Russia bans purchase of foreign non-niche software in Russian state agencies

[Anton Nesterov]

Russia is just active as US on spying on it's own citizens, if not more,
yes, in the name of the same "national interests", although in this case
it seems to be more about money.

A kind of way to bypass that already found by Eset, they just partner
with Russian company and sell the same product as Russian-origin. Of
course this means that price for Eset products will be higher for
authorities and money will leave Russian budget for no reason.

Also Russian analogs which has no way to compete with foreign software
because of quality and price now can survive only by selling their shit
to the government.

And if you thought that opensource will take place of foreign
proprietary software, it's not true. Only in the form of proprietary
Russian product using some GPL/etc. codebase in violation of these licenses.

Corruption in Russia is very real and strong.

Zenaan Harkness:
> Another article on the same topic. Although I like the phrase
> "complete sovereignty of information" I think it is vague - seems they
> mean "Russian government sovereignty over all domestic information
> processing" or something, which of course will have positive flow on
> effects, at least in the medium to longer term, for the domestic
> Russian software industry. Way to go Russia! More countries should act
> in such a protectionist way. What's the point of a country if it
> doesn't look after its own citizens and national interests?
> 
> 
> http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-restricts-use-of-foreign-software-in-battle-for-information-sovereignty/550106.html
> 
> Russia Restricts Use of Foreign Software in Battle for ‘Information Sovereignty’
> 
>     By Peter Hobson
>     Nov. 20 2015 19:31
>     Last edited 19:31
> 
> VedomostiUnder Friday's order, authorities will draw up a register of
> Russian computer programs that will verify the Russianness of software
> and promote its use.
> 
> Russian officials will be barred from using foreign software from next
> year if a Russian version exists. The move, which is aimed at boosting
> Russia's national security and the country's tech industry, could cost
> foreign firms hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues.
> 
> The rules apply to local and national government entities and come
> into force on Jan. 1, 2016, according to an order signed by Prime
> Minister Dmitry Medvedev and published on the government's website on
> Friday.
> 
> The order is part of a drive to wean Russia off imports in key areas
> of industry that was accelerated after Moscow's falling out with the
> West over Ukraine last year.
> 
> It is also linked to fears of spying and sabotage by foreign
> intelligence services, who are feared to have access to software and
> equipment developed in their countries. This anxiety has led to calls
> to boycott iPhones, build a Russian operating system to rival
> Microsoft's Windows, and tighten control of the Internet.
> 
> As Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikiforov put it a
> year ago: "We stand for complete sovereignty of information."
> 
> Under Friday's order, authorities will draw up a register of Russian
> computer programs that will verify the Russianness of software and
> promote its use.
> 
> Foreign software giants such as SAP, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft
> recorded sales in Russia worth around $1.4 billion last year,
> accounting for some three-quarters of the market, according to news
> agency RBC. This included sales worth 20 billion rubles ($300 million)
> to government entities, the Kommersant newspaper reported.
> 
> It is not clear how much foreign-made software has no analogue in
> Russia, but the government is promoting local production. It also
> seeks to train more programmers, though the most talented often end up
> in the tech hubs of California.
> 
> Earlier this month Kommersant obtained a letter from the Association
> of European Businesses, a Moscow lobby group, warning that the planned
> law restricting use of non-Russian software would likely see foreign
> companies freeze investment or pull out of Russia.
> 
> Contact the author at p.hobson at imedia.ru
> 
> 


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