“Aurora” fires under licenses – Newspaper Kommersant No. 56 (7501) dated 04/03/2023

The development of the Russian national mobile OS has caused new controversy, this time in the legal plane. Rostelecom, which defends its own Aurora OS project, claims that it is dangerous to create an OS based on Android due to Google’s harsh licensing conditions. But in Russia there are almost no developers of applications for Aurora, market participants emphasize. In addition, none of the projects yet has a system platform, which fundamentally complicates their use.

According to the interlocutor of Kommersant, who is familiar with the discussion of the national mobile OS project, at one of the last meetings (representatives of Sberbank, Yandex, Rostelecom and Astra Group were present) the question of the legal risks of developing a mobile OS was raised based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) – a conditionally open version of Android that does not include the GMS system platform (allows you to use a number of system services, such as push notifications). “When downloading the AOSP code, the client signs a license agreement, which stipulates legal obligations, including export restrictions from the United States,” the Kommersant source explains.

The interlocutor of Kommersant, close to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, confirmed that at one of the meetings the “legitimacy of using AOSP” was discussed. According to him, Rostelecom is most concerned about this issue. He owns Open Mobile Platform LLC, which develops the Aurora OS (it, like AOSP, does not have a system platform). “We ordered an opinion from an American law firm on the legal risks of creating Russian Android and applications for it – there are indeed risks,” Rostelecom confirmed.

In Sberbank, meanwhile, they say that they are still focused on creating Russian Android based on open source. “The industry, together with ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika, is discussing and working on various options, but no specific solutions have been presented yet,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko, representative of the relevant Deputy Prime Minister. The Ministry of Tsifra and ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika did not respond to Kommersant’s request. VK and Yandex declined to comment.

The issue of creating a national mobile ecosystem that will not depend on the decisions of foreign copyright holders, in particular Apple and Google, was raised at the end of 2022. Then it became known that VK, Yandex, Sberbank and Rostelecom were discussing the creation of a joint venture that would develop a Russian mobile OS based on AOSP.

But the project immediately caused widespread controversy among potential participants. The fact is that Rostelecom opposed the idea of ​​developing an OS on AOSP, promoting its own Aurora (see Kommersant on March 17).

Pen & Paper Senior Partner Anton Imennov explains that to create a full-fledged operating system, using AOSP will not be enough: you also need software development tools for Android (SDK – Software Development Kit), the use of which also requires a license agreement with Google. The license allows using the SDK exclusively for developing applications for Android devices, the use of the SDK for developing applications for other platforms, including AOSP, is expressly prohibited, the lawyer emphasizes.

“For violation of Google’s license agreement, Russian companies may face civil, administrative and criminal cases. In addition, the court may seize copies, recordings, matrices, films and other materials used and distributed in violation of the law,” says Mr. Imennov.

A source familiar with the discussion of the project says that due to the uncertainty of the legal basis for creating an OS based on AOSP, IT companies are discussing the idea of ​​developing a universal system platform that is suitable for both AOSP and Aurora. At meetings, the interlocutor of Kommersant says, she is referred to as RMS – Russian Mobile Services. “Rostelecom supported the creation of RMS as an alternative to GMS,” he added. Dmitry Altukhov, Advisor to the Director of the Internet Initiatives Development Fund, believes that the development of RMS will require 15 billion rubles. investment and will take two to three years.

Timofey Kornev