Russia could ‘legalise online piracy’ in response to sanctions

Russia’s largest torrent site could be unblocked to let citizens watch Hollywood films

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Russia could be planning on legalising piracy in the face of sanctions against the country due to its invasion of Ukraine.

State-backed publication Kommersant reports that authorities could abolish criminal and administrative responsibility "from countries that supported the sanctions" against Russia.

Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), and Samsung, among others, have all placed limits on their technology at the behest of the US and Ukrainian governments.

YouTube has pulled RT, Sputnik, and other news channels from its platform, while Meta is also restricting their access on Facebook and Instagram. In response, Russia is limiting access to Facebook but not the more popular Instagram for citizens.

Kommersant reported on Friday that there may be a mechanism for compulsory licensing for software, databases, and circuit manufacturing.

However, many big service providers do so via subscription to a cloud product – and as such many may not work if they have been pirated.

"In terms of exemption from responsibility for the use of unlicensed software, we advocate a balanced approach to stimulate the transition to Russian software,” Russia’s Ministry of Statistics is quoted as saying.

Last week, Russian politician Dmitry Ionin suggested that the country’s largest torrent site RuTracker could be unblocked to let citizens watch Hollywood films.

It comes after Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, The Walt Disney Company and Paramount Pictures announced that they are pausing the upcoming release of films in Russia in response to the “humanitarian crisis”.

Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has even called for Sony and Microsoft to remove Xbox and PlayStation support from Russian citizens to prove that they “support human values”.

One internet provider has already reportedly pulled its service for Russian customers.

Cogent Communications, a US-based company, said that “economic sanctions” and “the increasingly uncertain security situation” meant they could not continue serving customers, which reportedly include the state-backed telecom giant Rostelecom, Russian search engine Yandex, and two of Russia’s carriers MegaFon and VEON.

The Independent has reached out to the Kremlin for more information.