"Anti-piracy" law in Russia

Important for the entire Internet "anti-piracy" law in Russia appeared in 2013. Since then, he has experienced several revisions. His adoption led to a sharp public debate about the future of the World Wide Web and free access to information.

Prerequisites for appearance

What is the "anti-piracy" law? Why did the state accept it? The spread of the Internet turned the whole idea of the availability of information. When the Network only appeared in Russia, it was not regulated in any way and was accessible to a small layer of users. The first providers appeared in Moscow in the 90s. The speed of their channel was extremely low.

Over time, the industry has developed significantly. The largest mobile operators began to offer the services of Internet providers. In the zero years the Network became public. Two factors contributed to this. Firstly, each house has its own personal computer. Secondly, the prices for Internet services have decreased.

Along with the avalanche-like growth of the audience, more and more different content began to appear on the Internet: music, books, movies ... In fact, people got free access to intellectual property. Changes in the market hit hard on the recording industry, etc. Rightholders, studios and writers began to turn to the state with a request to deal with the situation with "piracy." First, so on informal slang called illegal downloads of various files. Later the term took root in official usage. So it got its name "anti-piracy" law.

Locking mechanism

In 2013, the State Duma started the work of a group of deputies from the Committee on Communications and Communications. Its result was the "anti-piracy" law. He had to allow the blocking of sites, if they contained unlicensed content. In this case, the initiative belongs to the right holder. If the owner of the film found out that on a certain site there is his property, which got there illegally, he could apply to the appropriate state authorities.

At first it was planned that the law would apply to any kind of information on the Internet. After making certain amendments, it was decided to limit the effect of this norm only to video content. A year later the list was expanded again. At the same time, the rightholder must prove that he is the owner of the product. Disputes with site owners are settled through the court. To do this, the landlord must file a claim. If the copyright holder loses the case, he is obliged to pay compensation to the site owner and all persons who suffered losses due to the trial and premature blocking.

Roskomnadzor

In order for the "anti-piracy" law to really work, the state needed an agency that would deal with the blocking of websites. For this purpose, Roskomnadzor, which is part of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications of Russia, was selected.

When the "anti-piracy" law was adopted, the Federal Service received all the necessary tools to block websites for five days. From the very beginning it was unclear how much money it would take to provide the department with all the necessary resources. On the second day of the law, Roskomnadzor asked 100 million rubles a year to fight piracy. To work with blocked sites created a special unit, which was occupied by 25 employees.

Adoption of the law

The Russian "anti-piracy" law was developed and adopted in an extremely short time. On June 6, 2013, several deputies of the State Duma from three parliamentary parties submitted their draft for consideration. The discussion was short-lived. June 21 "anti-piracy" law was passed in the third reading. The only person who voted against him was a member of the "Fair Russia" Dmitry Gudkov.

On June 26, the bill was approved by the Federation Council, and on July 2 it was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Its norms came into force on August 1, 2013.

Criticism in the Internet industry

Even before the anti-piracy law in Russia came into force, it was criticized by the largest domestic and foreign Internet companies (Yandex, Mail.ru, Google). Opponents of the project said that the new powers of Roskomnadzor would not only damage the rightholders themselves, but also lead to the emergence of censorship on the Web.

Also in "Yandex" noted that the deputies decided to adopt new standards for the entire industry, without consulting with specialists. The State Duma did not react to expert and public opinion. Internet companies asked if not to cancel, then at least to refine the "anti-piracy" law in Russia.

Google has been in favor of pre-trial notification and withdrawal of content. The problem was that Roskomnadzor could block the site, even without warning its owners and not giving time for correcting mistakes (removing unlicensed products). Specialists of "Yandex", among other things, added that closing the entire site does not make sense. With the blocking of the site, the content that is fully compliant with the law becomes inaccessible. Therefore, experts noted that it is best to block prohibited products by a direct link to it. In this case, the rest of the content will not be affected.

Fighting locks

When the "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation was only adopted in the Duma, many experts of the Internet industry stated that blocking by an IP address is meaningless. The mechanism of this procedure is as follows: Roskomnadzor can not delete the site and destroy prohibited content, therefore, the agency closes users "doors" leading to the site. This is done with the help of Internet providers. Operators working in Russia are notified by the state that a particular site is now on the blacklist. The provider blocks the traffic of users who want to visit it.

But the site itself does not harm these measures. He continues to work on his own server. It can be opened in the same regime abroad, where Roskomnadzor does not have the authority. Therefore, immediately after the adoption of the law in the Russian segment of the Internet, various technical means of bypassing the locks began to gain popularity. For example, anonymizers direct user traffic to an IP address in another country. Thus, a person who wants to download something on the Internet can easily bypass the lock.

