Russia Wants Social Networks to Be Liable for Users' Piracy Acts

[CrAKeN]

 

vKontakte among sites targeted by Russian lawmakers

 

The Russian government wants to hold social networks liable for the piracy their users commit. More specifically, the Ministry of Culture wants social networks to no longer be seen as "information intermediaries" so they can be held accountable when users post content that infringes on copyright. 

 

TorrentFreak reports that Russia had had quite a few problems with social media users posting full movies, TV shows and music via platforms such as vKontakte, which is the local Facebook. Sites claim to be compliant with copyright law and say they've signed licensing deals and bought content recognition software. Still, the government feels like they aren't putting in all the effort to reduce infringement.

 

Nonetheless, this has been a long-lasting battle between vKontakte and the local authorities. Social networks have a special status in Russia, falling under the category of "information intermediary." this means that they're pretty much on the same level as Internet Service Providers who cannot be held liable for the infringing acts their customers are guilty of.

 

Now that the Ministry of Culture believes much of the copyright infringement takes place over social networks, it wants to strip them of their special status so they can be held liable alongside those doing the crime.

 

More than just words

Russian site Izvestia reports the relevant bill has been drafted already and it is waiting to be presented to the public.

 

"Today, virtually all Internet traffic is comprised of audiovisual content, all supplied by content creators and often not paid for. Measures should be taken - such as those in the MInistr of Culture bill, and many others - to drive illegal content into the 'ghetto.' Piracy is theft, and it must be fought," a content producer told Izvestia.

 

Unsurprisingly, copyright owners see the problem in black and white, something that can be observed across the globe. The issue is a lot more complicated, however, as platform providers would have to conduct a full legal analysis of every file uploaded by their users, which isn't a viable option.

 

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