RuTube Embraces Piracy Then Vanishes From Apple’s App Store & Google Play

On Russia's answer to YouTube, traffic has doubled in the last 12 months. RuTube is currently awash with pirated copies of Hollywood movies and, during the summer, RuTube used imagery from Barbie and Oppenheimer to advertise the fact. Last week, Russian telecoms operators gave RuTube another boost by massively throttling YouTube. On Friday, RuTube's apps were suddenly removed from Apple's App Store and Google Play.

It’s no secret that Russia would like to have credible alternatives to the world’s most popular websites, software, and operating systems.

Having to rely on the United States for software including, Windows and Photoshop, is painful enough. However, Russia’s relationship with YouTube appears to be much more complicated. Having avoided the fates of Facebook and Instagram, which found themselves labeled “extremist” and banned from Russia, this summer YouTube began feeling the heat.

In July, Russia ordered Google’s CEO to unblock 200 pro-Kremlin YouTube channels, arguing that the restrictions “fundamentally violate the key principles of free dissemination of information.”

In parallel, Russia criticized YouTube for not removing over 61,000 videos containing “fakes about a special military operation” while successfully removing at least 5.6 million VPN-related links from Google Search for providing access to information previously banned in Russia.

Confusion as a Strategy, Movies as a Weapon

Accusing its rivals of exactly the same things Russia’s government does by default is meant to be disruptive. In the United States, where freedom of speech is almost absolute, allegations of censorship are always likely to stir controversy. Russia is acutely aware of other hot-button issues, and routinely exploits those too.

Piracy of Hollywood movies has been mentioned regularly by officials since February 2022, with the government and industry blowing both hot and cold on the possibility of sanctioned mass piracy, at a time when blatant piracy was clearly ongoing.

On RuTube, a video platform the Kremlin touts as a YouTube challenger, piracy of Hollywood content has always been problematic. Owned by Gazprom-Media, RuTube has publicly stated that pirated foreign content is quickly removed. RuTube does indeed respond to takedown notices, apart from those times when it apparently does not.

On full display, no apologies, no excuses

For the last two years, the mass presence of Hollywood movies on RuTube may be a sign that rightsholders’ takedown notices have dried up. Whatever the reason, the latest blockbusters are certainly popular with the masses; although Russia’s cinema owners, at least those still in business, see things a bit differently.

Promoted By The State, RuTube Promotes Piracy

In the summer of 2023, many of the big movies and TV shows released in the West began appearing more frequently on RuTube. In comments to the media, RuTube suggested that it had been taken by surprise at the sudden influx. Netflix titles including The Witcher and Black Mirror would be removed immediately, RuTube said, at least in the event rightsholders requested removal.

Later that year, the Warner Bros. blockbuster ‘Barbie’ quickly appeared on RuTube, as did Universal’s ‘Oppenheimer’. Both are still available for viewing today, supported by a May 2024 RuTube campaign in the Moscow Metro that used images from the movies to advertise the fact. With over two million views on the most popular copies, that appears to be paying off.

At a recent briefing at the Foreign Ministry, the Russian people were asked to prioritize use of RuTube.

“We urge everyone to master this video hosting service [RuTube] and post their materials there,” said Andrei Nastasin, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department at the Foreign Ministry.

RuTube Doubles its Traffic in 12 Months

Data from the research company Mediascope, made public around a week ago following a request from local news outlet Vedomosti, revealed that RuTube had doubled its traffic in the last 12 months.

Anti-piracy advocate Maxim Ryabyko at the Association for the Protection of Copyright on the Internet, said that piracy of Western content was likely to be a factor in RuTube’s growth. RuTube, on the other hand, declined to comment.

Coincidentally or not, life in Russia then became much more difficult for RuTube’s competition in the United States.

YouTube’s ability to provide fast, uninterrupted streams in Russia, first took a hit around July 12. Telecoms provider Rostelecom spoke of the need to slow down YouTube due to “technical problems” with Google’s servers in Russia, noting that “growth in traffic” had led to a “serious overload” of equipment serving YouTube videos.

“This may affect the download speed and playback quality of YouTube videos for users of all Russian operators,” Rostelecom said, as quoted by the Moscow Times.

YouTube’s Throttling……

Google’s server difficulties appear to have been caused by outside meddling. Russian authorities had ordered all major telecoms companies to throttle YouTube video playback to 128 kilobits per second. On August 8, a wave of complaints across Russia indicated that YouTube was either unusable or totally offline.

In parallel, the Signal messaging service began experiencing severe issues, with telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor later confirming that Signal had been restricted due to “violations of the legislation on combating terrorism and extremism.”

The fact that the Ukrainian military had taken the Kremlin completely by surprise with a sudden surge deep into Russian territory with tens of thousands of troops, wasn’t mentioned as a contributing factor.

After YouTube’s Throttling, Now RuTube’s Deletion

For reasons that are yet to be fully explained, YouTube’s throttling led to a surprise for RuTube late Friday evening. The video service the Kremlin had put so much faith in, suddenly discovered that its iOS app was no longer available from Apple’s App Store. Previously operational search engine links led to a ‘connecting’ message on the App Store, but nothing else.

Connecting…..

RuTube informed its users of the situation via a message on Telegram late Friday evening.

“We have been the most downloaded app in the App Store for a long time, but now we have to announce that our app has been removed from the App Store. This was a result of sanctions from an American company, which made it difficult for users to access our services through a mobile app,” RuTube wrote.

“We understand that this creates inconvenience for you, our users, and brings certain difficulties in using the platform. We appreciate your support and understanding during this difficult time. We will promptly inform you of any news and changes through our official channels. RuTube has been advocating for freedom of speech on our platform until the very last moment, and we will make every effort to ensure the return of the RuTube app to the App Store as soon as possible.”

While there has been no further commentary from RuTube, it appears that similar problems may also exist on Google Play. TorrentFreak’s attempts to access the app on Sunday, both directly and via the main link in Google Search, led only to the message shown below.

RuTube appears to have gone

RuTube’s claim, that the removal is sanctions-related, has not yet been officially confirmed. However, if a copyright holder had presented Apple and Google with a huge list of Hollywood movies being made available via the RuTube app, removal of the app would not come as a surprise.

Even though it claims otherwise, RuTube may not care too much about the DMCA, at least as it currently applies on Russian soil. Unfortunately, its apps are distributed by U.S. companies, which may prove a hindrance in its quest for additional growth.

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