Microsoft Learns a Lesson about Copyright Enforcement

A recent New York Times article went into detail on Microsoft’s efforts to crack down on piracy in Russia. Instead of cracking down on infringers, Russian police used the issue of infringement to crack down on political dissenters. According to the report, Russian police raided the offices of opposition groups, newspapers, blogs, and other groups that did not agree with them. They seized their computers, using the suspicion of Windows software piracy as the excuse.

Even when police did not find illegal software, they rarely ever returned the computers. Sometimes they would simply say the computers contained illegal software. While the charges would rarely stick, having computers taken away with vital data on them proved to be disruptive to these groups that opposed the government.

Meanwhile, Microsoft found itself at the heart of this immoral battle, with its name and its software on the lips of the Russian police. At first Microsoft supported the police and said it was required to cooperate under Russian law. However, everything changed when the victim of a raid, environmental group Baikal Wave, wrote Microsoft to protest.

The next day, Senior Vice President and Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith changed course, posting on the company’s official blog. The company announced that it would conduct a review of anti-piracy measures in the region, and that it would issue free licenses to activist groups in various countries (including Russia) for Windows software. This new license is automatic - even groups that are not aware of the protection from Microsoft will be protected by it. Brad Smith also said that Microsoft had no desire to support the persecution of the groups.

The lesson here is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions; Microsoft wanted to protect its software from rampant piracy. Microsoft has learned that maybe it is better to just step back, take a deep breath, and change course.
 

Source: ipbrief.net