The Russian government has warned torrent site owners about an additional anti-piracy law that will take effect the 1st of May this year. The announced amendment makes it possible for the Russian government to block sites that distribute pirated books, music and software. Previously the Russian law only allowed blocking sites that offered pirated movies and TV series for download.
According to Sergey Zhelezniak, deputy speaker of Russia's lower house, torrent site owners still have until May 1st to enter into dialogue with the owners of the content being distributed illegally through their sites. Those parties would be willing to talk, Zhelezniak said.
Sites that continue to do business as usual risk a permanent block, likely by internet providers that will be forced to block access to their customers. The decision to block a site is a matter of minutes, according to Zhelezniak.
In the recent years, companies like Youtube, Facebook and Twitter were repeatedly asked to remove videos or pages that criticized the government. Starting September, Russia will also force internet companies to store any personal data on Russian citizens on servers based in Russia.
