Gorbachev asks Gates to show mercy on pirate teacher
Bill Gates has been asked by former Soviet Premiere Gorbachev to show "mercy" in the case of a Russian teacher accused of software piracy. Gorbachev's open letter to Gates is available on the website of the former Premiere's charitable foundation. According to CNN, in the letter Gorbachev calls accused pirate Alexander Ponosov, "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." He warns Gates that Ponosov faces, "detention in Siberian prison camps," if convicted. As part of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization the country has undertaken a massive crackdown on piracy. Russia often appears on the world's top-list of intellectual property gray areas for reasons including but not limited to its mostly hands-off handling of illegal MP3 download site AllofMp3.
