Charges dropped in Russian Microsoft Piracy Case

Advertisement (Why?)

Charges have been dropped against 40 year-old Alexander Ponosov, a Russian school principal who would have faced up to five years in prison after police seized 12 computers with more than US$10,000 in pirated Microsoft software from his school in the western Russian village of Vereschagino. Ponosov claims he bought the computers with the software preinstalled and has maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped Thursday for lack of evidence by a regional Russian court, according to Russian Information Agency Novosti, a state news agency. State prosecutors are quoted as saying they may appeal the decision within 10 days. Last week, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev asked that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates intervene in the matter saying that although Russian law allows for the prosecution of those who unknowingly use pirated software, the case against Ponosov was unwarranted. The former leader also made an emotional appeal, writing that Ponosov dedicated his life to teaching for a modest salary, which doesn't compare to those of Microsoft employees.

News source: InfoWorld

(1 reply) #1 Lasker on 16 Feb 2007 - 00:41

I'm happy that they dropped the charges to a person who dedicated his life to teaching, Microsoft would be kind if they gif to people like this a PC loaded with software. Bill Gates spend billions and billions to help poor people in other countries, why not to do the same for someone like this guy who deserve a second chance.

#1.1 Roger MS on 16 Feb 2007 - 19:09

Before anyone reads further comments, which many are critical of Microsoft, please note that MS was approached last year about this case by the prosecuter's office, and declined to even participate.

Although MS was not involved, President Putin "published" his letter to Mr. Gates, and a Microsoft statement was released:

Quote -

Mr. Ponosov's case is a criminal case and as such was initiated and investigated by the public prosecutor's office in Russia. Microsoft has no intention of making a civil claim against Mr. Ponosov. We are confident that the Russian courts will make a fair decision in Mr. Ponosov's case after comprehensive analysis of all related details

AFAIK, MS has never gone after an individual. They go after the source.

Considering piracy of all media is a key factor that that is keeping Russia out of WTO, I will leave it to you to decide why that letter was written by President Putin, and/or what intention was implied.

#2 ZAnwar on 16 Feb 2007 - 00:43

Good stuff. Although surprised that a principal got backing from former president.

#3 xvelocity on 16 Feb 2007 - 01:01

Good news all around. I was looking forward to Microsoft dropping the charges more than anything, but I guess the end is all the same in this case.

#1 That would be a nice gesture and something I definitely could see happening. Hopefully Neowin keeps us informed.

#2 I do wonder where that connection comes from. Maybe it's mentioned in the first article and I missed it. Hmm...

#4 caesar on 16 Feb 2007 - 04:14

To be honest haven't expected even for a second that Microsoft's CEO will drop the charges in this case. Well done Microsoft! Thumbs up for your reaction on this case!

They acted like he was a serial killer or murdered his family or something and none wanted to even talk with the guy. Just sent the troops (BSA or whatever) to do the dirty work for them. As if they donate stuff to poor just cos they have big harts. Come on, get real.. Expecting for something good to be done from Microsoft it's rather pointless.

(1 reply) #5 axious on 16 Feb 2007 - 09:43

Is that $10,000 American money cost or the real cost of about $100 converted from the Russian Rubel equivelant? Of course, $10,000 sounds alot more for the press doesn't it

#5.1 emt on 16 Feb 2007 - 11:31

"If convicted, Ponosov would have faced a fine of up to 266,000 rubles (US$10,124) in addition to a possible prison term."
Not 400 USD, but real cost of $10,000 in rubles. It's a huge amount of money for Ponosov. His monthly salary is about $300.

(2 replies) #6 chilliadus on 16 Feb 2007 - 10:07

He was not charged by Microsoft but by a Russian prosecutor.

#6.1 lbmouse on 16 Feb 2007 - 14:16

Quote - (chilliadus said @ #6)

Correct, MS did not drop any charges. A regional Russian court dropped the copyright violation charges. In fact, I don't think we've heard a peep out of Redmond about this case (not that we should've expected anything).

#6.2 +Zhivago on 16 Feb 2007 - 15:42

That's right. Microsoft Russia commented on the case after Gorbachev's letter to Bill Gates saying that it was a Russian prosecutor who brought the action against Ponosov, not Microsoft.

(1 reply) #7 em_te on 16 Feb 2007 - 11:48

Ponosov claims he bought the computers with the software preinstalled and has maintained his innocence. The charges were dropped Thursday for lack of evidence by a regional Russian court, according to Russian Information Agency Novosti, a state news agency.

This seems to imply that he was deliberately lying.

#7.1 +mrbester on 16 Feb 2007 - 13:43

No, it's just an example of the "someone said you'd done something illegal, therefore you have done something illegal until either you prove you haven't or we find out there isn't any proof you have. Either way, you'll be arrested without evidence as we'll get around to that when we feel like it" attitude that is pervading "justice" systems throughout the world, not just Russia. For a company from "the land of the free" where you allegedly have a consitutional right of "innocent until proven guilty" to jump all over this guy, threaten to bankrupt him and ruin any chance of being able to do his job in the future (do Russian schools employ ex-jailbirds? Didn't think so) is disgusting.

#8 C_Guy on 16 Feb 2007 - 16:05

I'm glad to see the charges dropped. I'm surprised that in Russia you can be charged for using pirated software if you do it unknowingly and it sounds like this was the case.

So, being that it was the Russian courts who dropped the charges, I wonder if Microsoft had anything to do with it?

Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!

Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.

Neowin.net