Net giants to attack piracy in Russia

ownload Lady Gaga album or movie Alien is finally possible legally in Russia: one week apart, Apple and Google have opened their shops online on this difficult market where piracy is rampant.

Nearly ten years after his arrival in the United States and after months of speculation in the blogosphere, Apple launched the Russian version of its iTunes Store on December 4, at the same time as Turkey, India, South Africa and 50 countries.

The task was not easy for the Apple brand. The newspaper Vedomosti revealed that the California group, faced with a copyright very complex, was not able to agree with all local labels, dismissing some popular musicians in Russia.

A week later, Google launched the sale of films and books on the platform for its Play Android system, which equips the majority of smartphones sold worldwide.

Its leaders have promised that the music would follow in the coming months.

The creator of the famous American search engine introduced on the occasion of very promising figures in the Russian market.

According to the study conducted by the firm J'son & Partners Consulting, it has 22.5 million users "active" internet on phone, 88% more than in 2011. Tablet sales have doubled this year, to 2.5 million units.

In total, the study estimates the Russian market "content" for mobile devices to $ 3.2 billion in 2013.

Apple and Google "realize that they can bring Russian consumers (...), spending money," said Nick Robinson, an analyst at Renaissance Capital.

For the expert, the launch of these stores online cultural Russia has long faced the distrust of the people vis-à-vis credit cards and online payments.

This obstacle has been partially taken with the launch of secure payment online.

Illegal downloading: "A well-known difficulty"

Apple also allows its customers to pay on these terminals in shops, where Muscovites have settled their bills.

Especially, the Russian market is marked by the widespread practice of illegal downloading, new face of piracy while kiosks counterfeit DVD or CD became scarce.

In its latest annual report, the International Intellectual Property (IIPA), which represents the U.S. industry, denounced the "lack of attention" granted by the authorities on this issue.

However, the pressure is accentuated in Moscow, member since August of the World Trade Organization. The newspaper Vedomosti reported in November that the government was preparing a comprehensive bill to fight against illegal downloading.

The IIPA also attacked the popular social network VKontakte (190 million users), described as "the first music distributor in Russia and forged a place for piracy of films and television programs."

A free application available on the platform of Google Play allows paradoxically listen and save music and video from VKontakte indefinitely.

Faced with this competition, Apple and Google launch with prices lower than in most Western countries, with albums and movies available from 100 rubles (2.5 euros).

Illegal downloading "is a well known problem and it is up to us to make our catalog exciting," acknowledged Richard Turner, one of the program Android.

"The image of Russia as a country where people are only interested by piracy has aged. Russians are willing to pay for good content it is easy to access, "Dmitri Kuznetsov nuanced, marketing manager of Google Russia.

The group hopes to attract customers with a single platform accessible in a few clicks on your computer or a few taps of your finger on the phone and tablet.

"The potential is there, but consumer attitudes will not change from the first day," however, puts the analyst Nick Robinson.