Dura lex, sed lex, this is how young lawyers are taught in their first year of university, trying to implant in them an awareness of the injustice of certain norms. But no matter how harsh the law is, it will still be mandatory for execution, regardless of whether it is liked by those at whom it is directed or not. In this sense, the law on Russian software, which was adopted at the end of last year, is no different. And since it says that all smartphones supplied to the domestic market through official supply channels must have the necessary set of software from local developers on board out of the box, which means that it should be so. And Samsung understands this.
Samsung has already installed Russian software on its smartphones
Samsung is ready to fully comply with the requirements of the law on Russian software, which will enter into force on July 1, 2020, and start installing domestic applications on branded devices, Kommersant learned. This will not be a big event for the company, because it has been working with local developers for a long time, installing the Mail.ru mail client and the Yandex search service application on its smartphones that are shipped to Russia. The installation of several new programs will not change anything in Samsung's policy, which means that there is no reason to argue with the law, the company stressed.
Who agreed to pre-install Russian software
The Russian software law did not unsettle Samsung. The company agrees to pre-install
“The amendments to the law will not affect the company's plans to continue operating in Russia. We are ready to cooperate with local and global partners, especially since we already have the experience of such cooperation, ”Samsung officials said.
It turns out that Samsung does not even admit the thought of leaving the Russian market because of the allegedly unfair requirements of the law. At the same time, it is not even known who exactly will be responsible for preinstalling applications, because now the government is considering three options at once. The first is to oblige manufacturers to install the software themselves, in order to enable them to adapt it for their smartphones and bear joint responsibility with the developers for problems in functioning. The second is to leave this obligation to distributors representing the interests of many companies that do not have an official representative office in Russia. And the third is to give manufacturers the opportunity to choose whether to preinstall themselves or to entrust the dirty work to their wholesale or retail partners.
What applications will be installed in Russia
The government decided that they would not define specific applications required for pre-installation, allowing manufacturers to make the final choice. Thus, the Cabinet decided, it will be possible to avoid imposing and prioritizing some developers over others. Therefore, it was decided to determine only the types of software that manufacturers will be required to install. Here they are:
- Search engine
- Antivirus
- Navigator (maps)
- Messenger
- Social networks
- Public services
- Mir Pay
Despite the fact that there are two very specific applications in this list – Government services and Mir Pay – they are government-owned and, in fact, have no alternatives. Therefore, it is somewhat incorrect to speak here about the use of administrative resources to promote commercial products. No, of course, Mir Pay has analogs like Google Pay or Apple Pay, but the fact is that neither one nor the other payment services support MIR bank cards, namely, they are issued to all state employees in Russia. students and schoolchildren.
Will the law on Russian software change something on the market Android – smartphones? Personally, I think not. Indeed, unlike Apple, which does not allow third-party developers to access its smartphones, Google has always focused on the openness of its operating system. As a result, some manufacturers have been installing Russian software on branded devices for many years, because they understand that it will be in demand here. Therefore, Samsung's decision to agree and accept the lawmakers' terms looks quite sensible and expected.