Ukraine Cracks Down on Dissent

Ukraine's parliament rushed through wide-ranging powers Thursday to suppress opposition protests and label non-governmental organizations as "foreign agents" if they receive money from abroad. The measures threaten jail terms for protesters who block entrances to government buildings and 15 days in detention for those who take part in demonstrations not sanctioned by the police, even if peaceful. Protesters also face up to 15 days in detention for covering their faces with masks or helmets. People will also be detained for 15 days if they set up tents, stages or other makeshift structures without approval from city authorities. The move is apparently aimed at the thousands of people who have joined anti-government protests on Kiev's Independence Square, known as Maidan. The United States on Thursday condemned the parliament of Ukraine's decision to pass wide-ranging laws severely restricting the right to protest as undemocratic. “Both the process and the substance of the Rada's actions today cast serious doubt on Ukraine’s commitment to democratic norms,” the US State Department said in a statement.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140116/186601073/Ukraine-Proposes-Sweeping-Crackdown-on-Dissent.html
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140117/186622165/US-Condemns-Ukraines-Anti-Protest-Laws-as-Undemocratic.html

Russian Company Mixes Software with Politics in new E-voting Platform

A Russian software design company, Project Ventures, plans to sell its new e-voting platform service to European municipalities at a cost of 1 euro ($1.36) per voter, per year. "We have developed and will soon start selling a DDaaS (digital democracy as a service) solution," said Leonid Volkov, the founder of Projector Ventures and co-author of "Cloud Democracy," a foundation book on the use of IT in politics.  DDaaS was first used during the election to the Opposition Coordination Council in Russia, an “alternative government” created by opposition leaders in October 2012, and was used later in small elections in Yekaterinburg, Voronezh and Zhukovsky, and in the alternative online voting in the presidential election in Iran in June 2013.  According to Volkov,  a typical European municipality (with a population of 5,000 to 10,000) is Project Venture's target customer.  He adds that "[a] general election makes it easy to decide on important matters — where to put a new bus stop, or build a new nursery school or a new bypass. For other issues, there are local councils, 10 to12 councilors, each representing 200 to 300 voters. Every councilor needs feedback, it is the so-called principle of delegation, which our system supports, too."

http://rbth.ru/news/2014/01/15/russian_software_designer_sells_e-democracy_program_to_europe_33259.html

Russia Mandates Bonuses for "Service Inventions"

Amendments to Part 4 of Russia's Civil Code require monetary payments for "service inventions" (those created by an employee in connection with their employment duties or specific tasks of the employer).  The reward system, which previously had been left to the discretion of the employer, now requires the bonus to be at least 30% of the average wage of the worker, and for industrial designs not less than 20% of the worker's salary.  The right to patent any invention remains in the employer.   Although some believe the new incentives may stimulate inventive activity, Irina Abankina, director of the Higher School of Economics, does not consider the minor measures particularly useful.  According to Abankina, the gap between activities of developers or universities and business needs remains a big problem, and the need to identify the practical value of future inventions remains critical.

http://izvestia.ru/news/563800

Kerry Gives Lavrov Two Potatoes

US Secretary of State John Kerry presented his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov with two Idaho potatoes as a gift during a meeting in Paris to negotiate details of a peace conference for Syria scheduled to begin on January 22.   Mr Kerry said that at their last meeting, Mr Lavrov mentioned the state of Idaho's most famous export. The Russian foreign minister seemed to appreciate the gift, commenting that they were "impressive." They have discussed the possibility of "localised ceasefires" in Syria ahead of the peace conference. At a later press conference Lavrov, speaking in English, suggested the potatoes may have symbolic use as the Syria negotiations approach: "The specific potato which John handed to me has the shape which makes it possible to insert potato in the carrot-and-stick expression. So it could be used differently."   Kerry said that there was "no hidden meaning" or "metaphor" behind the gift. In return the Russian side presented Mr Kerry with a pink fur hat for State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25723304
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1237060-echo/ (video)
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1237058-echo/ (video; see at 5:25)

