Russia could legalize software and content piracy to circumvent trade sanctions

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has generated a whole wave of reactions from the international community, mainly from the technology and entertainment sector. A large number of major companies have recently announced the cessation of their operations in the country led by Putin, which has caused millions of users to be unable to purchase or even use their services. Now, the authorities could seek measures that would involve the deployment of a greater amount of hacking.

Everything starts from two indications that have been collected by different portals that cover the conflict, especially on the side of the sanctions that Russia has received in recent days. Thus, there is talk of an allegedly leaked document where the plans that the Government would consider defending its economy are exposed.

Is Russia contemplating cancelling piracy punishments?

This document covers a wide variety of topics, but two sections stand out: 6.7.2 and 6.7.3 (which you can see below), where mention is made of the ” cancellation of penalties for using software without licenses from companies based in countries that impose sanctions on Russia ”.

Some of the companies that have already announced the cessation of operations have been Netflix, Sony, Disney, Amazon, Warner Bros, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. The latter is of crucial importance for all types of internet transactions.

The document also notes that Russians could import foreign products without having the consent of copyright holders.

Russian torrent sites unblocked?

Another clue was a since-deleted tweet (picked up by the Gazeta.ru portal) indicating that politician Dmitry Ionin had suggested unblocking the popular RuTracker torrent tracker. This is a popular site where pirated content is often shared.

The prohibition of sites like these is general in territories such as the United States (especially after the Soup Law); however, Russia could fuel a wave of hacking and even cyber insecurity on the web.