Russia has legalised intellectual property theft from its list of sanctioned countries, meaning Vladimir Putin could reopen McDonald’s restaurants.
Russia is about to become the world’s real life version of Wish, because the government has given the go ahead for anyone to ‘legally’ copy intellectual property from any of the ‘unfriendly’ countries sanctioned by Vladimir Putin.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed off on the decree that would allow patented software, databases, and chip designs to be pirated, as well as legalising violations of software copyright.
The law means Russian businesses and entrepreneurs can rip off some of the world’s most expensive and successful products that are protected by copyright law.
Russia’s list of sanctioned countries include Australia, Great Britain, EU member states, Iceland, Canada, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Singapore, US, Ukraine, Switzerland, and Japan, among others.
The decision follows a mass boycott of Russian trading from some of the world’s leading businesses including McDonald’s.
As reported by The Post, “Russian officials have also raised the possibility of lifting restrictions on some trademarks, according to state media, which could allow continued use of brands such as McDonald’s that are withdrawing from Russia in droves.”
Intellectual property is protected by international law, and so it should be. Allowing the free use of patents without paying the rights’ owners would cause complete chaos.
Copyright lawyer, Josh Gerben, has warned that breaking international laws such as this could change Russia’s position in the world’s economy forever. “It’s just another example of how [Putin] has forever changed the relationship that Russia will have with the world,” he explained.
We’re not economics experts, but we’re pretty confident that this won’t end well. Maybe Putin should just try to print more money instead, duh.
