Monotype Imaging, the U.S. company that owns several of the most popular fonts used on computers, says it has blocked access to its catalogue for users in Russia amid ongoing international sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Monotype's spokesperson confirmed media reports about its move to the Russian state news agency TASS on April 14.
"I regret saying that, considering the current circumstances of sanctions and international relations with Russia, we are unable at present to run any business relations with Russian companies or their subsidiaries. We will continue keeping an eye on the situation and updating our policy accordingly," a company representative told TASS.
The confirmation came after the newspaper Vedomosti in Russia quoted IT sources as saying that users in Russia were unable to access Monotype's fonts catalogue, meaning they cannot use popular fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Helvetica.
When computer users inside Russia attempt to open a page to access the fonts they receive a message saying: "The site owner may have set restrictions that prevent you from accessing the site."
Lawyers and experts told Vedomosti that the denial of access will not affect ordinary Internet users in Russia, but publishing houses and companies involved in producing computer software might be unable to use the fonts in the near future. The blockage can also be avoided by using a VPN.
Russian law allows so-called forced licensing to use products in the country even if the owners refuse to provide the country with licenses "due to the necessity to protect the interests of the state and society."
In 2014, after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea region and threw its support behind separatists in eastern Ukraine, Monotype withdrew its permission to use its fonts in some Russian organizations, including IT companies that develop software programs for Russia's Defense Ministry.
Times New Roman is a standard font for official documentation in Russia. In May 2016, Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov called for the "cleaning" of documentation at official entities from foreign fonts.