Home LAN’s to remain till August
They will have the fate of satellites and air conditioners. As ERB found out, the document that will make it necessary to register local area networks in blocks of flats will be adopted by the end of August. We heard two answers to the question why the document was necessary. The first one is the same as in the case with satellites and air conditioners: they spoil the design of buildings and may be dangerous for people. The head specialist of housing and communal organization #120 says:
“There can be fires in houses. There was an accident when it happened because of it. It’s a system of connection to the electric wiring”.
The other reason is that people exchanging information in the network cannot be controlled and may start exchanging wrong information. That’s the opinion of Alyaksandr Alyahnovich, the head specialist of the architecture department of Minsk City Executive Committee.
Alyaksandr Alyahnovіch: “We do not know what they are doing in those LAN’s and what information they download. I think it should be controlled. It is bad if people download pirate copies of films. We don’t even know their age, and they may be downloading porn”.
At the moment there are no legal local area networks in blocks of flats, says Alyaksandr Alayhnovich. Administrators are sure that it will be very difficult to register a network. Moreover, a LAN can be a source of income that will be taxed in case it is registered.
Administrator Mikita: “As far as I know, all our networks are illegal. It’s a home network created out of pure enthusiasm. Nobody is responsible for it. If it works it’s ok. It can be very profitable. Administrators can resell cheap Internet”.
For example, an administrator may sell 1 Mb for 30 rubles while the provider sells it for 20. If you like you can earn up to 1000 USD per month”.
The head of the technical department of Leninski District housing and communal services organization Taisiya Naidzina says that some administrators turned to them asking to register their networks. They did not refuse them and did not allow it at the same time. The requirements were very strict.
Taіsіya Naidzіna: “It’s a new source of income. So people are asking how to register it. I answer: bring documents, projects, ecological certificates, etc. Then we will see what the administration of the district decides. They usually come and go without registering their networks in the end.
No one has ever brought all the necessary documents that would be used to prove that everything is done according to the law and that we care about people living in the houses. It is very important”.
You will have to go through the architecture committee and the Ministry of Communications to register a network. And they will not sign any documents because there is no law that could let them do it. Alyaksandr Alyahnovich continues:
Alyaksandr Alyahnovіch: “The code adopted last year has art. #9 concerning LAN’s. They can be legal in public buildings but they somehow forgot about blocks of flats. The Ministry of Communication was discussing the issue to allow creation of LAN’s in a legal way.
The Ministry of Communications should give out a license for designing in a block of flats. But there is no law allowing it”.
The architecture committee will participate in the preparation of the new document. But at the moment nobody can answer questions of LAN users. It is difficult to say whether administrators of existing LAN’s will have to pay fines, how the tax issue will be solved and how long it will take to create a legal network.
Housing and communal services organizations are trying to find out which flats are connected to LAN’s. The situation resembles the problems of satellites and air conditioners.
“There can be fires in houses. There was an accident when it happened because of it. It’s a system of connection to the electric wiring”.
The other reason is that people exchanging information in the network cannot be controlled and may start exchanging wrong information. That’s the opinion of Alyaksandr Alyahnovich, the head specialist of the architecture department of Minsk City Executive Committee.
Alyaksandr Alyahnovіch: “We do not know what they are doing in those LAN’s and what information they download. I think it should be controlled. It is bad if people download pirate copies of films. We don’t even know their age, and they may be downloading porn”.
At the moment there are no legal local area networks in blocks of flats, says Alyaksandr Alayhnovich. Administrators are sure that it will be very difficult to register a network. Moreover, a LAN can be a source of income that will be taxed in case it is registered.
Administrator Mikita: “As far as I know, all our networks are illegal. It’s a home network created out of pure enthusiasm. Nobody is responsible for it. If it works it’s ok. It can be very profitable. Administrators can resell cheap Internet”.
For example, an administrator may sell 1 Mb for 30 rubles while the provider sells it for 20. If you like you can earn up to 1000 USD per month”.
The head of the technical department of Leninski District housing and communal services organization Taisiya Naidzina says that some administrators turned to them asking to register their networks. They did not refuse them and did not allow it at the same time. The requirements were very strict.
Taіsіya Naidzіna: “It’s a new source of income. So people are asking how to register it. I answer: bring documents, projects, ecological certificates, etc. Then we will see what the administration of the district decides. They usually come and go without registering their networks in the end.
No one has ever brought all the necessary documents that would be used to prove that everything is done according to the law and that we care about people living in the houses. It is very important”.
You will have to go through the architecture committee and the Ministry of Communications to register a network. And they will not sign any documents because there is no law that could let them do it. Alyaksandr Alyahnovich continues:
Alyaksandr Alyahnovіch: “The code adopted last year has art. #9 concerning LAN’s. They can be legal in public buildings but they somehow forgot about blocks of flats. The Ministry of Communication was discussing the issue to allow creation of LAN’s in a legal way.
The Ministry of Communications should give out a license for designing in a block of flats. But there is no law allowing it”.
The architecture committee will participate in the preparation of the new document. But at the moment nobody can answer questions of LAN users. It is difficult to say whether administrators of existing LAN’s will have to pay fines, how the tax issue will be solved and how long it will take to create a legal network.
Housing and communal services organizations are trying to find out which flats are connected to LAN’s. The situation resembles the problems of satellites and air conditioners.
