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

from the good-work,-US dept

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.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

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


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    tony, 14 Nov 2007 @ 5:25am

    tahts the funniest story i have heard in a while

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    liam, 14 Nov 2007 @ 6:00am

    that's not funny.
    America isn't the worlds piracy task force.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 7:20am

    Re:

    Try replacing these words and re-reading:
    Russia ==> United States
    Pirates ==> Terrorists
    Siberia ==> Guantanamo Bay

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Cixelsid, 14 Nov 2007 @ 7:33am

    yay!

    Chalk up another one for Team America! Soviet Friends Edition!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    EstT, 14 Nov 2007 @ 9:52am

    Re: Re:

    LOL, that is SO true

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 4:11pm

    Re: Bust a deal,

    USA: sent to mmm, Iowa, no;

    Gitmo? Bingo!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 4:11pm

    Good old...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Nov 2007 @ 4:12pm

    Good old...

    selective enforcement. The favorite of tyrants around the world.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.