Webinar "Mandatory pre-installation of Russian software: practical problems"

On April 21, ALRUD Law Firm held a webinar "Mandatory pre-installation of Russian software: practical problems".

On April 1, 2021, the law comes into force obliging to pre-install the pre-defined local software on devices sold in Russia, including smartphones, tablets, computers and Smart-TV. Companies doing business in Russia are actively preparing to implement the new requirements, guided by a number of regulations adopted in development of this law. However, market participants face multiple practical problems in performing new rules since the level of detail of the adopted regulation is not very high and there are no official clarifications or enforcement practice yet.

During the webinar experts from Antitrust Practice and Commercial Practice of ALRUD provided the general overview of this initiative and shared their experience in solving particular problems that arise in connection with pre-installation requirements.

Among other topics, the speakers discussed the following:

• Range of applications to be pre-installed: how to determine which applications to pre-install?

• Principles and methods for pre-installation: is it allowed to charge pre-installation fees? How to avoid discrimination of developers? What other factors need to be taken into account to comply with the pre-installation requirements?

• Contractual issues and allocation of risk: how to reduce commercial risk when entering into pre-installation contract? How liability is allocated among the developer, producer and reseller in case of violation of pre-installation requirements?

• Liability: how the Russian Government will check compliance with the new requirements? Which negative consequences may be imposed on violators?

The webinar was opened by Maria Ostashenko, ALRUD Partner. The speakers were Ksenia Erokhina, Senior Associate and Vladislav Alifirov, Associate.