, and therefore many of them remain unpunished. Thus,weproposetoaddlegaldefinitions,tosupplementtheexistingnormsinthefield of digital law, which will greatly simplify the understanding of the essence of this category of crimes and the possibility of law enforcement.

1 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation № 63-FL dated June 13, 1996 // ATP Consultant

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Лотокова Л. И., Сухорученкова В. С. Университет имени О.Е. Кутафина (МГЮА)

Студенты

VPN and its governance

Abstract. In this article, the legality and legal standing of a phenomenon like VPN are examined. As technology develops at an exceptional rate, it is crucial to have legal grounds to regulate every new aspect that appears in the virtual world. Ever since VPN's first appearance inthe1990s, it has been a controversialand ambiguoustopic for lawyersaround the globe. Now, since the download rate has skyrocketed, the topic has begun to attract more and more attention from people in the legal profession. VPN status is scarcely explored, which is why this legal issue was of particular interest to us. The article provides a comparative study of the legal status of VPNs in different countries, which digs into their roots and original purpose, technical side, and usage. Authors also review the legal status of VPN in different jurisdictions.

Keywords: Virtual Private Network (VPN), VPN service, IP address, The Internet, The Internet Protocol, data, Domain Name System (DNS), cybercrime.

Nowadays, a vast majority of people uses VPN. However, it is not usually known how VPN really works.

To understand how it operates we have to track the way back to the basics.

IP,alsoknownasTheInternetProtocol,establishesthestructureofIPpacketsand addresses. A network packet is first and foremost data unit made up of both content and routing information. Since binary data is easier to transmit, it typically takes this form.

The Internet Protocol (IP) establishes standards for the organization of packets and the formatting of addresses needed to send packets across the internet. Devices receive an address, known as an IP address, when they connect to a network1. This address must take a binary form: in other words, it must follow the internet protocol standard. If it does not, communication with other devices is deemed impossible. Each gadget that follows the IP standard can transmit data back to back. It can be a phone, a computer or a smart refrigerator.

IP addresses are classified into two types: public and private. There is no middlemanbetweenpubliconesandtheinternet.Privateaddressesdonothavedirectaccess

1 Mateless R.et al.IPvest:ClusteringtheIPtrafficofnetworkentitieshiddenbehindasingle IP address using machine learning // IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management. 2021. Т. 18. № 3. С. 3647–3661.

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to the internet: they must go through an intermediary, another server. They are only accessible via private networks such as VPN.

Consequently, people useVPN for 3 things:anonymity, privacy and cybersecurity. By redirecting the data to a VPN server, the host ensures that the IP address cannot be tracked; hence the location of users stays unknown. Another advantage is that no one can access users' personal information. Finally, credit card information, which is conveniently available at arm's length through smartphones, is secure from cyber criminals. Whenever one wants to visit a website, the devices in use send their data to the Internet until they reach a server, which in turn translates the data back so the website becomes accessible. However, when a person uses public networks, he puts his cybersecurity at risk. This is where VPNs come in: they encrypt and redirect our data,protectingitfromhackers;eveniftheyobtainthestolendata,theywillbeunable

to read it1.

It is possible to join a virtual private network (VPN), which hides the network activity,sends,andreceivesDNS(DomainNameSystem)requestsonuser'sbehalf,ifnecessary tothwart monitoring or censorship2. A VPN does not completely protect the user's identity because the VPN provider is aware of who they are. However, due to its high storage and technological demands, the data is rarely kepton the VPN servers for very long. Therefore, the promised anonymity will be finally received.

It is advised to use VPN service prudently, because the VPN provider can link the dataflowtoidentifytheuser.Simplyput,aVPNtransferstheresponsibilityforprotecting personal data from the user to the VPN operator.

Originally, virtual private networks were used by big corporations and businesses for secure connections and as a precaution to safeguard important data. Nowadays, though, nearly all people use VPN services. Citizens of such countries as the USA, Canada, France, and Germany useVPN even though they havean openinternetspace that is not usually restricted by the government. These people mainly use a VPN service for oneofitskeyfeatures:changinglocations.Itiswellknownthatmoststreamingservices provide their clients with content according to their geographical location. Essentially, if the user is in the US, they can have access to certain content that is not available in another country, and vice versa. Of course, no one has forgotten about the hackers who lurk in public Wi-Fi networks, waiting to steal the data.

