Russia General Discussion

[Simfan34]

Among about 40 bills signed by President Vladimir Putin in a marathon session on Tuesday was a widely lambasted law that will strip hundreds of independent Russian television channels of a basic source of income: advertising.

The law, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, bans advertising on all subscription channels as well as on channels that can only be viewed with a decoding device. Excluded from the ban are all "national, compulsory, universally accessible" channels and those conveyed by terrestrial broadcasting — in other words, all the leading state-run channels that dominate Russia's airwaves.

Bundled together in a packet with two other amendments to Russia's advertising law, the bill raced through the State Duma and the Federation Council earlier this month just weeks after reports of it first surfaced in the Russian media.

Source: the Moscow Times

[Simfan34]

Amid of flurry of new laws announced Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin signed legislation bolstering punishments for unruly protesters.

Repeat violations of the law governing public rallies can now warrant fines ranging between 600,000 and 1 million rubles ($30,000), or up to five years in prison.

The new fines impact recidivists, defined under the amended legislation as those who are caught violating the law's terms more than once within a 180-day period.

The law also increases the amount of time detained protesters can spend in police custody to 30 days, double the former limit of 15 days.

Source: The Moscow Times