Russian Software Piracy Crackdown Restricts Free Speech

reporter writes "According to a report recently filed by the Washington Post, the Kremlin has finally begun to crackdown on software piracy ... with a twist. The Russian state agency is targetting political enemies with claims of piracy, including independent news media, political parties, and private advocacy groups. In particular, 'the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, one of the last outposts of critical journalism in Russia, suspended publication of its regional edition in the southern city of Samara on Monday after prosecutors opened a criminal case against its editor, alleging that his publication used unlicensed software.'" This doesn't even take into account our recent discussion of the Kremlin's grip on internet access in that country.

Comments

Re:Anybody surprised?

[morgan_greywolf]

Could the Russians have a great state? Absolutely... but not with the KGB still distributively in power. Hmph. Does any of this sound the least bit familiar? The state spying on citizens, elected (and other government) officials using the power of the state against their political enemies?

Maybe I've heard this happening in other countries. Like, oh, say one on the other side of the Atlantic.