Medvedev called for illegal downloading of Western content, “so that they go bankrupt”

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that if he used to be negative about downloading pirated copies of foreign films and music, now he supports this method of obtaining content. He considers it right not only to download, but also to distribute on the Internet copies of works that are now unavailable in Russia.

In an interview with Russian media and VKontakte users, he said that earlier, as a lawyer, he “thought it was better to overpay.” However, now that many foreign streaming services, including Netfix, have stopped working in Russia, Mr. Medvedev considers it normal to download the content they release.

“You know what? Look for the right pirates and download from them … Now I’m on the principle of “what you wanted, you got it.” And let them not get money. We recently discussed that they need to be deprived of some of their non-property rights, in legal language, which they collect here. Now, if they left us – all sorts of Netflix and others, then we will download it all, we will use it for free. I would also scatter all this over the network in order to cause them maximum damage, so that they go bankrupt, ”he said.

Against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, many foreign streaming platforms left Russia, and the largest rights holders like Universal, Disney, Sony, Warner suspended their work in the country and began to withdraw licenses to show their films. This has led to an influx of users to pirated video services. Dmitry Medvede said back in January that Russia should be allowed to use the intellectual property of some foreign companies “without any licenses and payment of royalties.” In his opinion, such a decision could be a response for corporations that have stopped selling their products in the country.

Details – in the material “Kommersant FM” “Content is being piracy”.

Laura Keffer