For the first time, a Russian court in Krasnodar has ordered a private business closed for distributing counterfeit software. Article 1253 of Russia's Civil Code (Part Four), introduced at the end of 2006, provides for the liquidation of any business engaged in repeated or gross violation of copyright laws. According to charges filed in November, Andrei Chebotarev violated the copyrights of five major companies, including Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk, by selling a large number of counterfeit software disks over an extended period of time. In July of 2012, Chebotarev had previously been charged and fined over 7.7 million rubles for selling pirated CDs, and, thus, according to the court, his subsequent November charge reflected a pattern of repeated violation. According to Pavel Rassudov, chairman of the Pirate Party of Russia, the decision to close a counterfeit business isn't entirely sound. Although the Pirate Party does not support a person who uses counterfeit information for their own benefit, they also believe that counterfeit goods have, at times, benefitted the country and society. Illegal software is far more of a sore spot for intellectual property owners, many of whom take different approaches to dealing with counterfeiters. Microsoft, Adobe, and Autodesk were among owners that encouraged confrontation, through enforcement of Article 1253, and fought for the termination proceedings against Chebotarev. According to Grigory Cherkasov of Dassault Systems, however, a more conciliatory approach with counterfeiters may often be more productive. Dassault Systems works to identify pirates and convince them to stop or buy the software. In other words, Cherkasov says, we do not fight with pirates, we fight for sales.
http://izvestia.ru/news/544849
No comments:
Post a Comment