The RU domain coordination center plans to return domain registration in the RU zone to the old rules. A passport will again be required. The decision is explained by the rise in sites with false owner data used for defamation and blackmail, but experts doubt it will seriously solve cybercrime. Ru Center has also simplified shutting down sites in NET, COM, ORG, BIZ and INFO. Their operation can now be stopped without a court order if their use is deemed illegal.

The Coordination Center for the RU domain intends to cancel the simplified domain registration scheme in the RU zone and restore the old rules, under which a domain can be registered only upon presentation of a passport. At the same time, the registrar Ru-Center has simplified the procedure for shutting down websites in the NET, COM, ORG, BIZ, INFO zones - now website operations can be stopped without a court decision if their use is deemed illegal.
Apparently, as early as May, registration of domain names in the RU zone will again be carried out only upon presentation of a passport, said Andrey Kolesnikov, director of the Coordination Center for the RU domain, at the joint KIB+RIF conference. Two years ago, this registration scheme was replaced with a simplified one, when a user could enter any information about themselves. But this led to the spread of websites with false information about their owners, where malicious actors often publish false or even defamatory information about other people, and sometimes use it for blackmail. In the event of legal proceedings, it is difficult to find the real owners, and there is practically no one to bring claims against.
Thus, the website gum-online.ru became quite widely known, where, in the name of the financial director of the GUM department store, the privatization of the department store was challenged and calls were published to transfer its building to the "true owners" - the heirs of the owners of the Upper Trading Rows. The authors of the site blackmailed Bosco di Ciliegi, which controls GUM: for a buyout of 80 thousand euros, they promised to shut down the site.
The passport will need to be presented at the registrar’s office or a notarized copy sent. Registrars may also be required to track the IP address from which the registration request comes, as well as the applicants’ phone numbers and bank card details. A user wishing to register a domain has the right to opt out of the identification process; however, in such a case, the operation of their website may be suspended upon any complaint from other users.
However, according to experts, the introduction of passport identification does not solve the global problem of online crime, since these rules apply only to the Runet. It costs malicious actors nothing to register a domain in other zones. For example, when registering well-known domain zones COM, NET, ORG and others, passports are not required.