Количество сетевых ресурсов, как и мусора в них, стремительно растет. Как выжить в этом хаосе потребителю информации? Рассмотрим два сценария развития.

Aleksandr Strakh, legal expert on the protection of Microsoft Corporation's intellectual property in Russia and the CIS, assumes that the company may reach an amicable settlement with Aleksandr Ponosov, the infamous school principal in the village of Sepych. Aleksandr Ponosov has been taken to court following a revelation that PCs used in his school's computer class ran on unlicensed Microsoft software. Investigators claim that the director could not produce license labels and installation CDs to prove that the software is licensed. The new wording of Article 146 of the Criminal Code, under which Ponosov has been prosecuted, makes it impossible for the company to close the case by dropping its claims against the school principal, while formerly a statement from the plaintiff could serve this purpose. Aleksandr Ponosov faces 5 years behind bars in addition to having to pay 260,000 rubles ($9,650) in damages.

The company WebScan Technologies has published a ranking of Top 100 Most Frequently Mentioned Runet Brands in 2006. This year's ranking is topped by information agencies RIA Novosti, Interfax, and ITAR-Tass, while last year media outlets were nowhere near the top 100 brands. WebScan Technologies attributes this to the implementation of more stringent intellectual property protection controls on the Web. The information agency Regnum, which is not among the top 100 brands, has published expert opinions on the matter. A number of Internet company representatives have stated that methods used to form the rating are not transparent and its results are not to be trusted.

The forum of the Echo of Moscow radio website has been forced to close. Echo of Moscow editor-in-chief Aleksey Venediktov says the forum needs moderating in view of the numerous nationalistically colored messages, but there is nobody available to moderate the forum on a voluntary basis. Radio station representative Aleksandr Pliushchev adds that the website will develop "more modern" forms of communication with visitors, such as blogs. Blog owners – Echo of Moscow journalists – will be responsible for moderating their blogs. The question is just how much democracy will be allowed by this scheme. Echo of Moscow radio likes to talk about its freedom of speech, and forums seem to be a better symbol of it rather than moderated blogs.