Russia is moving to ban virtual private network (VPN) applications designed to offer unrestricted, anonymous access to the Internet. President Vladimir Putin last week signed a law that bans not just VPNs, but any application designed to enable people to access the Internet anonymously. The new legislation has gotten a green light from the lower house parliament and will go into effect November 1. China has set in place a nearly-identical law, prompting vendors to stop selling their VPN apps in the country. Apple Inc. has been forced to pull all VPN apps from its App Store in China to comply with the new legislation.”]