1 Ezra P. J.et al. Secured communication using virtual private network (VPN) // Cyber Security and Digital Forensics. 2022. С. 309–319.

2 Khormali A. et al. Domain name system security and privacy: A contemporary survey // Computer Networks. 2021. Т. 185. С. 107699.

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Now,thefirstquestionthatmostprobablyhastoberaisediswhetherVPNislegal. The answer is quite ambiguous. VPNs' legality is not always as clear-cut as having asinglelawagainsttheirusage.VPNlegislationvariesgreatlyacrosscountries,depend-

ing on their policies, cyber-development, and censorship regimes.

For instance, in some countries with strict censorship regimes, VPN servers are banned from their customers, so it would be highly problematic for them to access them. Such countries include Uganda, Turkey, Venezuela, etc.

Other governments do not outright prohibit VPN servers; instead, as a workaround, they enact specific laws that prohibit VPN providers from serving their citizens without criminalizing the virtual private network servers themselves1. This might be due to the poor technical development of a country or to some principlesof legislation thatexistontheterritoryofacountry.ExamplesofthesecountriesaretheUnitedArab Emirates, Belarus, China, Iran, Iraq, and Russia.

For instance, in the UAE, virtual private network regulations include a deliberate set of laws designed specifically to inform the citizens how such services should be used. Obviously, the restrictions implied by those laws significantly impair VPN functionality. Thus, even if VPNs are not completely banned, UAE citizens cannot use them freely. The trick is that if any illegal activity performed through a VPN was detected, it would lead to jail time and a large fine.

The UAE Cybercrime Law No. 5 of 2012, issued by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2012, introduces stern punishments that could go up to a life sentence and/or a fine varying between Dh50,000 and Dh3 million depending on the severity and seriousness of the cybercrime. That is how severe and strict the law is towards cyber-governance in the United Arab Emirates.

Nevertheless, there is a list of countries where using such networks is absolutely legal.

For example, if the user were to stay in the USA or Canada, they would have had every right to download and use a VPN. The Canadian government gives its citizens complete freedom in terms of virtual private network usage. Of course, this does not mean the user is allowed to perform illegal activity through a VPN and not be responsible for that. In other words, a VPN will not make an illegal act legal. Virtual private networking services in Canada are seen as convenient security providers as they protect the connection through data encryption. Therefore, the significant difference in

1 Iqbal M.,Riadi I.Analysisofsecurityvirtualprivatenetwork(VPN)usingopenVPN // International Journal of Cyber-Security and Digital Forensics. 2019. Т. 8. № 1. С. 58–65.

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that case is that Canadian Internet users see VPNs as a way to ensure security1. It contrasts greatlywithcountries like Iraq, wherepeopleusethesamesystems but for completely different reasons, like getting access to banned social networking sites or even to get access to informational resources.

Theissue of the legality ofVirtualPrivateNetworksin Russiahas been asubject of interest for many people. The answer may be quite contentious. No laws criminalizing VPNs have been adopted. There have been no restrictions for regular users. However, the government has been shutting down more and more virtual private network servers nowadays. To realize the reason for this action and provide one with a more comprehensive answer, it is necessary to examine the legal history of VPN in Russia.

A great deal of restrictions had been put on the VPN services before they grew popular in Russia. The first strong legal action that the Russian government has taken was the Yarovaya Law passed by the Russian State Duma in 2016. The State Duma passed another law a year later which imperatively demanded that all approved VPNs were to prevent their customers from accessing certain websites that were defined by the Russian government.

Afterallthefactshavebeenlaidout,itmaybeconcludedthatVPN(VirtualPrivate Network) is a general name for technologies that overlap one or more network connections over each other, such as the Internet. Such technology allows its users to insert double encryption into their data. Thus, additional security is provided. Such a method also allows a person to encode private information such as the location of his gadget. Consequently, this gives VPN users the green light to access websites without locational restrictions.

Concerning the issue of VPN's legality, the answer will be «It depends!». As it has been explained above, different countries may not have similar approaches to it. In some countries, VPNs are banned either by restricting their usage by passing specific lawsorbyshuttingdownVPNserversdirectly.Incontrast,somejurisdictions(e.g.,Canada) refer to VPN issues as a legal matter. As a result, the best way to know for sure if one canuseaVPN legally is to check thelegislationof thecountryyouarein. However, basically, VPNs are not illegal by design. On the contrary, it was created to provide Internet users with extra data security.

