Softsem is indispensable without foreigners – Newspaper Kommersant No. 243 (7444) of 12/29/2022
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The Ministry of Digital Development, together with participants in the IT market, is preparing a bill on compulsory licensing of foreign software, the developers of which have stopped working in the Russian Federation. According to Kommersant, the ministry proposes a mechanism by which Russian companies will be able to transfer payment for the use of software to special accounts on demand of the right holder. At the same time, unlicensed use of software will be decriminalized. In the industry, opinions are divided on such a measure: some believe that it will slow down import substitution, others that it will keep critical IT systems operational.
“Kommersant” got acquainted with the letter of Dmitry Nikitin, Director of the IT Industry Development Department of the Ministry of Digital Development, sent to the “Public Consumer Initiative” on December 12. The official writes that in the conditions of foreign software developers leaving the Russian Federation, the issue of its use “acquires particular relevance and requires regulation.” In this regard, it follows from the document, the government “is considering the issue of determining special conditions for the use of foreign software, in respect of which it is impossible for conscientious Russian users to fulfill existing contractual obligations.”
The interlocutor of Kommersant, who is familiar with the course of the discussion, says that the Ministry of Digital Transformation, together with market participants, is discussing a bill that, on the one hand, “decriminalizes” the illegal use of software by foreign companies that have stopped supporting and updating software in the Russian Federation, and on the other hand, will launch a mechanism its compulsory licensing.
Russian clients will transfer payment to a special account, the funds “will be transferred to the right holders on demand.”
Prospects for compulsory licensing of software are being discussed by representatives of IT associations and the Ministry of Digital Development, the interlocutor of Kommersant confirms in one of them. According to a source close to the Ministry of Tsifra, Deputy Minister Maxim Parshin noted at a meeting on December 28 that the initiative “is being worked out in a closed mode from the market”, we are talking about “a separate bill.”
In Mintsifra “Kommersant” did not comment on this information. But Minister Maksut Shadayev, at a webinar with the IT industry on December 28, said that “conditions are needed under which businesses could use foreign software.” “Business is not to blame that the developer left the country and it is impossible to renew licenses. We must create a separate mechanism for conscientious users,” the minister explained.
In August, Dmitry Kuznetsov, a State Duma deputy from the A Just Russia For Truth (SRZP) party, was already introducing a draft law on compulsory licensing of objects of copyright and related rights (including software, film and video products, databases) of copyright holders who left the Russian market after start of hostilities in Ukraine. But the measure did not find support from either market participants or regulators: the Ministry of Digital Development considered the project unfinished (see Kommersant from 8 September and October 7th).
According to Anatoly Semyonov, deputy chairman of the RSPP Committee on Intellectual Property, who is a member of the working group on the bill, a new version is being prepared.
The Civil Code (CC) already contains grounds for compulsory licensing, but it can only be used in certain cases (in relation to licenses for inventions, industrial designs, utility models and breeding achievements), and the license itself is granted by court order, Pen & Co. Paper Victor Rykov. Thus, he believes, in order to launch the new mechanism, amendments to the Civil Code will be required.
Vasily Shpak, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, on the consequences of Microsoft leaving the Russian market, July 4 (quote from TASS):
“In that sense, whether Microsoft is in the market or Microsoft is not in the market doesn’t have much of an impact.”
“Decriminalization” of illegal use of software will significantly slow down the pace of software import substitution and cause damage to the entire Russian IT market, says Pavel Kalyakin, CEO of MyOffice: “In addition, foreign software manufacturers can use any possible means to remotely monitor the actions of Russian users” . The implementation of the initiative will, “essentially, just wait for the return of copyright holders to the country,” said Vladimir Zakharov, head of Datana.
At the same time, iPavlov CEO Laurent Hakobyan does not see any contradictions between the compulsory licensing mechanism and software import substitution: “Their combination allows, in unstable times, to ensure the uninterrupted use of software required by critical IT systems.” The head of the board of directors of Basalt SPO, Alexei Smirnov, believes that in the current situation the measure is necessary, but it should be improved: “It is logical to establish a double payment for software, in which 50% of the funds go to a special account, and another 50% to support Russian developers.”
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