Legislation & regulation

PayPal receives license from Russian central bank; plans official launch “later in 2013”

May 23, 2013

Last week, PayPal received its license as a “Non-Credit Banking Institution” (NCBI) from the Central Bank of Russia. The international online payment giant is now allowed to work in accordance with the country’s law on payments, which was enacted in 2011. The first step of the approval procedure was completed in March. “PayPal Russia is now preparing its …

PayPal receives license from Russian central bank; plans official launch “later in 2013” Read More

Moscow startup B-152 tackles personal data storage

February 15, 2017

Moscow region entrepreneur Maxim Lagutin, 23, has come up with a powerful weapon against bureaucracy in Russia: his B-152 service independently processes and prepares companies’ personal data records of customers and staff for supervisory agencies. The service is offered for an annual fee of $250–1,600 and with an optional insurance policy. The service was named …

Moscow startup B-152 tackles personal data storage Read More

Twitter acquiesces to Russia’s content-blocking while Google battles it in court

November 19, 2014

The Russian government is making headway in persuading some of the world’s leading Internet players to block content that it has labeled as illegal. Roskomnadzor, a federal agency that oversees telecoms, IT, and mass communications, announced last Friday that it has come to an understanding on the matter with Twitter. In the first three weeks of …

Twitter acquiesces to Russia’s content-blocking while Google battles it in court Read More

Client database trafficking develops in Moscow, established e-commerce sites under threat

March 5, 2013

Last year, East-West Digital News reported on a Moscow discount site’s client database that had been leaked to crooks for $6,700. Several new cases were brought to our attention recently, suggesting there is a growing black market of client database information in Russia. Various kinds of websites are concerned, from small ones to some well-established …

Client database trafficking develops in Moscow, established e-commerce sites under threat Read More

No legal green light for Russian use of Russian-made Nokia Siemens telecom equipment

February 28, 2013

According to Russian law, the LTE equipment developed and manufactured jointly by Nokia Siemens Network and Micran in Tomsk, Siberia, is not considered “Russian-made.” This legal definition has prevented Vainakh Telecom, a telecom operator in the Republic of Chechnya, in Russia’s Northern Caucasus area, from launching its new 4G network because the network has been built using …

No legal green light for Russian use of Russian-made Nokia Siemens telecom equipment Read More

Russia’s Pirate Party set to host banned websites abroad and blacklist government blacklisters

November 19, 2014

The Pirate Party of Russia, a socio-political group campaigning for “commerce-free exchange of information on the Internet,” is launching a specialized web hosting service, Piratehost.net, just three weeks after the Russian Ministry of Justice refused to register it officially for bureaucratic reasons. In his blog, Party vice chairman Stanislav Shakirov called his group’s initiative an …

Russia’s Pirate Party set to host banned websites abroad and blacklist government blacklisters Read More

Russia masterminds ‘patent armor’ for domestic intellectual property

January 18, 2013

The Russian Ministry of Telecommunications has been tasked with developing a set of measures aimed at ensuring international legal protection of intellectual property (IP) owned by Russian companies, Venture-News.ru reported earlier this week. The work was kick-started by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in late December 2012. The planned measures are said to include government subsidies …

Russia masterminds ‘patent armor’ for domestic intellectual property Read More

Russia grants international investors preferential visa regime

January 17, 2013

Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a draft bill supplementing and amending the country’s current visa legislation. The new law grants preferential visa treatment to representatives of large international corporations investing in Russia and of companies participating in two key state-supported programs: Skolkovo, the giant tech hub under completion on the outskirts …

Russia grants international investors preferential visa regime Read More

US, Russia agree anti-piracy plan

December 27, 2012

Last week the Russian and US governments signed an agreement that contains an action plan to protect intellectual property rights. The agreement requires the parties to fight online piracy, close websites hosting litigious content, allocate funds for anti-piracy enforcement measures and coordinate efforts towards these ends. Russia will have to alter its current legislation – particularly …

US, Russia agree anti-piracy plan Read More

Russia drafts its new IP protection strategy and encourages public feedback

December 7, 2012

The Russian Ministry of Education and Science has announced the start of a public debate over this country’s new long-term intellectual property (IP) protection strategy, portal Science and Technologies Russia reported earlier this week. The document is reported to have accumulated opinions and suggestions from Russia’s leading experts who represent VC funds, venture companies and larger …

Russia drafts its new IP protection strategy and encourages public feedback Read More

Online register lists banned web content as controversial legislation comes into force

November 2, 2012

In what is being touted as a crackdown on cyber-extremism and banned information that may be harmful to children, the Russian government has opened a portal listing outlawed websites. The portal, which has been dubbed the Unified Register, will be temporarily run by the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor). The …

Online register lists banned web content as controversial legislation comes into force Read More

‘Innocence of Muslims’ banned in Russia; YouTube under judicial threat

October 3, 2012

A Moscow court on Monday condemned the film “Innocence of Muslims” as “extremist” – citing  a 2002 law regulating public expression – and has forbidden its dissemination on the territory of the Russian Federation. The court’s decision, which has not yet been announced officially, was revealed on Tuesday by Minister of Communications and Mass Media …

‘Innocence of Muslims’ banned in Russia; YouTube under judicial threat Read More

Scroll to Top

This site is under maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.

This site is under maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.