Russian site switches to US hosting provider over conflict with Putin

The Internet publication Kursiv, which temporarily closed shop after criminal proceedings were instituted against its chief editor Vladimir Rakhmankov, has re-launched after moving to a new web hosting provider. So far the web site is only partially functional, featuring an archive of articles for the years 2001-2006 and news for May 2006. Nonetheless, the article that provoked legal action, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin is referred to as a "phallic symbol", is included in the archive. The proceedings against Rakhmankov were instituted at the initiative of the prosecutor's office, while the presidential administration and the president himself did not come forward with any complaints about materials published by Kursiv. Following this scandal, Rakhmankov had a hard time finding hosting space for his website in Russia, as over the last six months three hosting providers refused to deal with him.