Russia Continues To Use 'Piracy' As An Excuse To Silence Critics

from the good-work,-US dept

Wed, Nov 14th 2007 5:09am — Mike Masnick

For quite some time now, US diplomats have been pressuring Russia to crack down on copyright violations in the country. While Russian officials have mostly given lipservice to the requests, it appears they've now found a convenient way to kill two birds with one stone: shutting up government critics with charges of software piracy. We first mentioned that strategy back in September, but now it appears to be working quite well. A newspaper critical of the government has suspended publication thanks to a criminal investigation into whether or not the newspaper was using "pirated" software. Since we've already seen that piracy convictions in Russia can mean getting sent off to Siberia, it seems like Russian officials now have discovered how to send many critics off to Siberia while appeasing US demands to crack down on piracy.

Filed Under: copyright, dissent, piracy, russia, software

9 Comments

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tony, 14 Nov 2007 @ 5:25am

tahts the funniest story i have heard in a while
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liam, 14 Nov 2007 @ 6:00am

that's not funny.
America isn't the worlds piracy task force.
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Ajax 4Hire, 14 Nov 2007 @ 6:03am

Bust a deal,
face the wheel!

Many other countries have non-licensed software laws.
Not many countries have an named state that strikes fear, sent to Siberia.

Canada: sent to Nunavut, naa, doesn't work;
USA: sent to mmm, Iowa, no;
England: sent to the Falklands,
France: French Guinea, maybe,
China, they just send to the local re-education camp.
North Korea, whole country is a prison.

Nothing compares to Siberia, it is now a idea;
like Chihuahua, Mexico, not a dog;

I perfer to stay unknown.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 7:20am

Re:
Try replacing these words and re-reading:
Russia ==> United States
Pirates ==> Terrorists
Siberia ==> Guantanamo Bay
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Cixelsid, 14 Nov 2007 @ 7:33am

yay!
Chalk up another one for Team America! Soviet Friends Edition!
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EstT, 14 Nov 2007 @ 9:52am

Re: Re:
LOL, that is SO true
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 4:11pm

Re: Bust a deal,
USA: sent to mmm, Iowa, no;

Gitmo? Bingo!
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 4:11pm

Good old...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 4:12pm

Good old...
selective enforcement. The favorite of tyrants around the world.
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