Microsoft cited in Russian crackdowns on dissidents

MICROSOFT is entangled in Russian government raids on dissident groups using searches for illegally copied software as a cover.

Microsoft is embroiled in legal cases involving advocacy groups and anti-piracy measures in Russia. While Microsoft hasn't been proven complicit in the Russian government's attempts to suppress dissident groups, it has landed in a big grey area between software anti-piracy enforcement and human rights where there's no easy way out.

According to the New York Times, suspected illicit use of Microsoft software has been cited by the Russian government when it confiscated the computers of dissident activist groups. Baikal Environmental Wave was helping to put together a protest against the reopening of a polluting factory at Lake Baikal, a place of natural beauty that is said to hold 20 per cent of the world's fresh water.

Software piracy is as big and unpunished in Russia as it is in China, so no one expects to get their doors kicked in at three in the morning over it. However, Baikal Environmental Wave anticipated that Russian authorities would use anti-piracy as an excuse to raid the group, so it actually bought legal copies of Microsoft software.

Microsoft has already responded in an open statement, where it claimed that due process was adhered to when it farmed out to third parties the tracking down of copyright infringements.

Microsoft said, "They are accountable to us, and if their actions do not comport with professional ethics, anticorruption laws, or Microsoft policies, we terminate our relationship with them. Moreover, as we did with Baikal Environmental Wave, we will act to ensure due process is followed in antipiracy cases that involve Microsoft products."

The Vole even went on to say that it had taken measures to improve ties with human rights and NGO groups in Russia.

"We have to protect our products from piracy, but we also have a commitment to respect fundamental human rights. Microsoft antipiracy efforts are designed to honour both objectives, but we are open to feedback on what we can do to improve in that regard. We have been in discussions with human rights advocacy groups on steps we can take in Russia," the Vole continued.

But reports from human rights groups finger Microsoft's lawyers for aiding Russian police in tracking their activity.

"Microsoft did not want to help us, which would have been the right thing to do," said Baikal Environmental Wave co-chairwoman Marina Rikhvanova as reported by the New York Times.

"They said these issues had to be handled by the security services," she continued.

Meanwhile, those peaceful dissident citizen groups targeted by the Russian coppers likely won't get their computers back for months, or even years, while Microsoft plays dumb. µ