James Delahunty
5 Feb 2007 8:01
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has written an open letter to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, urging him to intercede in Microsoft-brought litigation against a headteacher. Alexander Ponosov has been accused by Microsoft representatives in Russia of knowingly installing pirated versions of the Windows operating system on school computers, causing the company losses of up to $10,000.
"We have great respect for the work of Microsoft's programmers... and are in no way casting doubt on the principle of punishment for intellectual property violations. However, in this case we ask you to show mercy and withdraw your complaint against Alexander Ponosov," the letter reads.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also criticized the prosecution of Ponosov, in Perm, east of Moscow. Because of its location, Gorbachev said that under Russian criminal law the teacher could face "imprisonment in Siberian camps". Ponosov denies the charges and said the software came pre-installed and he didn't know about it.
"It's ridiculous to just arrest a chap for using computers," President Putin said at a news conference on 1st February, where he urged Microsoft and investigators to "go after the distributors, not the users".
Source:
BBC News