Microsoft Russia might save school director from incarceration

Aleksandr Strakh, legal expert on the protection of Microsoft Corporation's intellectual property in Russia and the CIS, assumes that the company may reach an amicable settlement with Aleksandr Ponosov, the infamous school principal in the village of Sepych. Aleksandr Ponosov has been taken to court following a revelation that PCs used in his school's computer class ran on unlicensed Microsoft software. Investigators claim that the director could not produce license labels and installation CDs to prove that the software is licensed. The new wording of Article 146 of the Criminal Code, under which Ponosov has been prosecuted, makes it impossible for the company to close the case by dropping its claims against the school principal, while formerly a statement from the plaintiff could serve this purpose. Aleksandr Ponosov faces 5 years behind bars in addition to having to pay 260,000 rubles ($9,650) in damages.