MOSCOW, February 20 (RAPSI) - Russian online users may be required to identify themselves before downloading torrent video content. Film producer Oleg Teterin has sent a request to the Ministry of Culture to draft the respective amendments to copyright laws, Izvestia daily writes on Thursday.

Last week, the Moscow City Court restricted access to pirated copies of Teterin’s movies on five websites. Several of the involved websites (including Rutor.org and Kinozal.tv) have already received complaints from copyright holders. Specifically, Rutor.org was accused of the illegal distribution of the recent Russian blockbuster Stalingrad while Kinozal.tv was accused of infringing on Game of Thrones copyrights.

In his address to the minister of culture, the film producer suggests “compelling video hosting sites to require passport details of newly registered users in order to be able to initiate criminal proceedings against violators.” If websites containing pirated videos do not require identification they will be blocked “until a violator is identified or until the website introduces a service that blocks access to copies of movies that have received complaints from their copyright owners.”

The anti-piracy law, which took effect on August 1, 2013 despite the protests of Internet companies, established the legal grounds and procedure for limiting access to websites that distribute movies and TV shows in violation of copyright laws. The law also specifies the rules for liability or for condoning information brokers (Internet and hosting providers).