Jul 01, 2005: State to Monitor Internet

Yekaterina Dranitsyna
STAFF WRITER

Federal legislature to protect Internet intellectual property rights will become much stricter in 2006, a top official at the general prosecutor‘s office said Tuesday.

The government will introduce a new Internet commission that will monitor the web for illegal sites and violations of authorship rights, said Aslan Yusufov, a senior prosecutor in the legal department of the general prosecutor‘s office.

"Every person distributing intellectual property rights objects must have the author‘s permission," Yusufov said at an intellectual property rights conference held in the city this week.

The government‘s stricter stance has in part come about because of a volume of complaints from the "world community about an increasing number of Russian web sites posting information illegally," Yusufov said.

The senior prosecutor did not specify what kinds of information the new law will regulate. Yusufov could not be reached for comments on Wednesday or Thursday.

Experts say that in taking a positive step to meet world community demands the general prosecutor‘s office may face difficulties in law implementation. A particular concern is how the state will differentiate between abuses of the law, experts said, since the commission could turn into a vehicle for freedom restrictions.

"If the intention of the proposed regulations is to combat software, music or movie copyright infringement, that‘s one thing. But if everything placed on the web is going to be regulated, that‘s another," said Tom Stansmore, head of Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners legal office in St. Petersburg.

There is a worry that the regulation will affect web-based news, opinions and links to informational articles.

"There is little doubt that copyright protection is an issue that Russia needs to confront. However, the Internet has become a source for the free exchange of ideas and information, with little, if any government interference. I think it‘s important to keep it that way," Stansmore said.

What‘s more, Stansmore said that the Internet is not the first media on the gripe-list of the world community. "I‘ve been to many conferences on this topic, and the Internet is rarely indicated as a primary medium for the perpetration of copyright infringement," he said.

When they find web sites that illegally copy information or graphics, Internet agencies usually try to close or block the offending link themselves, without going as far as legal action, said Anatoly Bogdanov, director of Re:Play internet agency.

If a web server containing illegally distributed information is physically located outside the country, however, there is nothing the athorities can do, he said.

"It‘s just a new way for state officials to raise money," said Bogdanov.