The Spring of Russian E-commerce - An exclusive global perspectives series

Category: Legislation & regulation

Government hotline to combat consumer rights violations in online retail

Part of a Global Perspectives Series on Russian e-commerce offered by East-West Digital News / Apr 24, 2012

The Public Chamber, a state organization which aims to organize and enhance the relationship between Russian citizens and government, plans to open a hotline next month to field consumer complaints about violations of consumer rights by e-commerce sites.

This initiative was announced by Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer who heads the Public Chamber’s commission on citizens’ security. “I received several complaints from customers who hadn’t received refunds in spite of the poor quality of the items they had bought online,” the Russian news agency quoted Kucherena as saying.

SMS spammers could face five years in prison

By East-West Digital News, Marchmont News / Mar 06, 2012 / 1 Comment

SMS spam should be considered a medium-gravity crime, which implies punishment of up to five years in prison, suggested participants at a meeting last week which brought together Russian regulation and surveillance agencies as well as leading mobile operators.

Telecom regulator Roskomnadzor also suggested changing the rules for providing telecommunication services and content.

2012 expected to be Russia’s breakthrough year for LTE

Special to East-West Digital News by Sergey Maltseff, ICT Online / Jan 31, 2012

After years of strategic discussions, long bureaucratic processes, and unsuccessful attempts to launch 4G, 2012 promises to be the breakthough year for LTE deployment in key areas of Russian territory.

While three players – Scartel, Rostelecom and Osnova Telecom – had received their own frequencies for LTE deployment by the end of 2011, additional frequencies are expected to be obtained in 2012 by Rostelecom and by mobile operators MTS, VimpelCom, and MegaFon. Due to the complexities of frequency conversion, however, only Scartel, as along with MTS and MegaFon in Moscow, are likely to make new LTE networks available for commercial use before the end of 2012. Continue reading

Electronic Commerce Association to promote “civilized business”

By East-West Digital News / Oct 14, 2011

Oborot.ru, Russia’s leading online resource and event organizer for e-commerce, announced yesterday the creation of the Electronic Commerce Association, which aims “to facilitate the development of online retail businesses and define the principles of civilized business.”

New law aims to relieve bureaucratic burden on Russian citizens

By Mary Shelukho, East-West Digital News / Oct 06, 2011

New federal legislation on administrative electronic exchange, which went into effect on October 1st in regard to federal agencies, could radically simplify the exchange between private citizens and Russian administrative bodies. Under the new law, federal officials will no longer be able to request documents or information from private citizens already available in the databases of other federal agencies.

20 of 24 WiMax licenses won by Russian Railways subsidiary

By East-West Digital News / Sep 14, 2011

Fiber-optic telecommunication provider Transtelecom (TTK) won 20 of 24 wireless Internet licenses last week in three tenders organized by Russian telecom regulator Roskomnadzor.

Personal data law comes into full force, Medvedev signs more restrictive amendments

By East-West Digital News / Aug 02, 2011

Last week, President Medvedev signed certain amendments to the Russian law on personal data, which hardened the legal obligations on all organizations – both corporate and state sector – dealing with personal data. Although the law was voted by the Russian parliament in 2006 – one year after Russia ratified the Council of Europe’s 1981 Strasbourg Convention on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data – the application of many of its provisions had been postponed several times due to an absence of precise rules and principles of regulation.

The law, which came into full force on July 1, 2011, as well as the recent amendments, has raised serious concerns among some businesses due to the anticipated administrative burdens and high implementation costs.

Russian government starts accreditation of LTE certification authorities

By East-West Digital News / Jul 28, 2011

The Russian Federal Communications Agency (Rossvyaz) has started accreditation of organizations that will test and certify LTE equipment, the agency announced on Monday. Accredited organizations will carry out tests of infrastructure related LTE equipment, either imported or produced in Russia, and issue certificates required for using the equipment in the country.

Russia considers imposing customs fees on GPS receivers without GLONASS support

By East-West Digital News / Jul 21, 2011

Russian authorities are not ruling out the establishment of customs fees on imported hardware equipped with GPS navigators not supported by the Russian national satellite navigation system GLONASS. “Currently the fee is zero. There are plans to introduce customs fees for GPS equipment that is notoriented to GLONASS GPS. It is possible that [the customs fees will start to be imposed] by January 1, 2012,” Vice Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov told journalists this week.

Russia tightens screws on copyright violations

By East-West Digital News / Jul 12, 2011 / 1 Comment

Three major court cases involving violation of electronic copyright came into the spotlight in Russia over the past two weeks, revealing a steady – though controversial – progress in the application of copyright related legislation in the country.

Continue reading

Category: Legislation & regulation

Government hotline to combat consumer rights violations in online retail

SMS spammers could face five years in prison

2012 expected to be Russia’s breakthrough year for LTE

Electronic Commerce Association to promote “civilized business”

New law aims to relieve bureaucratic burden on Russian citizens

20 of 24 WiMax licenses won by Russian Railways subsidiary

Personal data law comes into full force, Medvedev signs more restrictive amendments

Russian government starts accreditation of LTE certification authorities

Russia considers imposing customs fees on GPS receivers without GLONASS support

Russia tightens screws on copyright violations

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