FC: Bring wireless or GPS equipment to Russia, go to jail?

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[$300 proved sufficient incentive for the normally-slothful
bureaucrats in the Russian embassy (technically, the consulate), to
approve my visa. Of course if I bring with me a computer with a
built-in 80211b card, a GPS receiver, or my Palm VII, I'll need far
more than $300 to spring myself from prison. And my PGPdisk being
confiscated? Yikes! --Declan]

---

http://travel.state.gov/gps.html

   U.S. Department of State
   Bureau of Consular Affairs
   3/98
   
                     INFORMATION ON USING GPS DEVICES,
                        RADIO-ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT,
                          AND COMPUTERS IN RUSSIA
                                      
                This information can change without notice.
                                      
   GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS (GPS)
   
   The importation and use of Global Positioning Systems and other radio
   electronic devices are subject to special rules and regulations in
   Russia. In general, mapping and natural resource data collection
   activities associated with normal, commercial, and scientific
   collaboration may result in seizure of the equipment and/or arrest of
   the user. The penalty for using a GPS device in a manner which is
   determined to have compromised Russian national security can be a
   prison term of ten to twenty years. In December 1997, a U.S. citizen
   was imprisoned in Rostov-na-Donu for ten days on charges of espionage
   for using a GPS device to check the efficacy of newly-installed
   telecommunications equipment. He and his company believed the GPS had
   been legally imported and were not aware that Russian authorities
   considered nearby government installations secret.
   
   No traveler should seek to import or use GPS equipment in any manner
   unless it has been properly and fully documented by the traveler in
   accordance with the instructions of the Glavgossvyaznadzor (Main
   Inspectorate in Communications) and is declared in full on a customs
   declaration at the point of entry to the Russian Federation.
   
   All radio electronic devices brought into Russia must have a
   certificate from Glavgossvyaznadzor (Main Inspectorate in
   Communications) of the Russian Federation. This includes all emitting,
   transmitting, and receiving equipment such as GPS devices, cellular
   telephones, satellite telephones, and other kinds of radio electronic
   equipment. Excluded from the list are consumer electronic devices such
   as AM/FM radios.
   
   CELLULAR TELEPHONES
   
   To obtain permission to bring in a cellular telephone, an agreement
   for service from a local cellular provider in Russia is required. That
   agreement and a letter of guarantee to pay for the cellular service
   must be sent to Glavgossvyaznadzor along with a request for permission
   to import the telephone. Based on these documents, a certificate is
   issued. This procedure is reported to take two weeks. Without a
   certificate, no cellular telephone can be brought into the country,
   regardless of whether or not it is meant for use in Russia. Permission
   for the above devices may also be required from the State Customs
   Committee of the Russian Federation.
   
   COMPUTER EQUIPMENT
   
   The State Customs Committee has stated that there are no restrictions
   on bringing laptop computers into the Russian Federation for personal
   use. The software, however, can be inspected upon departure; and some
   equipment and software have been confiscated because of the data
   contained in them, or due to software encryption, which is standard in
   many programs.
   
   FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
   
   State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation
   Russia 107842 Moscow
   1A Komsomolskaya Place
   Telephone: 7-095-975-4070
   Department for clearance of items for personal use:
   Telephone: 7-095-975-4095
   
   Glavgossvyaznadzor
   Russia 117909 Moscow
   Second Spasnailovkovsky 6
   Telephone: 7-095-238-6331
   Fax: 7-095-238-5102



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