Experts have warned about the risk of leaving YouTube from Russia – Lenta.ru

a YouTube Video can leave Russia in the case of the adoption of the draft law on limiting foreign participation in audiovisual services. About it writes on Wednesday, 30 November, “Kommersant” with reference to the legal Committee Mediacommunications Union (ISS), has developed amendments to the document.

the Bill restricting the activities of online cinema, was submitted to the state Duma on 25 November, the deputies Andrei Lugovoi and Samail by Saralieva. By analogy with the law on mass media it offers from 2017 to limit the share in the companies-organizers of audiovisual services from professional content, which is owned by foreigners to 20 percent.

Under the law can get resources daily attendance of which is in Russia exceeds 100 thousand users or 20 thousand in the same region. The services with this audience should be included in a special register.

As noted in the conclusion of the legal Committee of the ISS, under this concept falls YouTube because it hosts both professional and user generated content, and the passage of the bill could lead to the departure of the service from Russia. Currently the owner of the hosting service Google has cache servers in the Russian Federation.

to meet the requirements of the law, the company will have to use the foreign courts that “will lead to a sharp increase in foreign exchange costs of all operators and deterioration in the quality of services,” warned the source of “Kommersant” familiar with the drafting of the bill. He recalled that on YouTube over 30 per cent of the total consumption of traffic of the Russian users.

the report also stated that the law limits competition and is aimed at benefiting individual participants of the market, forcing users to go to the darknet (tor and VPN).

In August, it was reported that the Ministry of communications of the Russian Federation proposes to prohibit foreigners to own traffic exchange points in Russia. In office felt that the essential elements of Internet infrastructure in Russia needs to hold either the state or only Russian individuals and legal entities. The Ministry was not against it, if the owners of the exchange points will be foreigners, but their share should not exceed 20 percent.