The interdepartmental council of four Russian ministries will discuss new amendments to the Civil Code to make Internet providers responsible for users distributing pirated content, primarily movies and make them remove such content.
The adoption of such amendments is a serious step forward, says the "Novaya Gazeta" computer observer Yuri Revich:
"These amendments to the Civil Code will be significant, as relations with the Internet providers are not legally fixed in Russia".
The expert believes that users and providers should share responsibility for piracy as owners of large portals and social networks, where such content is located, are often the only ones blamed. Yuri Revich remembers an open suit brought by Russia's State Broadcasting Company against mail.ru concerning users putting out pirated TV series. Such resources don't have time to distinguish pirated content from the legal one, as everything is being uploaded in real-time mode, Yuri Revich says.
However, such providers' functions are also doubtful. It is technically difficult for providers to trace flows of counterfeit, believes an expert from «Padva and Epstein» legal association Natalia Maltseva:
"The working out of amendments should certainly be conducted, but it should be thought out and effective. It is technically difficult to reveal pirated content as providers have a vast number of users. Besides, if these amendments are adopted, it is necessary to discuss not only amendments to the Civil Code, but also to the remedial legislation which will allow punishment of those guilty".
The fight against Internet piracy could be effective if the ru.net were not the world wide web segment, believes the expert Andrey Masalovich .
"Piracy will not be defeated. One of its types are botnets, which are software agents, or robots, that run autonomously and automatically disseminate forbidden content. Another problem is trunk providers possessing the intercontinental Internet. They get money only for traffic. The more pirated traffic goes through them, the more money they get".
New amendments will rest upon the corresponding laws of the US and Europe, namely, the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the French law "Creativity and the Internet", more known as the "three strikes law". It allows disconnection of users convicted of piracy. If Russian providers use this experience the situation with piracy in ru.net can be stabilized, experts believe.
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