Piracy in Russia
Microsoft and Gorbachev face off in a software piracy scandal.
Piracy is a problem in Russia, but many Russians feel one teacher is being used as an example in a piracy case initiated by Microsoft. Gorbachev has intervened.
Gorbachev, the Communist leader famous for glasnost, is now attempting to shield a Russian man from the eventual product of his once-radical concept. Apparently, Microsoft is attempting to crack down on software piracy in Russia . . . but does Microsoft have the wrong man?
Gorbachev thinks so. He has asked Bill Gates to intercede in a case brought against a Russian teacher. The teacher claims he didn’t know the software was pirated. Gorbachev and other Russians say the distributors are to blame, not the teacher. There is widespread suspicion that the teacher is being used as an example by Microsoft, whose international reach can punish even remote software pirates.
Gorbachev may not be taken overly seriously by the global audience as he gives speeches at US universities, but he does have a point. Russia’s problem with piracy extends beyond this teacher, beyond Microsoft, beyond software piracy. The piracy problems in Russia may not have achieved the grand scale of that in the Philippines or South Korea, but music and movies are copied and proliferated shamelessly throughout the Federation.
In fact, the movie industry in the U.S. has previously asked Russia to initiate more diligent policing of pirated movie distribution. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Pirated copies of DVDs and CDs are almost identical to authentic copies to the uneducated consumer. Pirated copies even make their way to the U.S. through online shops and auctions.
Anyone familiar with music downloading software knows that some music databases are Russian-based programs that allow for inexpensive, copious downloading of songs. Of course, these have come and gone just like former incarnations of software like Napster. But the high-tech, highly-educated Russians are whizzes with computers and internet applications. Take one down and there are a dozen replacements.
Whether or not the teacher using pirated software was aware of the origins of his Microsoft product or not, he can hardly be blamed. For one, the still-lagging Russian economy hardly provides enough funding for schools in general; a teacher will use what is available. Secondly, the extensive sales and use of pirated products by others (probably by almost everyone in Russia . . . and many internationally) means one person will have to sacrifice his job, future, and reputation for the crimes of others. Thirdly, Russia has other looming problems that it is struggling to deal with; should resources be diverted to contain the piracy problem when Russia still can’t deal with its unfortunate population of orphans and its impoverished elderly?
Even Microsoft can’t save the world, but this multi-billion-dollar company could do much better by putting the time and energy spent on one Russian piracy case to a different use – either by helping to solve the problem in a constructive manner or giving Russians a reason they would want to purchase authentic versions of Microsoft software over the cheap, quality, pirated products that flood the market.
