That's just not nice

[geekbot]

A Russian school teacher bought some computers for his school. Those computers had pirated copies of Windows installed and now he faces a criminal case because of his use of the illegal software. Maybe he knew they were pirated, maybe he didn't (he says he didn't).

In any case, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev asked Bill Gates to show mercy and intervene on behalf of the schoolteacher. Microsoft responded saying they did not initiate the case but they will not stop it either. They will let the russian courts decide if this schoolteacher should be sent to prison in Siberia.

What do they have to gain by not requesting that this case be dropped???

[D1st0rt]

are you like me and just read this on /.

[genocidal]

Arrest him for life.

[Epinephrine]

This is pretty silly... the matter is within the jurisdiction of the Russian courts. Microsoft should not intervene at all.

What's really laughable is this (from the NYTimes article):
"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.”"


I guess in Russia, the president doesn't have presidential pardon powers? And if Putin really did care, since he controls the courts anyway, he could put a stop to this.


It's silly to put Microsoft in a position to go against this. If they did, it would just give more people excuses to pirate software, which in their perspective is not good. Besides, Microsoft has no business actively trying to intercede in a criminal investigation in a soverign country.

They HAVE reason to try and make that country change their laws to go against piracy and I hope you can see the difference in that.

This is a case for the Russian criminal system. If the system is corrupt and sends this guy to jail anyway, then Putin could probably intercede seeing as how he's the president and all.

[404 Not Found]

What is odd about the case is that they are going after someone who is actually using the software as an aid to teaching children in obviously a very poor region that does not have an average household having 3 computers, a TV in every room, DVD players with the TV's and so on.

So they will go after the teacher....and that's ok, as that is the law for pirated software. One would think they would settle out of court though and not disclose the settlement agreement.

Gates wants to be a Philanthropist and donate billions to eradicating Malaria amongst the children and peoples of this world, but for a computer used in aiding the education of children ...well that is NOT ALLOWED!!!!

They could stop this case if they wanted to and perhaps donate to this school so the children would not have to rely on pirated software.

I am just amazed that they do not go after countries like Thailand and Singapore...as well as India for the massive counterfeit products that are sold everywhere.

It just reeks of hypocrisy when you look at the big picture & at the same time, the Russian did break the law too. A compromise should be made on the part of MS that would benefit the so called school children. What good will come from punishing a teacher who probably is living on the poverty line as it is...what satisfaction can come from this?

[Pummel]

Send me to jail!

[Edify]

That's pretty messed up. Too bad we can't tell what's going on inside the headmaster's ...head.

[geekbot]

This is pretty silly... the matter is within the jurisdiction of the Russian courts. Microsoft should not intervene at all.

...

This is a case for the Russian criminal system. If the system is corrupt and sends this guy to jail anyway, then Putin could probably intercede seeing as how he's the president and all.

He broke the law, so he *should* go to jail. But as Gorbachev said, Microsoft can extend mercy to a guy who is short on cash and just trying to run a school. It's not President Putin's place or Gorbachev's place to pardon him. The courts *may* sentence him more lightly considering, but he still broke the law. So if the courts are working correctly, he technically should be punished.

When I first started driving, I rear-ended someone. The cop asked the other person if, essentially, they wanted to give me a ticket for screwing up, in addition to doing the insurance stuff. They were well within their right to do so but since I didn't damage their car and obviously it was a "youthful mistake", they didn't. It's not the cops place to say, "Hey, this guy doesn't shouldn't get a ticket." It's up to the person I hit.

Gorbachev is not asking Microsoft to never go after any software pirates in Russia, just to give this schoolteacher a break.

BTW, I saw it on MobuzzTV (and saw it later on /. too).

[Edify]

(and saw it later on /. too).

Hahahaha you wrote slash as, well, a slash.

[Epinephrine]

He broke the law, so he *should* go to jail. But as Gorbachev said, Microsoft can extend mercy to a guy who is short on cash and just trying to run a school. It's not President Putin's place or Gorbachev's place to pardon him. The courts *may* sentence him more lightly considering, but he still broke the law. So if the courts are working correctly, he technically should be punished.

When I first started driving, I rear-ended someone. The cop asked the other person if, essentially, they wanted to give me a ticket for screwing up, in addition to doing the insurance stuff. They were well within their right to do so but since I didn't damage their car and obviously it was a "youthful mistake", they didn't. It's not the cops place to say, "Hey, this guy doesn't shouldn't get a ticket." It's up to the person I hit.

Gorbachev is not asking Microsoft to never go after any software pirates in Russia, just to give this schoolteacher a break.

BTW, I saw it on MobuzzTV (and saw it later on /. too).

Either the original article is extremely not clear, or your analogy is bad.

The thing is... Microsoft isn't prosecuting this person, the Russian government is. Microsoft did not sue this guy, Microsoft did not hunt down this guy and 'tip him off' to the cops. The guy was caught by the system, and the system is doing something about it.

If the system wants to, it can be lenient and give the guy a slap on the wrist. If the Russian political authorities want to, then Putin (who seemingly professed his consternation at this case) can pardon him.

Microsoft is not suing this person. Microsoft is not prosecuting this person. Microsoft has no business interfering in a criminal investigation that it did not initiate.

Meanwhile, it's true that Microsoft can send a letter off to the goverment and say 'go lightly on this guy' but there's no guarantee that it would even have any affect on the case. But if MS does send this letter, they are basically implying that piracy is okay if you're poor, which is very bad for their business. The best option for MS, and the option which they are doing now, is leaving it up to the Russians.

And keep in mind.. Bill Gates isn't Microsoft, he doesn't own the entire company. He's not even the CEO anymore.

[geekbot]

Microsoft is not suing this person. Microsoft is not prosecuting this person. Microsoft has no business interfering in a criminal investigation that it did not initiate.

The courts are acting to protect businesses (specifically Microsoft) from lost revenue. This is not a crime against the public or anyone other than Microsoft. Since the crime is against Microsoft- I'm pretty sure that means they could intervene if they wanted to.

As for this opening the floodgates of piracy, I don't think giving this one guy a pass is going to take away at all from their ability to go after any future offenders.

Also, the request is not being made by joe schlub or a lawyer....they could honor the person asking.

[geekbot]

Hahahaha you wrote slash as, well, a slash.

slash*dot* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot (slashdot is anti microsoft)

geeks sometimes do funny things