Note Book

The Duma has introduced a law targeting internet piracy of copyrighted video content, a measure long debated but in the end written in such a way that many internet professionals are saying it is simply a means for cracking down on the sector.

Critics say that the law is so vaguely worded that an entire website could be blocked at the request of a copyright holder if an offensive link were posted on the site by a third party. Internet giants Google and Yandex, along with a collection of other smaller firms and groups, drew up a list of suggested improvements, but all of them were ignored.

Russian citizens also protested the law, gathering signatures for an online petition to repeal the "Russian SOPA" law and calling for a bill with clear wording and no loopholes. At press time the petition had over 80,000 of the 100,000 signatures needed to compel discussion by senior government officials.