Internet companies wrote an open letter to Putin about the dangers of the Mikhalkov bill

The largest Internet companies and associations of rightholders have written an open letter to President Putin asking them not to accept N. Mikhalkov’s proposals on a fixed collection of funds from Internet providers in favor of the Russian Union of Rights Holders (RSP). Mikhalkov, on behalf of RSP, personally presented to Putin in October 2014 the concept that it is necessary to collect a fixed amount from Internet providers (and in fact, from all users) for using copyrighted materials. Such an amount in the amount of $ 200-600 million per year should be transferred to the CPR, which will then distribute it among authors and rightholders. Approximately in the same way, the collection of 1% of the cost from manufacturers and importers of audio and video equipment, which was also initiated by the RSP, is now working.

According to Lenta.ru , the letter, the text of which is not yet available to the general public, says: “We, representatives of the Russian Internet industry, rights holders and telecom companies, believe that the concept and the project, when implemented, can cause serious harm to citizens” . It states that the proposed introduction of a tax on the use of the Internet for all citizens "in favor of a certain group of persons", as well as the introduction of a system for recording and analyzing all traffic, similar to the PRISM of the US National Security Agency, is contrary to the Constitution and the Tax Code. This violates the right to privacy of correspondence and privacy. In addition, the concept does not comply with the requirements of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

In the opinion of Internet companies, right holders will also suffer. They will not be able to receive income from their intellectual property by alternative methods. As already reported on GeekTimes , the initiative did not find an echo in the hearts of not only representatives of various associations, but even employees of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media .
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The letter was signed by representatives of such companies as Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Rambler & Co, as well as the National Federation of the music industry, the Internet Video Association and the Internet Publishers Association.