1 Roberts M. E. Resilience to online censorship // Annual Review of Political Science. 2020. Т. 23. С. 401–419.

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Ногаев Т. В. Университет имени О.Е. Кутафина (МГЮА)

Студент

Internet Censorship in the United States and Europe

Abstract.Thisarticle examines the problem ofInternet censorship in the United States and Europefromalegalpointofviewanditsimpactonsociety.Themaindirectionsofinfluence and sources of this phenomenon are revealed on concrete examples, the evidence is supported by statistics and regulatory framework.

Keywords: Internet, censorship, social network, freedom of speech, legal status of censorship.

Informationisthemostimportantresourcein the21st century.Almostevery person has an account in social networks, messengers, subscribed to news channels in Telegram, watches videos on YouTube. People are used to the fact that they can find all the necessary information by pressing a couple of buttons on their phones or computers. But not every state allows their people to get access to all the necessary knowledge, imposing censorship in the virtual space. Thus, the present research aims to analyze the issue of Internet censorship, its legal status, its impact on human rights and the consequences of its frequent usage.

To understand this phenomenon, it is necessary to define what ordinary censorship is, to examine its sources and principles of action. There are several ways to interpret it and M. V. Zelenov describes them in his article «Censorship: approaches to the definition of the concept»1. The first group — «statesmen» — believe that censorship is an objective result of the development of any state, and manifests itself exclusively instateregulatorybodies.Fromtheirpointof view,censorshiprefers tothepoliticalor ideological sphere and is the exclusive will of the state. Representatives of the second direction can be called «social activists». They think that restriction of freedom of speech can come from any person who has power over other people in the creative field2, like relations between the editor-in-chief of the news agency and his subordinates. There is a third direction in the understanding of censorship which is connected

1 ЗеленовМихаилВладимировичЦензура:подходыкопределениюпонятия //Ленинградский юридический журнал. 2013. № 1 (31).

2 The Soviet Censorship/ Ed. By M. Dewhirst and R. Farell. Metuchen. New Jercy. 1973.

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withZ. Freudandhispsychoanalysis.Thecensor,orcritic(Superego),isoneofthecomponents ofeach personality,which manifests itself as asystemofinternalprohibitions, taboos, which is established by parents from childhood1.

Taking everything into account, censorship is any restriction of a person's right to receiveandpublishinformationthatdoesnotthreatenpubliclife.SpeakingaboutWeb censorship, we can conclude that this is the control and suppression of publication or access to information on the Internet.

Internet censorship owes its existence to the absence of any national borders on the Internet. The general problem of Internet censorship can be defined as follows: information that contradicts the laws of the state (the regime of the current government) and is blocked on internal resources can be published on web servers in other countries. However, Web censorship does not just take place at the government level, people can face it at home or at work. Home censorship typically comes in the form of parental control, in which parents use blacklists and keyword blocking to keep their kids safe online. Speaking about censorship at work, in 2015 there were 43 % of workers who exaggerate their actual time working2. Censoring some websites not only blocks inappropriate content but also increases productivity.

Since every country has its own legal traditions, they apply different approaches to censorship in the Internet that we are to be considered.

The USA is known to strongly protect freedom of speech and expression against federal, state, and local government. Nevertheless, the Internet in the United States is highly regulated, supported by a complex set of legally binding and privately mediated mechanisms. These laws are rooted in the First Amendment to the US Constitution3. With a few exceptions, the free speech provisions of the First Amendment bar federal, state, and local governments from directly censoring the Internet. The primary exceptionhastodowithobscenity,includingchildpornography,whichdoesnotcomplywith the First Amendment protection4.

1 Freud S. (1923). The Ego and the Id. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. XIX (1923–1925): The Ego and the Id and Other Works, 1–66.

2 Software Advice. (2015). 43 % of Employees Commit Time Theft: How Software Can Reduce Payroll Losses. URL: https://www.softwareadvice.com/hr/industryview/time-theft-report- 2015/.

3 «ONI Regional Overview: North America» at the Wayback Machine, OpenNet Initiative, 30 March 2010. URL: http://opennet.net/research/regions/namerica.

