CNN.com reports that Communism’s undertaker, Mikhail Gorbachev (owner of the trademark port wine stain), wants to put a human face on intellectual property, too (via ATL) (link added):
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday asked Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to intercede on behalf of a Russian teacher accused of using pirated software in his classroom.
In an open letter, Nobel Peace Prize winner Gorbachev said the teacher, Alexander Ponosov, from a remote village in the Urals, should be shown mercy because he did not know he was committing a crime.
“A teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with the salaries of even regular staff in your company, is threatened with detention in Siberian prison camps,” read the letter, posted on the Internet site of Gorbachev’s charitable foundation www.gorby.ru.
Having tamed Leninism, it stands to reason that Gorby would tackle the last remaining totalitarian regime capable of destroying civilization. But will Microsoft listen?
I do find it interesting that the claim “he did not know he was committing a crime.” is plausible. Countries which do not have create much intellectual property tend to have very weak laws about its protection…
Very interesting. I am going to have to dig into this story later.
OT – it seems my workplace has placed likelihoodofconfusion.com on its firewall list. Myspace, Youtube, both allowed, and yet someone has picked out your site for expulsion!