The State Duma has passed amendments to the “anti-piracy” law in the first reading.

      The amendments extend the operation of the law to all copyright- and related rights-protected material, including music and literary works.

      The amendments would allow right holders to push for blocking the webpages with illicitly posted content of all kinds. As previously reported, it is planned to oblige operators to block not just “a specific place in the content” but the illegal content as a whole. In the absence of such technical possibilities access to the entire source will be blocked. In this regard the operator is exempted from liability to the right holders and users for restricting access, Gazeta.ru reports.

      Provided the amendments are passed, the law will come into effect on 1 July 2014.