An important “anti-piracy” law for the whole Internet appeared in Russia in 2013. Since then, he has survived several editions. Its adoption led to a heated public debate about the future of the World Wide Web and free access to information.
Background
What is the "anti-piracy" law? Why did the state accept it? The proliferation of the Internet has transformed the whole idea of the availability of information. When the Network first appeared in Russia, it was not regulated by anything and was available to a small layer of users. The first providers appeared in Moscow in the 90s. Their channel speed was extremely low.
Over time, the industry has developed markedly. The largest mobile operators began to offer the services of Internet providers. In the zero years, the Network became publicly available. Two factors contributed to this. Firstly, each home has its own personal computer. Secondly, the prices for Internet services have decreased.
Along with the avalanche-like audience growth, more and more different content began to appear on the Web: music, books, films ... In fact, people got free access to intellectual property. Changes in the market hit the recording industry painfully, etc. Copyright holders, studios and writers increasingly began to turn to the state with a request to deal with the "piracy" situation. At first, this was called illegal downloading of various files on informal slang. Later, the term took root in official use. So got its name "anti-piracy" law.
Lock mechanism
In 2013, the State Duma began the work of a group of deputies from the committee on communications and communications. Its result was an "anti-piracy" law. He had to allow the blocking of sites if they contained unlicensed content. In this case, the initiative belongs to the copyright holder. If the owner of the film found out that on a certain site there is his property, which got there illegally, he could contact the appropriate state authorities.
At first it was planned that the law would apply to any kind of information on the Internet. After making certain amendments, it was decided to limit the effect of this rule to video content only. A year later, the list was expanded again. In this case, the copyright holder must prove that he is the owner of the product. Disputes with site owners are settled through the courts. For this, the owner must file a lawsuit. If the copyright holder loses the case, then he undertakes to pay compensation to the site owner and all persons who have suffered losses due to the court and premature blocking.
Roskomnadzor
In order for the “anti-piracy” law to really work, the government needed a department that would block sites. For this purpose, Roskomnadzor, which is part of the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications, was chosen.
When the anti-piracy law was passed, the Federal Service received all the necessary tools to block sites for five days. From the very beginning it was not clear how much money would be needed to provide the department with all the necessary resources. On the second day of the law, Roskomnadzor asked for 100 million rubles a year to combat piracy. To work with blocked sites, a special unit was created in which 25 employees were employed.
Adoption of law
The Russian "anti-piracy" law was developed and adopted in an extremely short time. On June 6, 2013, several State Duma deputies from three parliamentary parties submitted their draft for consideration. The discussion turned out to be fleeting. On June 21, the "anti-piracy" law was passed in the third reading. The only person to vote against him was Just Russia deputy Dmitry Gudkov.
On June 26, the bill was approved by the Federation Council, and on July 2 it was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Its standards entered into force on August 1, 2013.
Criticism in the Internet Industry
Even before the "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation came into force, it was criticized by the largest domestic and foreign Internet companies (Yandex, Mail.ru, Google). Opponents of the project said that the new powers of Roskomnadzor would not only harm the copyright holders themselves, but also lead to censorship on the Web.
Also, "Yandex" noted that the deputies decided to adopt new standards for the entire industry, without consulting with specialists. The State Duma did not respond to expert and public opinion. Internet companies asked if not to cancel, then at least finalize the "anti-piracy" law in Russia.
Google advocated for pre-trial notification and withdrawal of content. The problem was that Roskomnadzor could block the site without even warning its owners and not giving time to correct errors (removal of unlicensed products). Yandex experts, among other things, added that closing the entire site does not make sense. With the blocking of the site, the content that fully complies with the law becomes inaccessible. Therefore, experts noted that it is best to block prohibited products through a direct link to it. In this case, the rest of the content will not be affected.
Lock Fight
When the "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation was only adopted in the Duma, many Internet industry experts said that blocking by IP address is meaningless. The mechanism of this procedure is as follows: Roskomnadzor cannot delete the site and destroy the prohibited content, therefore, the department closes the "doors" leading to the site to users. This is done with the help of Internet providers. Operators working in Russia receive a notification from the state that a particular site is now blacklisted. The provider blocks the traffic of users who want to visit it.
But these measures do not harm the site itself. He continues to work on his own server. It can be opened in the same mode abroad, where Roskomnadzor has no authority. Therefore, immediately after the adoption of the law, various technical means of bypassing locks began to gain popularity in the Russian segment of the Internet. For example, anonymizers direct user traffic to an IP address in another country. Thus, a person who wants to download something on the Internet can easily bypass the lock.
