Russia’s absorption of the Crimea region in early 2014 continues to be a source of friction between Washington and Moscow. The issue was illustrated recently by several US firms which cut ties with the disputed territory altogether. Due to sanctions placed on the region last year by the US authorities, which include an export ban of …
Russia’s media watchdog has issued a warning to an online news site for publishing a religiously themed caricature that lampooned “one of the faiths,” despite an appeal to avoid such cartoons in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack. In line with Russia’s law on extremism, the caricature published by the Respublika news site was seen “to incite various sorts of enmity,” a spokesman for the Roskomnadzor media watchdog, Vadim Ampelonsky, …
Russia’s media watchdog slaps site with warning over religious cartoon Read More
Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development has reacted negatively to the bill to ban cash equivalents, including electronic money, such as bitcoins. It said the proposed ban could hit major telecom operators, retailers and banks hard. The Ministry of Finance has developed a draft law on the introduction of responsibility for handling cash equivalents after President …
Yes to bitcoin! Russian ministry says quasi-money ban may endanger banks, retailers Read More
Last week, the lower house of the Russian parliament adopted amendments making personal data storage on domestic servers mandatory as early as September 2015 – instead of September 2016 as previously foreseen by legislation adopted this past summer. In October, Russian lawmakers had considered an even earlier deadline (January 1, 2015). However, the period allowed for compliance …
Personal data storage on Russian servers will be mandatory starting from September 2015 Read More
Much speculation appeared today in the media following Google’s decision to move about one hundred of its engineers from its Russia office to other locations. A major US site thus suggested that Google’s move could be related to the “changing climate in Russia [which] may lead more Internet companies to move their operations to other …
Google shuts down engineering office in Russia: Much ado about nothing? Read More
Developers in Russia are putting up their feet today — that is, after they have finished stomping around in frustration for a little while. It’s emerged that Russia’s regulator RosComNadzor has blocked GitHub after the popular software and coding collaboration platform was found to be hosting content related to suicide — specifically, see this file that details 32 ways to kill yourself. The “block” …
Russia blacklists, blocks GitHub over pages that refer to suicide Read More
Starting next May, websites guilty of more than one copyright violation will be permanently blocked in the country. The move comes as part of a new anti-piracy bill signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, ramping up what many critics see as an already draconian set of copyright protection rules. Once a website is blocked by a court decision, it cannot be unblocked, according to the …
Russia to block piracy websites permanently after one copyright violation Read More
The Russian government agency looking to enforce new restrictions on the Internet has asked Twitter and Facebook to send representatives to Russia to discuss the laws. A spokesman for Russian government media regulator Roscomnadzor confirmed the planned meetings. The new laws require bloggers to register with the government and Internet data regarding Russians to be stored …
Russian agency looks to meet with Twitter, Facebook on new laws Read More
Mail.Ru Group has begun another round of talks with Western rights holders about legalizing the music available via its resources – including Russia’s largest social network VKontakte (VK.com), – reports business daily Vedomosti, citing the company’s employees. The LSE-listed Internet group is being assisted in the negotiations to legalize the music on all its social networks …
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represent six major Hollywood studios, has informed the US Government about two dozen piracy-promoting websites it would like to be gone. Alongside with major torrent sites The Pirate Bay and Kickass.to, the list includes – as in previous years – Russia’s leading social network Vkontakte (VK), file-hosting service …
Vkontakte still facilitates IP rights breaches, says US industry association Read More
In what looks as a final decision after a long period of discussions and unconfirmed announcements, Russia Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukaev announced yesterday a new threshold for customs taxation affecting cross-border sales to Russian online consumers. These will continue to enjoy tax-free shopping through foreign retailers, as long as their purchases do not exceed …
Cross-border sales to Russia: super mild tax regime maintained Read More
Last month, the lower house of the Russian parliament discussed new amendments to make personal data storage on domestic servers mandatory as early as January 2015 – instead of 2016 as previously foreseen by new legislation adopted this past summer. Those amendments were adopted in their first and second readings. The period allowed for compliance …
Lawmakers drop Jan. 1 deadline for mandatory personal data storage on Russian servers Read More
