Alexander Ponosov, headmaster of a village school in the Urals, is being prosecuted for causing $10,000 in damage to Microsoft by buying computers equipped with counterfeit Windows software for the school. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. Ponosov is pleading not guilty.
"Microsoft did not initiate the criminal prosecution of the headmaster," Olga Dergunova, president of Microsoft in Russia and the CIS, said. "The case was opened by Russian authorities in line with Russian legislation."
When asked whether Microsoft found it fair to convict people using pirated software, Dergunova said, "We do not have the full information."
She said it was up to the court to decide on the guilt of those who forge and those who use unlicensed software.
Dergunova also said the inquiry into Ponosov should have never been launched. "We think the criminal case should have never been opened," she said, but added that the corporation sought to encourage the use of licensed software products at schools.
The company could have filed a civil suit against Ponosov but did not do it. "We decided not to do it from the very beginning," she said.
Microsoft hopes the sides will reconcile. "We hope the case will be resolved and the headmaster will return to his pupils soon," Dergunova said.
Ponosov, who has signed a plea not to leave the village, will be questioned in a local court later Monday.
