Here’s a disturbing piece of news courtesy of the Newsru.com Technology page. Disturbing not only because it portends yet more restrictions on the free flow of information in Russia on the heels of the recently implemented law permitting the organs to open mail (something they’ve always done before, of course, even without the blessing of the law), but also because of the identity of the instigator of this particular proposed restriction – the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (also known by its Russian initials, RSPP).

Back when Mikhail Khodorkovsky was one of the leading figures in the RSPP, this organization was known as a staunch defender of the right to free enterprise without excessive state meddling. This all quickly changed with Khodorkovsky’s arrest in October 2003. The RSPP’s initial reaction was to voice its protest about the arrest to the power. Vladimir Putin refused to even meet with its leadership on the subject, quickly putting the RSPP in its place. Within a remarkably short few weeks, it had become obvious that the RSPP had no stomach to take on the power and had been completely cowed into submission, its members deciding that it would be best to meekly toe the party line in the hopes of not becoming the next Khodorkovsky.