Negative effects of the law
Yandex and Mail.ru also asked deputies to take into account the experience of foreign countries in the fight against piracy. The companies decided that the mechanisms of Roskomnadzor create the basis for abuses and offenses. For example, an agency may block a bona fide resource. Even if this happens by mistake, and not by malicious intent, the loss of the site owner will be the same.
The Russian Association of Electronic Communications has presented to the public its report on what the "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation threatens. The essence of its shortcomings is that the owners of Russian sites will begin to “move” to other countries. This is done very simply. The entire Internet is divided into domains belonging to different countries. In Russia it is “.ru”. If the owner of the resource “transfers” it to the conditional “.com”, then this will be an additional blow for the entire domestic segment of the World Wide Web.
Experts asked for amendments to smooth out the sharpest corners. In their opinion, the law should not have violated the foundations of the functioning of the free Internet. In addition, some market participants began to fear that the new standards would turn out to be a tool for solving the commercial tasks of certain copyright holders at the expense of site owners.
Public response
Many websites, in disagreement with the new rules, temporarily stopped working on the day when the "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation came into force. The signing date of this document was the impetus for the consolidation of various participants in the virtual network. On August 1, 2013, more than a thousand sites turned off their servers. Protests took place on the streets. So, the "Pirate Party of Russia" held several rallies and concerts in major cities.
On the Internet, the collection of virtual signatures for a petition to the authorities has begun. According to the rules, for the initiative to be submitted to the State Duma for consideration, it must be supported by at least one hundred thousand people. The required number of signatures was indeed collected in the very first weeks after the adoption of the bill. However, this civic initiative did not lead to any noticeable consequences. The petition was rejected in October 2013.
The adoption of the law was the reason for the association of supporters of the fight against unlicensed content. So, the largest online cinemas in the country have created an association called "Internet video". The participants agreed by common efforts to develop the market for legitimate products on the Internet - films, series, etc.
“Eternal locks”
One of the most resonant events related to the adoption of the law was the “perpetual blocking” of the popular torrent portal Rutracker.org. On this site laid out a variety of content. The resource owners even before distributing the law closed distributions with files, the copyright holders of which complained about their placement on the Web.
In 2015, a major publishing company EKSMO filed a lawsuit with the Moscow City Court. By his decision, the site was blocked. The publishing house demanded the closure of 320 thousand distributions created over the ten years of the portal's existence. The owners of the site held a vote among users on their resource. Respondents were asked how they feel about closing distributions. The reason for this conflict between the tracker and the publisher was the "anti-piracy" law in the Russian Federation. The article, or rather, Federal Law No. 187, states that in the event of two defeats in the courts, the site should fall under the “eternal block”.
The Rutreker Case
“Eternal blocking” is a ban on access to the entire site, and not only to those materials that were recognized as unlicensed. But how is such a ban different from the usual? In previous cases, Roskomnadzor restored access to websites if their owners deleted pirated content.
Rutracker.org was threatened with a ban without time limits. Site users spoke out for the preservation of controversial materials. On January 19, 2016, the resource came under an “eternal block”. Until that day, several million users visited the site every day. It was the largest Russian site of its kind.
Internet users vs Roskomnadzor
The story with Rutreker clearly showed what the "anti-piracy" law is capable of in Russia. Is this document accepted or not? Yes, it already operates in the entire Russian segment of the Internet. Rutreker has become one of its most significant victims.
After blocking, the number of users visiting the site fell several times. However, the audience quickly mastered the tools to circumvent the prohibitions of Roskomnadzor. Within a few weeks, traffic on the site returned to its original values (before blocking). In addition, Rutreker forbade copyright holders to appeal the distribution. After that, the site was flooded with illegal content, which the "anti-piracy" law fought against.
Audio piracy
Users of other resources also came up with their own ways of protesting against the decision of Roskomnadzor. In addition to video production, a huge array of pirated information is in audio files. The largest repository of music in the Russian segment of the Internet is the VKontakte social network. Her leadership always complied with the instructions of Roskomnadzor and responded to complaints from copyright holders whose records were posted by the audience on their pages.
However, users of the social network, as in the case of Rutreker, found a way to circumvent the blockages that the state’s fight against piracy led to. People who downloaded music began to rename songs so that the system could not determine that this file was in the directory of prohibited content. As a result, the social network was again flooded with pirated materials.