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Russia mulls legalizing software piracy as it's cut off from Western tech:
With sanctions against Russia starting to bite, the Kremlin is mulling ways to keep businesses and the government running. The latest is a creative twist on state asset seizures, only instead of the government taking over an oil refinery, for example, Russia is considering legalizing software piracy.
Russian law already allows for the government to authorize—"without consent of the patent holder"—the use of any intellectual property "in case of emergency related to ensuring the defense and security of the state." The government hasn't taken that step yet, but it may soon, according to a report from Russian business newspaper Kommersant, spotted and translated by Kyle Mitchell, an attorney who specializes in technology law. It's yet another sign of a Cyber Curtain that's increasingly separating Russia from the West.
The plan would create "a compulsory licensing mechanism for software, databases, and technology for integrated microcircuits," the Kommersant said. It would only apply to companies from countries that have imposed sanctions. While the article doesn't name names, many large Western firms—some of which would be likely targets—have drastically scaled back business in Russia. So far, Microsoft has suspended sales of new products and services in Russia, Apple has stopped selling devices, and Samsung has stopped selling both devices and chips.
Presumably, any move by the Kremlin to "seize" IP would exempt Chinese companies, which are reportedly considering how to press their advantage. Smartphone-makers Xiaomi and Honor stand to gain, as do Chinese automakers. Still, any gains aren't guaranteed since doing business in Russia has become riddled with problems, spanning everything from logistics to finance.
Also at TorrentFreak.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday March 09 2022, @10:40PM (1 child)
Quite frankly, regardless of how hateful Russia's war and Putin are, that was my first thought: what's happening to Russia should worry even the most faithful of US allies. The US is demonstrating in no uncertain terms how much control they wield over any country's sovereignty simply by enacting orders that their world-spanning big data monopolies follow without question.
In other words, if you're in charge of any public service in any country other than the US and you run Windows, Office, Teams, Google Translate, Google drive or any SaaS, you should be tried for treason, because it's akin to giving a foreign power the kill switch to stop your organization functioning completely.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @12:22PM
The "most faithful" allies are out in front and leading the charge on this. Maybe this should wake up the US to the dangers of the "most faithful" allies? Or perhaps it is that in a global interconnected economy if one actor acts in a manner to remove themselves from that economy, they will suffer for it. The obvious solution for them, if they want to march their armies into other countries, is to be isolated from the other economies.