The next thing banned on the Russian Internet could be torrent downloads

The Internet-Initiative Development Foundation (FRII), a Kremlin-inspired NGO that finances Russian startups, has suggested that the government ban the use of torrents—a peer-to-peer file-sharing communications protocol often used in Internet piracy. According to FRII, banning torrents wouldn’t even require new legislation—authorities could outlaw the protocol simply by amending the bylaws of existing regulations.

FRII’s portfolio includes a startup called Oppty, which has developed a project that aims to block torrent file transfers and interrupt downloads initiated using the torrent protocol. FRII bases its new proposal to the Russian government on Oppty’s work.

Advances in technology allow Russia to reduce the scale of online piracy, FRII argues. This will lead to the growth of Russia’s content market, and the government’s role in this process is to support the creation of conditions for the development of such technologies, the foundation says.

Vedomosti

• Russia recently adopted new legislation against Interest piracy, allowing regulators to block entire websites for copyright infringements. After violating the law twice, Russian courts can order a website blocked forever. Under current regulations, officials can only block specific URLs, not entire torrent distributors.