Please Bill Gates, save this Russian pirate from the gulag

THE FORMER LEADER of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev has written to Bill Gates to ask him to help out a bloke accused of software piracy.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Gorbachev claims that the Russian, a teacher from the Urals, didn't know he was committing a crime in using copied versions of Microsoft software in his classroom, according to Reuters.

Alexander Ponosov, writes Gorby, is, "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."

Yet he is, Gorby says, "threatened with detention in Siberian prison camps."

The open letter, posted on the web site of Gorby's charitable foundation asks Gates to "show mercy and withdraw your complaint against Alexander Ponosov."

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

We couldn't get hold of Bill Gates for a comment at press time. µ

L'INQ
Gorby's missive (In the Russian)