Extensions to Russian piracy bill to be considered
A bill aimed at extending Russia’s recently-passed anti-piracy law beyond film and television rights infringements could be considered this week.
The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, has recommended that the country extends the current law, which can force websites to be shut down, to cover all infringements.
According to RAPSI (the Russian Legal Information Agency) the bill, called Amendments to Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in order to stop violations of copyright and related rights on the Internet, could receive its first reading on Wednesday, March 12.
In September, WIPR reported that the government was considering widening the law, which allows rights owners to ask courts to block access to websites they suspect of infringing their IP.
The law, which took effect on August 1 last year, currently applies to websites that distribute television programmes and movies.
But last month, State Duma deputy speaker Sergei Zheleznyak submitted the bill that aims to increase the scope of the law to cover music, images and text-based infringements.
Under the current law, after appealing to the court for an interim block, the rights holder then has 15 days in which to file a lawsuit against the suspected infringer.
The amendments, assuming they are approved by the State Duma and Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council of Russia, will need to be signed by President Vladimir Putin before becoming law.
If they are approved, they will enter into force on July 1 this year.
The current version of the law has drawn heavy criticism from Internet users as well as major companies such as Google Russia.
The Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), a lobby group, was among those to have reacted with anger, after the bill’s initial passage into law.
It predicted it would destroy the digital content market and place a financial burden on telecoms operators that may have to answer law suits.
In a rather more alternative measure, Internet activists applied to form their own Internet church in August last year and claimed the laws were offensive to their key beliefs.
The church, called ‘Kopimizma,’ will need to be fully ratified by the Russian authorities, a move which could take years.
