The requirement for pre-installation of Russian programs for manufacturers of gadgets sold in the Russian Federation is an effective and practically useful step to assist and promote the products of domestic software manufacturers and the development of the domestic IT segment. This was stated to socialbites.ca by Andrey Vorobyov, director of the .RU/.РФ domains coordination center and expert at the Regional Public Center for Internet Technologies (ROCIT).
According to the expert, regulation of the pre-installation of software on technical devices in the context of import substitution is “a good measure of government protectionism.”
“Many countries around the world use it. And Russians are no exception. We talked about the need to at least respect non-discriminatory access. And now we have come to the conclusion that in conditions of import substitution, priority access to the developments of domestic programmers is required. “It is necessary to support the development of local IT companies,” said the expert.
Andrey Vorobyov believes that in Russia there are a lot of high-quality, convenient IT solutions that are in no way inferior to foreign analogues.
“Local solutions are not well known as international companies have been actively promoting their products for many years. But even the products we have recently acquired are no longer inferior to foreign analogues and are being developed very quickly. And those that are already on the market have proven themselves for a long time,” the expert thinks.
Let us remind you that the law on mandatory pre-installation of Russian programs on smartphones, tablets, computers and TVs with Smart TV function sold in Russia came into force in April 2021.
Starting from 2023, smartphones running iOS and Android must have Yandex, Yandex Browser, Yandex Maps, 2GIS, VK, Mail.ru Mail, Gosuslugi and other programs and services installed.
Starting this year, the Russian app store RuStore will be pre-installed on all devices with the native operating system (OS) Aurora.
Now the preliminary installation of Russian programs is the responsibility of the manufacturer. But in the future, the government may force retailers to pre-install the Russian operating system on all laptops and personal computers supplied to the Russian Federation. A similar action plan is planned for smartphones.
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Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.