And finally… Russian rule-ette

Russia has passed legislation banning the sale of smartphones, computers and smart TVs that are not pre-installed with Russian software.

The law, due to come in force next July, has come under criticism from privacy experts and the tech industry.

The bill’s co-author, Oleg Nikolayev, said devices pre-installed with US-made software could lead customers to think there are “no domestic alternatives available”, BBC News reports.

However, privacy experts have warned that the government could force Russian software developers to include backdoors for surveillance purposes.

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