The following letter appears on Mihail Gorbachev’s Foundation www. gorby.ru website. It was also published in “Novaya Gazeta” (”New Newspaper”) on 2.5.7 and distributed to mass media outlets.
Dear Mr. Gates!
You probably know about a high-profile criminal case in Russia, in which the defendant is your company. The gist of the matter is that the Russian District Attorney’s office is prosecuting Aleksandr Ponosov, a teacher from a provincial middle school, who supposedly intentionally used unlicensed copies of Microsoft software. A teacher who dedicated his whole life to teaching children and who receives for his work rather modest compensation, a fraction of what a regular employee at your company receives, is threatened with incarceration in Siberian prison camps.
At the same time, the teacher’s culpability appears to be dubious at best - he bought computers for his classroom with already installed programs, which as it turned out later, were unlicensed. However, the Russian Penal code allows the prosecution of even those who use pirated software without knowledge, without suspecting its illegal origins. It is noteworthy that those who sold the computers with the pirated software to Aleksandr Ponosov have remained outside of the scope of justice. Because of this, many in Russia view this scandalous process as having been ordered and for show, instigated by the initiative of the Microsoft Corporation.
We treat with great respect the labor of the programmers at Microsoft who put their talent into the intellectual products of the company, and we in no way are subjecting to doubt the principle of responsibility for breaking authors’ rights. However, in the given situation, we ask you to show leniency and withdraw the complaints against Aleksandr Ponosov. This benevolent step would be taken as a gracious gesture by all those who use Microsoft products in Russia.
With respect,
Mihail Gorbachev
Aleksandr Lyebyedyev, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation
Aleksandr Ponosov is a lucky man. The former leader of the U.S.S.R. himself is interceding on his behalf. He at least stands a chance of getting the charges dismissed. How many others are not so fortunate? No, I’m certainly not advocating for software pirates who do not deserve leniency, but to make an example of a poor, provincial teacher as an intellectual property thief is ludicrous. Maybe in their zeal to punish the perpetrators, Russian prosecutors should also go after the schoolkids who used the computers? I am confident that Moscow has its share of intellectual property rights violators, perhaps some of them actually knowingly bought pirated software? Might it make more sense to go after them instead? Perhaps not. I’m sure that Microsoft’s shareholders will sleep much better at night knowing that Russian officials are cracking down on pirates by sending provincial school teachers to Siberian prison labor camps.
Update: Read Microsoft’s reply here.
On February 15, 2007, the court closed Ponosov’s case in light of the negligible damage incurred by Microsoft Corp. The accusations against Ponosov were not withdrawn, however the court ruled that the defendant is not to be punished in this case. Anatoly Kuchyeryena, Ponosov’s attorney and member of the Public Chamber of Russia stated that though he is happy that his client will not receive punishment, this resolution is not satisfactory because it does not address the legal issue at the root of the case - the lack of culpability of his client in acquiring pirated software.
Disclaimer: Though a native speaker of Russian, I am not a professional translator and do not
guarantee the accuracy of my translations. I am not affiliated with any organization and the opinions expressed
on this blog are strictly my own.
Tags:
Bill Gates,
Gorbachev,
intellectual property,
Microsoft,
piracy,
Russia,
Siberian prison camps,
USSR
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