State Duma to deal with pirates and domains

The fourth part of the Civil Code, adopted this week, promises companies that violate copyright laws the confiscation of equipment and their liquidation. Maximum imprisonment for copyright infringement will be six years instead of five as before. The maximum fine has now risen from 300,000 to 500,000 roubles. The names of websites are becoming personal property: a person who acquires a domain becomes the holder of the rights to its name. However for now this is of no particular concern to Russians; as the well-known saying goes, "the severity of Russian laws is surpassed only by the laxity of its enforcement".