As per the requirements of the Law on Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Information and Communications (2017), users have been required to identify themselves using government-issued digital signature technology or SMS verification in order to comment on domestic websites. Failure to enforce the rule after April 2018 can lead to fines. The law requires website operators to make it mandatory for users to enter into a formal agreement before they are permitted to post comments on local websites. The information provided in the agreement needs to be retained by the website and handed over to the authorities whenever asked.

Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Communications in 2016 obliged ISPs to monitor content passing through their networks and to decide whether to restrict any problematic material. The amendments do not specify how ISPs are to carry out this obligation. The Administrative Code, in force since 2016, imposes fines on ISPs for not complying with censorship orders.

It is reported that the government has extensive authority to block online content. The National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NSC) has controlled the State Technical Service (STS) since 2017, assuming the authority to block content and disrupt internet networks for investigative purposes and to prevent crimes. The NSC can act without a court order, though it must notify other state bodies within 24 hours. In 2017, the NSC and a number of other state entities adopted new rules for blocking or suspending networks, ICT resources, and other web resources. The rules are classified. There are no publicly available data on the extent of state censorship, although one unofficial estimate puts the number of blocked websites at more than 30,000. Ministries occasionally release information on content restrictions. For example, in August 2018, the Ministry of Information and Communication announced that it had blocked more than 1,800 online “materials” since the beginning of 2018 and intended to block 9,340 more through 534 court proceedings. It is also reported that in 2019, the government prohibited access to social media and temporarily blocked independent news websites. In February 2020, amid an outbreak of intercommunal violence between ethnic Kazakhs and the Dungan minority, the government temporarily blocked WhatsApp in a bid to stop the violence. Furthermore, in response to an access-to-information inquiry, the Ministry of Information and Social Development specified that in 2022, 14,469 pages were blocked following 774 requests from the regulator. Only 241 of those were registered in the .kz domain zone, and between January and May 2023, 6,175 more pages were blocked, 6,047 of which were based abroad.

In accordance with subparagraph 4-1 of Art. 7 of Law No. 544, the Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan ordered the approval of the Rules of Domestic Trade (Order No. 264). Arts. 105-1 and 106-1 of the Rules mandate e-commerce sellers to indicate their BIN (business identification number), address of business operations on the territory of Kazakhstan and mobile telephone number registered in Kazakhstan in order to operate in the country. Additional information on this requirement is found in Annex 3-10 of Order No. 4.

Kazakhstan has a telecommunications authority: The Telecommunications Committee of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, it is reported that this entity's decision-making process is not fully independent of the government.

According to Art. 38 of the Patent law of the Republic of Kazakhstan, foreign individuals, foreign legal entities and stateless persons residing in the Republic of Kazakhstan enjoy the same rights as Kazakhstani citizens. However, under Article 36.5 of the Patent Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan, natural persons residing outside the Republic of Kazakhstan or foreign legal entities shall exercise their rights as patent applicants and patentees, as well as the rights of interested persons in the authorised body and its organisations, through local patent attorneys. Pursuant to Art. 1 of the Law, patent agents are citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan who, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, have the right to represent natural and legal persons before the authorised body and expert agency.

Art. 56-1 of the Law on Informatization requires that internet resources with ".kz" and ".қaz" domains must be hosted on hardware and software complexes located in Kazakhstan. In other words, an internet resource (website, web application, web service) using a ".kz" or ".қaz" domain must be hosted on a server (owned/rented/cloud hosted/VDS hosted/virtually hosted) in a data centre (server/office) located in Kazakhstan. The server must also be connected to a Kazakh internet provider and use a (dedicated or shared) Kazakhstan IP address.
A similar requirement has been in place since 2005, as established in Clauses 7 and 8 of the Regulations for the Allocation of Domain Space in the Kazakhstan Segment of the Internet. These clauses provided that an application for domain name registration may be refused or registration may be cancelled if the domain servers were not located inside Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Paragraph 6-1 of Resolution No. 246 prohibited the storage of telecommunication subscriber information outside the country. The Resolution was repealed in July 2023.

Kazakhstan has a copyright regime under Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 6-I of June 10, 1996, on Copyright and Related Rights. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Arts. 18-27 list the exceptions, which include the quotation, in the original language or in translation, for scientific or for research, polemic, critical or informational purposes and to the extent justified by the intended purpose; the reproduction, broadcasting or communication to the public by cable of architectural works, photographic works or works of fine art permanently located in public; among others.

Copyright is not adequately enforced on the Internet in Kazakhstan. It is reported that foreign companies complain about inadequate IPR protection and that there is a high level of pirated software used in the country. Judges, customs officials and police officers lack IPR expertise, exacerbating weak IPR enforcement. In addition, online piracy is reported to remain a concern, particularly through piracy devices and applications, illegal recording, and the use of unlicensed software.

Kazakhstan has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Kazakhstan has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

According to Art. 7.6 of the Informatization Law, the central executive body carrying out state regulation in the field of electronic industry is tasked with establishing a unified register of trusted software and electronic products. According to Art. 54.3.1, for the purposes of state security, only approved software may be used for public procurement and for critical information and communication infrastructure, whether state-owned or private, including telecommunication infrastructure. To become part of the register, the software applicant must transfer (i) source program codes for accounting and storage; (ii) source program codes (if any) and; (iii) a set of configurations for the licensed software of "e-government" information technology objects, as stated paragraphs 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Order of the Minister of defence and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 53/НК (Rules for the formation and maintenance of a register of trusted products of the electronics and software industry, as well as the criteria for including products of the electronics industry and trusted software in the register of trusted products of the electronics and software industry). In addition, it is reported that the local content for this software must not be less than 70%.

The Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Enterprise Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan provide a framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. According to Art. 126.1 and 1017.1 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a trade secret comprises valuable information, including secrets of production (know-how), production technology, management model, as well as ways and methods of increasing profits. In addition, according to Art. 28 of the Enterprise Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, among other provisions, the protection of trade secrets consists of prohibiting the unlawful receipt, distribution or use of information constituting a trade secret in accordance with this Code and the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This regulatory framework includes remedies and penalties for the disclosure of trade secrets.