📋 Tender Overview
Roskomnadzor will be able to block mirrors of pirated sites, bypassing the Ministry of Digital Development. The operator of any search engine, not just one that distributes advertising in the Russian Federation, is now obliged to stop issuing information at the request of its subject.
Federal Law No. 158-FZ dated June 22, 2024 was signed and published , amending, among other things, Article 15-6-1 of the Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection.” The law partially comes into force immediately, and partially from October.
The mentioned article was introduced in 2017 and regulates the procedure for limiting access to copies of blocked sites. In particular, this article establishes a ban on posting online sites that are confusingly similar to a site, access to which is limited by decision of the Moscow City Court due to copyright infringement.
Now reports about “mirrors” are received by the Ministry of Digital Development, and it transmits the information to Roskomnadzor. According to the new law, those who discovered the “mirror” will be able to complain directly to Roskomnadzor. He will also make a decision on recognizing the site as a copy of a prohibited one (now this decision is made by the Ministry of Digital Development). The innovation will reduce the process of restricting access to mirrors to two days.
In addition, now the obligation to stop issuing information about “mirrors” in a search engine rests solely with the operators of such systems that distribute advertising. If the operator does not distribute advertising, then, accordingly, it does not fall under the specified requirements of the law. In this regard, the amendments impose the obligation to stop issuing information about the “mirror” on all operators, regardless of whether they distribute advertising or not.
The same goes for the so-called “right to be forgotten online.” Until now, the search engine operator “distributing ... advertising that is aimed at attracting the attention of consumers located in the territory of the Russian Federation” was obliged to stop issuing information at the request of its subject. With the adoption of the law, this requirement will apply to all operators, and not just those distributing advertising in the Russian Federation.
