MOSCOW, August 21 (RAPSI) – Russia's federal communications agency, Roskomnadzor, will block file-sharing website Opensharing.org under a new anti-piracy law, RAPSI's sister agency Digit.ru reported Wednesday.
The Moscow City Court ordered interlocutory injunctions against the site after a copyright holder filed a complaint.
Roskomnadzor thereunder ordered the hosting provider to delete the disputed films or block access to them, but the requirement was not fulfilled. Therefore access to the website will be restricted.
The anti-piracy law took effect on August 1, despite the protests of Internet companies. The law was adopted by Russia’s lower house of parliament on June 21 and approved by the upper house on June 26.
It sets out the legal grounds and procedure for limiting access to websites that distribute movies and television shows in violation of copyrights. The law also sets out the rules for bringing to account or condoning information brokers (Internet and hosting providers).
The law’s final wording does not include music. The authors of the law said their goal was not to fight those who download pirated films, but those who distribute this kind of content. Issues of injunction and punishment are being handled exclusively by the Moscow City Court, which is accepting complaints round the clock, including online.
The court will also set the length of the injunction period (up to 15 days) during which a plaintiff can file a lawsuit. In case of failure to do so, or if the lawsuit is rejected, the organization or individual whose legal interests have been harmed by the blocking of content will be able to claim damages.
The agency then has three days to determine the hosting provider of the website and to order it to delete the pirated content. If the owner of the resource openly refuses to do so or does nothing to fulfill the regulator's order for three days, the regulator will limit access to the website.
Before filing a request for blocking access to such websites, the rights holders must provide evidence of their ownership of the content being distributed in violation of copyright.
