[LINK] MS finally stops helping despots crush resistance

[Roger Clarke]

As is often the case, you have to read carefully to get the actual story.
Microsoft has been behaving badly, has been caught out, and the flak 
has been sufficiently bad that they've had to take steps to fix the 
problem:

"The security services in Russia have confiscated computers from 
dozens of advocacy organizations in recent years under the guise of 
antipiracy inquiries. Some of these groups did have illegal software, 
and the authorities have said they are carrying out legitimate 
efforts to curtail software piracy. But they almost never investigate 
organizations allied with the government.

"Microsoft had long rejected requests from human-rights groups that 
it refrain from taking part in such cases, saying it was merely 
complying with Russian law.

"But now, the organizations would be automatically granted the 
software licenses without even having to apply for them, meaning that 
any programs that they possessed would effectively be legalized. That 
essentially bars the company's lawyers from assisting the police in 
piracy inquiries against the groups."


Full NYT story follows:

Microsoft Moves to Help Nonprofits Avoid Piracy-Linked Crackdowns
By CLIFFORD J. LEVY
The New York Times [reprinted in the SMH of 18 Oct 2010]
Published: October 16, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/world/17russia.html?_r=1&src=mv

MOSCOW - Microsoft is vastly expanding its efforts to prevent 
governments from using software piracy inquiries as a pretext to 
suppress dissent. It plans to provide free software licenses to more 
than 500,000 advocacy groups, independent media outlets and other 
nonprofit organizations in 12 countries with tightly controlled 
governments, including Russia and China.

With the new program in place, authorities in these countries would 
have no legal basis for accusing these groups of installing pirated 
Microsoft software.

Microsoft began overhauling its antipiracy policy after The New York 
Times reported last month that private lawyers retained by the 
company had often supported law enforcement officials in Russia in 
crackdowns on outspoken advocacy groups and opposition newspapers.

At first, Microsoft responded to the article by apologizing and 
saying it would focus on protecting these organizations in Russia 
from such inquiries.

But it is now extending the program to other countries: eight former 
Soviet republics - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - as well as 
China, Malaysia and Vietnam. Microsoft executives said they would 
consider adding more.

"We clearly have a very strong interest in ensuring that any 
antipiracy activities are being done for the purpose of reducing 
illegal piracy, and not for other purposes," said Nancy J. Anderson, 
a deputy general counsel and vice president at Microsoft. "Under the 
terms of our new nongovernmental organization software license, we 
will definitely not have any claims and not pursue any claims against 
nongovernmental organizations."

Software piracy inquiries against advocacy groups and media outlets 
in other former Soviet republics are less common than in Russia, but 
they have occurred. This year, the police in Kyrgyzstan raided an 
independent television station, and its employees said a lawyer 
retained by Microsoft had played a role.

In China, experts said they were not aware of many cases. They 
pointed out that if the security services wanted to hound or close 
advocacy groups, they had many other ways of doing so.

But China has been a minefield for American technology companies, 
including Microsoft, Yahoo and Google, which have grappled with the 
country's Internet censorship, and it appears that Microsoft is 
hoping to avoid new controversies there.

Microsoft's offer "will surely promote the health of nongovernmental 
organizations in China," said Lu Fei, director of a clearinghouse for 
these groups.

Software piracy is widespread in the 12 countries covered by the new 
program, and Microsoft has long urged governments to curb it. But in 
Russia, officials used the intellectual property laws against 
dissenters.

The security services in Russia have confiscated computers from 
dozens of advocacy organizations in recent years under the guise of 
antipiracy inquiries. Some of these groups did have illegal software, 
and the authorities have said they are carrying out legitimate 
efforts to curtail software piracy. But they almost never investigate 
organizations allied with the government.

Microsoft had long rejected requests from human-rights groups that it 
refrain from taking part in such cases, saying it was merely 
complying with Russian law.

But now, the organizations would be automatically granted the 
software licenses without even having to apply for them, meaning that 
any programs that they possessed would effectively be legalized. That 
essentially bars the company's lawyers from assisting the police in 
piracy inquiries against the groups.

Ms. Anderson of Microsoft said the company was trying to quickly 
prepare the automatic licenses for the 12 countries, a process that 
includes translating them, ensuring that they comply with local laws 
and disseminating them to the authorities.

Microsoft already provides actual copies of software free to some 
nonprofit groups. It said that in its last fiscal year, it gave out 
half a billion dollars worth of programs in more than 100 countries. 
But it has also found that this policy is not well known in some 
countries.

In Russia, nonprofit groups said they had already noticed a striking 
change in Microsoft's attitude toward these piracy cases. In one 
notorious inquiry, plainclothes police officers raided a group in 
Siberia, Baikal Environmental Wave, and seized its computers in 
January.

Baikal Wave's leaders said they had used only licensed software, but 
they were unable to get help from Microsoft.

The case was a focus of the article last month in The Times. After it 
was published, Microsoft gave Baikal Wave free updated versions of 
software for all its computers and asked the police to drop the 
inquiry.

The police have not yet formally done so, but Baikal Wave said it was 
pleased with Microsoft's reaction and the new program of automatic 
software licenses.

"The security services will now know that they will not be able to 
harass nonprofit and human rights organizations and take their 
computers," said Galina Kulebyakina, a co-chairwoman of Baikal Wave. 
"It is outrageous what they did, and now that will no longer happen 
to others."

Jing Zhang contributed research from Beijing.


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University