From: Adam <""4thwormcastfromthemolehill\"{at}the field.near
the bridge">

Just wait till China gets going on the control & criminalization of knowledge

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/02/05/gorbachev.gates.reut/index.html?eref=rss_top
stories

"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.

"We have great respect for the work of Microsoft's programmers ... and
are in no way casting doubt on the principle of punishment for intellectual
property violations.

"However, in this case we ask you to show mercy and withdraw your
complaint against Alexander Ponosov," the letter read.

"This noble step will be enthusiastically received by all those in
Russia who use Microsoft products."

Prosecutors accuse Ponosov, headmaster of a middle school in the Perm
region, of violating Microsoft's intellectual property rules by using
computers in his school that contained unlicensed copies of the firm's
software."

Niiiiice I'm sure Rich S is just too happy to see teachers packed off to
the delights of a siberian prison camp.

Adam

Adam

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