Russia effectively legalises games and software piracy in fight against sanctions

pocket-lint.com:

(Pocket-lint) — Russia has allegedly pushed forward with plans to effectively legalise videogame and software piracy.

It has told Russian companies that they no longer have to pay for or respect the intellectual properties of Western firms who support the wide-ranging sanctions.

PlayStation, Xbox, Apple and Adobe are among many companies and publishers to have withdrawn their products from sale in Russia, after its unprovoked and devastating invasion of Ukraine.

To counter these sanctions, the Russian government is said to have introduced new laws that allows the use «innovations from unfriendly countries» without having to pay the original patent holder.

As reported by City A.M. (which cites the state-backed newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta), Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development had told media that these proposals were being considered: «The possibility of lifting restrictions on the use of intellectual property contained in certain goods, the supply of which to Russia is limited, is being considered,” it said.

»This will smooth out the impact on the market of breaks in supply chains, as well as the shortage of goods and services that arose due to new sanctions by Western countries."

According to the financial site, ministers in the country are even considering unblocking torrent websites to allow for Russian people to watch pirated Hollywood blockbusters.

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