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Belarus is all set to introduce new internet law that aims to block foreign websites and makes it illegal for international firms until and unless they use “.by” Belarusian domain name.

Jan05, 2011: The Republic of Belarus, in its official web portal, dedicated to publication of legal acts and law has posted yet another law which is supposed to be horribly draconian.

The law, that is poised to come into effect from Jan 06, 2012 instructs all the companies and individuals who do trade with the citizens of this country to use only the domain name of Belarus, “.by”. This simply means that any international company  or one individual registered in Belarus as an entrepreneur must use only the domestic internet domains for doing all the business transactions, exchanging emails and selling merchandise to the people of Belarus.

Hence, If a person makes the request for an online business with some website that is hosted in a foreign country, it would be turned down immediately. Additionally, if any company is found guilty infringing this law, it would be liable to pay a 1m Belarus rubles (£77; $120) as fine.

The government has given unrestricted permission to all the tax authorities and secret police to initiate, investigate and prosecute all the violations occurring in this case.

[Read: Spain reveals Anti Piracy Law in Sync with SOPA]

The law also confirms to takes a stiff stand against the internet service providers that allow internet access to people in clubs, cafes or even at home without making a proper record of the user logs. This is specifically in case the users browse through foreign websites including pornographic and extremist online portals.

Failing to abide by the law would lead to the closure of the businesses of these Internet service providers as well. And the same would hold true for the private individuals if they permit others to access their private computers for visiting foreign websites.

The law even talks about establishing and updating the list of websites that should be banned from broadcasting by the internet providers in Belarus. Implementation of this rule would simply mean a total cut off of this country from the outside world.

The website of any foreign based company trying to do business with a citizen from this country would instantly be tracked and blocked from showing up. This would discourage many other entrepreneurs to establish trade relations with Belarus.

To top it all, the native people would also have to be on the receiving end since they won’t get any option left lest to turn their heads to local companies for their specific requirements. However, as per the Belarusian people, it is too early to project the consequences of this rule.

According to one of advertising agency owner there, “The new law does not look very clear. We have no idea how it will affect us,” It won’t be any surprise if this law creates a ruckus in long run, and brings unrest among the Belarusians.

With the intimidation of being caught, they will be compelled to browse through only the permitted websites. For obvious reasons, the ban would extend to all the other international websites as well that are not registered in this country, like Facebook, YouTube, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and so on.

[Read: USA Plans to Block Anti-Censorship Tools with SOPA]

To help the people come out of this tragic situation, VPN could be a feasible option. Just to cite an example, if a firm wants to do business with a client based in Belarus, he can use VPN to log in through a Belarus server.

This will provide it with a local IP that would further make it easier to continue with the proceedings. A Virtual private network or VPN creates a secure tunnel within which the traffic can move smoothly without being identified by any third party.

This assures the users to be working in total anonymity and negate the effect of firewalls that do nothing good but hamper their business. Hence, for people willing to get in contact with Belarus for any such purpose, using a VPN could prove to be the best and most secure solution.

The selection of VPN vendor or VPN Provider is however important since the foremost priority in this case should be to check whether the concerned service provider is providing a Belarusian server or not.

Likewise, it is also equally important to assure if the VPN lets the users to open the websites that they are concerned with. If despite of seeking its services, the website remains block, it is better to look out for some better VPN option.

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Wish you a Happy and Private Internet Life !!