The European Commission (EC) has expanded the Counterfeiting and Piracy Watchlist by adding, in particular, the Russian social network VKontakte and the Telegram messenger. The corresponding document, dated December 14, is published on the website of the European Commission.
The list was created by the EC in 2018. The updated version is divided into four categories, including online resources that provide access to pirated content; e-commerce platforms; online services for the distribution of medicines; physical trading platforms.
VKontakte and Telegram are classified in the social networks section of the first of these categories.
“Copyright holders report that VKontakte users can get unauthorized access to films and TV shows, including through built-in video players, as well as books, including textbooks,” the document says.
At the same time, it is noted that the Russian social network is taking steps to restrict access to illegal files, and also provides copyright holders with the opportunity to report every copyright infringement.
Inclusion in the Telegram list is explained by the fact that the messenger sometimes does not take the necessary retaliatory actions against the distributors of unlicensed content, even after reporting violations.
In May, the Media Communications Union reported that 2.8 million links to pirated content had been removed from search results in a year and a half. In total, 3.4 million links have been sent to the registry since its inception.