Russia May Legalise Piracy To Get Around Tech And Gaming Bans

In response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine and the war it's now waging there, many companies and game publishers have been taking a stand and suspending their services and the sale of their products in Russia. Amongst them are Microsoft and CD Projekt Red, the Polish studio behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3. Combined with the economic sanctions that have been placed on the country, these bans are enforced with the hope of applying pressure on Russia to end the conflict. 

Now, as reported by PC Gamer and TorrentFreak, Russian politicians are apparently working on a law which would make some software piracy legal, therefore allowing them to get around the bans that have been placed on the country. 

11 bit studios have been supporting Ukraine by donating profits from This War of Mine to help those in need - check out the trailer for the game below.

A document, named “Priority Action Plan for Ensuring the Development of the Russian Economy in the Conditions of External Sanctions Pressure”, is reportedly being worked on by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, and has described a number of policies which may be changed to overcome the bans. One of these points, found under the ‘information technology’ section, sets out a plan to waive penalties for piracy. 

“Cancellation of liability for the use of software (SW) unlicensed in the Russian Federation, owned by a copyright holder from countries that have supported the sanctions,” the point reads. As PC Gamer clarifies, this law specifically negates criminal and civil penalties if the pirated software is from a country that has supported bans and sanctions against Russia. So this isn't the nation trying to legalise all piracy, but the legislation is targeting companies from countries which have enforced bans on Russian sales and services.

TorrentFreak also notes that it’ll be interesting to see how this law would work when it comes to any services which operate via the cloud - as those should, in theory, be impossible to access without the servers in use. At this time, it’s not known when or if the law will pass.

Last night (March 9), Sony Interactive Entertainment became the latest big company to pause the sale of their products in Russia. “Sony Interactive Entertainment joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” they wrote. “We have suspended all software and hardware shipments, the launch of Gran Turismo 7, and operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia.” 

If you want to directly help the people of Ukraine who are being affected by the conflict, consider picking up this amazing charity bundle, which contains hundreds of games (including Celeste, Superhot and Minit), all for a good cause. Alternatively, you can donate directly to the British Red Cross’ Ukraine Crisis Appeal here.