Russia gets (Google) maps

Friday, July 06, 2007 (18:55 UTC)

Maps.google.ru goes live. The Moscow Times (a wonderful paper where I once had the pleasure of interning) has the backstory:

When Google Earth was launched in 2005, Russia was just one of many countries to warn that making so many geographical details available to the public represented a real security risk.

A Federal Security Service general said that this would mean terrorists would no longer need to reconnoiter their targets. "Now a U.S. company will do the work for them," Lieutenant General Leonid Sazhin said.

In what analysts say is a sign of the times, however, the government issued a directive in May that effectively lifted all of the old restrictions on access to "precise geographical data."

Great to see Russia coming round to the enlightened view. I hope India's government takes the cue and goes next in lifting these outdated restrictions.

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