Russian censorship board threatens to block search giant Yandex due to pirated content

Update, 31st August 2018: Yandex has refused to remove pirated content. According to a statement from the company, Yandex believes that the law is being misinterpreted. While pirate content must be removed from sites hosting it, the removal of links to such content on search engines falls outside the scope of the current legislation. 

“In accordance with the Federal Law On Information, Information Technologies, and Information Protection, the mechanics are as follows: pirated content should be blocked by site owners and on the so-called mirrors of these sites,” Yandex says.

A Yandex spokesperson said that the company works in “full compliance” with the law. “We will work with market participants to find a solution within the existing legal framework.” Check out more info on Interfax.

Roskomnadzor has found Russian search giant Yandex guilty of holding pirated content. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media or Roskomnadzor is the Russian federal executive body responsible for censorship in media and telecommunications.

The Moscow City Court found the website guilty of including links to pirated content last week. The search giant was asked to remove those links and the mandate was further reiterated by Roskomnadzor this week. Per the authorities, if Yandex does not take action within today, its video platform will be blocked by the country's ISPs.

Last week, major Russian broadcasters Gazprom-Media, National Media Group (NMG), and others had protested against pirated content by removing their TV channels from Yandex’s ‘TV Online’ service. They said that they would allow their content to appear again only if Yandex removes pirated content completely. Following this, Gazprom-Media had filed a copyright infringement complaint with the Moscow City Court. Subsequently, the Moscow Court made a decision compelling Yandex to remove links to pirated TV shows belonging to Gazprom-Media.

Pirate content has been a long-standing challenge for the telecom sector that is yet to be completely eradicated. Not only does it lead to a loss in revenues, but also a person watching illegal movies violates copyright and intellectual property laws. The Yandex website is heavily populated with pirated content, especially TV shows and movies.

Source: Yandex.video

In a statement to Interfax, Deputy Head of Roskomnadzor Vadim Subbotin warned that Yandex.video will be blocked Thursday night (August 30) if the pirate links aren’t removed.

“If the company does not take measures, then according to the law, the Yandex.Video service must be blocked. There’s nowhere to go,” Subbotin said.

The search giant has not yet responded to this accusation. You can check out the detailed coverage of the news on Interfax.

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