Russia Enacts Digital Rights Law To Spur Digital Economy Development

The State Duma, which is how the Russian Parliament is called, has voted in favor of enacting the digital rights bill by October 2019. Yesterday, the amendments to Russia’s civil codex were cleared during the third and ultimate reading of Duma.

The changes to Russia’s civil codex passed their third and final Duma reading on Tuesday. The law, with the the introduction of a fresh article, 141.1, of the Russian Federation’s Civil Code, supposedly enforces the notion of “digital rights” in Russian law. As well as establishing guidelines for electronic payments, including agreements, the legislation defines how electronic rights can be enforced and reassigned.

The media release cites the Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, as mentioning that the digital rights law “forms the basis for the development of the digital economy. This is a new area for our rights, thus it is important for us to consolidate the basic concepts.”

Elaborating on how the amended legislative framework will take care of financial activities in Russia, after October, Aleksandr Zhuravlev, a high ranking associate at a law firm based in Moscow, told Russian – speaking crypto news service Forklog that while flaws languished, the country’s strategy was significantly a cut above than several countries.

Aleksandr Zhuravlev further told Forklog as follows:

“Of course the current project has flaws […] that could lead to ambiguity in some areas: determining the legal nature of cryptocurrencies and mining, as well as several other aspects (digital financial asset inheritance etc.). However, it’s worth noting that Russia has not gone down the route of China or India, which have selected a prohibitive approach to digital assets.”

The conclusion follows a detailed debate on how to handle crypto currencies as they relate to civil property rights, witnessing several delays and broken promises in the shape of a draft crypto bill entitled “On Digital Financial Assets.” It can be recalled that earlier this month the Duma passed the crypto bill in the second of three readings. Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Financial Markets Committee of the Duma, told Russian news agency RNS this week that he anticipates the crypto bill to be passed by March end.

Period leading up to to that, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, had made remarks conveying his wish to implement legislation on cryptocurrency. Even though holding cryptocurrencies in the nation remains completely legal, China has enacted a blanket ban on the use of cryptocurrencies. In July 2018, India’s central bank prohibited banks from offering their service to cryptocurrency firms like exchanges.