A new law on ‘undesirable’ foreign non-governmental organizations can affect the American Corporation Apple. Writes about this in Wednesday’s edition of Les Echos. In particular, because of the vague wording, which the government is free to interpret in its sole discretion, to be undesirable may be ranked in any foreign company, including the manufacturer of the iPhone and iPad.
The law, signed by President Vladimir Putin last week, were vague, the publication says. It provides that the authorities may qualify for any non-Russian organization “junk”, if that, in their view, represents a “threat to the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, the country’s defense and state security”. Among the Russian public, the law has not caused much debate, the newspaper notes.
However, the representatives themselves non-Russian organizations react differently. As noted by one of the European diplomats, “Russia is gradually stored in all possible tools to become closed. International companies are also, in turn, can get hit”.
As emphasized by Les Echos, for violation of the law on ‘undesirable’ NGOs introduced criminal liability, up to 6 years in prison. However, quite vague wording allows Russian authorities to expand its field of activities of outside NGOs” and put the sight on commercial organizations also.
“The Russian authorities can close any company, like Apple or McDonald’s, because our Prosecutor’s office can interpret the law as it is necessary”, – said the Deputy Dmitry Gudkov.
The leadership can claim to be Apple. A number of officials are of the opinion that in respect of companies that have imposed sanctions against the people of Crimea, the government should take drastic measures “to prohibit them from working in the country or use various fines and administrative constraints”.
“We need to create alternative firmware for smartphones. And of all people to be made aware that it is possible to download alternative firmware and to protect your iron from turning into a “brick”, — says the head of the company “Ashmanov and Partners” Igor Ashmanov. — Yeah, maybe most of the games this will not work, but the smartphone will continue to call. On it you can put “Tetris” for those who definitely need a game. And gradually build its own ecosystem — not after the phone turns off and in advance.
“We must understand that Russia has its own search, their e-mail services and social networks. If Apple and Google want to go, for example, from Hungary, this country will be hard. But Russia is so unique that we have our own technology,” said Executive Director ROCIT Sergey Grebennikov.
