On Monday, the Tashkent City Court in Uzbekistan handed down a decision ordering the forfeiture of assets held by a local mobile service operator in a controversial ruling that may cause the operator’s owner, Russia’s MTS, to charge off a loss of up to $1 billion, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. The Court’s …
MTS assets seized in Uzbekistan; mobile operator envisions $1 billion loss Read More
QRGL, a startup established in Russia’s third largest city Ekaterinburg in the Ural mountains, secured $1 million from Veles Capital, a Moscow asset management company, regional portal 66.ru reported last week. Veles Capital will receive a two-third stake in the company. Founded in April 2010 by Pavel Medvedev, QRGL has developed an anti-counterfeit technology that …
The Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) announced the results of the long-awaited tender to allocate four natiowide LTE frequencies, which took place last week. The results brought no surprises, with the “Big Three” Russian mobile operators MTS, Megafon and Vimpelcom, as well as the national …
LTE tenders won by leading national operators; Sweden’s Tele2 kept off the game Read More
In a feint that has galvanized the Apple community and exposed an apparent flaw in the iOS, a Russian hacker has dodged official in-app purchase procedures and conned Apple’s App Store into letting him get paid content for free, Macworld magazine reports. Upon completing his hack last week, Alexey Borodin, the developer of the procedure, …
Russian hacker takes iOS in-app purchasing for a ride; Apple’s response middle-of-the-road Read More
This week, the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, adopted controversial amendments to the Russian laws on telecommunications and information, with the stated intention of protecting children from online dangers ranging from pornography to “pro-suicide” and “pro-drugs” propaganda. Following a suggestion from the ‘Safe Internet League,’ a non-governmental organization formed last year, a register of …
Duma adopts controversial legislation on harmful Internet content Read More
The US firm Information Protection and Authentication of Texas (IPAT) has lost its suit for patent violation in an American court against Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based publisher of Internet security solutions. In December 2008 IPAT filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Texas against a group of IT companies – including McAfee, Microsoft, …
Kaspersky Lab wins lawsuit against US patent troll Read More
Twelve major Russian online retailers have founded the ‘Association of Internet Commerce Companies’ (AKIT in Russian), with the aim of combating market opacity and distortions as well as of “guaranteeing users’ security and trust.” The association has opened hostilities against ‘gray’ e-retailers, those who avoid taxes in order to sell cheaper and maximize their profits. …
New online retailer association at war with gray commerce and marketplace’s influence Read More
What is the first thing you normally do when you want to buy, say, an LCD TV over the Internet? Let me guess: you go to Russia’s leading online marketplace, Yandex Market, and look for the desired product – then buy it wherever it’s cheapest. Here is the paradox: the best offers usually come not …
Gala Records, Russia’s first private music record label, has withdrawn six legal claims it earlier advanced against Mail.ru Group for alleged rights infringement and instead inked a license agreement with the leading Russian Internet company, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported on Monday, citing direct exchanges with the two companies’ spokespersons. Under the terms of …
In yet another investigative deadlock only too common for cybercrime cases in Russia, Moscow police have suspended what could have become a bellwether inquiry into a copyright infringement offence, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported earlier this week, citing an official police source. A 27-year-old Muscovite has been suspected of having “replicated and disseminated” 18 copyrighted music …
Police drop the ball on copyright complaint; culprit remains unidentified Read More
Russia’s e-book market has been growing at a robust CAGR of 120% over the past three years, swelling from 11 million rubles (just under $370,000) in 2008 to 135 million rubles ($4.5 million) in 2011, Russia’s Federal Press and Mass Communication Agency reports in its overview of the national book market’s progress and trends for …
E-books now 5% of market, but pirates still dominate Read More
The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation for the City of Moscow has initiated proceedings against the furniture company Shatura for distributing advertisements via SMS without users’ consent (SMS spam). During the check, the Antimonopoly Service established that Shatura had violated the article of the Federal Law on Advertising which forbids the distribution of …
Federal Antimonopoly Service initiates proceedings relating to SMS spam Read More