Russia's Patent Service Makes Online Trademark Search Tool Available

As of 18 December 2013, Rospatent has made its trademark data available to the TMview search tool, (in both English and Russian).  This integration is a result of a 3-year international cooperation program managed by OHIM (Office for Harmoninzation in Internal Markets) aimed at modernizing IPR in the Russian Federation.  TMview is the online multilingual consultation tool allowing users to search trademarks of all the participating trademark Offices free of charge. Since its introduction on 13 April 2010, the tool has served more than 5 million searches from 205 different countries, with users from Spain, Germany and Italy among the most frequent visitors.  Besides Rospatent, as of December 18, 2013, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has also integrated into TMview.  This last extension brings the total number of offices participating in TMview to 34 and with the addition of more than 400.000 Russian trademarks, as well as about 6.5 million US trade marks. TMview now provides information and access to almost than 20 million trade marks in total.

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav/
http://www.tmview.org.
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/21c4d4c0-694e-11e3-731c-9c8e9921fb2c?lang=en

Amendments to Russia's Competion Law Take Effect January 30th

On 28th December 2013, Vladimir Putin signed No. 423-FZ Federal Law “On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On Protection of Competition”, which will come into force on January 30, 2014. The amended package excludes notification control over some transactions (actions) of economic concentration.  In addition, the package considerably reduces administrative burden upon small and medium business by allowing the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service and other antimonopoly bodies to focus on the largest transactions with a goal of increasing efficiency of the antimonopoly regulation in the Russian Federation.

http://en.fas.gov.ru/news/news_33460.html

Russian IT Sector Continues to Grow, Albeit a Little Slower

Russoft, an association of Russian software companies, says exports of Russian software products and software development tools reached 5.2 billion dollars in 2013, a 15 percent increase over 2012. That growth, however, is down from the 20 percent increase from three years ago, with demand for Russian software now coming primarily from Russia itself and the other CIS states.  According to a "Strategy" document released by the Ministry of Communications, development in the Russian IT sector will focus on small and medium enterprises, with an expected expansion to 11 billion dollars in exports by 2020.

http://rbth.ru/news/2014/01/08/russian_software_exports_reach_52_billion_dollars_in_2013_33133.html

Ukraine Opposition Leader Lutsenko Injured in Police Clash

Yuri Lutsenko, a top organiser of the mass protests that have gripped Kiev for weeks, was injured shortly after midnight when he tried to intervene in a confrontation between riot police and opposition activists. The ex-interior minister "was hit several times over the head with a club before he fell,” his spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times, who said he was taken to hospital where he received treatment. The clashes erupted outside a Kiev court when three activists were sentenced to six years in jail after being found guilty of planning to blow up a statue of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in the nearby town of Borispol in 2011. The opposition argued the verdicts were politically motivated. Ukraine's top human rights official said 11 people were taken to hospital after the clashes when police used tear gas and and clubs against demonstrators. The demonstration is the latest in a series of protests after President Victor Yanukovich decided against signing a free trade and association agreement with the European Union in November, choosing instead to increase ties with Russia.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-opposition-leader-yuri-lutsenko-injured-in-police-clash-9053248.html
http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1192981 (video)

IOC Member: Corruption Took 1/3 of Sochi Spending

Senior International Olympic Committee member Gian Franco Kasper told Swiss journalists that one-third of the spending on the upcoming winter Olympics in Sochi has disappeared because of corruption. He said contracts were given to a "construction mafia" of businessmen closely linked to the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin. "The contracts were given to people who already had a foot in the door. We know it," Kasper said in an interview. The games are estimated to cost a record $51 billion in sports and infrastructure projects. Boris Nemtsov, a former Russian deputy prime minister-turned-Kremlin critic, alleged in a report released in May 2013 that up to $30 billion has been stolen in the run-up to the games.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ioc-member-corruption-took-1-184554351--oly.html