[Preston] microsoft helps linux

[mike]

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      rom the /good-job,-Microsoft/ dept

You may recall the story last year of a Russian school principal who
was arrested for buying
<http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070205/122618.shtml> computers for
his school that had counterfeit versions of Windows. Even though he
had no idea that the software was not authorized, he was threatened
with being sent to a Siberian prison (seriously), leading to some
international outrage. Even Mikhail Gorbachev got involved, begging
Microsoft to drop the case (unfortunately, Microsoft wasn't actually
involved in the case and couldn't do anything). While the original
case was dropped
<http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070215/100916.shtml>, many were
surprised when the charges were refiled
<http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070327/121102.shtml> and the guy
was found guilty
<http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070507/121713.shtml>. While he
wasn't sentenced to a Siberian jail, he was fined over one-month's
salary.

Of course, if Microsoft and the BSA thought that these sorts of moves
would help deter piracy, they might want to adjust their thinking.

What happened instead, of course, was that many schools started
looking <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070208/093551.shtml> into
alternatives, such as Linux and other open source offerings, that came
with a much lower likelihood of having them dragged into court and
threatened with Siberian exile. And, the latest news (found via
Slashdot
<http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/23/1627250&from=rss>)
is that Russia has now made it official policy that /all schools/
should use free software
<http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1423&blogid=14>.
If they want to use proprietary software, they can't use gov't funds
to buy it.

It seems that all that "cracking down" on piracy worked wonders, huh?
It sent the entire Russian school system directly into the hands of
the competition. Good work.

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