GristyMcFisty informs us that according to BBC
News, it is no longer easy to buy pirated
CDs and DVDs on the streets of Moscow. Since last summer there has been a marked
change. The street vendors were on every street corner but now they have been
driven underground because of Mr. Luzhkov, Moscow's mayor. He has ordered the
police to sweep the pirates off the streets and it seems to work although piracy
is still high in Russia:
 Moscow's efforts diverge sharply from the behaviours seen
elsewhere in the country. Russia's reputation when it comes to respecting
artists' rights is truly terrible. In the early 1990s, cinemas showed the
latest movies, but not one rouble went to pay the Hollywood studios that
made them. Often pirate movies were broadcast on state television. Even
now, pirate disks are openly on sale in almost every corner of Russia.
But while it is no longer easy to find pirate copies of the latest hits
from the West, Russian discs featuring the entire back catalogue of the
Beatles and other stars from their era are still on display. Russian law
offers no protection to works made before 1973.
"If you sell official wares, you have a better life, fewer problems,"
said Andrei, who sells Russian computer games. "There are a lot of checks
here and [the pirates] get a lot of problems."
But at the same time, most Russians simply cannot afford to pay several
hundred dollars for a computer programme. For that reason, it continues to
be pirated, if not as openly as
before. |
Source: BBC NEWS
