Software piracy will soon be legal in Russia!

Russia fears the consequences of sanctions against the country in the IT sector. Many large companies have announced their withdrawal from the country, preventing the purchase of much-needed software. The solution ? Piracy.

According to the Russian daily Kommersant, the Kremlin would consider authorizing the piracy of Western software. The news was spotted and translated by Kyle Mitchella attorney specialized in new technologies. This choice bears witness to the concern in the IT sector about to penalties imposed on the country and from many large international companies.

The displayed goal is not a foot of nose or a response to sanctions, but to try to find a solution to the dependence of Russia on western software. According to the newspaper, which cites an unnamed source, ” such a measure could temporarily mitigate the consequences following the departure of Russia from Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and others, say experts “.

Concern also about free software

Such a measure is already provided for in Russian law. “In case of emergency”, the government can take action without the copyright agreement. The authorities are also proposing to suspend all criminal liability for the use of unlicensed software produced by a company located in one of the countries that sanction Russia. However, the scope could be limited, as more and more software is sold as a service (SaaS) and will not work without access to the publisher’s servers.

It’s not just commercial software that worries the Russian authorities. According to another article on the russian website CNewsfree software could also be a problem. GitHub, the main platform for hosting free projects, is a subsidiary of Microsoft. The company has explicitly stated that the site will not block access to Russian developers. However, this is not enough to reassure the Russian authorities, who have offered to allocate resources to create a similar platform specific to Russia.