"The state should resolve this problem by means of toughening punishment for unlawful activities on the net," said the minister, noting that civil law was almost inoperable in regard to the Internet.
At the same time, Reiman again spoke against regulation of the Internet. "I have always spoken against regulation of the Internet. The experience of other countries shows that attempts to regulate it did not bring anything good," said the minister.
However, in his words, the state should take care about citizens' spiritual health, first of all, children's. "The state should counter the distribution on the Internet of negative manifestations, including propaganda of violence, pornography, harmful programs," said Reiman.
The key role in the fight against the negative manifestations on the net, in the minister's opinion, can be played by the state's cooperation with traditional religions. In Reiman's words, the presence of religious organizations in the informational space will have a great significance later on. "Religious organizations may make their contribution to the fight against the distribution of unlawful information," said the IT and communications minister.
In his opinion, the state should advocate voluntary restrictions on the distribution of negative information on the net, in particular, installation of special software.
In such a big and multi-faith country as Russia, information technologies and communications are not in word but in deed the most important factor of unification of people and stimulation of civil society. It is very important to use new technologies for the benefit, stressed Reiman.
On his part, Yandex company general director Arkady Volozh said the volume of advertising market in the Russian segment of the Internet in 2004 was $40 million.
He specifically pointed out the stable growth of the so-called search advertising, whose volume totaled $15 million. "This segment of the market tripled in 2004," he said.
Search advertising is "a new model that can exist only in the Internet."
Volozh explained that this notion meant adverts and links that appear on the screen simultaneously with the results of a search in a search engine. Thus, the user is shown an advert in line with his request.
In the opinion of the Yandex general director, this is the most convenient for small and medium business representatives, as well as for the companies engaged not in brand promotion but in realization of goods and services.
"If the aim of media [banner] advertising is to declare something, the aim of the search [context] ad is to sell," he said.
"We believe that in 2005 the volume of search advertising in Russia will be the same as the volume of media advertising," Arkady Volozh assumed.
