MOSCOW, April 9 (RAPSI) - The Ministry of Culture supports a stricter protection of intellectual property rights and urges the State Duma to approve amendments to the anti-piracy bill, according to Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Ivliyev at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Culture.

On March 12, the State Duma passed a bill in its first reading that extends the anti-piracy law to all works under copyright and related rights, including music and literature.

The bill specifies the procedure for blocking illegal content. The explanatory note says that a hosting provider is to block not just a specific part of pirated content, but any pirated content in its entirety according to an enacted court order. If the provider fails to restrict access to the illegally published content, it must restrict access to the website where it was published. The provider itself is free from liability to the copyright holder and users for restricting access to the content.

At the same time, Ivliyev noted that the mechanisms proposed for protection of copyright loosen the existing protection procedure.

“We prompt the State Duma to consider in the second reading amendments by the government and deputies that would toughen the protection of intellectual property,” the deputy minister of culture said.

The anti-piracy law took effect on August 1, 2013, despite protests from Internet companies. It sets out the legal grounds and procedure for limiting access to websites that distribute movies and TV films in violation of copyright. The law also sets out the rules for bringing to account or condoning information brokers (Internet and hosting providers).