Negative consequences of the law

In "Yandex" and Mail.ru also asked the deputies to take into account the experience of foreign countries in the fight against piracy. The companies decided that the mechanisms of Roskomnadzor pave the way for abuse and delinquency. For example, an agency can block a conscientious resource. Even if this happens by mistake, and not by malice, the loss of the site owner will be the same.

The Russian Association of Electronic Communications has submitted to the public its report on what threatens an "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation. The essence of its shortcomings lies in the fact that the owners of Russian sites will begin to "move" to other countries. This is done very simply. The entire Internet is divided into domains belonging to different countries. In Russia it is ".ru". If the owner of the resource "carries" it to a conditional ".com", then this will be an additional blow for the entire domestic segment of the World Wide Web.

Experts asked to make amendments that would smooth out the sharpest corners. In their opinion, the law should not violate the basics of the functioning of the free Internet. In addition, some market participants began to fear that the new rules will prove to be a tool for solving commercial problems of certain rightholders at the expense of site owners.

Public response

Many Internet sites, as a sign of their disagreement with the new norms, temporarily ceased their work on the day when the anti-piracy law in Russia came into effect. The date of signing this document was the impetus for consolidation of various participants of the virtual network. August 1, 2013 more than a thousand sites have disabled their servers. Protest actions also took place on the streets. Thus, the "Pirate Party of Russia" held several rallies and concerts in major cities.

The Internet began collecting virtual signatures for a petition to the authorities. According to the rules, so that the initiative was submitted to the State Duma for consideration, it must be supported by at least one hundred thousand people. The necessary number of signatures was indeed collected in the first weeks after the adoption of the bill. However, this civil initiative did not lead to any noticeable consequences. The petition was rejected in October 2013.

The adoption of the law was the reason for uniting supporters of the fight against unlicensed content. Thus, the largest online cinemas in the country created an association called "Internet Video". The participants agreed to work together to develop a market for legitimate products on the Internet - films, serials, etc.

"Eternal blockages"

One of the most resonant events associated with the adoption of the law was the "eternal blocking" of the popular torrent portal Rutracker.org. This site was laid out the most diverse content. Resource owners even before the passage of the law closed the distribution of files with copyright owners who complained about their posting on the Web.

In 2015, a large publishing house EKSMO filed a lawsuit in the Moscow City Court. By his decision, the site was blocked. The publishing house demanded the closure of 320,000 hands created in the ten years of the portal's existence. The owners of the site conducted a vote on their site among users. The respondents were asked how they relate to the closing of hands. The cause of this conflict between the tracker and the publisher was the "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation. The article, more specifically, Federal Law No. 187, states that in case of two defeats in the courts, the site must fall under the "eternal lock".

The Rutraker case

"Perpetual blocking" is the prohibition of access to the entire site, and not only to those materials that have been deemed unlicensed. But than such a ban differs from the usual? In former cases, Roskomnadzor restored access to Internet sites if their owners removed pirated content.

Rutracker.org threatened a ban without time limits. Site users spoke for the preservation of contentious materials. On January 19, 2016, the resource fell under the "eternal lock". Before that day, several million users visited the site each day. It was the largest Russian site of its kind.

Internet users against Roskomnadzor

The story of "Rutreker" clearly showed what "anti-piracy" law in Russia is capable of. Was this document adopted or not? Yes, it already operates in the entire Russian segment of the Internet. "Rutreker" became one of his most significant victims.

After blocking, the number of users visiting the site fell several times. However, the audience quickly mastered the tools to bypass Roscomnadzor's bans. Within a few weeks, the traffic on the site returned to its original values (before the lock). In addition, Rutreker banned rights holders to appeal the distribution. After that, the site was flooded with illegal content, with which the "anti-piracy" law fought.

Audiopsychology

Users of other resources also came up with their own ways of protesting against Roscomnadzor's decision. In addition to video production, a huge array of pirated information is in audio files. The largest storehouse of music in the Russian segment of the Internet is the social network "VKontakte". Her leadership has always complied with the requirements of Roskomnadzor and has responded to complaints from rights holders whose entries were posted by the audience on their pages.

However, users of the social network, as well as in the case of Rutraker, found a way to bypass the blockages, which led to the state's fight against piracy. People who downloaded music, began to rename the songs so that the system could not determine that this file is in the directory of prohibited content. As a result, sotsset again capturing pirated materials.