Cinema attendance up after Russia blocks 8,000 pirate sites

Russia blocked access to 8,ooo pirate sites in 2017 – four-times as many compared to the year before, Izvestia reported.

Quoting Russia’s telecommunications regulator, the report stated that the blocks are aimed at sites that host copyrighted movies, music, and software without permission.

It said that in 65% of cases, the sites offered the option to stream or download a film.

Citing a report by the Cinema Foundation, the regulator said that as illegal file sharing decreased, cinema revenue increased in the country.

In 2017, overall box office revenues in Russia grew by 10.9% from 48.4 billion rubles to 53.6 billion rubles (R11 billion).

Attendance at cinemas increased by 11.4%.

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