Self-Regulation vs. State Control. How to Stimulate the Consumption of Legal Content?
By various estimates, Internet penetration in Russia currently stands at about 75% of the country’s adult population (16+) (totalling some 90 million people), while the main trend in recent years has been growth in mobile traffic. When any user can comfortably use Internet content, the problem of piracy is particularly acute. Many countries are either introducing or improving their national anti-piracy legislation. At the same time, the percentage of pirated content in the global network remains high, causing enormous losses to rights holders that are estimated in trillions of dollars. Over the past few years, Russia has developed one of the most effective anti-piracy laws in the world. For instance, legal online video services in Russia reported a 20% year-on-year increase in revenue in 2018, and annual revenue this year might reach RUB 14 billion. A key aspect of effective copyright protection on the Internet is seen as achieving a balance between state regulation and industry self-regulation. In Russia, the first yet extremely important steps in this direction have already been taken by the biggest Russian rights holders and IT companies towards developing and signing a Memorandum of Cooperation in the Field of Protection of Exclusive Rights in the Era of Digital Technology Development, which provides for links to pirated sites to be taken down from search results on a self-regulatory basis. As part of this campaign, along with government agencies, the biggest Russian rights holders and IT companies are actively fighting Internet piracy.
Moderator
Igor Poletaev,
Anchor, NTV
Panellists
Gregory Abovsky,
Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Yandex
Koh Jean,
President, Korea Mobile Internet Business Association (MOIBA)
Alexander Zharov,
Head, Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor)
Alexey Krasnov,
Deputy General Director, Gazprom-Media Holding
Vyacheslav Murugov,
General Director, CTC Media
Oleg Tumanov,
Chief Executive Officer, IVI.ru
Konstantin Ernst,
General Director, Channel One Russia
Front row participants
Leonid Agronov,
Head, National Federation of the Music Industry (NFMI)
Mikhail Demin,
President, Media Communication Union (MKS)
Ekaterina Lapshina,
Member of the Management Committee, Rambler Group; Independent Member of the Board of Directors, RT-Business Development
Vyacheslav Nikolaev,
Member of the Management Board, Vice President for Marketing, MTS
Sergei Selyanov,
Chairman of Board, Association of Film and Television Producers (AFTP); Head, STV Film Company