MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti)
Vedomosti
Russia Signs Anti-Online Piracy Agreement
This document obliges the authorities to close websites hosting pirated content and legally prosecute any providers that encourage piracy.
Following its accession to the WTO, Russia signed an agreement that contains an action plan to protect intellectual property, said United States trade representative Ron Kirk. The agreement requires the parties to fight online piracy, close websites hosting content, allocate funds for anti-piracy raids and coordinate their conduct.
Russia will have to alter its legislation and in particular hold providers responsible for copyright infringement, and also consult the US about tougher administrative sanctions on piracy. The Americans are ready and willing to help the Russians implement a copyright warning system, which, if ignored – would see the users’ internet connection severed.
None of the rights holders questioned by Vedomosti, nor any online association, had been invited to discuss this plan. The head of one association fears that the plan could mean that the Internet in Russia will be regulated along lines favorable to US rights holders.
Dmitry Medvedev, as president, unsuccessfully tried to popularize the idea of a register listing proprietary content marked with digital tags letting users understand the conditions of working with the content.
Apparently the conclusion of the agreement with the US is the result of steps taken by the US industry, where the feeling is that it is high time for Russia to conform to globally recognized regulations, says Universal Music
Russia general director Dmitry Konnov.
National Federation of Music Industry director Leonid Agoronov says that the basis for the anti-piracy law was created by the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media over a year ago, but that work on it stalled a long time ago.
The struggle against illegitimate content, including the use of torrents, is one of the proposals which the
Ministry of Economic Development was agreeing with the Ministry of Communications, said Ekaterina Osadchaya, a spokesperson for the Communications Ministry.
Currently, the providers have no legal grounds to track down and block illegal content, Valeria Kuzmenko, a spokesperson for the International Telecommunication Union, knows. This could violate bona fide users’ rights. It is pirates who must be held responsible for piracy, argues VimpelCom spokesperson Anna Aibasheva.
According to Oleg Yashin, vice-president of the Russky Shchit Association, the warnings system has worked in France: the first warning has been issued to tens of thousands of users, the second to thousands, and the third, which means disconnection, only to a few dozen.
Izvestia
Fashion Designers Consider Dress Code for Federation Council
There are plans to approve a dress code for members of the Federation Council and their aides based on recommendations by Russian fashion designers.
Celebrity and designer Ulyana Sergeenko, fashion designers Igor Gulyayev and Tatyana Parfyonova and fir expert Herman Shalumov are expected to provide their first designs by mid-January.
Their recommendations will cover the style and color of suits and dresses (including the neckline for dresses) and footwear, and will be added to the upper house regulations.
“We have not yet approved a dress code, but wearing sandals is clearly inadmissible,” said Vadim Tyulpanov, head of the council’s regulations committee.
The designers said they are willing to help those in the upper house to dress properly.
Herman Shalumov said that a common dress code should be developed for all government agencies, and praised the style of Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko.
The PR manager for Ulyana Sergeenko, who featured in this year’s International Best Dressed List, said it would be something out of the ordinary for her.
Members of the upper house seem to like the idea. Vladimir Fyodorov from Karelia went as far as to propose introducing a uniform. “I was a policeman and wore a uniform for 33 years,” Fyodorov said. “I don’t know what the designers will suggest, but there should certainly be some common criteria and a basic dress code.”
State Duma Deputy Raisa Karamzina (United Russia) said that the lower house also needs designers’ recommendations.
“People in the upper and lower houses of parliament should not wear extravagant clothes,” she said. “What they wear should show unmistakably that they are public servants.”
“Telling us how to dress is going too far,” said Valentina Petrenko from Khakassia. “None of us dress ostentatiously. I, for example, wear a black suit for meetings. I don’t think I need to listen to what designers say.”
Dmitry Gudkov, from A Just Russia, shares this view. “I think I have a style of my own and don’t need anyone’s advice,” Gudkov said. “Maybe people like to see me wearing jeans.”
Some time ago, the leadership of the Moscow City Duma and the State Duma discussed the possibility of introducing a dress code because of how staff dressed. But they did not consider hiring fashion designers.
Only the Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry did that: Valentin Yudashkin helped design uniforms for military personnel, and Slava Zaitsev did the same for the police.
But that experience was not successful; the two ministries were dissatisfied with the results and refused to dress their personnel in “designer” uniforms.
Kommersant
Rosneft Rallies Financing for TNK-BP Takeover
Rosneft has negotiated long-term trade finance deals with the world’s largest oil traders, Glencore and Vitol, to help finance its takeover deal of TNK-BP.
Russia’s largest oil producer said on Monday that it has agreed terms with Glencore and Vitol to supply them with up to 67 million metric tons of crude oil over five years (around 270,000 bpd).
“The price formula is in line with the prices Rosneft receives for crude at medium-term tenders,” Rosneft’s chief executive Igor Sechin said in a statement.
Glencore President Ivan Glasenberg said on Monday the agreement “further cements our relationship with one of the world’s leading oil and gas companies.” while Vitol chief Ian Taylor said the deal sealed a “long term, strategic partnership” with Rosneft.
Kommersant reported earlier this month that Rosneft was in talks with traders about using future oil exports as
collateral to raise funding for the TNK-BP deal. Sources said the talks were the traders’ initiative.
Rosneft agreed to buy BP’s 50 percent stake in the joint venture in October for $17.1 billion in cash and 12.84 percent of its stock. The company will buy the rest of TNK-BP from the AAR consortium for $28 billion, completing the takeover of Russia’s third-biggest oil producer. Rosneft will also pay the sellers around $1 billion in interest, bringing the total cash consideration to $46 billion.
Rosneft has in the past sought to finance its deals with advance payments for future crude supplies. However, its 2010 deal involved a $10 billion loan from the China Development Bank in exchange for supplying 300 million tons of crude over the 2011-2030 period.
However, the parties found themselves in conflict over the price of supplies and reached agreement through long and painful negotiations.
This new deal is not a loan, a source said. It will be an advance payment for supplies, with the price to be calculated according to a special formula.
Moreover, Rosneft will not necessarily use that cash to pay for the TNK-BP deal; this is just a coincidence, the source said. Rosneft may receive $10 billion from the traders.
Raising financing through long-term contracts with traders is wiser for Rosneft than its standard practice of selling crude through six-month tenders, said Sergei Vakhrameyev from Metropol. However, a large advance payment may require a large discount for Vitol and Glencore.
Uralsib’s Alexei Kokin said the traders will prepay the first year of supplies at best, that is 20%-25% of the total, or about $10 billion.
At the same time Rosneft raised $16.8 billion in bank loans to cover its acquisition of BP’s 50 percent stake. The company signed agreements with major international banks including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank,
BNP Paribas, and others to obtain financing at an average rate of 3 percent including LIBOR.
Rosneft Vice President Dmitry Avdeyev said the company has not yet used up the earlier approved credit limits. With its own funds and a recent Eurobond issue, Rosneft has rallied financing for Russia’s largest ever takeover deal.
RIA Novosti is not responsible for the content of outside sources.
