Government Opposes Copyright Holders’ Prohibitions on Rustore

All gadgets sold in Russia will need to come pre-installed with the Rustore app store, as per the decision made by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation. This move has been made despite objections from copyright holders of operating systems. The main objective of this decision is to ensure that manufacturers cannot evade the installation of Rustore on their devices.

The Cabinet of Ministers has also specified that the Rustore application store must be treated equally to other similar stores on the devices. The Rustore should be updated automatically, preserved after factory settings restoration and during maintenance. Upon initial device activation, the user should be able to access the Rustore store for free.

In addition, the decision now includes a requirement for pre-installed programs that control goods labeling. The specific list of such programs will be approved at a later date.

The development of Rustore was carried out by VK and involved the participation of major Russian IT giants under the supervision of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The app store was launched in 2022 and has been listed as a mandatory program for installation on electronic devices in the years 2023-2024.