4 «TheInternetCensorshipControversy»attheWaybackMachine,UsmanQazi,Professionalism in Computing (Computer Science 3604), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, spring 1996. URL: http://courses.cs.vt.edu/cs3604/lib/Censorship/notes.html.

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There are also cases of censorship by private companies. For example, on January 7, 2021, against the background of an «unprecedented violent situation in Washington,» Twitter blocked the personal account of the current US President Donald Trump for 12 hours, demanding three tweets «violating the company's policy» to be deleted.OnJanuary 8,2021,afterTrumprefusedtofulfilltheserequirementsandpublished new tweets that he «will not allow disrespect to millions of his voters» and «will not go to Biden's inauguration,» Twitter indefinitely blocked his account. The social network announced that it had permanently closed access to Trump's page, which at that time had about 88 million subscribers, and which was one of the most popular blogs of this network1.

In Europe, the level of Internet censorship, according to the Freedom House classification, varies from «Pervasive» to «Little or none»2. The countries of Western and CentralEuropearecharacterizedbyahigherleveloffreedomofspeechontheInternet than the Eastern ones.

For instance, there is an average level of Web censorship in France, Germany, Spain,Italy and etc. This is due to the protection of citizens' freedom of speech, includinginthewebspace.WeoftenseeexamplesofhowEuropeanactivistscanaffordharsh and rude statements in the direction of the current government. Politicians often pay attention to what their voters write on the Internet and make appropriate decisions.

Nevertheless, there are cases when the state has intentionally imposed censorship on certain phenomena on the Internet. For example, anonymous posts on French Twitter, containing antisemitic and racist statements, were removed. On 24 January 2013, Judge Anne-Marie Sauteraud ordered Twitter to disclose the personal identifiable information about the user who posted the antisemitic statement, charging that the posts violated French laws against hate speech. Twitter was given two weeks to do itbeforedaily fines of€ 1,000wouldbeassessed. The only problemwas thatthe social network did not have its own offices in France, so it was unclear how the state was goingtochargeafine3. Thus,evenifthestate censorscontent, itdoesitforthebenefit of its citizens, protecting the rights of citizens and following the principle that states «one person's freedom ends where another's freedom begins».

1 Twitter Permanently Suspends Trump, Citing 'Risk Of Further Incitement Of Violence'. URL: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/08/954760928/twitter-bans-president-trump-citing-risk-of- further-incitement-of-violence.

2 «Freedom on the Net 2018». Freedom House. November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.

3 «French court rules on hate tweets». UPI. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.

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Speaking of the Russian Federation, censorship is prohibited by article 29 of the Constitution, but the practice is quite complex. At the moment, such social networks as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are blocked and access to many mass media websites, for example, the BBC's, is closed. There is a number of laws prohibiting the promotion of values that threaten the state interests of Russia, e.g., Article 6.21 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation proscribes propaganda of non-tradi- tional sexual relations among minors, or Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is devoted to discrediting of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. These restrictions apply not only to the media, but also to cinema, literature and theater. According to Freedom House, the level of Internet censorship in Russia is marked as «Substantial».

If the articles mentioned above can be assessed as a restriction of freedom of speech, however, there are also those that protect the specific rights of citizens and organizations. The blocking of RuTracker can be considered a kind of Internet censorship in Russia. There was no political context in it, just a fight against pirated content, which the government considers to be a fairly effective way to increase the popularity of platforms providing access to legal movies, music, software, and so on.

In conclusion, it is worth emphasizing that virtual space, just like the real world, requiresregulationbytherulesandlawsofacivilizedsociety.However,censorshipand restrictions are to be adjusted to the existing legislation only, not by fiat. Moreover, any censorship on the web should be aimed at protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, but not at restricting them.

Орлов В. А. Университет имени О.Е. Кутафина (МГЮА)

Студент

Internet governance in context of internet piracy

Abstract. In this article, the main approaches of states to Internet governance and the adoption of preventive measures regarding copyright infringement in the Internet space arerevealed.Giventherapidpaceoftechnologydevelopmentandlegislation,thisproblem is more urgent than ever, especially for large companies whoseintellectual property products appear on the Internet day after day with an official release, which is why money is spent to support the creators of these products.

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