[SATLUG] Siberian prison time for MS Windows use???

[Borries Demeler]

I found this in today's NYTimes - isn't this a bit extreme? 

Now I do understand software piracy, but why on earth would anyone want
this teacher to spend prison time in Siberia - isn't having to deal with
Windows punishment enough? Hmmm....

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Microsoft Spurns Appeal to Intervene in Russian Piracy Case
By THOMAS CRAMPTON
Published: February 6, 2007

PARIS, Feb. 5 - Microsoft rebuffed a public appeal by Mikhail Gorbachev
on Monday for its chairman, Bill Gates, to intervene on behalf of a
Russian school principal charged with software piracy.

The case of the teacher, Aleksandr Ponosov, has drawn wide public
attention in Russia, in part because the principal says he innocently
purchased computers with the unauthorized Windows software already
installed.

Praising Russia's enforcement of intellectual property rights, Microsoft
sought to distance itself from the prosecution in a statement issued by
its public relations agency in London.

"Mr. Ponosov's case is a criminal case and as such was initiated
and investigated by the public prosecutor's office in Russia," said
Microsoft, whose European operations are based in Paris. "We are sure
that the Russian courts will make a fair decision."

"We do respect the Russian government's position on the importance of
protecting intellectual property rights."

Much of the personal computer software in use in Russia is obtained
illicitly, according to groups like the Business Software Alliance,
whose members include Microsoft. Many consumers complain that they cannot
afford expensive commercial software on Eastern European salaries.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia condemned the prosecution last
week at his annual news conference.

"To grab someone for buying a computer somewhere and start threatening
him with prison is complete nonsense, simply ridiculous," Mr. Putin
said. "The law recognizes the concept of someone who purchased the
product in good faith."

Mr. Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union and a Nobel Peace Prize
winner, said Mr. Ponosov, a school principal in a village in the Urals,
risked imprisonment in a Siberian camp for using unlicensed Windows
software that he said was preinstalled on the computers.

"The teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children
and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with
the salaries of even regular staff in your company, is threatened with
detention in Siberian prison camps," Mr. Gorbachev wrote to Mr. Gates
in a letter posted on www.gorby.ru, the Web site of Mr. Gorbachev's
charitable foundation.

The letter urged Mr. Gates to "show indulgence and to drop the claims
against the principal."

Sophia Kishkovsky contributed reporting from Moscow.