Pavel Vrublevsky, the founder and main owner of electronic payment company ChronoPay, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail for orchestrating a cyber attack on a competitor. This conviction is the result of a two-year legal imbroglio that some feel has been plagued with procedural infringements and bias. The Tushinsky Court of Moscow ruled last week …
ChronoPay founder jailed after controversial trial Read More
A Moscow court ruled earlier this week that Russia’s Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM) broke the law when it fined Rambler Internet Holding, a sizable Russian-language news portal and webmail service, for protecting its users’ constitutional right to privacy in email correspondence. The FSFM had ordered Rambler to disclose email information during the financial …
A prominent Russian legislator has censured Google for shifting its Russian tax burden to local contractors – just weeks after Google and other US Internet companies were accused of avoiding taxes in countries like France, Italy, and the UK. Ruslan Gattarov, a senator heading the committee for information policy of the Council of the Federation …
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, released its annual report on the personal data law last week. The agency reported 53 personal data leaks in Russia in 2012. Around 30 cases involved non-compliance with the requirements of the personal data law, while the remaining 20 cases involved an …
State authorities uncovered 53 personal data leaks in 2012 Read More
VKontakte, Russia’s biggest social network also known as VK.com, is keen on negotiating a way for its users to listen legally to the music from the world biggest record labels’ catalogues. Pavel Durov, CEO and founder of VKontakte, told Vedomosti that his company, together with Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music, is looking for …
International record labels to hold talks over music copyright with VKontakte Read More
Last week the Russian parliament passed a new law against movie piracy on the Internet, which will take effect on August 1, 2013 if signed by the President. The new regulation allows copyright holders to file lawsuits against websites violating their intellectual property. The court will issue a warrant to block the website if the violating …
New anti-piracy law for video content shocks the industry Read More
Fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow this Sunday on Aeroflot flight, two days after the US authorities charged him with espionage. His yet unknown further destination may be Cuba, Ecuador or Venezuela, according to media reports. The US government had asked Hong Kong to send Snowden home. But the Hong …
As Russian media sources air reports about VKontakte (VK.com), Russia’s largest social network, getting rid of its illegal music content, VK.com itself denies any widespread purges, mollifying user protests with a ‘business as usual’ sort of message. “VKontakte, facing the imminent adoption of Russia’s anti-piracy law, is busy removing its illegal music content – perhaps,” …
Russia pushes anti-piracy legislation; VKontakte’s laxity once again in the limelight Read More
The Court of Arbitration for Russia’s Northwest Federal District last week let stand all prior court decisions obligating VKontakte.ru (VK.com), Russia’s number one social network, to pay Gala Records, the first private record label in Russia, a total of 550,000 rubles (about $17,700) in damages for illicit displays of 11 tracks by MakSim, a Russian …
Court upholds Gala Records damage claims against VKontakte over Russian pop singer tracks Read More
Russian IT security solutions developer Kaspersky Lab plans to open a new US office in the Washington D.C. area to sell its products to the US government, Reuters reported earlier this month. One of the world’s biggest buyers of security software, the US government traditionally avoids purchasing Russian IT products out of fear that they …
Kaspersky Lab aims to “be more American than the Americans” Read More
The three-year federal embezzlement investigation into Russia’s GLONASS national satellite navigation program saw a new development earlier this month as Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court ruled to keep in custody both the former and current CEOs of Synertech, a Moscow-based company contracted for R&D work by Russian Space Systems – one of Russia’s key space exploration …
More embezzlement seen at GLONASS – $213 million total over three years Read More
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
